Phee Fabrics is turning 3!

The start of Phee was in 2014. In March of 2017 we made an internet presence, starting with Facebook. Since then we have expanded to Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok and a blog. Phee Fabrics sources majority of fabrics from the USA, thoroughly tests all fabrics prior to stocking and is housed with industrial air purifiers that filter out 99.99% of airborne particles. Reviewing the last three years has been an interesting ride with some hits, some misses, bonds made and accepting everyone for the things that unify us instead of divide. All of this would be impossible without you. Thank you. Starting on March 13, 2020 we are kicking off our celebration. So look across our platforms for some giveaways from gracious sponsors with daily giveaways

New Horizon Designs Prize: 2 patterns, 2 winners plus 30% off from 3/14 – 3/17. Prize winners: Angie Swartz Griggs and Shannon Elizabeth Rice

Violette Field Threads Prize: shop credit plus 30% off 3/14 – 3/16. Prize winner: Kelsey Garnhart

Hey June Handmade Prize: one pattern plus 20% off til March 20, 2020. Prize winner: Kim Korstjens

Sofiona Designs Prize: shop credit plus 20% off til March 20, 2020. Prize winner: Roxann King

Madalynn Prize: 8228 Simplicity Pattern. Prize winner: IG name SewBeachLife. Paying it Forward to a different entry.

Twig + Tale Prize: $ 25 shop credit. Prize winner: Nichole Langmeyer

Swim Style Prize: 2 patterns. Prize winner: Jenifer Kae

Patterns for Pirates Prize: $20 shop credit. Prize winner: Christina Thelen

Designer Stitch Prize: $25 shop credit. Prize Winner: Erin Cooper

Lowland Kids Prize: $25 shop credit. Prize Winner: Jessica Hermansen

Striped Swallow Designs Prize: 3 patterns. Prize winner: Carrie Giarrusso Davitz

Friday Pattern Company Prize: one pattern. Prize Winner: Jan Crawford

Sonia Estep Designs Prize: Two $20 shop credits, 2 winners plus 30% off patterns using code CONGRATSPHEE from 3/16 – 3/20. Prize winner: Carolyn Miller McGinnis and Em Webber

Shwin Designs Prize: 3 patterns. Prize winner: Jan Crawford

Sinclair Patterns Prize: 2 patterns. Prize winners: Laura Maughan and Danita Courtney

Sew House Seven Prize: $15 shop credit. Prize winner: Alex Harman

Trish Newbery Prize: $15 shop credit. Prize winner: Callie Gable

CKC Patterns Prize: 3 patterns. Prize winner: Julie Earnest

Miko Sewing Patterns Prize: pattern bundle. Prize winner: Rachel Webb

5 out of 4 Prize: $20 shop credit. Prize winner: Jennifer Willman

Winter Wear Designs Prize: 2 patterns. Prize winner: Erika Jessin Pin

DIBY Club Prize: one pattern plus 15% off patterns from 3/24 -3/31. Prize winner: Kelsey Garnhart

If you have used Phee Fabrics to create anything from these designers we would love to see it! Please submit your photos with pattern name, designer and fabric used to customer.service@pheefabrics.com

The celebration begins March 13,2020. Check the newsletter for updates. If you aren’t signed up, you can do so here. To claim your prize please email customer.service@pheefabrics.com no later than March 31,2020.

Thank you for making this all possible

Melissa

5oo4 Escapade Experiment

I literally cannot seem to stop myself when it comes to hacking patterns.  I’ll buy a pattern because it’s a cute design, or has lots of options, and I may or may not make it as written.  Then I’ll start thinking, “Maybe it would be fun to add…” or, “What if I changed that into…”  There are some really talented .pdf pattern designers out there, and I am so impressed by them, because I don’t have the talent to design a pattern.  They’ve done the hard work of figuring out fit and design.  And I get to do the fun part of personalizing patterns to suit me, or fill a need in my wardrobe.

I bought the 5 Out Of 4 Patterns Escapade Top and Dress pattern months ago, and hadn’t gotten around to making it yet.  I love all the options: bikini top; tankini style top, and dress.  When I first bought the pattern, I think I planned to make the dress first.  I love dresses.  And since the Escapade has a built in bra, it’s an easy way to get dressed in the morning!  But I usually go to yoga class 4 days a week, so a workout top was a bigger need than a dress.  Which is what led to my experiment.

The Escapade is designed to have a drawstring style strap that can be tied halter style (handy if you are nursing or want to easily adjust the strap length), or tacked in place as straight or criss-crossed straps.  Since I enjoy Ashtanga and Power Flow yoga classes, there is a lot of movement involved, and I do NOT want any movement or shifting of my straps!  There is also a center front tie that gives separation, shaping, and lift to the bra front, but I didn’t want to feel the tie when we do upward bow or other floor work.  So that’s what led me to my hacks.

I made my Escapade using Supplex and Powernet from Phee Fabrics.   Phee Fabrics Supplex is hands down my favorite fabric for workout wear.  It’s moisture wicking and antimicrobial, so you don’t feel all sweaty or get stinky clothes from your workout.  High quality powernet, which Phee stocks, is essential for good support when you’re making bras, so I always use it in the front and back of my workout bras.

I cut out all my pattern pieces except for the drawstring strap, since I made that by cutting two 1.5″ x 30″ strips of Supplex and one strip out of powernet.  I sewed them with the Supplex right sides together and the powernet on top along the two long sides.  I used a safety pin to turn the strap right side out, then pressed it flat.

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I basted the powernet to the wrong side of the bra front and back lining pieces, then sewed the lining together at the side seams.  I also sewed the bra front and back together at the side seams.  I turned the bra right sides out, and slid the bra lining, also stocked at Phee Fabrics over it, right sides together.  I pinned them together along the top edge, then sewed along the top edge leaving an inch in the center back, and an inch at the bra front top points open.

Esc pinnedI used a strip of powernet 1.5″ x 4″ to make my center back strap loop.  I folded it in half lengthwise, and sewed it with a 3/8″ seam allowance.  I turned it right side out, made a loop, slid it inside the center back opening I had left in the bra, and stitched it in place.  Then I sewed 1/4″ clear elastic from Phee Fabrics in the seam allowance along the top of the bra using a zig zag stitch.  I stretched it slightly from the side seam up to the bra front points.  I also stretched it slightly along the center front from point to point.

Esc elasticStitch one end of your strap in place at one of the bra front points, turn the bra right sides out, string the strap through the loop and try it on.  Adjust the strap length to fit you comfortably, while still feeling supportive.  Then turn it inside out again to stitch the strap at the appropriate length, and trim off the excess.  I think I ended up cutting a couple of inches off of mine.

Esc strapsBecause I didn’t want the center front tie, I just made a gathering stitch down the center front of the bra top, and stitched my gathers in place with a zig zag, followed by a stretch stitch to ensure that my gathers stayed in place even with the frequent wearing and washing my workout tops get.

To add interest and a little ventilation to the back of my top,  I marked a spot 5.25″ down from the top of the center back bodice, and 2.5″ from the center back fold and cut this triangle off with my rotary cutter.

Esc cut triThen I cut a 6″ triangle out of my powernet.  You can use the triangle you cut out of the bodice, (adding 3/4″ on the two sides to give yourself a seam allowance) as a pattern.

Esc triangles

Stitch the powernet insert in place on the center back, taking your time when you get to the point, lifting your presser foot, and swiveling to continue the seam up the other side of the triangle.  I’m not going to lie, my triangle shifted a bit while sewing, and I seam ripped and resewed the point more than once.  Oh, the joys of perfectionism while sewing!  Use lots of pins to hold things in place, take your time, and hopefully you won’t have to seam rip and resew like me.  Press the seam allowance toward the Supplex so that it won’t show through the powernet, and topstitch in place.

You can follow the pattern tutorial at this point to finish up your top.  I wore my top to Ashtanga yoga class yesterday, and appreciated the ventilated triangle in the middle of my back.  It was a great, rather sweaty workout and I felt cute and comfortable.

I paired the top with my GreenStyle Super G’s, which have powernet side pocket panels, so my new 5 out of 4 Escapade top gave me a cute matching workout outfit.

Esc frontEsc back full

Don’t be afraid to try a hack to make a great pattern suit your needs.  I will definitely use this pattern again.  I think I will try the dress version next.  Maybe in circular knit, or tricot… Which do you think?

Making your own bike skort (or shorts)

Our family likes to bike. Now I’m not saying we’re out there in our matching biking outfits on the road every day, but when it’s nice, we like to get out and ride the rail-trails and we also take our bikes on vacation looking for new trails. If we’re just going for a short ride, I don’t usually bother with padded shorts, but for longer rides, they are nice to have. We do a 20 mile ride for farmland preservation every summer, and for that ride, you definitely need some extra padding.

If you have ever bought a pair of padded bike shorts, you know that they don’t come cheap. My last RTW bike skort cost me about $80, so now that I’m more comfortable sewing my own clothes, I wondered if I could make my own. I googled “how to make your own bike shorts,” thinking maybe someone had a pattern or tutorial already out there. However, I was super happy to find that I could BUY a replacement chamois (shammy) that you just sew right into your shorts! How cool is that?

At Aero Tech Designs, they have a nice selection of chamois pads that range in price from $9.99 to $29.99 and that offer different options/sizing, including women and youth pads. You can view all they offer here. I decided to try the Women’s Ventilated Fit and Trim Cycling Pad – Sew In Chamois. This was in the middle price-wise ($14.99), and had pretty good reviews.

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For my fabric, I wanted something lightweight and stretchy that still provided good coverage, so I used black nylon spandex tricot from Phee Fabrics. It has great weight and drape for the skirt part, and the shorts offer enough coverage under the skirt. It’s also moisture wicking and antimicrobial, so perfect for workout/athletic wear. Phee Fabrics offers this fabric in other amazing colors, but I went with plain black, as I have a lot of bright tops that I want to wear with my skort. I used the Shenanigans Skort pattern from 5 out of 4 Patterns.

The chamois comes with instructions for adding it to your shorts, but let’s walk through it together! If you are making your shorts, like I did, then I would recommend getting them assembled up until adding the waistband. You are going to need room to maneuver, and leaving the waistband off helps. You will need a ruler and a sewing machine that sews a zig zag stitch. You will also need straight pins. LOTS of straight pins.

First you will find the center front and back of the pad (mine was marked with notches), and then measure up 4″ from the center FRONT (the smaller part). Mark this spot on your chamois.

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Place the chamois into your shorts and match the spot you marked with the center intersection of your shorts (mine was at the side points of the gusset). Pin in place in the center of the pad, and then pin the sides, pulling the shorts material taut as you do so.

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Next, you want to pin the back of the chamois. Lay it inside the shorts, but then move it down about 1.5″ towards the front and pin the back center. The pad will be buckled up slightly. This will allow the pad to “bend” to match the crotch curve once sewn.

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Once you have the back pinned, lay the front of the pad into the shorts, pull taut, and pin the center front. You should now have 5 points pinned.

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You will now pin the rest of the pad to the shorts, pulling the fabric taut between each point. I used a lot of pins for this part! Once pinned, check to make sure that the pad is aligned (look at it from the outside…does it seem like there is an equal amount of pad on both sides of the seam/gusset?). If all looks good, you will start sewing the pad into the shorts using a zig zag stitch. You want about 12 stitches per inch. I left my length on the default (1.4 on my machine) and set the width to 6. I also used my walking foot for this. You will want to keep the fabric taut while stitching.

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Once you have stitched the pad into place, check and see that everything looks good. My machine is finicky, and didn’t want to sew the foam, so I had some skipped stitches. I went around again to make sure it was secure.

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And now you are done!

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Blog9Mine may not look as good as a professional pair, but since this is my first time trying, I’m happy with them! Also, when you put them on, it all smooths out, and they are actually really comfortable. And the best part? I made these for less than $30, which includes the pad and all the fabric to make my skort. #winning

You should now feel ready to tackle your own pair, and maybe I’ll see you on the trails!

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Phee0718_Bike4P.S. Don’t forget your helmet!!