Nearly all of my skirts were made with an elastic waist pattern… that I lopped the elastic off of and converted to a flat waistband. That doesn’t mean I don’t love an elasticated skirt though! Holly Darling often makes these suuuuper basic, elastic-waist skirts and I’ve admired them for ages but never seem to have the exact perfect fabric for it–she has such a good eye for pairing pattern and fabric. This skirt of hers is probably my favorite of the genre, and I remember wanting to copy it when she originally posted it, but couldn’t find the fabric–leopard prints are hard ..read more

Y’all. Y’ALL! Everything I have sewn up to this point–all my swimsuits and underwear and bras and dresses and jeans–it was all leading up to this point. This is the best bikini ever made, I am done sewing bikinis for good, and if you ever see me in or around a body of water in the future, you can expect that there is a 99% chance I will be wearing this bikini. I recently (okay, a few months ago) went to the beach with my in-laws and decided to sew a few new bikinis to celebrate. That’s a lie. More accurately, I recently decided to sew a few new bikinis and when my in-laws asked if I wante ..read more

Years ago I attempted a Closet Core Sophie Bikini, and hated the way the cups fit, so I made a second version, a press-n-seal dupe of my favorite wired bikini top (from Juicy Couture, duh). This black bikini top has somehow disappeared in the intervening years, so it was time to replace that old black bikini with this… a black beauty bikini! I have made the Black Beauty bra several times, both in a regular and nursing version, and after Erin hacked her black beauty last year(?) during Bra a Week I always had it in the back of my head to do the same. I used almost all findings and fabrics ..read more

How do family bloggers take such cute photos of their babies?! I (obviously) think these pictures are adorable, because these are my particular children, but… y’all. Trying to get pictures of your semi-mobile children is very hard. Honestly, I wouldn’t have even bothered posting these few goofy photos but I wanted to try out the new photo grid layout I now have since I have wordpress. This is the Oliver & S Playtime dress in a pretty pink Liberty tana lawn–Wiltshire is the print name. The girls really look so cute in them. Sadly, these dresses were worn about twice and are now to ..read more

This may be the blog post the absolute longest time coming–topping even my recent post about the year old Wiksten Jacket!! The 50s day dress parts 1 and 2 were written in….. 2013!!!!!   Way back when I started this blog, one of my sewing goals was to find an easy to make, easy to wear 1950s style day dress. As I put it back then: “You know the one: jewel neckline, fitted bodice (pointy bra optional), sleeveless or short or three quarter length sleeves, and a gorgeous swishy skirt.” ANYWAY I found McCall’s 6969 on etsy or something and made one out of charcoal grey flannel, of all things ..read more

I mentioned on my instagram that my goal for me made may this year wasn’t really sewing related–it was to wean the babies in May (about 13 months) so that (among other reasons) I could wear clothes without thinking “can I nurse in this?” during this summer. My wardrobe is heavy on fitted short-sleeve dresses–which you decidedly can not nurse in–and cutting them out of my options all summer is hard. The one thing I was really feeling gloomy about was leaving my larger cup size behind! I never posted the handmade nursing bras I made here, only on instagram (I’ll have to fix that), but I went ..read more

I have a new post up on the Minerva website today featuring this INCREDIBLE sheer floral from John Kaldor. Couldn’t be more different than my last version of this pattern hack, could it?! This is my first post I’m writing 100% on wordpress, so I hope it looks okay–at least it wont have those pesky “/” all over the place. Thank you for bearing with me as I get settled. xoxo, Allie ..read more

  Just a quick note to let you know I have another post up on Minerva featuring this lovely Liberty Tana Poppy and Daisy Lawn. You may remember I made these Wiksten Bloomers in this same fabric, today I made two pairs of the Oh Me Oh My Sewing Flutter Bloomers and two matching bonnets using their Bonnet Bundle pattern. I made the plain bonnet but I can\’t wait to make the pixie bonnet, it\’s so so cute.   The drafting of the Flutter bloomers is pretty different than the Wiksten bloomers–the Wiksten bloomers have a flat bottom hem (the leg opening) and a gently sloping waistband, whe ..read more

Today I first wanted to point you towards a post I have up on the new Minerva site and then show you the other versions I have made using the same patterns! The sweet little sets made in Liberty\’s always-amazing Tana Lawn are the third version of the Seaside Playsuit that I have made, and, in my opinion, the cutest yet! You can read more about them here. Now for a bit of background on the previous two versions, also shown above! I\’ve been sewing for myself for over a decade now and have mentioned time and time again that I love a well-thought-out, carefully drafted, logical pattern ..read more

Just dropping in to let you know I have a new post up on the Minerva website–featuring my go-to vintage dress pattern, Simplicity 4475, and this gorgeous Nani Iro linen! Happy Valentine\’s day!  xoxo, allie ps: see all my posts for Minerva on my profile. Sign up for the Allie Jackson newsletter to receive updates, sneak peeks, and other bonus content! this post may contain affiliate links ..read more