Abi's 1960s Inspired DIY Wedding Dress

Hello! It's Abi here, and today on the TATB blog I'm going to share all the gory details of sewing my own vintage-inspired wedding dress - big yikes! If you've stumbled across this blog post because maybe you're about to embark on sewing your own (congrats!), let me reassure you it can be as stress-free as you desire and it doesn't have to require several months of planning and fittings - if you don't want it to. 

A quick selfie before we headed off!

Before we get into it, I would like to preface this post by letting you how casual I was about the whole getting married malarky (we've been together 10 years already). There wasn't toile after toile of my wedding dress, no studying couture hand sewing techniques, no endless fabric swatches and fitting tweaks. If anything, my friends and family will tell you I was too laid back about making my wedding dress, they were sending me text messages every other day to see if I had started it yet (sorry pals). I was so laid back, in fact, I made my dress one week before our wedding day.

So this blog post is my handmade wedding dress story, as chaotic as it may read...

Friends take the best photos - thank you Jacob for this one!

I won't bore you with the details, but let me tell you it was a proper pandemic wedding. We originally planned to elope, but to cut a long story short, we binned the idea and on our third attempt decided to get married at the small registry office at the end of our road with a handful of our closest friends with barely a month's notice. 

Sewing For The Season - Winter!

Brrr! You've guessed it, it's time for a new sewing for the season blog post with me (Abi)! Where I'll be sharing lots of on-trend inspiration for your winter sewing projects. From the cosiest loungewear to stylish dresses to layer with your woolly tights.

See what my own winter sewing plans are, inspired by these highstreet finds, in the video below. Grab a cuppa and enjoy this little lot...

SHOP OUR WINTER SEWING PATTERN EDIT HERE

Statement Sweaters

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

If you watched the accompanying vlog, you'll see I've certainly been stocking up on my plain sweatshirt fabrics! I'm totally obsessed with the sewing patterns we're working on behind the scenes, so consider those fabric choices a clue... But I'll be reserving at least one for a Billie sweater. I can't decide between adding a touch of embroidery to mine or creating an iron-on transfer (much like our MAKER decal).

Do you like the look of the sweet shoulder ruffle on the pink number above? Well last year, Tilly created a free downloadable ruffle template to hack your Billie sweater with. For all the details, go to this blog post - cute!

Fabric Picks:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Team Buttons New Year's ReSEWlutions

As we start a shiny new year, our minds tend to wonder about the 12 months spread out in front of us and what we'd like to achieve. When it comes to sewing and other crafty hobbies, what we want to learn can feel endless! 

Team Buttons have set some sewing themed goals for 2022, in hopes we might be able to tick them off throughout the year. Fancy joining us? Have a read through our 2022 reSEWlutions (we love a pun!)...

Tilly's ReSEWlution:

"Sewing took a bit of a back seat last year, yes, partly because I had another baby and his sleep is still terrible, but also because I haven't had a very inviting sewing space for a while following a never-ending loft conversion (middle-class problems, I know). I want to get some shelves built ASAP so I can finally set up my new sewing corner properly, with tools to hand, patterns on display for inspiration, and a dedicated space for works in progress. 

Oh, and I need to dig out the extension lead so I don't have to crouch under the table to switch the plugs whenever I need to use the iron... it's the little things! Having an inviting place to sew, no matter how small, can make such a difference to how enticing it is to sit down and sew, particularly when tired after a long day with the kids."

Looking Back at 2021 at Tilly and the Buttons!

2021 is almost over so it’s time to look back at what we got up to in Tilly and the Buttons, from the exciting new products we launched into the world, to stuff happening behind the scenes. 

Let’s face it, this year has been another bizarre one! While we’ve emerged blinking into the daylight from a series of lockdowns in the UK, at the time of writing the Omicron variant has recently emerged to taunt us. So we may be feeling more optimistic than last year, but we’re certainly not out of the woods yet! 

Like many business owners, I (Tilly) usually like to plan everything in meticulous detail. Yet there is still so much uncertainty thanks to the pandemic, so I’ve had to (reluctantly) learn to prepare as much as we can, while knowing that a lot is still unknown and out of our hands. In the last couple of years, we’ve had to pivot and adapt so many times due to logistical challenges presented by Covid (as well as Brexit). Adding to this may have heard other small business owners lament that sales have been so up and down in the past couple of years, which adds an extra layer of insecurity when making business decisions. But we are still here and going strong, more determined than ever to spread the joy of sewing!