What's On My Sewing Table...

This is the kind of project I know I'm going to get a lot of wear out of this Spring/Summer - I'm making a Ginger skirt in a dark navy denim with a slight stretch and a lovely visible weave. My denim Beignet skirt is nearly falling apart from overuse and I practically live in my denim Miette. I need another. I'm going for version 2 with the curved waistband, using some... erm... navy polka dots for the facing. Yeah, I've got a thing for navy polka dots, as evidenced here, here and here. Oh and here. And not forgetting here. Some call it boring, I call it "signature style".

What's on your sewing table please?

[Soundtrack: 'Green Garden' by Laura Mvula]

Pattern Hack! Gathered Mathilde Blouse

Want to avoid sewing the tucks on the Mathilde Blouse? I'm going to show you how to create a lovely, loose-fitting smock version by gathering the excess fabric at the top where the tucks would usually be and leaving the bottom loose. Super simple stylee!

1) Follow the Mathilde Blouse instructions past stay stitching the neckline. Skip over the tucks step and stitch the bust darts.

2) Thread your sewing machine in a contrast colour thread - this will make it easier to identify and rip out the gather stitches later. Set the stitch length to 4mm.

3) On the top edge of the front bodice, sew three parallel rows of stitches about 5mm apart. Try to avoid the 15mm / 5/8" seam line as this is where you'll be sewing your "real" stitches later. Leave a few inches of loose thread at the start and end of each row. These are your gather stitches.

4) Gently pull on the top threads and use your fingers to distribute the resulting gathers evenly across the seam. You want to gather it so the top edge of the bodice becomes the same width as the bottom edge of the yoke.

5) Pin the top of the front bodice to the bottom of the yoke, right sides together.

6) Baste (4mm stitches) the pieces together, with about 10mm seam allowance. Use your fingers to keep the gathers even while you're stitching. Check the gathering is nice and even - you can unpick the basting stitches and try again if it's not.

7) Once you're happy with the gathering, thread your machine in matching thread and set the stitch length to normal (2 - 2.5mm). Stitch the bodice to the yoke for real.

8) Remove the basting and gather stitches. Finish the seam using zigzag stitch or an overlocker/serger. When it comes to pressing, be careful not to press over the gathers or you could lose the fullness (erm... as I kinda did here - doh!).

Ta da! A pretty gathered smock version.

Liberty Tana Lawn fabric courtesy of Sewbox.

Pinterest for Sewing Inspiration

Pinterest have invited me to be part of their #PinItForwardUK campaign to help introduce Pinterest to the UK. If you're a regular reader, or an IRL friend, or sit in my office, or have ever been on one of the courses I run in my day job, you'll probably be aware that Pinterest is one of my FAVOURITE THINGS EVER so I'm delighted to continue that evangelism in this blog post. (And no, I'm not getting paid to say this.)

I'm sure most of you know what Pinterest is, but in case it just sounds like yet another social media tool that you don't have time to get your head around, let me explain why it's so awesome. Pinterest is basically an online tool for keeping track of things that inspire you. If you find a picture, video or article online that you like and want to refer back to later, you can "pin" an image from that web page to one of your virtual pin boards. Plus you can follow other people - or selected boards they've created - to check out what's inspiring them. You can also use it as an image search engine. The major point of difference to other social platforms is that it gives primacy to imagery, which means it's perfect for crafters, fashion enthusiasts, designers, photographers... and yes, dressmakers!

I use it all the time to make a note of sewing patterns I want to make, interesting garment details, fabrics that catch my eye and general sewing inspiration for future projects. I also use boards to keep track of the gorgeous Miette Skirts and Mathilde Blouses that pop up across the interwebs. I also reeeeeally enjoy scrolling through my feed to see what other people are pinning. In fact, getting my Pinterest fix is one of my favourite things to do in the world. No, I don't get out much!

Oh and of course I have the obligatory kittens board. Yay, little fluffy kitties!

You can join Pinterest here.

Do you use Pinterest to keep track of your sewing inspiration? Or do you use more traditional scrapbooking methods or other tools?

Polka Dot Picnic Blanket Skirt

Look, I made another Picnic Blanket Skirt! Inspired by an image I saw on Pinterest that I just couldn't get out of my head, I knew I needed a polka dot skirt to wear with my Breton top collection. So I whipped this little baby up in a couple of hours. I particularly love the buttons - they're beautiful flat-top polished wood - yum. I finished the insides with French seams, which works great with the light-to-medium weight cotton that I used.

This make doubled up as preparation for a class I was teaching at Ray Stitch. The participants were all lovely and we had so much fun! A professional photographer popped along to take these photos for Ray Stitch. Other workshops I've got coming up are now listed on my dedicated workshops page if you're interested - the next one will be the Mathilde Blouse.

I love the fact that this skirt works well both with and without tights. Perfect for Spring when you just don't know whether it's gonna rain or shine. I'm currently itching to make a Summer dress in what is just the most gorgeous fabric - you're gonna love it! But is it too early to make a Summer dress?

Are you dreaming of Summer sewing too?

[Soundtrack: 'Isis' by Bob Dylan]