Diary of a Chain Stitcher

It has been one busy month for all our favourite Independent Pattern Designers and there is a lot to catch up on! I may well have lost track of a few bits of news this month so if you can think of anything else please do point it out in the comments! First up this month I wanted to share a little bit of love for By Hand London's newest venture. The girls have launched a Kickstarter campaign to enable them to buy their own digital fabric printer on which they are planning to print not only their own carefully curated collection of designs but our very own designs too! Right here in London! This is taking home dressmaking to the next level, giving us complete control of designing our own clothing; no more desperate hunting for the perfect print for a project! If you read my blog regularly you will know that I am a big fan of the By Hand London patterns and I can only imagine that their fabric printing ambitions will turn out just as fabulously. You've got until to pledge ...

Today I thought I'd share with you some of the things which have completely changed the quality, ease and speed of my sewing and that I can't believe I never did when I first started out! I've been thinking a lot about how I can improve my sewing this year and have been trying to sew slowly, considering what techniques I am using. This post has really come about as I've thought back over how and why my sewing skills have improved and what are the things I now can't live without. The importance of pressing This first one is a big one. When I first started sewing I was just keen to be on the machine and actually sewing . I hated the hours spent cutting and resented all the up and down from the machine to the ironing board. However, making the effort to take time over pressing and pressing correctly has made a huge difference to the finish of my garments. It can also be a huge help in achieving those slightly tricky techniques; sewing a curved hem no longer ...

The girls at By Hand London contacted me a little while back to see if I wanted to test their newest pattern and what else was I going to say but yes yes YES! The lovely Flora Dress was released yesterday and to sum it up in one word it's just DREAMY! It features a full skirt with a high low hem and two bodice options including a faux wrap style. I chose the non wrap bodice as this fitted style with the high straight neckline is a feature on many of the vintage 1950s patterns I am attracted to but I've never been able to get hold of one in my size!  The fabric was very kindly sent to me by Susan from Sewbox (who I have got to say was incredibly helpful and speedy!). It's this gorgeous John Kaldor viscose twill which I was concerned might not have enough body for the pleats in the skirt but I just couldn't resist the print! Just to tempt you further it's on special offer at the moment and Susan also has an amazing range of Michael Miller, Liberty and o...

I'm so excited to be sharing my first make for the Mood Sewing Network with you guys today! I've got to warn you all that the post on here contains a lot more of me waffling on and is therefore a fairly lengthy post as I'm completely in love with the dress and put a lot of work into it! I've recently been drawn to garments with sheer inserts and panels that are so popular at the moment. So with all these beautiful new fabrics now on offer to me I decided to expand my repertoire and dip my toe into sewing with chiffon. When I say 'dip my toe' I mean that fairly literally as I only opted to use it for a wide band around the hem of this dress, but it was the perfect amount for a first go and I have conquered any fear I had of working with it! I spent a fair bit of time looking up tips for working with chiffon and ended up more worried about it than I probably was to start with. However this silk chiffon is surprisingly easy to work with, it presses beautif...