Diary of a Chain Stitcher

When you can sew it's very tempting to make endless beautiful dresses in gorgeous prints and fabrics. Despite being all for sewing being about the process and the enjoyment you get out of that rather than the end product, over the last couple of years I've had to come to terms with the fact that my wardrobe and day to day life really don't need any more pretty dresses. It's just not what I wear on a regular basis. The old I need more cake but I want to play with frosting dilemma. I do, however, make the most out of ANY excuse to make myself something more extravagant (see for example the dress I made for my stepsister's wedding). Cue my 30th birthday and just the reason I'd been waiting for to make myself something more frivolous. I'm not having a big glamorous party or anything and was actually working up in Newcastle over my actual birthday so an all out show stopper of a ball gown or cocktail frock wasn't exactly the ticket. But I could certainly tre...

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...

One of my main sewing aims this year has been to develop my skills and confidence when it comes to working with knits. I'm happy to say, despite a somewhat mixed start, I've been really delighted with my last couple of knit garments. I've made a handful of Sewaholic's Renfrew Top over the last six months or so but as yet have not got around to sharing them with you guys. I thought it might be a good idea to group them all into one post as I made them all at various points on my knit sewing journey and there's quite a mixture of results! I gave myself a good challenge with this first one, not only choosing the most difficult neckline option with the tricky point to sew but also using a stripe! The one thing I am actually pleased about with this is the stripe matching! It was fairly straight forward as both colours are a nice wide stripe. I cut everything out on the flat and when pinning the side seams I used a pin at the top and bottom of each stripe to m...

I always have big grand plans for summer sewing as it's my favourite time of year to dress for. I'm always so inspired by lightweight fabrics, abstract prints and breezy styles of summer garments. The list of things I would like to make is endless, however the summer months are usually the busiest time of year for me work wise so before I know it the good weather is vanishing and my dream list is still endless. I made a concentrated effort to get started early this year and am therefore happier with my summer wardrobe than I have been before. After seeing Sophie from Ada Spragg's stunning pattern tester version , one item that made it straight onto my summer sewing list when it was released earlier this year is Sewaholic's Gabriola Maxi Skirt pattern. I finished this a few weeks ago now so I am super pleased to get at least one version of it made up in time for plenty of wear! I was on the look out for the perfect Gabriola fabric on Goldhawk Road during Ra...

I really enjoyed the challenge of making my first Robson coat last year and had been considering making another for this spring. I spotted this Marc Jacobs Water-Resistant Ecru Dotted Silk on the Mood Fabrics website way back at the start of the year and knew it would be a match made in heaven for Sewaholic's awesome trench coat pattern . It was love at first sight! I was a little apprehensive about working with this unusual type of fabric but I've been trying to push my fabric boundaries so jumped in at the deep end with my second make for the Mood Sewing Network ! I'm so pleased I did as this treated silk is just wonderful. It's got a gorgeous sheen to it and I absolutely love the proportions of the dots; from afar it almost looks like a plain classic trench but move a little closer and you pick up on the added pop of fun! Being silk it's pretty lightweight and despite the waterproof coating has a nice drape to it. It's definitely weighty enoug...

There has been a sewing frenzy going on around here for the last few weeks but I haven't been able to show you a lot of it. Expect a post early in 2014 full of the crafty gifts I've been working on this Christmas! I was itching to get back to sewing some clothes for myself but running out of hours before heading home for Christmas. I cut out a Papercut Patterns La Sylphide dress which has been in the works for ages, determined to make it up in time for the end of the sew along but was forced to admit to myself that it just wasn't going to happen before Christmas. I'm using a rather special piece of fabric too so decided rushing it would be a big mistake. I was desperate to finish one last project before the end of the year though so rescued this blouse which had actually been discarded in a corner as a sewing disaster. It's a Sewaholic Pendrell made using some polyester crepe I got in UK Textiles on Goldhawk Road a while back. It was pretty pricey for a ...