Girl Can Sew

The Gemma sweater/dress pattern by Named has been sitting in my stash for at least year and I had every intention of using it to recreate the dress on the envelope but the velvet I bought was defected with the pile going every which way so those plans went out the window. It wasn’t until I was watching an interior design show on Netflix (as we all are some point during Lockdown) that I saw one of the contestants wearing a blue and red sweater dress that it got me thinking! ‘I have a pattern that would work for that!’ This pattern is perfect for colour blocking because it already consists of different blocks you have to piece together. The pattern came together really quickly, I whipped this up in an afternoon. The only thing you need to watch out for, especially when colour blocking, is to align the seams accurately. I think it was actually easier having it made up in different colours so I could see what was what but the instructions and diagrams are really clear anyway. The fit i...

Hey Sewers! This week I bring you something a bit different. A new vintage shop has opened in town which I am very excited about! Even though for the last 2 years I have vowed to only sew my own clothes I will still purchase vintage clothes because I feel like I own a piece of history which I find enchanting. I find vintage clothing tends to be made from higher quality fabrics to what the highstreet offers now and more care has been taken with the construction. Also, even though this dress is from the 80's it was made in the UK which is pretty rare nowadays! Before After I saw this dress in the window and was immediately attracted to the colourful print. The dress only cost me £8 but it needed a lot of alterations before I could wear it - it was a size 16 and I'm typically a size 8. Adjustments I made: Firstly I had to remove the shoulder pads - as awesome as they were I didn't want to look like I was going to a fancy dress party! Then I removed the sle...

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...

Hello! This week I have finally finished my Vogue v8772 blouse, slightly delayed due to miscounting how many buttons I needed and having to wait for the rest to arrive in the post - doh! I got there in the end though and I love it! I was inspired to make this blouse by look a pinned on Pinterest, to wear with my Dani Pinafore dress. In the photos here I am wearing it with a simple hand drafted pencil skirt (fabric is an remnant from Ditto in Brighton) so you can properly see the whole blouse but it does look great with my pinafore dress. I'll try and get some photos up of that combo on my Instagram soon. I made the blouse in a cream satin crepe which I bought from Minerva Crafts after I had already been satisfied with a sample they sent me. I wouldn't normally bother with samples but I planned this make as part of the Design My Wardrobe  series which Seamwork ran last Summer and it was one of the activities.  I feel a little wary of big four patterns si...

Hello! Today I am very excited to bring you my latest make and it's a Christmas theme! It's the Republique du Chiffon Diego Trousers  which I have made in a Christmassy red tartan wool from Minerva Crafts . I am really looking forward to sporting these on Christmas Dy this year, they're a really fun addition to my wardrobe. In my (work in progress) sewing room teamed with Nina Lee Bloomsbury Blouse The first thing to note about this pattern is that no seam allowances are included in the pattern which means you must trace out the pattern first and add it in. They recommend 1cm but I stuck to my usual 1.5cm. During the tracing I found an error on one of the cuff pieces in that the colour coding of the sizes had gotten mixed up so if I had stuck to the colour it had told me then my cuff would have been too small.Essentially the colour coding had been swapped around on one of the pattern pieces for a couple of sizes but easily spotted and rectified.  I only made a...

Hello Sewers! It's been a little while since I've been able to post any news makes due to redecorating our home and having a manic time at the day job lately! It's Christmas time now though and that means plenty of time to sit at my machine and get making! So today I am bringing you a review of the Seamwork Dani Pinafore . I am a member of Seamwork so I got this with my credits but you can purchase it without being a member. I made this dress in a very chunky navy corduroy I bought on a visit to Goldhawk Road. I deliberately waited until autumn to make my trek there as I knew they would have a good choice of corduroy then and it's my favourite fabric. The pattern is fully lined and so I used a simple matching navy polyester for that. The pattern itself is a PDF which I am not 100% keen on as I find it difficult to get the pattern pieces to all match up perfectly but none the less I managed it. The instructions were relatively simple to follow, I did get  b...