28 December 2022

Looking Back at 2022 at Tilly and the Buttons

Team Buttons employee places Marnie sewing pattern on a shelf at Tilly and the Buttons' studio
Well, it’s been another strange year, has it not?!

As 2022 draws to a close, I’m taking the opportunity to look back and reflect on what we’ve achieved at Tilly and the Buttons. This year has been a challenging one!

While we are settling into the new “normal” now that the worst of the pandemic is happily behind us (we hope), this year has been the toughest of recent times for many small businesses, in the UK at least, including ours. The aftermath of Covid, the impact of Brexit, the invasion of Ukraine, the recession and more have created turbulent times. Costs are spiralling at the same time as sales are declining, and it has been truly heart-breaking to see some of our favourite craft businesses close this year. 

At Tilly and the Buttons, we are feeling all of this, and are hanging on in there, determined to keep on with our mission to help more people sew their own clothes. We are more grateful than ever for your orders and support!

Despite these challenges, we kept our heads down and worked hard to bring you lots of lovely sewing goodness…



Pearl cardigan sewing pattern on two models - one plus size black woman in green cardigan, one petite Asian woman in multicoloured wrap cardigan

Our first new release of 2022 was the Pearl cardigan sewing pattern – a cosy V-neck wrap cardigan with three different sleeve options.

The edges are finished with bands rather than hems, making it a nice and easy sew if you’re not that confident working with knit fabrics. It’s perfect for the cold weather – definitely one to try!

SHOP PEARL

14 December 2022

Five Tips for Sewing with Corduroy

Five tips for Sewing with Corduroy or Needlecord - Tilly and the Buttons

I love corduroy. And judging by the number of corduroy makes that pop up on our Instagram feed, so do lots of people! Today I thought I’d share a few tips on sewing with corduroy to get a great result.

Corduroy - which is made of cotton, sometimes blended with polyester - has visible ribs or “wales” running vertically down its lengthwise grain. The width of the ribs can vary, from jumbo cord which has wide wales - if you see it labelled as “3 wale”, this means it has 3 ribs per inch - to finer needlecord or pincord, which is more like 16 wales per inch).

Corduroy is great for making dungaree dresses, skirts, trousers (corduroy flares, anyone?) and jackets. Finer needlecord is also lovely for shirts and dresses. Keep on scrolling to find a whole host of our gorgeous patterns you can use with this lovely fabric.

So what do you need to know when cutting and sewing with corduroy?