Girl Can Sew

Yet another New Craft House fabric drop and another statement look. I’m a sucker for unique fabrics and textures and this orange pvc is definitely that! It has a cream open weave backing with this orange plastic adhered to it which reminds me of the high vis jackets workmen wear when they’re repairing pipes in the road – always an aspirational look ha! Now while this could make a fantastic jacket (and I do have quite a bit left so I might well do that) I thought it would be a cute 1960s style mini skirt and I had envisioned a contrasting chunky black zip. I already had a pattern which would fit the bill, the Sister Mini from Vanessa Pouzet which I had previously made in corduroy. The pattern calls for a lining which gives it a very neat finish hiding all the raw edges so I just used some black cotton I had left from a previous project. One of the great thing about this pattern is it only uses a meter of fabric, if that! There’s two pattern pieces, a front and a back and that’s i...

  I’ve actually made something not from fabric bought from New Craft House ! This is the same wiggle skirt pattern I used in my last post but this time made up in a William Morris cotton curtain which I bought from Oxfam Online . The print is called ‘Blackthorn’. For this version it was essential that I considered the placement of the pattern and pattern matched across seams where possible. This particular WM fabric has quite a distinct pattern repeat with a clear line where the centre is so I took this to be my centre front and back. I didn’t worry about pattern matching the side seams because they are curved and won’t match anyway and also I knew I’d probably have to make some fitting adjustments.   I did the same adjustments on this version as the previous one, bringing in the side seams at the hip and tapering down to give a wiggle shape. The only difference with this version being how I inserted this zip. I was concerned this fabric could look a little frumpy so I want...

Another bold fabric choice for this fitted pencil skirt, this fabric is from New Craft House (Again! Love them for their unique, one of kind pieces). It’s black velvet with a foiled croc effect, when have you ever seen anything like this?! As soon as I saw this I knew I’d be kicking myself if I didn’t get it and once it arrived there really was only one thing I could imagine it becoming – a party skirt! Not that there are any parties to attend right now but a girl can dream! I wanted to keep the style simple to make the most of the fabric and also because the foiled pieces would make it difficult to sew any small details. I already had the My Capsule Wardrobe book but hadn’t made anything from it yet, looking through I forgot how great this book is! It has really clear diagrams and explanations for every little step and gives you ideas and guidance on how to hack the basic blocks provided to get more use out of them.The Fold Line did a thorough review of the book here . First of al...

  I planned to make this skirt last winter but then we had a scorching hot spring and it felt wrong to be making anything in corduroy! Even though it is my favourite fabric. Once we hit October it was like someone flicked a switch and we are now deep into autumn and I can finally get back to those projects I put on hold. First on my list was the Salida skirt from TrueBias . My brother had kindly gifted this pattern to me last Christmas – Thanks Bro! I’d picked up some buttery soft, forest green corduroy from Goldhawk Road, back in the days when we could venture into London and weren’t fearful of the bustling streets! Before I could begin I had to choose which size to make, I have been blessed with quite a curvy figure which meant my waist was a good 4 sizes smaller than my hips which was a bit problematic as this is a fitted skirt. I persevered and decided to cut the waistband to the smaller size and everything else to the larger size and then once sewn, and before attaching the ...

  This make came up a little bit by chance as I was planning on using the Mind the Maker fabric which I picked up from Sew Me Sunshine to make a wrap skirt but I hadn’t yet decided which pattern and others I’d seen looked like they’d be too long on me. Until I saw an advert for this new pattern company – Made Label offering a free wrap skirt pattern which fit the bill completely! So I went ahead and downloaded, printed and assembled the pattern. Which was really easy to do, the colours and bold lines made it really easy to assemble and each pattern piece is assembled separately so you don’t need to worry about creating a giant pattern sheet that won’t even fit on your floor! Each size is a separate PDF as well so you don’t get confusing merging lines or have to worry about constantly checking the key for your size. Really simple pattern with only 6 pattern pieces and because it’s a wrap there’s no need to worry about any closures or fit issues. There are no written instruct...

Hey Everyone! Continuing with the skirt theme this week I bring you another make from my week off work, the Clemence Skirt by everyone's favourite indie pattern house Tilly & The Buttons. I had the opportunity of meeting Tilly at the Knitting & Stitching Show earlier in the year and I have to admit I did feel like a total fan girl! Tilly is sewing royalty and I find what she does as a female entrepreneur truly inspirational. The Clemence skirt is somewhat of a cult pattern featured in Tilly's book 'Love at First Stitch' which I'm sure is no news to you whatsoever as most people I hear talk about sewing refer to this book as being their introduction to sewing. Worn here with Simplicity K8376 I have been wanting to make this skirt since I got the book 3 years ago but I had not seen the right fabric - until now! When I was at the first Sewing Bee Live show a couple years ago I saw this jelly fish fabric (Michael Miller 'Into the Deep') on dis...

Hi Sewers! The weather is slowly turning here in the UK which means I can actually photograph my makes! I've also been taking this opportunity to re-evaluate my sewing plans and going through the Seamwork - Build Your Own Wardrobe series again. I'm really keen to sew things which I know that I am going to love and keep wearing time and time again rather than just making for the sake of it so I'm taking my time and planning it all out until I am certain. I recently had some time off work and what better way to spend my time than to sew! I sewed everyday for almost the entire day for about 7 days and I was starting to get a bit tired of it by the end if I'm honest with you! There's something quite lonely about being on holiday when no one else is even if I am spending my time doing something I adore. The next series of makes were as a result of this time off I had. The first thing I made was actually a stash buster! Last year I made the Nina Lee - Kew Dress an...

Hey Sewers! It's been a busy week and I've been sewing up a storm so for this blog entry I bring you a bumper edition - two reviews in one! The first is the Freya top by Tilly & the Buttons made in striped rib knit from Goldhawk Road and the second is the Erin Skirt by Sew Over IT (from the ebook My Capsule Wardrobe) made in a chunky cord also from Goldhawk Road - I had a shopping spree there after I'd planned all my autumn/winter makes so a lot of my fabric is from there at the moment! Freya top - Tilly & the Buttons I am a really big fan of Tilly's patterns and so I was really excited to finally open up my Stretch book and sew my first make. This make was inspired by my Seamwork mood board which is heavily leaning towards 70's style and colours. This fabric kind of reminds me of old tube seats - I love it! The pattern was incredibly easy to follow. This make took me about 3 hours from tracing the pattern to wearing my finished top and I even pa...