Girl Can Sew

Introduction: Honestly, I have been wanting to make a white linen shirt since I lost a beloved Hollister one I wore to death and this project has been in my stash for over a year now because other projects kept coming up. Anyway, I’ve finally made it ( Olya Shirt, Paper Theory ) and I couldn’t be happier with the result! If only I made it sooner! Fabric: I bought this linen from The Cloth Shop on Berwick Street, it was a little pricey but for a simple shirt which I’m going to wear all the time I wanted to make sure it would stand the test of time. It’s quite a medium weight with a rough texture that holds its shape easily so I knew it would be a good match for this style of shirt. If you’re looking for high-quality natural fibres then The Cloth Shop is the place to go, they also stock vintage trims which are beautiful! I picked up the buttons from here too, they’re coconut. Pattern: This pattern has very interesting cutting lines which are a bit confusing at first but it does c...

Worn here with my TATBs Tabitha T-Shirt Introduction I recently resubscribed to Fibremood magazine as I was impressed with the selection on the most recent edition, number 13 which this pattern is from. I’m usually exclusively wearing skinny jeans but I loved the shape of the Babette trousers and thought they’d look wonderful in the summer worn with Birkenstocks, as I have them styled here. Fabric & Notions The fabric is Robert Kaufman Bleached Indigo Washed Denim 10oz from Sister Mintaka . I didn’t own any light wash denim and often found myself wishing I had some so this was the perfect opportunity to fill a hole in my wardrobe. This fabric is a beautiful quality, opaque, zero-stretch classic denim. It feels quite hard-wearing which is exactly the texture I wanted for this project. When making jeans I would recommend spending a little bit more to get high-quality fabric as it’s a hard-working garment and you want them to last. I also bought the Kylie and the Machine jea...

Top is old from Oliver Bonas, Birkenstock sandals For a while now I’ve been meaning to make some white jeans as I’ve never owned a pair before and I could think of many different spring/summer outfits which they’d be great for! Pattern I chose to make the Dawn jeans as I love the classic style high-waisted cut and I’d heard good things about this pattern and the instructions which came with them. When making a staple, technical piece of clothing like jeans it’s important that the instructions are clear because I’m going to be wearing them all the time and I wanted to make sure the fit was correct. I graded up a size on the hips which is a common adjustment I make on pretty much everything I make. I am really happy with the fit over the hips and bum and through the legs but unfortunately, the waist was a little small. I’ve realised that I may have a higher waist than the pattern allowed for so the waist of the jeans sits a bit lower, where my waist is wider. I had to place my but...

This project began like many, with the fabric. This is a beautiful viscose from the Soiree collection from Dashwood Studios which I picked up from John Lewis , and thanks to an error in the till I got it for an absolute steal! I am absolutely in love with this fabric, the print, the colours, the drape, how soft it is. So much, in fact, I basically put the fabric on a pedestal which made it almost impossible to find an appropriate pattern I was willing to sacrifice it to. It had sat in my stash for months and I would take it out and stroke it every now and then even showing my colleagues, that’s how obsessed I was with this fabric! Finally I decided the only pattern brand that could possibly be suitable for this perfect fabric would be Tilly and theButtons because I knew whatever I chose would fit beautifully, have simple instructions to follow and be low-risk meaning I wasn’t about to waste my dream fabric on something I would never wear. I decided to go with the Indigo dress with...

I was highly anticipating the arrival of the Fibre Moodsummer edition as there were actually quite a few things in this edition I wanted to make and I’d just purchased some beautiful linen from the New CraftHouse which would match perfectly with the Mindy dress. This fabric is so fun! It’s bright pink and white gingham linen. It’s super wide so I have some leftover to make something else. The stripes are quite close together so I didn’t worry too much about pattern matching just that the pieces were cut straight. Before I could begin with the cutting out though, I first had to trace out the pattern and there are a few things to note about Fibre Mood patterns which can be quite frustrating: 1) In the magazine the size chart is written in UK sizes e.g. 6, 8, 10 etc. but then on the pattern sheet they’re only labelled in European sizes e.g. 34, 36, 38 etc. so you have to convert them. 2) There is a key on the pattern sheets for each pattern but the sizes aren’t written on the lines ...

I am keeping up with the blog and this time I bring you a vintage make! This is the Maudella 5952 which I picked up in an antiques shop. I made it up in a suitably vintage style old duvet cover I also bought in a vintage charity shop . The prairie style cut of the dress with this patchwork pattern make the perfect 70s pairing. I was a little apprehensive to begin this project to begin with because I’ve had fitting issues with vintage patterns in the past and they always seems to come up way too big! I began firstly by pinning the pattern pieces together and trying them on. Surprisingly, it seemed like it was going to fit perfectly so I ploughed on ahead! Pintucks sewn Front completed I love this old fabric, it has a really nostalgic smell of old summers which reminds me of our family’s old wigwam we used to play in when we were kids.  Trim attached to bottom of dress I didn’t have enough fabric to cut 5 frill pieces, yes 5! But I knew that the dress was going to come up too long ...

Hi Everyone! Today I bring you my seasonal review! I started this blog mid-way through Spring/Summer and so not all my makes have been written up and so I thought it would be interesting to have them all in one place and see what they look like all together. I have recently been working through the Seamwork Build My Wardrobe tasks and designing my own look book for Autumn/Winter so I am concerned with creating an overall cohesive look to carry through for the whole season. Looking at my makes from this past season I can see some key themes coming through. This is most likely down to that fact that I am highly inspired by the highstreet and what is currently on trend. Key themes this season: Frills Dresses Button closures       My makes this season do not have very much cohesion which is the result of not planning my makes ahead of time and making whatever took my fancy in the moment. Now that I am working through the Seamwork Build My Wardrobe tasks I think ...