Hi lovely readers. I am so happy to say I am sharing what I made with Christa Watson from Christa Quilts new fabric line, Modern Marks, from Benartex Fabrics with you! Christa is a long time fan of my podcast and from the beginning has been one of the most encouraging friends. She even puts up with my random texts and emails full of questions about EQ, podcasting, fabrics, quilting, and everything in between. She is just the best and I am so excited to sew with her debut fabric line. I remember when it was just on her dream list.
Get a bundle of Modern Marks
Christa has been super busy the last couple of years marking off her list of dreams she wants to accomplish. If you know Christa at all you know that when she sets her goals she does everything she can to accomplish them. She has written three amazing books The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting (co-authored with Angela Walters), Machine Quilting with Style, and Piece and Cut with Precuts. She has two amazing Craftsy Classes, The Startup Library: Quilting and The Quilter’s Path: Plan it, Stitch it, Quilt it. She even has an online shop full of patterns.
Okay onto my dress that I made using two prints from Modern Marks, Crossmarks in Green and Pink. I wanted to make a dress for several reasons but the biggest reason was to show that you can use quilting cottons for more than quilting projects. I recommend washing, drying, and pressing the fabrics before cutting out my pattern pieces. This will help prevent the fabric from shrinking too much after you make the garment.
I used the Audrey Dress from Simply Sewing Magazine, Issue 24. Sadly it is no longer available. (I think a good alternative pattern would be the Emery Dress by Christine Haynes.) The Audrey Dress is such a great pattern and easy to make. The pleats are so pretty and, surprisingly, much easier to sew than you would think. I promise. I love the color green and knew I wanted the dress to be green. I even asked my followers on instagram which color to use… green was the clear winner. I am so happy with this dress and the green is just perfection.
I did add some pops of pink because I am a quilter and I wanted there to be some patchwork type element to the dress. I mean I had to. It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t. I was so proud of this dress when I finished. I tried it on for my family and my seven year old exclaimed, “mom you have the perfect watermelon dress!” Well I do come from a line of farmers so I am happy to call this my Modern Watermelon Dress.
I will wear this dress so much and think it will be perfect to pair with a colorful cardigan during the chilly winter months. I have to confess that I am not 100% happy with the bodice darts but I do know what I need to do to make them better the next time I make this dress. The little mess-ups (that I am sure I am the only one that notices), the patchwork elements, and the fact that I made a dress with my dear friends fabric line are what make me proud to wear this dress . It is so special to me and I want to encourage you to step outside of the box and stretch your sewing skills.
TIP:: When you buy a garment pattern always look for the hashtag on instagram to see how others made their versions and for tips and tricks with the pattern. I also do a quick google search to see if there have been any sewalongs or blog posts that might help me with the tricker parts of the pattern.
If you want to learn more about Christa take a listen to our chats on episodes 037, 077, and 092 of the Modern Sewciety Podcast. You can listen via iTunes, Stitchr, or right from the episode blog post. On the blog posts just scroll down to the bottom of the post for the media player. And subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t for more chats with creatives in the sewing community and to be the first to know when Christa is a guest again. We always have a lot of fun on our chats.
If you would like to win a bundle of 8-10 Modern Marks fabrics just leave a comment below telling me::
What is your favorite fabric color to sew with?
GIVEAWAY DETAILS:: Enter for a chance to win a bundle of 8-10 Modern Marks fabrics by leaving a comment on the blog post. The giveaway is open through Friday, December 8th, 11:59 PM Eastern Time. Giveaway is limited to U.S. residents. Because of the size of the giveaway — 11 bundles! — Benartex is limiting it to U.S. only to keep shipping costs down. I will notify the selected winner and they will have 48 hours to reply with their shipping address. Good luck!
Love your dress, the pleats are wonderful. I don’t do much garment sewing, but I love a skirt with pleats. Christa’s new collection is amazing and I love the vibrant colors and graphic designs. My favorite color is red/pink/magenta on the color spectrum. Any shade and variation.
Wow! You are right, in showing that so much more can be done with the fabrics. Yours is an amazing example. And color choices are a pick-me-up for our Very 1st Day of December. You look refreshingly summery on a cold winter day where I am. Your son’s exclamation for your dress is perfect! Thank you for sharing!
Beautiful dress!
My favorite color combination to sew with is blue and green.
Beautiful dress, wonderful use of modern marks! So springy and fresh! Too fun.
Love your dress. The pop of pink is fab-u-lous! I don’t sew garments anymore. My mother-in-law used to say she could tell if I made something because I always used fun buttons.
I don’t currently have a favourite colour with which to sew. I guess it would be “brights”. 🙂
Green is my favorite color, so you know I love your dress.
Love the dress and the fabric!
Love your dress! I too use quilting fabrics for garments. Actually perfect for 100% cotton garments.
The rainbow! Need all the colors.
I think my favorite color to sew with is red, red just makes me happy! And yesterday I love the coolness of blues and have more blues in my stash than any other color.
Hope I win and thank you for the opportunity!
I love the dress and how it looks on you, the pop of pink just makes it sing!
Thanks for all you do and I hope you enjoyed your break!
Oh my goodness!! This is SOOO good!! I specifically sought out that issue of the magazine a few months ago just for that Audrey dress pattern and have it safely stored away to make “soon!” I love the watermelon pop of color (and I already love watermelon since I have a watermelon quilt pattern!). The dress turned out so great! I definitely always lean towards blues/aquas/teals, so navy would be my pick for Audrey!
What fun pictures! You are beautiful.
I like seeing with coral, navy, mint, burgundy, low volume, I give up. I LOVE all the colors!
You did a beautiful job on your dress. Wow! My go to color is blue. Thank you for an inspiring post!
Very nice! Love the colors you chose! This collection is just outstanding! Thank you for sharing, Susan
Very pretty, thanks for sharing. I use blue the most when sewing.
My hubby just bought a shirt with a bottom edge triangular contrast similar to this dress. He was thrilled when I told him I thought it was a “leave the shirttail out” statement and he didn’t have to tuck it in, ever. What a great idea! Love it on the dress.
Your dress is so darling!! Love your daughter’s comment! My favorite color is blue and Christa has some really yummy blues in that line. Thanks for the opportunity to win!
It’s always blue for quilts.
Blue is my favorite color, so I tend to sew with blue quite a bit.
Very stylish dress & perfect necklace too. I am drawn to periwinkle blues & purples for quilting.
Thanks for sharing a garment. My favorite color is green also, but I end up using a lot of blue.
I love, love that dress and it is in my favorite color! I love nature and all things green, so this has a WOW factor! Thank you for another idea on how to use up those fabrics!
Your dress looks great on you – very flattering pattern and colors! I really love the blues in Christa’s collection. Lately though, I’ve been sewing a lot of pinks and purples.
It depends on my mood! Sometimes red, sometimes blue, sometimes all colors. It just depends on what mood hits me.
Glad you made the dress as we often forget that 100% cotton is a wonderful fabric for clothing.
Mt favorite color to sew with, from the looks of my stash, would have to be some variant spectrum of blue. My second is yellow or orange.
Your dress is beautiful! I love all the colors, but lately I have been drawn to mustard yellow, maybe because that’s the main color of my latest quilt, lol!
Blues are my all time favorite.
It’s been so long since I’ve sewn a garment . . . your dress is lovely (oh, the pleats!). My favorite color to sew with? Every color has a place on my palette — it all depends on the project. (Right now I am enjoying the colorway for On Ringo Lake, the Quiltville mystery: turquoise, salmon, brown, light neutral.) The Modern Marks collection is delicious. I’ve enjoyed meeting new-to-me bloggers on this week’s hop. And I appreciate the giveaway!
I think you did a great job on the dress. I’m never happy with my clothes sewing but love the quilts I make. Any bright color is a favorite and whole rainbow of them makes me very happy.
I like making scrap quilt. So I enjoy sewing with all colors.
My favorite color to sew with is Turquoise ( today, that us)
Oh I just love the fun of this dress! Makes a girl long for summer… I love sewing with all the bright summery colors. Pink is a top favorite right now.
I’ve done several rainbow colored quilts lately. My favorite color is purple though and usually try to slip some into most of my quilts. I like scrappy patterns with lots of batik fabrics. Love your dress.
SO much fun to see this fabric as a dress! Love it.
Lime is my current favorite. Love the top right fabric. I love your dress! I’ve been making scrub shirts out of cotton fabric for many years.
Cute dress. Great to see the fabric used in a garment.
Lately I seem to include aqua in nearly every quilt. But I try to be an equal opportunity purchaser and have fabrics of every color in my stash!
Love the chartreuse fabrics – and I love retro designs. Audrey is a good name for a dress.
Red is my favorite color to sew with. I love your “watermelon” dress!
That turned out beautiful, I love the Audrey dress! The colors to represent the foundation of our families and their livelihoods!
I LOVE❤️❤️❤️ your dress! It’s just so cute!
I love your dress, I think we forget that pioneers uses cotton for most of their clothing and the quality was not what it is today. Thanks for sharing.
I really like all colors because I like scrappy quilts.
Love your dress and the fabrics so much! Nice job!!
WOW! that dress is amazing – I love the touch of pink so dramatic!!!! My fav colour to sew with is purple – I love it!!!
Love the peek of pink!
Your dress is beautiful! I love the pops of color 🙂 My favorite color to sew with is blue.
I love sewing with all colors, as long as they’re bright! Actually I even like the not so bright colors, as well, just not quite as much!
I used to make clothing, but now I just wear jeans & some kind of top,depending on the time of year (turtleneck right now).
Your dress is so cute. Maybe I’d make some spring dresses for the 3 great-grand girls!
Wow! What a fun dress…I don’t sew clothing so much anymore, so I never think to use fabrics for that, but yours is just darling. Thanks for sharing, and for the great giveaway!
I don’t usually wear dresses, but this one is so cute.
Thanks,
Peggy
I love the vibrant colors!
I like sewing with shades of red and pinks. It has been a long time since I made garments, but your green is lovely.
Your dress is so lovely! and you look wonderful in it! You did pick the perfect colors! The last time I sewed garments for myself was in Home Ec. in high school. That should tell you how long it’s been since Home Ec. isn’t even offered anymore, hehe. I love sewing with blues, any hue. Seems I always have at least one blue fabric in most quilts.
Awesome giveaway! Fingers crossed ;-D
usairdoll (at) gmail (dot)com
Your dress is fabulous!! Love the fabrics you chose to make it with. I love to quilt with almost any bright fabric that makes me smile and I also love to make Christmas quilts. This spectacular fabric bundle would be used in so many ways….I am hoping to win and also to be able to get a bundle or two from Santa this year! Thank you for sharing and have a great day!
Love your dress! My favorite fabric color is turquoise.
Lovely dress and fun that
it is a watermelon dress!
I love sewing with my fave
color, purple.
Carla from Utah
What a great dress!
Cute dress. My favorite fabric color is green – nature’s neutral. Thanks.
LOOOOOVE your dress! Awesome job! I love sewing with Blues ….but do love all Happy colors 🙂 Thank you for chance to win your Give-a-way too! 😀
Lovely dress ! I like bright colors !! I love purple best ! Thanks for the opportunity to win those
fabulous fabrics !
Your dress is great! Love the pop of pink color. I like to sew with golds and greens. I’m starting to explore different colorways. Time to change! This fabric collection has such bright colors!
nikilsend(at)outlook(dot)com
Cute dress. I love the pop of pink. My favorite color to quilt with is red. It just seems to go with everything.
Purple is my favorite color to work with, lime green being second. I love that you made a garment instead of a quilt with this gorgeous fabric!
That dress looks so pretty on you! I love sewing with blues in various tints and shades!
Your Modern Watermelon Dress is an awesome way to show off these fabrics! No worries about those darts…they look just fine! I love this fabric collection so much and would love to se with it! My favorite fabric to work with is cotton…luxurious, smooth and fine textured.
Love your dress!! Love the fabrics! So many beautiful colors!!
I love this collection of fabric. I tend to use a lot of green and blue but there is room for all colors in the scrap quilts I lop like to make.
Oops. I like to make.
I love the particular color of this green. It sewed up beautifully. Congrats on a lovely finish. I love seeing how others use quilting fabrics for other projects. I hope to get to try this fabric
I saw a photo of the dress in Christa’s IG stream and needed to come see more. Love it – you did a fabulous job. Love your podcast.
Your dress is gorgeous. I have this pattern but I haven’t tried it yet. Now I may have to 🙂 My favorite color to sew with is red. It always shows up some where in my work.
Blues and purples
pink yellow and blue! That dress looks fabulous! Remember what Angela Walters says about not pointing out things that are wrong or that we don’t like! I don’t see anything wrong with the bust darts… even upon close inspection! Great fabric, great great dress!
Beautiful dress – sewing clothes has always been a scary thing to me. Good for you!
I usually use blues but am willing to try something new. Thanks so much for sharing.
I love bright orange for spring summer and a more muted orange for fall!
Love sewing with purples. Your dress looks great with the pink pop.
i am crazy about all things aquq.
oops, aqua
I love seeing the whole rainbow together so it’s hard to pick a favorite. I like seeing part of this line used in a garment. It’s great!
I love any shade of blue and green. Absolutely love your dress! Thanks for the opportunity to win.
Your dress is lovely. I absolutely love the colors that you chose.
I think most quilters start out as garment sewers and get frustrated. Quilting is more forgiving. Get use of colors
I am definitely a pink girl and try to incorporate at least a touch somewhere ion my quilts, maybe just the label sometimes. Love your take on this dress, especially the way the flirty bit of pink in the skirt.
So cute! I’d like to create this dress in Orange & Pink!
Stephanie, I adore turquoise , and I too sew apparel w quilting cottons. Made last summers wardrobe with’em.
It’s wonderful to meet you via Modern Marks blog hop and you look amazing in green. Thankyou for sharing it all.
Schimmel(dot)db(at)gmail(dot)com
I do love the dress that you made. I love sewing with purple fabrics.
The color that makes its way into nearly all of my projects is blue — any and all shades.
Love your dress. Those colors are awesome.
I would have loved to have seen that dress with all pink insets or alternating color insets, that would have been the bomb!
If I do make clothes, I only use cotton as I am not skilled enough with other fabric to tackle them.