View Cart »What is a trend? Fads come and go overnight. They are temporary. Trends are a movement in a particular direction. It’s fun to watch trends. If you enjoy fashion, then watching the fashion trends can be a hobby and a nice adjunct to your creative hobbies like sewing or knitting. It doesn’t mean you produce every new style, but following the trends can stimulate your creativity in a direction that will make your garments look current and a la mode. We know that some of you watch the trends carefully and want to replicate ready-to-wear from your sewing room. That’s why we created The Bistro, the lighter side of Sawyer Brook.
This new department in our online store features fabrics that speak to today’s styling trends and are “priced to entice”. Sewing garments for quick turnaround can be fun and easy.
Right now you’ll find retro prints,
bold prints
and dots
…all part of this season’s fashion scene. We’ll be introducing new fabrics regularly and will announce them here on this blog. Be sure to sign up for our RSS or email alerts to find out when new fabrics are posted. Please comment on any of these posts with your own fashion ideas and send photos of the garments you create with these Bistro fabrics!
Ruffles hit the spotlight in spring 2008 and they are back bigger than ever for spring 2009. Feminine and romantic, this look has made its way into dresses, shirt fronts and even gusseted into coats. Even just touches of ruffle, skirting across a hem or sleeve edge, or a tiny delicate waterfall on a shirt front can add softening to silhouettes. An off-center thin line of small ruffling down a shirt or skirt can add length to your look or adding a long ruffled scarf will do for a nod to this hot fashion look.
The market can’t get enough of large scale printed knits coming out of Europe. Check out these two from Norma Kamali.
Scarves are a hot fashion item this year and they are simple and easy to make! Add a fancy edging like purchased bead trim or fringe and you will have a super gift in no time at all!
When fashion is taken to extremes there is always a sub-trend going on in the opposite direction forming polarity.
Surf’s up for knits this summer. We have been seeing them in dresses for a while, but knits are really hanging 10 for tops in the summer of ’08. They are out there as the banded jewel necklines in drapey silhouettes, preppy color filled polos, deep scoops, boatnecks, and have been seen in more stripes than a beach umbrella. To put it in surfer terms, Chillax. Whichever works for you, go for it, keep it real and rip your sewing to new heights! Just remember to maintain a low-key vibe when you’re in the lineup. 
Shown here: 
Whether you’re trekking the wilds of Africa, or big game viewing on ESPN, the relaxed look and feel of natural fibers in soft earthy tones beckons. Like the tides, the look waxes and wanes from one fashion season to another, but its presence is a comforting constant. In recent years the look has morphed from animal prints to large scale botanicals with soft neutrals all the while following the pack. This season, the “Out of Africa” solids of soft off-whites and natural khakis rule the savannah and hold court over beasty and botany.
Spring 2008 is singin’ the blues — Azure blue to be precise. It has taken the Oscar for the color of the season and is currently playing across the nation, receiving rave reviews from an enthusiastic audience of the fashion conscious.
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