Five Tips for Sewing Cleo

Making the Cleo pinafore or dungaree dress? This sewing pattern has become our new bestseller! While the dungaree clips may make it look fiddly, it's actually quick and easy to make - it's a great pattern for beginners, or more experienced stitchers looking for a speedy project. Today I thought I'd share some bonus tips for sewing Cleo...

Your Makes!

Hello everyone! It’s Kate, currently interning at Tilly and the Buttons. As the colder winter months approach I’ve had the pleasure of looking at all your autumnal makes. I've picked out a few of my favourites to show you - prepare to be inspired!

A Cleo Dress for Every Day... (and a Giveaway!)

You know when you make something and you just want to wear it every single day? You miss it when it's in the laundry basket, and can't remember what you used to wear before you had it?

This is the outfit for me. I've got four Cleo dungaree dresses now, and this is the first version I made back in the Summer - and where it all began. I started off drafting the pattern for myself, then cut it out and stitched it together in an afternoon. When I couldn't wait to wear it again, when people kept asking where it was from, and when the ladies in the office wanted to make one too, I decided we should make it into a Tilly and the Buttons pattern to share with you guys.

Sewing Cleo: Sizing + Fitting

Making the Cleo pinafore or dungaree dress? Vanessa here today – let’s talk about choosing your size and fitting the dress.

The relaxed, loose-fitting design of dungaree dresses makes Cleo easy to fit - yay! This style of dress doesn't have any darts or close-fitting seam lines that need to mould to your curves, and it hangs straight down, so don't worry about trying to get it to fit a sway back.

What you might want to do though is lengthen or shorten the dress, combine different waist and hip sizes to fit your proportions, and make a couple of small adjustments as you sew. So that's what I'm going to show you how to do...

Inspiration for Sewing the Cleo Pinafore

Thinking of making the Cleo pinafore or dungaree dress? Today we wanted to share with you some of the gorgeous inspiration we fell in love with when developing this pattern - hopefully it will inspire and delight you too! Short or long, cosy and layered or light-weight and lovely - this pattern is a pleasure to wear year-round, as well as being quick and easy to sew up. Have a scroll through our picks and let the dungaree joy wash over you!

Introducing the Cleo Sewing Pattern!

Get excited – it’s here! Our new sewing pattern is the super cute and utterly wearable Cleo pinafore or dungaree dress (AKA jumper or overall dress)! Cleo is speedy to sew and easy to wear – I hope you love it as much as we do.

Aaaaaand for the very first time, we’re offering sewing kits with everything you need to make it!

ORDER THE CLEO PATTERN

or

GET THE WHOLE KIT

Five Ways to Use a Dress Form

Do you own a dress form? Also known as a dressmaker’s dummy or mannequin. One of the questions I’m asked a lot is whether to buy a dress form and which one I’d recommend. So today I thought I’d show you mine and talk you through some reasons you might want to get one.



While a dress form isn’t an essential, it’s definitely nice to have – one of those tools like an overlocker that you can certainly live without when you’re just starting out, but will put to good use when you get one. I’ve had my Lady Valet Adjustoform for six years now, and it’s still going strong. The soft cover looks nice and is easy to pin, and the solid wooden top and base look smart – in fact, it looks as good as new six years down the line! As an Adjustoform fan, I'm excited to partner with them for this post to show you five ways you can use your dress form...