Art Gallery Knit Solids

Hi y’all! Today I’ve got a slightly new experience to share with you. Though I’ve been sewing strikes for a couple of years, this was the first time I was reached out to buy a widely known fabric supplier, such as Art Gallery. One of my sewing peeps, Karly of Paisley Roots, sews for them regularly and asked me if I’d be interested in sewing up some of their new knit solid colors for one of their blog posts. After checking my schedule and ability to commit, it was on. I was presented with a handful to choose and I went with Mauvelous, Camouflage, and Spruce!

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Now, I’d never sewn with Art Gallery knit fabrics before, so I didn’t know what to expect. These solids are listed as 95% cotton, 5% spandex, with a width of 58-80″. They don’t have a GSM listed, but they are on the light/midweight side, reminding me of nice cotton jerseys instead of heavier custom cotton lycra. The colors are nicely saturated, but the fabrics didn’t bleed when washed (which is a great thing, as some solids have the tendency to bleed a bit). I’m so used to sewing custom printed fabrics with prints, design, often using patterns with color blocking. I made the decision to step outside my “norm” and focus solely on solid pieces. It was hard, but I stuck to it….

For the Mauvelous, I resorted to my go-to, which is peplums. Being on the hunt for one the was slightly different, I chose the Love Notions Margot Peplum. I was attracted to the princess seams and the pleated skirt. One thing about Love Notions is that I technically don’t measure into their adult patterns, but I still sew them sometimes. I didn’t take that into consideration with this one, and it ended up a touch too big. After construction, I serged an extra 3/8″ from both side seams and it’s still a little looser than I’d have liked. I’m still quite pleased with how it turned out. The fabric was really easy to sew, and any curling was curbed by spraying with Best Press and steaming. This color is such a gorgeous complement to my skin (it’s like my go-to nail polish shade haha). I’m glad I chose it!

The next color I sewed up was Camouflage. My family doesn’t wear a whole lot of green, but I have been digging these kinds of shades lately. I looked though my son’s close to see if he had any green tees, and (not) to my surprise, he had no green mama-made! Right around the time I was invited to sew this fabric, Sinclair Patterns had just released their first couple of Kid patterns. I’m a sucker for t-shirt patterns for my kids, always on the hunt for the next “best-fitting” one and I love the drafting of Sinclair Patterns for myself, so it was a no-brainer that I must grab this one. I chose the Blueberry Classic Knit Tee for this fabric. I was super excited to learn that the sizes included regular and slim. Both my children require grading for sizes, and though my son’s is only between 2 sizes, my daughter usually requires different sizes for chest, waist, hip, AND height. With Sinclair’s Slim sizing options, she now measures into ONE size! I can’t wait to sew up one of these for her. I do hope that as Sinclair’s child pattern base grows that they also consider adding plus sizing for children, as well, as I truly believe the market is there, also!. Anywho, my little was happy to pose for me again after not being behind the camera for a little while. We even found a new photo spot in our neighborhood. How handsome is my cutie-dudey in his top?

Annnnd I saved the best for last. The final color is my favorite of them all….it’s actually under the umbrella of my favorite color (I love all shades of blue). Spruce is a beautiful light shade of teal and I couldn’t be more happy that I took a chance on it. For this fabric, I sewed up the Eloise from Made for Mermaids. I snagged it as soon as it released and had just been waiting on the perfect fabric to sew it up ager seeing my gorgeous boos Florence and Stephanie keep rocking them! This was it! My version is the mid neckline, short sleeves, mini dress. As with all my M4M makes, it fit well, though I did have to trim 2″ from the shoulder elastic to get it to fit me the best. I can totally see myself wearing this dress all spring & summer long. The fabric is light and drapey enough to not make me feel sweaty, while also being thick enough that I feel covered. I love knits for their movability and this washed up soft. Definitely love it!

All in all, my experience with sewing Art Gallery Knit Solids was pretty cool and it’s neat that I was invited in the first place! Special thanks to Art Gallery for allowing me to showcase these for you. The colors are gorgeous, the fabric quality is nice & soft. It’s not too heavy, not too light, drapes well, and definitely great for making children’s and adult’s clothing! I’d personally steer clear of bottoms for this, as it is not as heavy as custom cotton lycra and my kids are rough on pants, but it’s suitable for all the tops and dresses my heart can make! Now, I’m off to see what other colors I need to buy! Until next time, friends….

*Fabric was provided free of charge from Art Gallery Fabrics for sewing in exchange for photos. All opinions in this post are entirely my own.