Gathering the materials When Emily was pregnant with our first grandchild, I decided it was time to try making baby clothes. We knew it would be a girl. This reversible crossover pinafore dress pattern caught my eye. Then I found a wonderful Wizard of Oz fabric line called Dorothy’s Journey by Jill Howarth for Riley …
One of the best things about the Great British Sewing Bee is that, even after the series ends, the contestants keep on giving. Jen from GBSB series 5, put together a selection of Hogg Hacks that she used while sewing these blue pinstripe wool trousers. We’re posting them on our Instagram, and we thought it …
Inspired by Baskets A repost from our archives, because we still love the book! And it continues to inspire new makes. Emily @brickdustandglitter shares her rope bag. For this post I used a wonderful new book from Tabara N’Diaye called Baskets. I must say, it was weird using a book for instructions. I’m so used …
We’ve been stitching bunny baskets. It all started with Jen’s super cute bunnies for mini stitchers. I made a bunch of bunnies and thought that they needed a little basket to keep them from hopping away. Then I thought that the basket could be a hidden-in-plain-sight surprise on the back of a child’s quilt. These …
Claudia @retroclaude has some suggestions about pinning. Use the right kind of pins Glass or flower headed pins are easier to pick up and see. They come in a variety of lengths and thicknesses. Samantha @purplesewingcloud likes these Prym Easy Grasp Pins. Taylor Seville do something similar called Magic Pins. Ball point pins When pinning stretch …
Over 50 years ago in February 1969, JUKI released an industrial sewing machine equipped with the very first automatic thread trimmer. Everyone loved it! Operators could get into a work flow without the needing to constantly stop the sewing operation to pick up a scissors and trim the thread manually. 1969-Juki designs the first automatic …
I’m a tea drinking, cake loving, disabled stay at home mum based in Bedfordshire. I went to university in London to study Law and unfortunately my career was de-railed early on by my medical condition, Osteogenesis Imperfecta. I started sewing in 2017 as a therapeutic outlet from life with a chronic condition. The irony is not …
We made a dress! Martha found the fabric. Emily found the pattern and Linda knew just how to put it all together. The Juki stars of the show were the DX7 machine that does everything well and the MO2000 air threading overlocker which gave our project, even though sewn by beginners, an amazingly professional finish. …
Sometimes when the pace of sewing slows down, it’s a good opportunity to do the non dressmaking jobs around the sewing room. One such job I have been considering is a review of the 16 different buttonholes available on my Juki DX7 sewing machine. This stitch selection is specific to the DX7. But other machines …
My style icon Who’s your style icon? Do you think you even have a style icon? I didn’t think I did. But as I got into my 40’s, (yes I know, I couldn’t possible be that old!) I began to feel comfortable enough to express myself through my clothes and wear what makes me happy. …
