RIP JoAnn's: Blazer Dress from Know Me Patterns (ME2034)

If you do anything crafty in the United States, then you know about the JoAnn Fabrics chain store! When I was young, JoAnn's was all about sewing: fabric and all the extras you needed to work with it. Back then, it wasn't the only option because sewing was still something a lot of moms did. But as sewing waned, JoAnn's somehow became the only store near you that was likely to have anything you needed.

Ode to JOANN #1: Circa 1990, after making the tie skirt that I blogged about last time, I told my dad that I wanted to try and sew a real outfit. The only place we knew to go was JoAnn's. I got an "easy" pattern for a square neck, sleeveless button down dress in a green seersucker gingham. I still have the buttons for that dress, because I got all the way to the end and stalled at the TWELVE buttonholes! It was really hard for a first project but I managed to figure out facings, finishings and even stripe matching. That's just like me to dive head first into a craft. It's ok, now I can do this. 💪

Sadly, with less sewing going on, JoAnn's had to pivot to "crafts" but it was more like "crapfts." I could accept the beads and yarn and flower arranging -- but I couldn't take walking into a cloud of faux-scented aisles filled with stuff with no craft value at all! I'm sorry, but you can't do too much with a basket made of skeleton bones or a tower of Santa heads on a stick! One time I even had to wade through a display of ornamental wheelbarrows just to get to the serger thread.

I get it. Sewing is niche and JoAnn's had to try to stay relevant. But this year, JoAnn went bankrupt, and all of us sewists in this country (especially the rural folks like me!) have nowhere to go for the essential sewing notions that need to be seen in-person. Fabric we can get online, but JoAnn allowed us to run to the store with our swatches to perfectly match thread, zippers, and buttons. Now, I am doomed to spend 3X as much to sift through wrong color matches or poor quality stuff online.

RIP JOANN 😭

So here's my ode to JOANN #2: When I heard about the bankruptcy I decided it was the perfect opportunity to make something from the suitcase of ridiculously on-sale JoAnn fabrics I bought in 2009 while visiting the US from Montréal. I got 3-5 yards of 7 different fabrics. Many were bouclé tweeds, like this one I used for the coat I wore on my (second) wedding day!

Wait, are those bound buttonholes?? I didn't even know I had done those before and this photo has been hanging in our house for 12 years, HA!

I did dig into that stash to make this Closet Core Azure Dress a couple of years ago. It is a beautiful heavy linen with sequins. It feels like a $30 per yard fabric.

This time, I decided to dive into a denim I had chosen because it could either be a pair of tame black jeans OR a hippie dippy insane pair of pants. I wouldn't have to decide until the time came. Which apparently was now.

I thought... what if I used the fun part as elements in a jacket? I love making tailored garments and wanted a blazer dress anyway. I picked Know Me ME2034 designed by Beaute' J'Adore that I found for $3 at my local flea market.

I lengthened it 2 inches.

The hippie side was used on the upper collar, facings, welts and pocket flaps.

Conveniently, Nikki Brooks of Beaute' J'Adore had recorded a YouTube sew-along where she improved on the flap pockets by using double welts for a more refined look. That meant I had to do three fully-lined double welt pockets, and one lined diagonal welt pocket, my sewing friends. Symmetrically! It's something you have to sweat through but the results were very satisfying. You WILL become better at welts if you keep doing them over and over. There is a physics to it that you suddenly understand, at some point.

One surprise to the pattern that I hadn't noticed from the pattern envelope was the split open sleeves.

It's a bit extra when you're wearing the blazer dress, but if you're going to do it, go with a bright pop of lining!

And lest you think I just sew these things together without a hitch, oh my goodness, hell no. At some point I'm fitting the dress on the mannequin and see a gaping hole smack in the middle of the upper collar! Was I trimming edges and clipped it by accident?! It was not something you could just zig zag over, it was in plain sight. So what do you do? You cut out a part of the print and you appliqué it like it's what you always meant to do. 💪

Here is my review on patternreview.com

I only have 2 fabrics left out of the huge JoAnn stash from the past. Another denim and a tiny houndstooth tweed. We'll wait a bit for those little wonders. I would enjoy eulogizing JoAnn in the future if I could also celebrate a new store coming in to fill the void! Preferably without the Santa head stick. 😆

Till next time!

XO,

Dayana Knits

P.S. I found a page of 99 cents knitting patterns from KnitPicks!

P.P.S. I've been asked for some affordable online alternatives. I recommend Fabricmart for fabric (check the new stock every day, and the sales are outrageous!) and WAWAK for notions.

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