Sewing Tips, Tutorials, Projects and Events

This August Bank Holiday weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Sewing Weekender for the third year in a row. Organised by the lovely ladies at the Foldline and Charlotte of the 'English Girl at Home' blog it is a real treat. Find out what we did, who was there and why I love this piece of sewing heaven so much.

One trend that could not have passed me by this year is the paperbag waist - on shorts, trousers and skirts everywhere. I love the nod to the 90s (my hey day) and it seemed like a very wearable trend. Whilst pondering all things paperbag I simultaneously spotted the need for more shorts for my winter sun holiday in October. Then I remembered a new Simplicity pattern release I shared on Instagram stories a while back, which would have this trend all wrapped up.

The range of sewing machine presser feet on the market today can be quite bewildering! However, understanding the capabilities can be incredibly eye opening for everyone from beginners to experienced sewists.

I've known people who have struggled with a particular sewing task for 40 years then discovered a presser foot that takes all the stress out of that particular technique. Less frown lines, surely that's a good thing?

Not only do presser feet solve sewing struggles, but they can also help you to really make a project your own by adding unique and imaginative details like never before. This may create smile lines, but we can live with those, right?!

We are passionate about helping people to make these discoveries so wrote this handy ultimate guide to sewing machine feet. As you can imagine this is a rather substantial article so we've also included a handy quick reference table to help you to jump around the article and find the bits you are interested in.

I don't know about you, but this incredible summer has made me realise I need more summer dresses in my life! I wanted something cool, loose fitting and pretty to wear so decided to sew this simple slip dress.

Personally I love a V neck and find them very flattering. They seem to accentuate the bust whilst also revealing the collar bone for a nice slimming effect. I'd never sewn one in jersey until I made my tropical maxi dress and was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to draft and sew a knit V neck.

I decided to sew this tropical maxi dress after a battle with my last make that resulted in an unfinished project. I will go back to it when I can face it again, but in the meantime I needed a palette cleanser! This was just the ticket and perfect for the gorgeous weather we are experiencing in the UK right now.

A coverstitch binding attachment will help you to achieve perfect and professional knit and jersey neckbands every time. No more stress, no more holding of breath, just straight forward, easy knit neckbands in one simple step. In this video I'll demonstrate exactly how it works and where you can find the attachment for your coverstitch/coverlock machine to make your perfect jersey neckband dreams a reality!

For the last year I have been working on an extremely exciting project with my friend Anne. Last weekend all our hard work came to fruition and we hosted the Stitch Room Sewcial, a two day sewing event, at Loughborough University. With a truly unique offering of activities and a wonderful group of delegates I think it is safe to say it was a huge success. Find out what we did and more importantly how you can be involved in the next one!

Sewing an invisible zipper strikes fear into the hearts of many a sewist! One of the main challenges is avoiding that annoying bubble that can occur at the end of the zip. In this handy tutorial we'll show you how to prevent the bubble and remove the challenge of sewing around the zipper. It's a goodie!

May was a busy month as always, but I managed to find time to focus on wearing my handmade wardrobe more - yay! I took part in Me Made May an initiative organised by a lovely blogger called Zoe to help sewists improve their relationship with their handmade wardrobe. I pledged to wear as much handmade as I could in the month of May - find out how I got on in our latest vlog.