8 February 2018

Peek Inside My New Book!

Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons

Thank you soooo much to everyone who has already ordered my new book! I’m beyond excited for you to get your hands on it on the publication day on 8 March 2018 so you can start sewing. In the meantime, here’s a sneaky peek inside…

Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics has a similar design and layout to my first book, Love at First Stitch. It was a no-brainer to work with publishers Quadrille again, as they completely "get" the craft community and did such a great job on my first book. The amazing photography is by Ellie Smith (fashion photos) who also worked on Love at First Stitch, and Fanni Williams (instructions) who is our regular photographer for Tilly and the Buttons patterns. My mum said it looks good enough to eat, and I couldn't agree more!

Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons
Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons

If you're new to sewing with knits, or want to brush up on your skills, then the first two chapters are for you - or if you're a confident knits stitcher, you can skip straight to the projects. Chapter 1 'Shop, Prep, Cut' introduces knit fabrics, offers advice on what to look for when shopping for knits, some techniques for fitting knit garments (soooo much easier than woven garments - yasss!), preparing and cutting your fabric, and even a section on matching stripes (my favourite print).

Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons
Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons
Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons

'Stretch Stitch School' then shows you how to sew knit fabrics on both a regular sewing machine (you'll need a zigzag, stretch or lightning stitch, which most machines have) and an overlocker (serger). You absolutely don't need an overlocker, but if you have one there's a handy section on how to thread it, adjust stitch settings, troubleshoot issues and fix mistakes. If you've ever sworn at your overlocker, I hope you'll find this part helpful :)

Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons
Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons
Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons

The book then dives into the projects. There are six full scale paper patterns in the back of the book, which you can trace off either onto paper or directly onto your fabric. They come in eight sizes, the same as our patterns - you can see the measurements chart here.

I take you step-by-step through sewing each project, with extra help on particular techniques as they come up so you can learn as you sew, such as attaching a neckband and sewing buttonholes on knits.

The first project is a super simple pencil skirt which you can make in ponte or double knit, the easiest knit fabric to work with. They then build up in complexity, until by the end of the book you're making a stunning twist front dress in party fabrics such as stretch velvet and sequin knits.

Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons
Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons

Each chapter includes tips and tricks on working with my favourite knit fabrics so you can expand your repertoire - ponte or double knit, single knit jersey, sweater knit, sweatshirt fleece, stretch velvet and sequin knits.

Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons
Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons
Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons

The book also shows you how to customise each pattern in various ways, for example, you can turn the pencil skirt into a cute pinafore dress, or make the mock neck sweater into a roll neck or cowl neck. There are soooo many lovely options - enough to make a whole wardrobe full of gorgeous, comfy, wearable clothes!

Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons
Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons

The garments are modelled by four lovely ladies I know, who are all doing inspiring things with their lives. I love using non-professionals as models as they pose a bit more naturally and are a bit easier to relate to - and they did such an awesome job!

Alexandra is one of our customers who brings us cakes at shows and is generally super sweet. You should follow her vlog if you don't already, she has such an infectious enthusiasm. Zeena is a talented print designer who you may already know from the craft world. She also modelled our Mila dungarees pattern. Emily interned for us a while back, and we've followed her amazing sewing on Instagram ever since. And Yasmin is the sweetest lady who does my nails for photo shoots and empowers young women to value themselves with her venture Pick Me Up Inc. I feel so lucky that I get to work with talented ladies such as these.

Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics - Tilly and the Buttons

Ooh I do model one of the garments myself as well. I was seven months pregnant at the time of the fashion shoots, so snuck in a maternity hack of the Joni dress. It's lovely to look at the pic and think that my little boy was in there :)

I hope you enjoyed getting a peek inside my book! I'm absolutely delighted with how it turned out and can't WAIT to share it with you. You can pre-order a signed copy now from our shop and we'll send it out to you for the publication date in early March. Did you see we're also giving a free gift to people who pre-order from us by 18 Feb 2018?

Thanks so much for your support! xx