I thought it would be appropriate to have a few sewists who have sewn with the fabrics from StyleMaker Fabrics, share some of their garments and interactions with us. When I think of sewists using Stylemaker Fabrics - Lori from Girls in the Garden leapt to my mind. So I asked Lori if she would share some of her garments with us.
So here's Lori's experience ~
We are so fortunate to have so many online fabric shops available to purchase amazing fabrics. Today, I want to talk about one in particular Style Maker Fabrics, which is a great source for fabulous fabrics.
Michelle, the owner of Style Maker Fabrics, does an incredible job of selecting high-quality fabrics that are also current with what you see in RTW. I love her customer service, just a quick email or Instagram Direct Message, and I have the perfect fabric for a certain pattern.
Take this one for instance, my Jasper Sweater:
I emailed Michelle with the pattern and told her the idea in my head. She sent me pictures of some options, including fabrics that were on the way to her. When I saw the French Terry, I knew I had a great stripe knit to go with it. Here's all of the French Terry selection.
Putting this blog post together, one of the things I thought about was how I found Style Maker Fabrics. It was in an earlier issue of Seamwork Magazine and the site was listed in the resources page. A new fabric site? I had to go check it out and was so happy I did. I love the way the fabric is categorized...
Latest Type
Fabric Type
Garment Type
Shop by Color
Talk about helpful, I use the garment type quite often, it really makes a difference when you can't touch the fabric. But if you do need to touch the fabric, just order a swatch.
For the sweater below, I bought this knit from Style Maker Fabrics, one of many great jersey knits available.
I've had the pleasure of working with Michelle on a couple of blog tours and she is wonderfully organized for these events.
Sweater Knits here
Follow Michelle's blog for even more ideas on how to use the fabric and to see her beautiful creations. Then if you still need more inspiration, head on over to her Pinterest Boards, where ideas abound. From Style Maker Fabrics new spring/summer offerings, I ordered several pieces of fabric and did a good job sewing them up.
Below is a couple of collages of my outfits, including one for my daughter.
All details here on these garments
Lori thanks for your perspective on dealing with Michelle and using the fabrics from Style Maker Fabrics. Because as you can see, Lori has made some A-M-A-Z-I-N-G garments with Stylemaker Fabrics. I hope that you'll surf on over to Michelle's site to check out the new fall fabric collection. Don't forget the discount is in effect until September 30th.
National Sewing Month continues with another blog post later this week!
Thanks, again, for the information on this fabric source. In my day job, I work on 'User Experience' as it pertains to the software we support. It's all about learning what consumers want and adapting the sales model to meet those desires. I do wonder if StyleMaker Fabrics has used this method to design their website. There are other fabric sellers I don't visit often because I simply don't have the patience or the focus to sort through their offerings.
ReplyDeleteYet, this is what we all want - current styles. So often I settle for solid colored fabric because it is good enough, when I really want something a bit more on-trend.
The other factor is quality. There have been other sellers with cute fabric (I won't mention names!!) that turned out to be poor quality. They must have come from jobbers who get fabrics from the Fast Fashion manufacturers. You invest all that time to sew something and it barely lasts one season. That is unacceptable! I'll be shopping at StyleMaker Fabrics! Also thanks to Lori for staying on the leading edge of this and sharing her results!!
Great Comments! I wish I could say there is a magic program that does the site for me but we do it all! We plan all our trends and categories based on what we are seeing in fashion and what our customers have liked in the past. It is really a gut instinct thing that takes a lot of work but I love it and hope all our customers do too!
DeleteWow...love the outfits, fit and color and on real women!Thank you for providing such a valuable resource, Carolyn!
ReplyDeleteNo problem - you should definitely try them out and because you're on the west coast the shipping will probably be really fast! Michelle has some amazing fabrics!
DeleteI am new to SMF. I'm on board for the fall tour. And what I received is great. Michelle is definitely a gem!
ReplyDeleteErica - she has amazing fabrics! Can't wait to see what you've made for the fall tour!
DeleteCarolyn, thank you for bringing Lori's experiences with StyleMaker into the light! Lori - what great garments you are creating. I really love your jasper! g
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to try out some fabrics from Style Maker Fabrics. Lori's pieces are so lovely. Thank you for introducing me to this "new to me" fabric resource.
ReplyDeleteI did find one pattern in their release but will wait for a sale. I think you could wear that mining dress. They wouldn't make the pattern up to size 28 if it wouldn't flatter the larger sizes. Mimi wears her clothing way too tight so her being pictured is not such a great indication of how the pattern will work on someone else. In a black and navy combo it would be chic as heck and you could dress it up or down.
ReplyDelete