Diary of a Chain Stitcher

I've got lots of exciting bits of news to share with you this month if you haven't already spotted them, plus many of our favourite Indie designers have been dropping hints and sneak peaks of upcoming releases and plans so we've got that to look forward to too! New Patterns The new Hepworth Dress pattern from  Sinbad and Sailor  is coming at the end of the week. I'm a big fan of the style of Hannah's other patterns so am really excited for the big reveal of this one. Caroline from Sew Caroline has been extra busy this month and has released not one but two new patterns! The Tank Dress is a real summer staple and looks like a fantastic blank canvas if you're feeling creative. The lovely Sugar Pop Top was just released on Monday and is a really cute alternative to a tee. Jennifer Lauren released her very first pattern - the Afternoon Blouse . It's got her lovely vintage style to it and gets it's name from the fact that it's such a spee...

My boyfriend sent me this photograph from 1939 and I just had to share it with you guys. It's of a rather strange invention; a bicycle that fits a family of four...including sewing machine!! Picture from this page here . It's worth checking out as there are some other fantastic unusual images including 'face cones' to protect yourself during a snow storm, stunning 1950s dresses and a little boy who looks as excited about getting new shoes as me!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you are all enjoying a lovely restful bank holiday weekend with family and friends! I'm just dropping in with a quick post today to announce the winner of my giveaway for the newly released Betty Dress pattern from Sew Over It. There were a huge number of entries so I've chosen the winner using the random number generator. Without further ado the winner is... Sherri E! Congratulations Sherri. I can't find any contact details for you on your profile so please send me an email (address on 'About' page) with your details for me to post the pattern and I'll get it sent out pronto! Looking forward to seeing your Betty. Right I'm off to enjoy a Sunday Roast and plenty more chocolate!

I was lucky enough to be asked a few weeks ago by Lisa from Sew Over It to test their latest pattern release; the Betty Dress . I jumped at the chance as it's a gorgeous classic design with the potential to be made up numerous times, each completely different from the next as Lisa herself has been proving by instagraming pics of her own 'Bettys' every day for the past week! Sew Over It is a beautiful sewing cafe and shop in Clapham South London that strangely enough I lived literally around the corner from when it first opened quite a few years ago now. Betty was one of the first patterns Lisa designed for her classes in the cafe and as the name suggests is based on the early style of Betty Draper from the ever popular Mad Men. As you may therefore expect the design features a full circle skirt and fitted bodice reminiscent of the 1950s. I made mine up in a lovely lightweight cotton sateen which I came across in Simply Fabrics in Brixton. It's such great qual...

Just to warn you, this post is going to get all kinds of photo heavy and talky talky about construction details but I'm so proud of all the new sewing techniques I accomplished with this shirt I'm not going to spare you any of it! I completed this shirt (and actually a shirt for my boyfriend too) before I made my tester version of Pauline Alice's Carme Blouse , so the whole sewing a blouse/shirt thing was entirely new to me. It's is by no means perfect but I feel like I did a pretty great job on this one, especially considering it was my first time sewing most of the major parts of a shirt including, collar, plackets and cuffs! So anyway, on to the details. I'm sure many of you will recognise this as the every popular Archer Shirt from Jen at Grainline Studio . I love Jen's patterns for their versatility and wearability; she designs the kind of garments that are handy to have in your wardrobe and that end up being worn over and over again because t...