Diary of a Chain Stitcher

One of my most worn pieces in my handmade holiday wardrobe, certainly whilst I was in Africa, I didn't have time to document before I left. They are another design from the Papercut Patterns' new collection and are again effortlessly wearable but a unique style with interesting design details. These are the Palisade Shorts which can also be made as tapered trousers. I've had this heavyweight paprika linen from The Fabric Store in my stash since last summer as I originally had them in mind for a pair of shorts using the True Bias Lander Pants pattern or possibly the Tessuti Esther Shorts but once I saw this new release I couldn't resist. I really put these shorts through their paces whilst travelling and I ran out of time to get them photographed beforehand so what you're seeing here is far from new! They've had a few hard washes a tumble dries in shared laundry facilities at campsites in Africa which isn't usually how I care for my linen and...

The next item of my travel wardrobe is done and dusted and it is a true staple. These denim shorts are made with the new Dawn Jeans pattern from Megan Nielsen and were an absolute joy to sew. I'd forgotten how much I love getting my teeth stuck into a challenge and a garment with so many little details and techniques to master. I used a denim which I picked up at the last  Fabric Godmother  open day, I believe it was this 12oz Raw Denim if my memory serves me right! I actually managed to squeeze these out of what I had left over from making a pair of Persephone Pants (still awaiting a blog post but there is a sneaky peak at the end of this post !). They don't take much fabric as lots of those little bits and pieces for pockets and fly you can squeeze in around the main pieces. This denim is nice and robust for a pair of jeans or shorts and is the kind of denim which will only get better with wear. I got so much pleasure out of sewing all those little details particu...

I don't know how popular Pinterest is any more but I still use it ALL the time for collecting images to inspire my sewing along with tutorials and tips. It's good for giving my sewing ideas some focus as I can see what I'm drawn to but whilst I'm very good at collecting the images I'm not so good at translating the images into reality. This outfit is finally some sort of recreation of the image below which I've returned to a number of times over the past few summers but have never been able to find quite the fabric I need. I love the combination of slightly relaxed fit, texture and monochrome print. They look chic and somewhat tailored but still comfortable and cool. Click image for source The Fabric Store listed a number of yarn dyed striped and checked linens along with a few prints a few months back and despite still being in the depths of winter here in London they made me instantly think of the above image. I was finally going to have the slouc...

This month's project for the Mood Sewing Network was all about sewing a holiday wardrobe. With a couple of trips planned I had my eye out for summer prints which I'd still be able to get some wear out of at home in London. This Tropically Printed Denim jumped right out at me and I was ordering it without a second thought. Unfortunately it's now sold out in both colour ways which I'm not surprised about. It was one of those instances when you see the fabric and instantly know what you want to make it into. In this case high waisted, tropical shorts for wandering about Cannes in. Mood do have a whole host of other tropical prints on their site at the moment though; I'm a particular fan of this cotton . When the fabric arrived it was just what I was hoping for, the fabric descriptions on the Mood Fabrics website very rarely disappoint. A pretty lightweight denim, almost verging on a chambray, with a smooth and fairly crisp hand. I absolutely love the scale o...

I've been wanting to make up this garment for absolutely ages. I loved the fit of my By Hand London Holly Jumpsuit pattern test and as my plan for this winter is to nail making trousers for myself I decided why not start with a shorts version of a pattern I already know works for me?! I went through a pretty crazy spell of work a short while ago but the determination to wear these to the press night of the show I've just finished meant I somehow managed to squeeze in a bit of sewing time to get them done! They were actually the perfect make to get me back at the machine as the whole process from cutting to hemming only took about 3 hours. I actually returned to my test version of the Holly Jumpsuit pattern to make these rather than using the final release. I was really happy with the fit of my playsuit and knew that a little extra room had been added to the bum of the pattern after testing so decided to stick with what I knew worked! I'm really pleased that I did thi...