Diary of a Chain Stitcher

I've just got a quick post lined up for you today while I'm wandering about the streets of Paris, hopefully not blowing all my spending money on fabric and macarons alone! I need to save up some pennies as I'm really looking forward to heading to the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show with my Mum and Nan this year. From Thursday 1st March to Sunday 4th it will taking place at Olympia, London. I always particularly enjoy the show at this venue and there seems to be an increasing amount of dressmaking related stalls and fabric shops selling fabric suited to dressmaking in recent years. I usually try and go with a bit of a shopping list in mind or the inspiring choice can get a little overwhelming but one or two extra little purchases usually find their way home with me...oops! As well as the huge number of sewing, knitting and craft specialists to shop with (you'll be sure to find some of your favourite retailers there) there's an expanding variety of worksho...

Just a quick post today for my UK based readers (or readers further afield who might fancy a trip to London in October!). There's a new dressmaking event in town brought to us by Upper Street Events in collaboration with Love Productions who brought us The Great British Sewing Bee! The Great British Sewing Bee Live will be taking place at Excel London from 21st-24th September 2017 and there will be a whole host of things going on to entertain and inspire anyone with a passion for sewing, fashion and textiles. It looks to have a fairly similar format to the Knitting & Stitching Show which I've had a brilliant time attending for the last few years. I always discover something knew and leave inspired to sew but as much as I'm interested in and inspired by all kinds of craft my real passion is sewing and dressmaking so I'm really excited to see an event focused purely on that. Plus of course anything to do with the Bee has my extra special interest as I was lucky...

Just a quick post for you all today to introduce you to a newly launched online fabric store called Fabrics For Sale . I've been keen to spread the word about this new opening as I really like the look of the site and the products they are offering. The company operate out of a warehouse in Leicester, UK and offer a selection of fabrics for dressmaking and upholstery at very reasonable prices. I love that the company is operated by a team of young women who are passionate about fabric and about offering us home sewers with a more varied and unusual choice. Their stock is sourced from all over the world and includes technologically forward and digitally printed designs alongside classics such as Liberty prints. I'm particularly drawn to their fairly substantial selection of viscose/rayon which I often find hard to get hold of in prints and colours I like here in the UK. These are a few of the many that have caught my eye and may soon be making their way into my shopping basket...

I've got a slightly different post lined up for you today. I've been a bit slow about it but I'm finally catching up with the writing process blog hop that's been doing the rounds! The ever so cool Nicole Needles nominated me for it a few weeks back, sorry that it's taken me so long Nicole! I've got to answer four questions to give you guys an insight into why and how I write my blog so here it goes: What am I working on? Despite taking a couple of 'sew-cation' days last week and blitzing through a few UFOs and projects that were cut out and waiting for me as always I've got more sewing ideas buzzing around my head than I've got time to sew! I'm part way through a pair of Sew Over It Ultimate Trousers which I'm having a few fitting issues with as they are my very first pair of trousers! I've made some alterations already which has made a vast improvement but I think I might be posting some pictures for advice soon as I've ...

It's been a hectic week around here so without further ado, selected by random, the very lucky winner of the White Russian Sweatshirt PDF pattern from Capital Chic Patterns is.... Lorna from Little Sewing Corner ! Congratulations Lorna! I'll be sending you an email to confirm that that is the correct address you would like the PDF pattern delivered to and then I'll hand over to Sally from Capital Chic to send it on direct. I can't wait to see your unique spin on this versatile wardrobe staple. If you weren't lucky enough to win this time never fear I have some more exciting news for all of you! The lovely Charlotte from English Girl At Home is organising a large sewing meet-up in Birmingham on Saturday 4th October. Not only will attendees get the chance to fabric shop to their heart's content in Birmingham City Centre a short bus ride away in Moseley Village is Guthrie & Ghani , the sewing shop and cafe run by Lauren from the first ser...

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!

It's taken me slightly longer to post this than I had intended and I have no real excuse other than being completely absorbed in sewing my Robson Coat! But the moment has arrived and chosen by random number generator the winner is.... The Amazing Taracat! Congratulations! I am seeing that as a reward for always making me laugh with your posts! Please shoot me a quick email with your address and I'll get the pattern pyramid in the post to you as soon as.

A little while ago I was the lucky winner of a giveaway for the Wellington Pattern Pyramid hosted by Catja from Gjeometry! If you haven't heard of a 'pattern pyramid' giveaway before it is an idea dreamed up by Karen of Did You Make That. She very generously gave away quite a large number of patterns on her blog, a selection of patterns went to each winner who could then choose one of those patterns to keep and host their own giveaway for rest, adding in one from their own collection. The sewing network of Wellington, New Zealand liked the idea so much they decided to start their own when they had a number of patterns going spare after a big meet up and swap. It's a fantastic idea to save patterns going to waste. I was so excited to win, partly because I just love the idea of this bundle of patterns winging it's way around the world. I know it's been to New Zealand and Canada so far, where too next?! As well as having the most inventive way of deciding ...

So I've got quite a few very deserved thank you's to be saying to you lovely sewing ladies (and gentlemen if there are any reading!). Reading your blogs and comments and just being involved in this wonderful sewing community generally puts a smile on my face but there's four things in particular to do with you lot that have put an extra big smile on my face recently! First up I'd like to say thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post about my first experiment with the Elisalex pattern. I had a bit of a rough time with the fabric when making it and as a result was NOT loving the outcome and not feeling particularly great in it. Your kind and supportive comments have completely reversed my opinion and rid me of my doubt about whether this pattern was for me or not, so much so I've planned another one! Secondly I was delighted to discover I had won Catja's Wellington Pattern Pyramid Giveaway over on her blog Gjeometry ! Catja's sews up som...

The big moment has arrived and it's time to announce the winners of my little giveaway to celebrate passing 50 followers! I've used the random number generator to pick the lucky winners so without further ado... The winner of the Lisette pattern is... Entrant No. 3 - Shelley from Cuckoo Chanel  who made a beautiful Anise jacket in honour of her recent blog-iversary! And the winner of the Cynthia Rowley pattern is... Entrant No. 6 - Vicki Kate from Vicki Kate Makes ! Vicki makes some seriously gorgeous dresses and was the brains behind the wonderful Sew Very Merry Christmas Swap! Congratulations to both you lovely ladies, I'll send you an email to get your addresses and then get these patterns in the post and on their way to being turned into lovely creations! UPDATE - Shelley I couldn't see your email anywhere on your profile so would you please be able to send me an email with your address? Thanks!

It's time for my very first giveaway! According to Bloglovin' I've just reached 50 followers! Well actually that big number has passed by in a sudden surge which I'm putting down to Rachel's fantastic meet up at the weekend! Google reader has me down as having 25 followers too so actually I could say I've just passed 75 but I've got an inkling that some of those may be the same people as on Bloglovin' due to the recent news about the impending end of Google Reader; so let's just say this giveaway is to celebrate passing the big 5 0. I can't believe there's that many people out there in the world who want to see what I have to say and what I have sewn! I get so excited every time I see a new follower and every single one of your comments is HUGELY appreciated so thank you for taking the time to read and share your thoughts. I feel like I'm making real friends through this little blog of mine and I've learnt so much about sewing fro...