Diary of a Chain Stitcher

Today I'm sharing a super quick and satisfying project that's a little different to my usual sewing style. After all the intense and lengthy coat and dress making I've been doing recently the speed and ease of this really was a breath of fresh air. I love those fiddly projects with a thousand pattern pieces and techniques to work with but I think mixing in the odd super simple project helps to keep things fresh and enjoyable. This project was particularly great as the lack of a pattern and totally different construction processed made use of an entirely new part of my creative brain. As I mentioned in a previous post I went to the Knitting & Stitching Show at Kensington Olympia with my mum a couple of weeks ago. We were keen to attend one of the events on the main stage and when I saw that the line up included Chinelo Bally from the Great British Sewing Bee and she was going to be demonstrating her impressive freehand cutting skills that seemed the obvious choi...

This little outfit has been another favourite in my wardrobe this summer. But frustratingly one of those that it is incredibly difficult to get decent pictures of that reflect how much you love it in reality. Ah well. You'll just have to take my word for some of it! One of my favourite pieces of fabric I brought home from my trip to the West Coast of the US last year was this amazing piece of mustard rayon from The Fabric Store . I've gushed about my love for this shop previously as I was so delighted with the carefully curated selection of dressmaking fabrics on offer. I really was spoilt for choice. I love wearing garments made with rayon and there were some beautiful prints so my instant draw to this solid mustard took me by surprise. It was such a great vivid shade with a touch of lime to it and top quality rayon too. It's taken me nigh on a year to get around to turning it into something wearable. Purely because it is one of those pieces that I knew I'd never...

I'm super excited to show you something a little bit different and out of my comfort zone today. I'm not usually one for joining in with a book tour but when Laurence King Publishing got in touch a couple of weeks ago I'd already had my eye on  No Patterns Needed  (the new book from  Rosie at DIY Couture ) so said yes please! I love the concept of making clothing out of simple shapes without a traditional pattern and thought it was a great way to encourage both newbies to try making their own clothes and also experienced seamstresses to try and different method. I can see this book exciting a lot of my as yet non-sewing friends to try as it's a bit more free and creative and probably less daunting than using a pattern for the first time. Although it was a little daunting for me who is used to the comfort of starting with a pattern! After some introductory info the book dives straight into the designs divided into three sections; rectangles, circles and triangle...

I've spent the last two days on the first half of a course on tutu construction at Morley College, it's amazing! I've always wanted to know how to make a tutu, plus the course description looked like it would teach me a useful thing or two to help with my everyday dressmaking. I've learnt so much already even though most of what we've done so far has been to do with pattern drafting and design. These two weekends are all about how to construct a stretch bodice and the romantic tutu which is the longer style layered net or tulle skirt. There's other courses available in February and May next year teaching you the construction of the plate tutu and the boned bodice for dance. It's pretty likely that you'd find me there! We've made corset blocks and stretch knicker blocks to our measurements, which are basically bodice and knicker blocks with no ease whatsoever. I love that we're using our own measurements so I've now got blocks to use...

A post about one of my speediest makes to date today! Well it would have been an exceptionally quick make if it hadn't been the first time I'd tried working with knits...yes I finally did it! I'd read up on quite a few tips from other bloggers ( Lauren from Lladybird's post is great) so it didn't take too long to work out the slightly different handling techniques and I think it was quite a success! Plus it's a wearable everyday piece that isn't a top to pair with jeans, so it fulfils my post Me-Made-May aim of creating a more practical wardrobe! After making my Circle-Skirted Elisalex and drafting my first circle skirt I fell in love with the style and promptly added 'make more circle skirts' to my sewing to do list. I've had this navy polka dot jersey in my stash since my very first big fabric shopping trip to Walthamstow market. I got it in Saeed's for some kind of bargain price and I'm actually really pleased with the quality. ...