Does It Have Pockets? Add In-seam Pockets To These Patterns!

The age-old sewing question... does it have pockets? 

We're big lovers of pockets here at Tilly and the Buttons, but what if the pattern you've picked out doesn't include them? Where are you supposed to hide your snacks, or how can you pose nonchalantly with your hands? Don't worry, sewists, we've got you covered with our free in-seam pocket pattern download which you can add to any suitable sewing project with a side seam!

Download the free pocket pattern

Open the pattern in Adobe Reader and print the pattern piece actual size / 100% scale on A4 or Letter size paper. Make sure you bookmark the video below or follow along with the steps in our blog post to sew yours.

Insert these pockets into your garment before you start sewing the pieces together. To decide where you want the pockets to sit – hold up the front fabric piece of your sewing project to your body, imagine putting your hands in the pockets, and mark with pins where the top of the pocket openings will fall on the side seams. Mark the same position on the back fabric piece. Simple!

Here's a round-up of inspiration for using your new best friend of a pattern piece...

Jaimie PJs

PJs are a great place for pockets - fact! To keep the construction of these pyjama bottoms as simple as possible for newbie sewists, our Jaimie PJs sewing pattern doesn't include pockets. But if you're practising your sewing and fancy tackling pockets, it's nice and easy to add them to Jaimie. 

GET THE PATTERN

Tilly's Number One Tip for Speedy Sewing (with Video!)

Sewing to a deadline? Practising for the Sewing Bee?! Or maybe you just don't have much free time to sew and want to see quick progress with your projects...

I know the feeling for all of the above! So I'm a fan of time-saving techniques when it comes to sewing.

Want to know my NUMBER ONE tip for speedy sewing? Find out in the video...

In the video, I'm wearing my needlecord Erin dungarees, AKA our unofficial TATB uniform - at least half the team have an almost identical pair now!

Five Tips For Spring Cleaning Your Fabric Stash

With blossoming trees and lighter, longer days at this time of year, many of us feel the urge to give our homes a good spring clean. And there's no reason to leave out our sewing spaces, as we sewists can certainly gather a wide variety of bits and bobs that are due a seasonal sort out... Yes, we're looking at you, fabric stash.

Acquiring a large collection of fabrics can be part and parcel of dressmaking, and fabric shopping is a separate hobby in itself, right? So it's no surprise our once humble fabric storage solutions quickly become overwhelmed. Not to mention the bags of scraps we hoard in case they come in handy someday (spoiler: they rarely do).

Sometimes a quick tidy isn't always the solution, sometimes you need to face facts and declare a destash! Whilst toying with the idea of simply buying another shelving unit for the overspill might sound like a plan, we understand that this quick fix won’t get to the root of the problem. Let's face it, for a lot of us, there are not enough days in the week to work our way through our fabric stash at a reasonable rate. 

It's time to take action! If you're feeling overwhelmed and uninspired by your fabric stash, here are five tips to spring clean your fabric stash...

1. CREATE A "CAPSULE STASH"

A “capsule stash” is in the spirit of the “less is more” wardrobe principle. Our taste in fabrics can certainly change over the years, so weed out any pieces that don't match your current style - they deserve to be loved by someone, after all. Or, if you've discovered certain colours don't suit your skin tone as well as others, set those pieces aside because we want our fabrics to bring out the best in us!

Erin Dungarees Sewalong: See The Buttons & Janome's Team Makes!

Our cute and comfy Erin dungarees sewing pattern became an instant hit amongst Team Buttons, we've racked up quite the number of dungas between us now! To celebrate the end of the Erin dungarees sewalong, supported by our friends at Janome, both teams are getting involved in sharing our Erin makes with you here on the blog. 

So keep on scrolling for a whole host of Erin dungarees in a wide range of fabrics and styles, demonstrating just how versatile Erin can be! 

Team Buttons

Tilly made her first pair of Erin's from a gorgeous muted blue Ponte Roma fabric.

Kate made her dream dungas with a vibrant leopard print coral needlecord.