A not-necessary-to-fill but still gleaming hole in my wardrobe was the boiler suit; utilitarian and a bit androgynous, they’re very very cool. There have been a few that have caught my eye, namely the Intrepid Boiler Suit from Alice & Co and Thelma from Merchant and Mills, but Lennox from Homer and Howells ticked all the boxes for me:
Button up ✓
Waistband ✓
Fly fastening ✓
Semi-fitted ✓
Continue reading “(Boiler)Suit Up: the Lennox from Homer and Howells”
There are many basic slouchy sweatshirt sewing patterns out there, and I’ve found The One for children, in the form of the Casper sweater from WISJ patterns. A family-run pattern company, WISJ (it’s the first initial of each family member’s name combined, in case you’re wondering) sells patterns to create your own fun, quirky, yet practical childrenswear.
When talking about our aims for the year ahead on un:CUT podcast, I said I’d like to make more clothes for my family. Max is 3 years old, he’s a big lad, and finding clothes that fit him nicely is a bit of a mission. I decided to start with some projects for him, and came across WISJ on Instagram. Max has a builder’s bum that never lets up. Seriously, it’s just always there. Cue: the Casper sweater. With its dipped hem at the back, this sweater solves the issue perfectly!
The Bakerloo blouse from Nina Lee Patterns burst onto the sewing scene last month and it’s gone down a storm. The huge collar and ruffle ooze cottagecore cool (although maybe saying cool negates the cool?). The pattern gives two versions: a shirt and a dress and two sleeve lengths, so you get a few options before any hacking or customising. Another bonus, there are no fiddly fastenings to sew as it opens with a keyhole at the back!
Well, hello! A new year and a blog post that isn’t about sewing!
Alongside sewing content, I thought it would be useful to share my adventures in sorting out our not-too-shit-but-shitter-than-we-expected house. We have gone from renting a two-bed open plan flat in South London, to owning a three-bed end of terrace little old house in Kent. The house isn’t a complete fixer-upper, but there’s a lot to do, so I thought it would be great to share the journey with you, and lessons learned along the way.
Here are my main take aways from my first few upcycling projects…
1. Look at shape, not finish
For particularly run-down items, look at the overall shape and try not to focus on how crap it currently looks. It’s amazing what a lick of paint can do – look how manky my chairs originally were (just ignore all the rubbish in the backgrounds – we’d just moved in)! If the overall shape is nice and the item isn’t falling to pieces, it’s good to go ahead with.
The CocoWawa Honeycomb dress has fast become a favourite of mine, so I decided to make another one straight away! In the name of variety I decided to hack the Named Saraste dress collar onto the Honeycomb bodice. It was a learning journey, and one I thought would be good to share, as the principles can be applied to any pattern combo.
