Diary of a Chain Stitcher

I usually tend to start with the pattern when I'm planning sewing projects. I'm either inspired by the pattern itself or by a style of garment and then find a pattern to match or hack. However, on this occasion I started with the fabric and am so pleased I did as this has turned into one of the most joyous items of clothing in my wardrobe! A couple of months ago Polina from Good Fabric reached out to me to see I would be interested in reviewing a fabric from her online store. I was very happy to have the opportunity to work with her as all of the fabrics she stocks have a variety of sustainable and eco-friendly credentials and are drop dead gorgeous to boot!

Any of my friends and family will be able to tell you that my love for books, especially huge coffee table tomes about the history of fashion, is verging on an obsession. Especially my Dad who has helped me move my ever increasing collection from flat to flat over the last decade! I have a huge bookcase of beautiful books covering sewing, costume and all genres of fashion. It may seem strange therefore that I don't often write sewing book reviews but in all honesty I have so many books and so little space now that it takes something really specially to get a yes when asked 'would you like a review copy?' It took me about 2 seconds to decide when Laurence King got in touch with me last month and I got my first peak at ' Creating Couture Embellishment ' by Ellen W. Miller. YES PLEASE! The book is set for release here in the UK on July 17th 2017 but is a timeless sourcebook of ideas for fabric manipulation and decoration. The author has taught extensively at Bost...

It's a well known fact within my family and friends that I have a bit of a sewing/costume/fashion book addiction. I have quite a large bookshelf of hefty tomes that is the first thing my Dad thinks of every time I've asked him to help me move! It's not often that I'll take up the offer to review a sewing book here on the blog as the limited amount of space I now have means I try to make only careful book selections that are unlike any other in my library. When I was approached to take a look at the recently released ' Make It, Own It, Love It ' by Matt Chapple (the 2015 winner of The Great British Sewing Bee) the thing that swung my decision to accept was the inclusion of 'everything you need to know about repairing and maintaining you attire'. I hadn't come across another book focusing on that aspect of home sewing before and was intrigued. My first impression was that this is a really good looking book! I really like the photography and illust...

I've often turned green eyed with envy at pictures of other sewer's beautiful custom woven garment labels. 'Handmade by...', 'Made With Love' or my personal favourite 'Made with !*£@!' But I've never actually got round to getting any of my own. When sewing and blogging time is in short supply giving up any of it to design my own labels is just not going to happen! However, when Nominette contacted me a little while back to ask if I'd like some of my own in return for a review it was just the push I needed to finally take the plunge and I was pleasantly surprised by how quick and easy the process was. Despite the sponsored nature of this post the opinions in it are my genuine perception of the process and product and I agreed to the post because they are something I had genuinely often been tempted by and thought you readers would too! I was offered 100 of the 25mm wide clothing labels with logo . You have to make a number of design decision...

I believe it to be a fairly well known fact amongst home sewers that pressing is one of the most important steps in garment construction. Well pressed seams and features can take a garment from looking homemade to indistinguishable from professional. Steam is probably the most important aspect for this process; it can shape and mould your fabric and also give life to older garments which won't stand for or would be tricky to press. Working in theatre I've long appreciated the value of a good steam. All wardrobe departments will house a big stand steamer for sprucing up costumes which won't stand for pressing and to prolong life between trips to the dry cleaner. Steam can give skirts bounce, give shape to a suit sleeve head and perk up bows. I've actually borrowed a little hand held steamer from work before when I wanted to wear a particular rtw dress to a friend's wedding but it was looking rather crumpled and sorry for itself! The fabric would have stood up ...