Rifle Paper Co Ness Skirt

Are you more of a prints or solids kinda person? Do you like your fabrics to be one colour or do you think the whole point of sewing your own clothes is to use the brightest, boldest print you can find?

I've definitely become more of a solids gal in recent years, not counting stripes of course, which for me is a neutral, hehe. It's been a long time since I've bought a fabric with a designer print on it, but I just couldn't stop thinking about this Rifle Paper Co design for Cotton + Steel, the Juliet print. 

Five Design Hacks for the Coco Pattern

We always knew our Coco sewing pattern was versatile but now we've seen all of the personalisations and hacks you've made with it, we may be falling in love all over again!

Four years after its first release, it's still one of our bestselling patterns. Coco is speedy to make, comfy to wear and easy to adapt to your personal style. Here are some ideas for hacking the pattern courtesy of some of our lovely customers...

Nora Cardigan Pattern Hack

Do you buy fabric with a pattern in mind, or do you figure out what to do with it afterwards? Sometimes working out what to do with a piece of material can set a lightbulb off in your mind.

I came up with the idea of hacking the Nora top pattern into a cardigan came when I was mulling over what to do with an unusual piece of fabric I’d bought from Fabrics Galore. It's a very low stretch knit that is very structured and feels almost like a wool or felt, but softer. I couldn't resist the colour, but didn’t want to make a regular Nora top as the fabric would feel scratchy around my neck, plus it’s such low stretch that I wasn’t sure it’d go over my head. So I decided to take out the neckline and turn it into a slouchy, boxy cardigan instead.

It took me a total of two hours to hack the pattern, cut out the fabric and sew the cardigan together. It seriously is a speedy make – so no excuses for putting it off! If you fancy making a Nora cardigan yourself, here's how I hacked the pattern...