Indiesew & Dan Lehman x Spoonflower
This post is my honest opinion using fabric I received free of charge from Indiesew.
To borrow a pop culture phrase, “I can’t even” with the new release from Indiesew, Dan Lehman, and Spoonflower, and I’m so excited to share with you my new blouse featuring some seriously fun fabric. Read on!
When Allie of Indiesew reached out about this new collaboration with artist Dan Lehman and the custom printing company Spoonflower, I jumped at the chance of participating in the blog tour. What sold me was Dan’s brilliant design concept—a botanical print featuring only carnivorous plants? I mean, how quirky, creative, and fresh is that! I love the unique spin on a floral pattern. My high school graduating class flower was even a venus fly trap so I’m here for this theme. Dan already has a Spoonflower shop with many similar hand drawn designs (including themes inspired by Stranger Things and Wes Anderson films!), but novelty prints are a bit out of the ordinary for Indiesew, so its fun to see this unique offering. You can read more about how this collaboration was born and why pairing Indiesew, Dan, and Spoonflower is a creative no-brainer on the Spoonflower’s Insider Look blog post.
This exclusive print, Fool’s Paradise, is offered in two color ways, a light and dark, on two different substrates, cotton poplin and polyester crepe de chine. I chose the dark crepe de chine for my make and am so impressed with this drapey fabric. The colors are printed beautifully and the saturation is perfect for me. I like that the fabric features an unusual theme but the colors are sophisticated and balance the more eccentric print.
I know some people tend to shy away from polyester fabric but folks, this poly crepe really does feel lovely. And what’s more, its a breeze to sew with. It has great drape but has minimal shifting and warping while working with it, making it easy to cut pattern pieces and handle it at the machine. I took Allie’s recommendation and used a brand new size 70/10 universal needle and had no problems sewing it up. You can read more about the Spoonflower cotton poplin and crepe de chine in this Indiesew post, plus a link to a Fabric Files post (one of my favorite Indiesew resources) on crepe as well.
It took me quite a bit of time to pick out a pattern for this fabric. My first thought is always to make a dress, but I’ve been trying to be more aware of the fact that I seldom wear dresses beyond going to church on Sundays and I’d like to make more items that will get more use. I eventually decided to give the Libby shirt by Sew Over It a try—I’ve been feelin’ the dolman sleeve button up lately and liked the look of the notched collar, plus I thought the novelty print was a good match for the retro vibe of the shirt.
The unique feature of the Libby shirt is the partial collar stand. Before starting this project I read from a few people’s Instagram posts that the collar stand gave them some trouble, but I brushed it off and pridefully assumed I was advanced enough that I wouldn’t have any problems. I mean, I’ve sewed countless collared shirts, how much harder could a partial collar stand be? Well I gotta hand it to Sew Over It, this collar was a serious challenge. I’d like to blame it on postpartum fog but it actually was just tricky for me. In fact I’m still not really confident I did it right, but hey, I got it done somehow so for today that’s what matters. I realized after I finished my shirt that there’s a more detailed sew along for the collar stand so that probably would’ve helped earlier in the process.
Cropped tops are in right now and the Libby shirt certainly delivers on the cropped length. Its not a style I’ve tried before and while I’m having to get used to how it feels to wear a cropped blouse (and reminding myself to not constantly try to pull it down), I am enjoying trying a style that’s new to me. Overall I really like my new Libby shirt!
I’m just thrilled that I got to sew up this beautifully unique fabric—I seriously can’t tell you how much I dig the carnivorous plants theme! I love how this collaboration with Indiesew, Dan Lehman, and Spoonflower came to be, and I for one have my fingers crossed for more creative partnerships. Now to get my hands on more of this fabric…
