Looking Back on 2015

I hope you've had a lovely festive break, full of the good things in life such as loved ones, sherry and lots of great telly. This is the time when we take a collective deep breath and look back on the year that was.

2015 has been a chockablock year for us hear at Tilly and the Buttons HQ. We grew from a team of two to four staff, posted out thousands of orders from our shop, gained some lovely new stockists for our patterns, did a big show at the Handmade Fair, ran loads of workshops in the studio, and did lots of admin work behind the scenes to help strengthen the company.

Oh yes, and we designed, developed and launched five gorgeous new sewing patterns, as well as our first online workshop! Some of this seems like a long time ago now, so today I thought I'd look back at what we released this year...

Our first sewing pattern of the year was the Arielle skirt. This was a slightly reworked version of a pattern I designed for Sewing World magazine a few years ago - we kept getting emails from people asking us to release the pattern, so we finally did!

The defining feature of this skirt is the side button opening, which I adore. You can make the skirt lined or unlined, mini length or knee length. The long waist darts give the skirt a streamlined shape, making it super flattering on the hips - always a good thing! I also like the fact that it's a great year-round skirt - you can wear it with bare legs in the warmer months (remember those?) and snuggly tights in the winter. Ooh I fancy making a corduroy version for January...

The next sewing pattern we released in 2015 was the Agnes top. This is one of my all time absolute favourite things to sew... and to wear! 

It's a close-fitting jersey top with scoop neckline and various features that you can mix and match each time you sew it - long sleeves, cropped sleeves, ruched and gathered sleeves, ruched sweetheart neckline... It's so versatile, it's a bit like having eight patterns in one!

Knowing that sewing with jersey has a reputation for being scary, at the same time as releasing Agnes we launched our first online class - Learn to Sew Jersey Tops. We'd been getting lots of requests to teach our workshops online, and this seemed like a fun topic to start with.

The class takes you through my stress-free approach to sewing with jersey fabric on a regular sewing machine - you don't need an overlocker or serger, just a zigzag stitch function and a positive attitude! It's taught mostly through videos so you can see the sewing in action - it's so useful to see what's happening up close... and with movement! The class is broken down into bitesize chunks, with short and sweet videos, so you can put the techniques into practice straight away.

I've been designing courses for most of my career and it's something I love doing, so it was really enjoyable to put this class together. Seeing the lovely tops that participants have been making from it, and hearing their feedback on how they've overcome their fear of sewing jersey, is just brilliant! We've got some new classes in the works for the new year, so watch this space. And if there's a class that you'd particularly like us to teach online, do let us know.

Received wisdom says that Summer is a quiet time in the wonderful world of sewing, as everyone is outside. But out of the blue we had our busiest few weeks ever in July, thanks to the Bettine sewing pattern! This has been our biggest seller this year, and we've absolutely loved seeing all the gorgeous dresses you've been making with it.

The great thing about this sewing pattern is that it's really quick and easy to make. The dress has grown-on sleeves (which are part of the bodice) rather than set-in sleeves, and an elasticated waistband rather than a fiddly zip or buttonholes. I designed it with beginners in mind, as well as people - like me - who love a speedy sewing project that can be whipped up in an hour or two. Bettine is ridiculously wearable - just throw it over your head, maybe snazz it up with a necklace if you're feeling dangerous, and go!

At the same time as launching Bettine, we released one of my favourite sewing patterns of all time, the Fifi camisole or shorts - or "boudoir set" as we like to call it!

This is such a lovely project to make for more confident stitchers looking to get down with some delicate sewing and try out some new techniques, all of which are demonstrated in the instructions booklet. The camisole is cut on the bias, giving it a lovely flowing shape, with softly pleated cups, princess seams to shape the back to your curves and bias binding straps. The shorts have a delicate waistband where the elastic is stitched in (rather than threaded through a wider waist channel) and cheeky curved hems. It's all finished off with French seams so the insides are as pretty as the outside!

It's a lovely project to make in a lightweight cotton lawn, and I'm thinking of sewing a set in silk as a Valentine's project... maybe with some lace?

And the latest sewing pattern we released was the Orla top! I wanted to create a classic shift top that's easy to throw on with a pair of trousers. At first glance it looks like a simple design, but if you look closer you'll see it has lots of interesting features that make it a lovely sewing project for trying out new techniques - from curved French darts to a dipped hem, exposed zip to pleated shoulders, plus the optional snowdrop collar. 

Orla is an easy top to wear for both work and play, not too tight, but the darts on the front bodice, back and shoulders allow you to shape it nicely to your curves. Ooh and don't you just love a contrast colour zip?

Thank you soooo much for supporting us this year, and for helping us to keep growing the business and continue creating lovely sewing goodies to share with you. We truly appreciate having such wonderful customers and being part of such a fun and friendly community of makers. Wishing you a very happy new year... see you on the other side!

Behind the Scenes...

Hello! It's been a little while since we did a behind the scenes-type blog post, so I thought today I'd share some peeks at  what we're getting up to at Tilly and the Buttons HQ.

It never really seems to slow down, which I guess is always the case with a small-and-growing company. But I'm not complaining as despite the hard work, it still feels like a dream to get to make stuff and share how to make stuff as a job :)

Ooh, first thing to tell you is that we're going to be taking over Mollie Makes' Instagram account this week! We're big fans of Mollie Makes - in case you haven't heard of it, it's a creative lifestyle magazine sharing lots of crafty inspiration - so it's great to get to team up with them. We'll be posting to their Instagram account from Thursday to Sunday - please come say hi! - and also curating a Pinterest board for them on the theme of 'Last Minute Christmas'. (There's nothing on it yet, again it starts on Thursday.)

We're working on three gorgeous new sewing patterns at the moment in preparation for 2016. Two of them will be released by us in the first few months of the year, the other one is for a publication - I'll let you know all the details nearer the time :) We've fallen head over heels in love with these patterns, and can't wait to share them with you.

These are some snaps from one of our shoots where we photograph the instructions for the pattern booklets - it's the fun and colourful part after a looong development process! We hire a talented freelance photographer, Fanni Williams, to take photos of me demonstrating the steps, and in between Vanessa prepares the next step ready for the next picture. It's always a bit of a crazy day, particularly in Winter when we need to get everything done before the sun goes down at 3pm (eek), but it's always fun and fuelled by cake (mince pies last weekend).

Laura's been taking your orders and answering your emails, and in the last few weeks she's been joined by our newest team member, Lexy - who you'll meet in a photo in a minute! 

Did you see our new Coco pattern cover? We had to reprint it again (thanks to everyone who's bought the pattern, seriously guys, you're amazing) and thought we'd take the opportunity to give it a little makeover. We've introduced pink to our colour scheme and have started adding confidence levels to the envelope to help customers in bricks and mortar shops decide if the project is for them. It sounds silly, but pink is a colour I passionately resisted when I started the company because I wanted to get away from the 1950-floral-domestic-goddess aesthetic that's often associated with sewing. Not that I think there's anything wrong with that look in the slightest, just that I wanted our brand to present a different image of sewing. However, more recently I've been totally embracing pink - there seems to have been a bit of a pink renaissance recently, and I love it!

And finally, did you see Vanessa's recent Orla dress hack tutorial? We went with the champagne (ginger ale) prop for the final photos, after an epic sequin-confetti-shower photo shoot fail. 

Wanna see the outtakes? Of course you do...

So first we tried Vanessa throwing the sequins in the air herself... and these were the best shots I got. Oh dear!! So then we roped in our new Office Manager Lexy - pictured below - to stand on a stool and throw them over her head...

Now you see it... now you don't... These pictures crack me up! All we were left with was a mess to sweep up, hehe :)

Have a lovely week! xx

Orla Dress Pattern Hack!

December is here and with it (at least in London) brings rain, grey skies, and an unsettling attachment to pyjamas. At Tilly Towers we’re drumming up all the ways we can keep our spirits up, including dreaming of festive dresses that, lets face it, we can still wear with mercifully high-denier tights :)

Vanessa here today - I'm going to show you a simple pattern hack for how to lengthen the Orla top sewing pattern to turn it into a beautiful, easy-to-wear shift dress - complete with the curved, dipped hem that's a feature of the original top. Dress her up for a Christmas party with a sparkly collar, pair with your prettiest dancing shoes – and feel the winter blues melt away!



I’ve used a beautiful triple crepe fabric in cream, courtesy of our lovely sponsor, Minerva Crafts. I added some festive sparkle by stitching a layer of glittery tulle netting to the collar.



Start by tracing off a fresh copy of the front and back bodice pattern pieces, and the front and back hem facings. Remember to add the labels and notches so you know what's what later.



To work out how long you want your dress to be, I find it helps to measure a dress you already own and like. Pop on a wardrobe favourite and carefully put a pin in at the waistline (where you bend to the side). Measure from this pin to the hemline to get the waist to hem length.



On the front and back bodice pattern pieces, draw a line at a right angle from the ‘Place on fold’ line to meet the waist notch (marked on the pattern).

Measure from this point on the ‘Place on fold’ line down to 15mm (5/8in) above the hem cutting line. Work out the difference this length and the length of the waist-to-hem on the dress you measured in the previous step – this is the amount you will be lengthening your Orla top by. Bear in mind that the hem on the Orla top is curved, so will be slightly shorter at the side seams – you may want to make it slightly longer to accommodate for this.



Next, on two new pieces of paper, draw two sets of horizontal lines – one for the front bodice and one for the back. The distance between the two horizontal lines is the amount you worked out in the step above. Draw a vertical line at a right angle to these to lines on the right hand side.



Cut along either of the "lengthen or shorten here" lines marked on the pattern. Insert the paper from the previous step, aligning the cut edges of the pattern with the horizontal lines, and the "Place on fold" line with the vertical line. Glue or tape down. Repeat for the back bodice.



Using a ruler, extend the side seam in a straight line, at the same angle as the original line, from the bottom of the dart until it reaches the new hem level. As you can see, the side seam at the bottom is slightly wider than the side seam on the bottom of the original pattern - this is to give you a bit more room at the new hip level, which is higher up. Connect the new side seam up to the curved hem. Repeat for the other bodice piece.



Because the hem is now wider than on the original pattern, we need to make the hem facings a bit wider too. Place the front hem facing over the bottom of the front bodice, aligning the ‘Place on fold’ lines and the hem curve. Add a bit more paper to the side and trace off the extended hem curve. Repeat for the back hem facing.

That's your pattern pieces done. Now you can sew up the dress, following the instructions in the pattern.



We can’t wait to see what you lovely ladies do with the Orla pattern – take her out for some festive cocktails or perhaps a spin around the dance floor... and send us some snaps when you do. Cheers!