Diary of a Chain Stitcher

I don't know what possessed me to make this dress when I'm not going any place suitable to wear a dress this fancy for the foreseeable future. But I do know that I loved making it and I'm excited to be able to wear it to drink some sort of cocktail in eventually. I guess I had an urge to work with a piece of really beautiful fabric which this Liberty print silk satin certainly is. After making somewhat practical clothing for quite some time it was refreshing to put my sewing skills to the test making this and bring out all those refined techniques. 

Elbe Textiles are one of my favourite indie pattern discoveries of last year. They produce women's, mens and unisex patterns (I love Lauren's thoughts on gendered clothing in modern western society) alongside a few accessory designs. Their designs have a chic, modern, minimalist vibe and are effortlessly wearable. Just what I need in my life. Their samples are all made up in lovely tactile natural fibres and I'm drawn to their sustainable sewing ethos. A few months back owner Lauren posted a tutorial for a Zero Waste Kimono Pattern and it was the first thing I thought of when I realised I needed a lightweight cover-up for my holidays. Zero waste sewing (using up every scrap of your fabric for a project) is increasingly drawing my attention. I hate waste and I'm sure a lot of you, like me have been appalled to learn more over the last year about the impact of the clothing industry and waste from it on our planet and the people on it. How I can change my own sewin...

Another winter, another coat and another huge long blog post to go with it! I hadn't actually planned to make a coat this year but, unusually for me, I was taken with a piece of fabric rather than a pattern and couldn't get the thought out of my head. I was browsing through The Fabric Store website trying to decide what to get with this month's allowance as a brand ambassador and found myself in the woven wools section. Each time I've had the opportunity to choose fabric from this gorgeous company I've literally gone through every page of the site with a fine tooth comb in case I miss anything extra special. There are some real gems there, although you can't really go wrong with whatever you order. Anyway, their double faced cashmere blend coating caught my eye. At first I was disappointed to discover that a particularly stunning shade of powder blue only had a metre left in stock, and the camel too but it must have been fate as I'll get so much more wea...

At the start of the month The Fabric Store got in touch to see if I'd be interested in trying out a selection of their fabrics. Of course I jumped at the chance as I've been addicted to this store since I visited their LA branch 18 months ago and was blown away by their carefully curated selection ideal for dressmaking. They are New Zealand based but their online store has been shipping to the UK for about a year now with free speedy delivery over $150. If you're a long time reader of my blog you'll already be aware that I adore their merino wools so this time I tried to branch out a try a wider selection...although I couldn't resist snagging a piece of this merino/polpropylene honeycomb jacquard . I've never seen anything like it and the idea of some merino sportswear was too tempting! I sewed up my new favourite t-shirt over the weekend from this marle rib knit and to get a good variety in my selection I added a couple of metres of rich teal linen which I...

The dress I've got to share with you today has been a real labour of love and I enjoyed every single second of making it. Even the whole day spent fitting the bodice! I like nothing better than a reason to sew myself something special and challenging and what better reason could I have than the wedding of my step-sister 10 days ago? I mulled over what I wanted to make for over a year and bought the fabric long before I decided on a style and pattern. When I visited Mood Fabrics NYC last April I spent a good hour pawing at bolts in the glorious silk section and when I glimpsed this vibrant Kelly Green 4 Ply Silk Crepe it was love at first sight. It has got the most amazing thickness and weight to it combined with such a luxurious drape and sheen. Its similar to what I would call a silk morocain here in the UK. At $35/yard it was a real treat but similar silks this side of the Atlantic are likely to cost double. I on the spot decided that this was going to be used for my wedding o...

I made a fair few handmade gifts that I was really proud of back in December. The first of which was this silk robe which was a birthday gift for my friend Checca. I wanted to give her something super special as it was a special birthday plus I knew she'd appreciate something I had sewn as she sews too (and is very talented at it, I keep on at her to start a blog!). That did mean the pressure was on to make a really good job of it though as she'd spot any mistakes! I do enjoy sewing gifts for the home and other small soft goods but what I really like to sew is clothes. However, when making clothes as gifts I always come a bit unstuck when it comes to the fit as you can't try it on them without ruining the surprise! For Checca's present I thought about what clothing I could make that had a more generic size range and wouldn't need a fitting. I suddenly remembered that I'd chosen the Almada Robe pattern with some of my original Seamwork credits as I couldn'...