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How I made my reversible Liberty quilted jacket of dreams: tips & tricks
Many years ago, when I was living in Durham in the north of England, courtesy of the Erasmus programme, I remember walking into Monsoon for the first time and falling in love with their colourful quilted jackets embellished with beads, sequins, and embroidery. But they were way out of my price range. I’ve been dreaming of making a jacket like that for myself for years, collected precious bits of Liberty fabric, and here we finally are. As you can see, in the end I left off any embellishments, as I thought it was already statement enough, but one day I’ll hopefully make another jacket which will be even more colourful….…
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What’s on my sewing-themed bookshelf, part I: Pattern books
I don’t know about you, but when I’m not sewing, I’m thinking about it, looking for inspiration, or browsing sewing books. And I have a lot to choose from! So I’ve decided to show you what’s on my bookshelves in a three-part series. Today we’ll have a look at pattern books, next time on more technical books about pattern cutting, fitting and sewing techniques reference books, and in the final part I’ll share some tips on sewing-themed novels. Maybe one of these will catch your eye. 1. Tilly Walnes: Love at First Stitch (2017) I feel Tilly’s debut is a classic in the sewing community by now. She published it…
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“Come a-waltzing Matilda with me”: Megan Nielsen Matilda shirt dress
Years ago when I first came across Megan Nielsen, the Matilda shirt dress instantly caught my eye. I love shirt dresses, and this one stood out with the amount of beautiful details – top-stitched seams, angled pockets, little grown-on sleeves, waistband, breast pockets… And also the name, of course! If you’ve been following me for a while, you might know I spent some time in Australia and it will always have a very special place in my heart. Of course, Megan Nielsen is an Australian company and the name of the pattern – Matilda – seems to be a reference to the Australian song Waltzing Matilda, a famous bush ballad…
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One Sewing Pattern Three Ways: My Obsession with The French Poetry Leo Dress
Who would have thought that my favourite dress would one day be a leopard print long-sleeved high-necked number with a gathered skirt. I used to hate leopard print and gathered skirts. In fact, I still kind of do. But I realised that I only hate animal prints that look realistic and I still hate gathered skirts in anything but lightweight fabrics. So there we have it. That’s how I’ve ended up with three French Poetry Leo dresses, two of which have coulourful leopard print. And I don’t think that will be the final count. Leo Dress no. 1 in an Atelier Jupe viscose Last spring I made my first Leo…
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Hacking diaries: the Deer and Doe Myosotis dress hack inspired by an RTW dress
Tell me, how many screenshots of RTW clothes do you have on your phone? As a sewist (and I’m sure I am not alone in this), I have a whole different outlook on fashion now. It’s not just about liking or wanting something. What I’m interested in the most are the style lines, the seams, the construction, the fabric, and whether I know a pattern that I could replicate it with. In the summer, Instagram kept showing me an ad for this Reserved dress for so long, I fell for it. But not in a way that would benefit the clothing brand, haha. I decided I really liked the style…
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5 things I learned knitting my way through the pandemic: tips for newbie knitters
As some of you may know, in the spring of last year, when all this pandemic business started, I picked up knitting. At the time, amidst lockdowns and uncertaintly of what the world was plunged into, I was still super busy with work, my PhD, and an intensive course in web development that I had just started. Between all of that I did not really have much time or energy to sew. But I needed to do something creative with my hands, so I decided to give knitting a go and have not really stopped since. My first project was Andrea Mowry’s Find Your Fade shawl (you can read more…
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A Tale of Three Marguerites: the Evolution and Alterations of My Favourite Sew Over It Pattern
Sew Over It has been one of the first indie companies I’ve discovered through Lisa’s YouTube videos and have since made many of their patterns. They do really gorgeous dresses, and it’s hard to choose a favourite, but mine is probably the Marguerite dress that came out a couple of years ago. Lisa designed it based on the dresses worn by the character of Marguerite in the movie The Hundred-foot Journey and I instantly fell in love with it. Marguerite dress #1 – don’t skip your toile! I made my first version soon after it came out in the gorgeous and immensely popular Moonstone Green Atelier Brunette viscose. It was…
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Is a shirred dress pattern worth your money? A review of The Victory Patterns Sofia
Shirred dresses have been very popular in the last couple of years and I’m sure you have seen many tutorials on how to do one without a pattern just by cutting rectangles of fabric and sewing them together. It took me a while to give shirring a go myself as I wasn’t sure I liked the look of it that much. But then I discovered the Victory Patterns Sofia dress. While I think the free tutorials are a wonderful way to go if you don’t want to spend money on a pattern, a professional pattern definitely offers many advantages. What I like the most about the Sofia is that the…
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Back wrap dress tied with a bow: A Sew Over It Molly top hack
I love following a pattern, but sometimes, when an idea strikes you and you see an image of a garment right in front of your eyes, but can’t think of a pattern to use, it presents a great opportunity to get creative with what you have. This was the case when I saw this Art Gallery fruity jersey in the fabric shop. I knew I wanted a dress that would wrap over at the back and have a tie at the top for good measure, because we all know how much I love me a bow (and it’s also functional, preventing the dress from potentially slipping down the shoulders). I…
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The Joys of Slow Sewing and Pattern Adjustments: McCall’s M7974 Dress
The lovely Sally of @modistasewing organised a challenge in April which encouraged sewists to share pattern adjustments they make to achieve a better fit. The #memademodista challenge inspired me to sink my teeth into the M7974 by McCall’s that I’ve been lusting over since it came out. Now that their patterns come digitally, it was easy to get during one of their 4.99 $ sales. The bodice comes with a plunging v-neck, gathers at the bust and shoulder to add shaping, a back yoke, and a midriff panel. I knew I would have to toile this and adjust the bust to make it sit in the right place, and this…
