Cosy Sewing Projects for Staying Indoors

 
January is a time when sewists can stay home and sew completely guilt-free... after all, it's your New Year resolution to sew more, right? And what's more appealing to the Stay Home and Sew Crew than stitching up snuggly garments you can throw on straight off the machine? Comfies, if you will.

We have a few ideas for snuggly home-sewn projects that you are going to want to wear right now. Lots of these are a great match for the organic jersey from our very first fabric collection which is perfect for cosy clothes! We collaborated with the Craft Cotton Company on the range, which has eight modern designs that are both wearable and fun.

Behind the Scenes on Make It Simple

With my new book Make It Simple due out at the end of next month (and available to pre-order now!), I thought I’d take a little trip down memory lane and share with you some of the behind the scenes process that went into creating it. Plus a video that Jenny shot at the model photo shoot - keep reading to see it...

This is the third book I’ve written, and I can hand on heart say that I’ve found each one pretty easy to write. It’s a LOT of work, yes, plus there were some headscratching moments along the way figuring out how to make construction and fitting as simple as possible. The only major hiccup was when my toddler broke my nose a few hours before a big publishing meeting!

But I never faced writer’s block or lack of motivation, the words flowed, and I enjoyed every step of the process. It helps when you love the subject matter and feel genuinely passionate about sharing that :)

Free Gift with Make It Simple Pre-Orders

Happy New Year, lovely sewing friends! We have some exciting news to share with you on the first day of 2020 - you can now pre-order Tilly's third book, Make It Simple, from our own online shop :)

And there's a special treat for anyone who pre-orders their copy from us by 26th January 2020 - a super cute sticker sheet!

If that wasn't reason enough to immediately add a copy to your basket, by pre-ordering from us you'll be supporting the author and her small business by ensuring a bigger cut goes to Tilly and the Buttons - this will help us to continue creating sewing goodies in the future. Plus your book will be signed by Tilly (yes she does sign every single copy) which is a pretty special thing.

Tilly and the Buttons Turns Ten! The Story So Far...

On 1st January 2010, my ex-boyfriend dared me to start a sewing blog.

And then he double-dared me, and of course no one can resist a double-dare so I opened up Blogger and typed in the first blog name I thought of. “Tilly” as it’s my name, and “the Buttons” as it gave a nod to both sewing and typing a blog – plus it sounded like they could be my sixties girl group backing band.

That blog is now turning the ripe old age of ten years old next week and, a decade on, I’m typing this from my studio in London, surrounded by a team of awesome women, with our own line of sewing patterns up on the shelves, our third book currently at the printers and our first fabric collection about to hit the shops :)

Back to ten years ago, I really had no idea that any of this was on the cards. Least of all because I was hungover after a new year’s eve party the night before. I had a career I loved in the world of indie cinemas, and never imagined I would ever want to own my own business, let alone leave the film industry. I thought this blogging thing could be a bit of fun but in all honesty didn’t know how long it would last and didn’t think anyone would read it apart from my mum.

So why did I start? I’d recently got into dressmaking in my spare time and had stumbled upon a few blogs written by other women around the world who made their own clothes. As none of my IRL friends shared my hobby, I thought it could be fun to chat to people who understood my interest in seam techniques and love of fabric, and document my own makes to keep me motivated to carry on sewing.



For my debut post, I shared some photos of the first thing I’d made, a shift dress from a McCalls pattern in a yellow floral cotton bought from The Cloth House. Back then, there wasn’t the thriving indie pattern scene which we are lucky to have now, and I wouldn’t have known where to find fabric online. On the plus side, the sewing bloggers I “met” online were so kind, creative and resourceful, and we banded together to navigate the sewing scene and help each other to keep making stuff.