Having fallen in love with the lined pockets on my Sienna Maker Jacket, I decided to use the same technique on the Heather Blazer by The Friday Pattern Company. You can read my review of the pattern here. I was originally planning to topstitch them in the same way, but then Claire Tyler whose workshop I was attending, showed me some hand-stitched pockets where the stitching didn’t show on the front and I really liked this look as an alternative. To secure the pocket you essentially do a back stitch, but only catching the folded-under seam allowance. Claire also gave a great tip of doing a f ..read more

I have long lusted after the Zadie Jumpsuit pattern by Paper Theory having seen so many on Instagram in all sorts of fabrics, and every single one looked great. I was in my mid-forties when I purchased my first jumpsuit and was amazed at how comfortable it was and yet still looks stylish. That seemed like a win win situation and I made a note to add more jumpsuits to my wardrobe. In fact, I went on to make another Zadie in velvet with long gathered sleeves. I therefore attended a jumpsuit fitting workshop at Bristol store Like Sew Amazing to give me a head start, and it was well worth i ..read more

Fitting patterns is a process that often takes me weeks, and so the point at which I stop is usually when I think it’s good enough, rather than feeling I’ve achieved a really good fit. I therefore immediately signed up to the weekend workshop on offer with Serefina Taylor at Bristol sewing store Like Sew Amazing to fit a jumpsuit. You can see my review of the pattern itself here, plus a subsequent one I made in velvet with long gathered sleeves, and read a review of my workshop experience here. It was brilliant - I learnt a lot about my own particular fitting issues, and came away with a pa ..read more

I had heard some good things about Lynda Maynard’s online courses, in particular through Geri Berman, whose blog and Instagram account I subscribe to. I saw that one of the courses being offered was the Sienna Maker Jacket by Closet Core Patterns, which had been on my list of things to sew for some time, waiting for me to gather more experience. It seemed very advanced for me relative to my projects so far but I thought it was a great opportunity to learn. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. I initially felt a bit out of my depth, knowing that everyone else was much more experien ..read more

It was finally time to join the Zadie Jumpsuit party. It has been on my list for a while since buying my first ever jumpsuit only a couple of years ago, and realising how incredibly comfortable they are. They don’t have a tight restriction on the waist and have the practicality of trousers as well as looking stylish. The only downside is the undressing to go to the toilet, but that is something I am willing to put up with. You can read my review of the Zadie Jumpsuit here. Having watched episodes of the Great British Sewing Bee involving jumpsuits with ‘hungry bums’, I thought it would be se ..read more

I booked to attend the Classic Blazer workshop at Claire Tyler Couture, having come across her website in a random internet search for sewing cruises. I love sewing and I love cruising and wondered whether anyone had put the two together but wasn't expecting anything to come up. To my surprise, Claire had advertised on her website a sewing-related trip to New York, cruising back to the UK with a lovely room set up for sewing. My eyes widened! I didn't book it (yet!) but had a good browse around the website and was really impressed with the wide range of workshops available. The Classic Blaz ..read more

I had booked to go to a 3 day sewing retreat organised by Claire Tyler at Dartington Hall in Devon. As per usual, life got busy and I was deciding at the last minute what to sew. I didn't have time to make a toile and so went with a pattern I had already sewn. I loved my summery Zadie Jumpsuit and knew this would be a pattern I'd make again. I decided to go with a winter version, having been totally inspired by a stretch velvet version by Ellie Wagg I saw on The Fold Line Facebook group. I loved the more formal look and the gathered sleeves, and thought this would be perfect for my birth ..read more

I had booked onto The Winter Coat workshop with Claire Tyler having already attended her Classic Blazer workshop 6 months prior where I made the Heather Blazer by the Friday Pattern Company. I was ready for a new challenge and decided a coat would be the next step. I had never sewn with wool before and wanted a casual jacket with a hood for the upcoming autumn. Sometimes you just want to pop out without having to carry an umbrella. I decided to go with the Eden Coat by Tilly and the Buttons. It's only available in PDF format on their website, but the printed version is quite widely availa ..read more

Sewing jeans was something that has appealed ever since I started my sewing journey, partly because it's hard to find good fitting ready-to-wear jeans, but also because I perceived them to require a fair amount of skill so would be a great challenge. I decided to enhance my jeans journey by booking onto 2 workshops and buying a book. Workshop 1: Draft Your Perfect Jeans at Like Sew Amazing This weekend workshop was totally worth it as I came away with a well-fitting pattern for jeans, by modifying an already fitted trouser block. You can read more about my experience and the basic fittin ..read more

I booked this workshop at Guthrie&Ghani shortly after attending the Jeans Drafting workshop at Like Sew Amazing. I had a fitted pattern after this, and so the next logical step was to sew the jeans. This being my first pair of fly front trousers, I was keen to pick up some advice from the G&G workshop, and added to my knowledge with the Sewing Jeans book by Joanna Lundstrom which I thoroughly recommend. Since the drafted pattern I already had was for rigid denim, for this workshop I chose the Ginger Jeans by Closet Core Patterns for stretch denim to learn more about fitting and s ..read more