Mercedes walks us through making a machine cover. Transformations are one of the big challenges for contestants on the Great British Sewing Bee. Mercedes, a favourite on GBSB Series 5, shares a bit of magic as she transforms a basic plastic cover for her Juki overlocker into something special. When my new Juki overlocker was delivered, I found a plastic cover in the box. It worked well as a basic dust cover but I wasn’t overly keen on how it looked. It occurred to me that I could […]

Meet Claudia @retroclaude. While researching Accessibility, I stumbled across a YouTube video by Claudia aimed at making sewing more accessible for people sewing with disability. Claudia has a penchant for period costume and she produced the video for COCOVID, a weekend of online costuming content last June. Claudia in her hand knitted Joan Crawford style sweater Although Claudia sews period costumes, we think her approach and planning as well as her practical tips are helpful to everyone who […]

We have a fun mother daughter Dance Costume collab to bring in the New Year. Last month we asked Kay @fabriccornerlincoln and her daughter Sophie who just completed a Dance Degree in Leeds to do a collaboration for us. The pitch was to create a winter white dance costume for Sophie. We wanted some inside information on the design choices that would make the garment suitable for dancing in the streets. Kay’s Fabric Corner Shop in Lincoln 2020 was a rough year for all the performing […]

Emily at Brick Dust and Glitter found this great gift wrap idea on Pinterest. It’s a no-sew gift wrap that uses fabric you already have! Take a look at the simplest, prettiest, reusable wrapping! All you need is some fabric. You can raid your stash or use a silky scarf or up-cycle an old shirt or some bedding. All you need is a square of fabric that’s larger than your gift. We’ll show you how to wrap in the pictures below. Place the present diagonally on the fabric so that the […]