20 February 2014

Designing Your Coco


Wow! What an amazing reception to the Coco sewing pattern! Thank you soooo much for all your sweet comments, tweets and, of course, orders! I've been so excited about sharing this pattern so it means a lot to me that so many of you love it too. Special thanks to the gorgeous Alana who has been helping out with getting your goodies in the post - I'm so grateful for her help!

Let's talk about one of my favourite parts of dressmaking - coming up with design ideas for your Coco. It's such a versatile pattern, there are so many different ways of making your Coco unique - and, of course, gorgeous.


If you're going for a classic Breton, may I recommend the blog La Marinière? It is jam-packed full of inspiration for stripey loveliness. Warning: it is highly addictive. Once you start scrolling, you may not be able to stop...

Coco by Tilly
Lots of you have fallen in love with the sixties funnel neck version of Coco (me too!!). It looks super chic in a solid colour. I'm definitely making one in red, or how about pastel pink, mustard yellow, or neutral beige? Lurrrvely. I've also had my eye on this gorgeous stripey number from Boden so may well make one just like it. Could be cute in polka dots too?

JaegerToast / ASOS
You could pick more than one fabric. As well as more traditional colour blocking, I love the idea of mixing up stripes with spots, stripes with stripes, solids with spots... Try adding a contrast print or colour or direction of print to the sleeves, pockets or hem.

via La Mariniere / Petit Bateau
How about adding an embellishment to your Coco? I like the idea of sewing something onto the shoulders - nautical buttons, bows, or sequin patches. Or how about customising the back with an exposed zip or large ribbon tie?

Boden / Zooey Deschanel for InStyle / Boden
Or maybe you'd prefer to keep it simple like these stylish ladies. I would wear these dresses every day!

I hope this has given you a few ideas for designing your Coco. There's plenty more inspiration in the Pinterest gallery, which I'm adding to all the time. In tomorrow's post we'll talk fabrics - what kind of fabric to choose and some suggestions of where to buy it - so you can get shopping over the weekend.

How are you going to design your Coco? Ooh I can't wait to hear your ideas!