My Favorite Things Blog Tour with Raspberry Creek Fabrics |

I am so excited to be back on the Raspberry Creek Fabrics “My Favorite Things” Blog Tour this year! This tour is where members of the 2020/2021 RCF Promo Team get to share their favorite Raspberry Creek fabrics, patterns and sewing notions.

The hardest part of preparing for this blogpost was selecting my fabric! I had the opportunity to select any past or present RCF print and have it printed on any base! There were so many possible combinations! I think I changed my mind about 20 times. I finally settled on this floral print from 2018 that was available on rayon challis only. I chose to have it printed on the Essex Cotton/Linen blend. This substrate is perfect for the Farrow dress- more on that later.

Now for the exciting news—soon will YOU be able to customize your own fabrics too!

There will be a database of most of the past CLUB prints that you can choose from. You will also be able to upload your own designs as well! Pricing will be slightly higher than the in stock CLUB prints but you will have so many more choices for base fabrics! Think linen/cotton, bamboo rayon blend knit, organic cotton knit, etc! There will be info on what bases work best for full coverage prints as well to help you get the best possible print result. This is so exciting, I have already started a list of my favorite past prints that I might want to order!

SEW MARYMAC’S TIPS FOR WORKING WITH LINEN/LINEN BLENDS

Always prewash your fabric! Linens and linen blends tend to shrink a bit. Best to shrink your yardage and not your finished garment!

Remember to always finish raw edges of any linen before prewashing! I always serge my wovens right before I prewash them. It helps me keep track of what I’ve prewashed and what I haven’t 😊

Make sure you staystitch any curved edges (necklines and armscyes) so they don’t stretch out of shape.

My Favorite Pattern

For last year’s tour I shared my love of the Grainline Farrow dress. It is truly one of my favorite summer dress patterns. Since I wore the few I made last summer so much, I decided I would make a new one for this summer. Last years version was a color blocked version made with Robert Kaufman Brussels Washer Linen I got from the RCF shop.

The Grainline Farrow is an A-line dress(with or without sleeves). The sleeveless dress is perfect for hot and humid summer days. It features diagonal seaming with concealed inseam pockets and are actually so fun to sew!

If you love pockets–THIS is the dress for you! I love that I can run errands and stick my wallet, keys and phone in my pockets! It’s great for walks (when on the beach I fill my pockets with sea glass)!

My Favorite Notion

HeatNBond Soft Stretch– Lite

This stretchable iron-on adhesive is a miracle worker! I use this whenever I hem knit fabrics. My hems always lay nice and flat- no ripples or waviness ever! It’s available at Walmart, JoAnns and Amazon.

1. Iron on tape to wrong side of hem with a dry iron. Using a dry iron is VERY important!

2. Once cooled, peel off paper tape.

3. Fold hem up and press with steam.

4. Sew hem in place from right side.

Here is a great YouTube video showing how to use it!

Click here for video