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My First Coat (Avid Seamstress)

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I've needed a new coat for a few winters now and with my new skills I just had to try making one for myself. I decided upon the Avid Seamstress - The Coat after I was able to try on a sample at The Stitch Festival. It really helped my confidence to at least know that I was making the correct size. I made a size 12 (one size smaller than my measurements would suggest) and knew that the only adjustment needed was lengthening of the sleeves. I spotted this subtle pink tweed on The Fabric Store website and realised it would go *perfectly* with an unknown shiny pink fabric I had picked up from The New Craft House stall at The Stitch Festival. There was one flaw in the plan - the coat pattern I had didn't actually include a full lining. It had a buggy lining and suggested binding all the raw edges. I was feeling far too lazy to do that much binding so I decided to attempt drafting a full lining instead (because that is obviously easier). I did a lot of research to figure out the g...
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Sew your own clothes!

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This is a guide of everything I wish I knew when sewing my first garment. It does not teach you how to sew, rather it gives guidance on everything except the actual sewing. There are so many blog posts and youtube tutorials for particular sewing techniques but I couldn’t find one that concisely (I tried!) explained all the other steps. This guide contains many opinions and skips over some details in the hope of not over complicating things, so use it as a starting point for googling further questions. Tools needed A sewing machine 1 Fabric scissors Pins Tailor’s chalk/water erasable marker Seam ripper (mistakes will happen!) Iron + Ironing board  Choose a first pattern When choosing a pattern I think the best option is to go for an independent 2 pattern designer as the instructions are often clearer, with more steps fully explained - especially if you choose one marked as ‘Beginner’. The prices of indie patterns can be rather high but there is a decent selection...
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The Perfect Summer Trousers

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I cannot speak highly enough of this pattern. The fact that I had never made trousers before and they were successful the first time, should say enough. (For all the NZers reading this, sorry for the betrayal but I have now lived in the UK for 2 years and have almost successfully been trained into saying trousers instead of pants!) What a wonderful pair of pants... er, trousers. The Sew House Seven Free Range Slacks is an incredibly versatile pattern that can have many different looks in different fabrics. However, I fell in love with the relaxed linen versions that I had been seeing on Instagram. Though I wasn’t totally sold on the look of the elastic waistband, I loved all the other details and knew that at least the elastic waistband should mean they will definitely fit. I bought some beautiful pink Enzyme Washed Eco Linen from Fabric Godmother during the Black Friday sales. I knew I didn’t have time to sew them before I was due to catch a flight back to New Zealand, so I...
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Back to the Beginning

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My first 100% successful garment! If this blog is going to be a true representation of my sewing journey then I need to skip back in time a little before I go further forward. I’m going to share the very first garments I made! Before I began down the path of making my first garment I had taken ‘Intro to Machine Sewing’ part 1 & 2 at Ray Stitch . In this course I made a tote bag and a half scale skirt muslin and picked up many of the basic skills. This course gave me the confidence to go out and buy a sewing machine, a necessary first step! Being able to make my own clothes was really my goal so I booked in for the ‘Intro to Dressmaking’ course (also at Ray Stitch). Unfortunately the next course with times that suited me wasn’t for a couple of months. I wasn’t going to let my new sewing machine gather dust, so I set out to find a pattern to follow on my own. I decided pyjamas were the perfect choice because I knew I would wear them even if they were less than perfect. With t...
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A Reversible Arum Dress

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Two dresses in one! When I found this glorious sparkly jacquard knit fabric at the New Craft House open day I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it, but I thought some kind of shift dress would work well. Then I remembered I had the Deer and Doe Arum dress pattern from when I got over-excited during a sale and bought 3 Deer and Doe ones all at once. (Stay tuned for the other two!)
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