One of the most rewarding things about having a fabric business is seeing what other people make with your fabrics. (That and all the long, fascinating discussions about fabric and sewing with other textile lovers!) What springs to my mind’s eye when I look at a particular fabric is never the same as what you are envisioning. So I always love to see what my friend Claire is up to: she has a totally different style than me, she knows all kinds of interesting indie patterns that I’m not familiar with, and she puts things together in unexpected ways.
Part of what I like about her projects is how she treats the fabrics. Hand-woven cottons shouldn’t be precious; they are soft and breathable and meant to be lived in. Still, I’m a crisply-ironed kind of person, while Claire lets the cotton do its own thing, with the result that her garments have an appealing tactility that delights both the eye and the touch. She also has a thing for cool buttons, as you can see.
She recently picked out the Sketched Stripe handloom cotton in grey and stitched up a blouse which you can read about over on her blog, Hoopes Park Studios. (You can’t see me, but I’m still blushing from the nice things she said!) She shortened Megan Nielsen’s Darling Ranges pattern to make it into top and added a lightweight bodice lining to create what looks like the perfect blouse for summer.
Claire just finished a couple of dresses that aren’t on her blog yet, so here’s a little preview to inspire everyone’s summer sewing. The Kalle dress from Closet Case Patterns looks fantastic in our Disappearing Checks handloom cotton. This is a shirting-weight fabric with some body to it, so it’s perfect for a shirtdress with tailored details. (UPDATE! It's on her blog now - read all about the dress here.)
Claire says it’s been her go-to dress since she finished it. Plus it has pockets - she really dug the Ingenious Indian Pockets that I wrote about here, and added them to the side seams. ( I.I. Pocket tutorial coming soon, I promise!) You can just barely see the stitching around the pocket bag in the photo below.
And last but not least...
The Maya dress from Marilla Walker is one her favorite patterns, and here she transformed it into a summer maxi by adding a ruffle that reaches to the ankle. In the Two Blues Tie-Dyed Stripe handloom cotton, one of our most popular fabrics, the result is cool and refreshing, don’t you agree? 
With a nod to no-waste sewing, she pieced the lower back skirt with the stripes going the opposite direction, which makes a clever, eco-friendly design detail. Love it!
Thanks for sharing, Claire!