This week I met up with a friend who is a sewing dipper inner and outer. You know, one of those annoying people who won’t sew for a year then in an afternoon she’ll whip up a gorgeous perfectly fitted self-drafted dress. We were talking about sewing and she asked where the best places are to buy fabric, so I thought I’d share my favourite places to shop for the wondrous thing that is material… Continue reading “Where to buy fabric” →

I was having a read of this month’s Vogue and it struck me how many looks (with a bit of imagination!) could be recreated on a budget. I’m in no way trivialising the craftsmanship that goes in to creating these fashion images; for me, walking around the designer floors at Liberty and Selfridges is like visiting an art gallery, but part of the brilliance of sewing is the ability to see a look, adapt it and recreate your own version. You may have seen on my Instagram stories some gorgeous fashion ads that I suggested sewing patterns for to recreate your own versions, so I thought I’d take it one step further and focus on New York Fashion Week which came to a close yesterday… Continue reading “Copycat: New York Fashion Week 2018” →

This blog post was written for the Sewloco blog, so go check it out there too if you fancy!

I am very late to the Deer and Doe party. Their Hoya blouse, Mélilot shirt and chums were cropping up on my Instagram feed throughout 2017 and it was time I joined the fun. I played it fairly safe and went for the Zéphyr dress. It’s a knit skater dress with princess seams, so my hope was that it would be super girly and fitted but also comfy a.f., and it definitely fulfilled these hopes. This pattern is given a level 2 (1 being absolute beginner) and it really is perfect for those who are new to sewing and want to try a garment with stretch fabric. Princess seams could potentially be a bit daunting for beginners but these just glided together, and it was one of those makes that comes together really quickly once it’s cut. Continue reading “Fly away on my (Deer and Doe) Zéphyr…” →

Crikey how are we already at the end of January?! This is my first year taking part in the #2018makenine challenge on Instagram.

Over 2017 I picked up some brilliant fabric online, all from independent businesses (go, team!) and all in their sales! There are so many brilliant online suppliers now so I’m making a dedicated page on my site to show where I’ve shopped. The customer service and little touches you get from these businesses are what make shopping small so much more worthwhile (everything wrapped in ribbon from Sewloco, or a cheeky Maoam from the Crafty Mastermind, anyone?!), plus I have it on good authority that every time you buy from an independent business they do a little happy dance. Continue reading “#2018makenine” →