This dress was never meant to be. I know exactly what I like garment-wise, and a dress made from striped scuba fabric with a pleated skirt has never been on my sewing wish list. Yet here it is. All because I saw a dress on Instagram, became a tiny bit obsessed with it and couldn't rest until I'd made one for myself. The making of it was relatively easy and straight forward. Whether or not I actually like the finished dress is another matter... The original inspiration dress in question was this lovely Emery dress by Caz. Hers was made from a striped ponte from Minerva that was no longer ..read more

I've had this gorgeous Dolce and Gabbana-style cotton (from Pigeon Wishes but no longer in stock) squirrelled away for over a year and have really taken my time deciding what to use it for. I already have a lemon print dress, which I wear quite a lot and is wildly popular with members of the public (I'm complimented on it virtually every time I wear it, which is lovely!) Because of this I figured separates would get a bit more wear than another dress, so decided to make a statement skirt.  The pattern is the skirt section of the Mortmain dress by Gather, which is the same pattern I use ..read more

After a loooong time away from the sewing machine I've finally sewn something! Well, three things to be precise - three Sew Over It Molly tops. Nothing complicated, nothing fancy, just simple everyday tops that will be worn a lot (I'm wearing the pink one as I type this...) There are several reasons why I haven't been feeling it on the sewing front recently, but the main one is that I'd more or less reached saturation point with my handmade wardrobe. To put it simply, I had more than enough clothes and didn't need to sew more. Unworn garments were piling up and it felt wasteful and wrong. S ..read more

Today it's my stop on the Beginner's Guide to Sewing with Knitted Fabrics blog tour. This is Wendy Ward's latest book and the perfect starting point if you're wanting to branch out and start sewing with knits. The book includes full sized paper patterns for six core garments (T-shirt, Wide Leg Trousers, Tank, Lounge Pants, Cardigan and Skirt) with a variety of hacks to give a choice of twenty different variations.  The book is laid out in a similar way to Wendy's first book A Beginner's Guide to Making Skirts (reviewed here). For each project there are step-by-step instructions with cl ..read more

The Intro to Sewing Coats is an online class from Sew Over It offering a step-by-step guide to sewing a beautiful tailored Chloe Coat. Details of my finished Chloe Coat can be found here - this additional post will go into a bit more detail about what to expect from the online class. I've used one of the Sew Over It online classes before (The Ultimate Guide to Sewing and Fitting Trousers) and really got a lot out of it. This time round I learnt everything there is to know about coat making, including some great new tips and techniques. The course is aimed at a broad range of sewer ..read more

Hello. Brace yourselves, there's an actual finished item on the blog today! The patchwork top for this quilt was finished back in June, but as it's quite a whopper (224 squares), it's taken me this long to summon up the energy to quilt it. The majority of squares are Liberty remnants left over from previous makes, plus a few fat quarters picked up along the way from Sewbox. The light coloured 'neutral' squares are cut from another Liberty print (Cathy), which is also used as the backing fabric.  It's very busy and flowery but that's exactly what I love about Liberty prints. Plus ..read more

Need something snazzy for the party season but don't have time to sew a dress? Here's the next best option: a faux leather party skirt! This skirt is ridiculously easy to make, cheap as chips and, depending on how much drink you manage to knock back, allows you instant access to your inner rock chic... I bought my silver faux leather from Fabric Godmother (also available in black or gold) or Girl Charlee have a good range in stock, including red, navy and some lovely metallics. It's softer than I was expecting, with a decent drape and a reasonable amount of stretch. At £10 a metre it's ..read more

At last... something finished to show you! This is the Chloe Coat from Sew Over It: a classic collarless coat with lined, patch pockets, an open ended zip, tailored shoulders and long front darts. There's nothing super fancy about the design, it's just a simple, elegant style that's totally wearable. I'm very happy with mine! The pattern is part of the Intro to Sewing Coats online course and I'll be writing a separate post reviewing the course shortly. This will include lots more detail about construction and the techniques used in the course. I was fortunate to be able to try on a sample o ..read more

Hello! Things have been a bit quiet of late on the blog, which doesn't necessarily equate to a lack of sewing. I've actually been sewing constantly for the past few weeks, but the projects have been so slow moving I don't have anything to show you. My main project has been a set of memory quilts for a family member and her sons. If you've read this post, or this one, you'll know how long these things take and there's still a fair way to go. I'm now at the quilting stage and am looking forward to several days of sewing straight lines over the Christmas period! The second project I've been work ..read more

Today I'm sharing the dress I made as part of the Vogue Patterns Cocktail Hour Sewalong. The sewalong was launched in March by McCall's to raise money for The Eve Appeal - a charity that funds research into gynaecological cancers. 26 sewing bloggers have been taking part in the blog tour since then, sewing up their choice of 20 specially selected Vogue evening wear patterns. Money raised from the sale of each pattern will go to the Eve Appeal, so anybody who buys one will be directly supporting the charity. You can check out what everybody else has been making by using the ha ..read more