Sewing Inspiration & Fabric Picks for Esti

If you're sewing up an Esti co-ord or two this summer, you're in the right place for a healthy dose of fabric and high-street inspiration for your makes!

Ideal for all your favourite spring/summer fabrics, Esti is designed for light- to medium-weight woven fabrics. Try linen or chambray for a more structured silhouette, or viscose (rayon) or Tencel (lyocell) for a drapier look.

First, let's have a peek at the lovely Esti samples...

Fabric: Ruby Star rayon - Grid Fabrics

We're obsessed with the faux jumpsuit potential of Esti and just had to get this look on the cover!

Sewing Inspiration & Fabric Picks for Mabel

In the mood for Mabel? You're in the right place! It's time for your dose of Mabel blouse and dress sewing inspiration. 

The Mabel sewing pattern is ideal for many fabrics you may well already have in your stash. We recommend lightweight woven fabrics that gather easily. Cotton-based materials such as lawn, poplin, voile and seersucker will give a casual daytime vibe, or you could go with something like a viscose (rayon) or crêpe for a softer silhouette and silkier look for the office or a party.

Gingham & Checks

Fabric: Yarn Dyed Gingham Cotton - Blue & Yellow

If you're new to shirring, make your life easier with a fabric with directional lines like ginghams and checks. We love this combo so much, we made our Mabel blouse sample out of gingham too!

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Tilly's Makes

Looking back at what I've made over the last six months, I must say I'm surprised at how productive I've been because I don't actually remember sewing this much! 

And this isn't even all of it - as usual I'm making secret projects that I can't show you yet - patterns in development, because you want a surprise, don't you?

If you fancy a peek at what I've been making, take a look at my video talking you through recent me-made projects. (The details of patterns and where I got the fabrics are listed below.) Lots of florals, knits, and Marnies!

Sewing pattern: Lyra shirt dress - hacked by leaving off the skirt and extending the front bodice, back bodice and button stand

Fabric: Floral viscose from Sew Me Sunshine

Inspiration and Fabric Picks for Sewing Marnie

Are you as obsessed with our new Marnie blouse and dress sewing pattern as we are?

Aside from the dreamy design, one of the great things about this pattern is that it pairs well with many of the fabrics you probably already have in your stash - hooray! Think cotton lawn, poplin, double gauze, seersucker, viscose (rayon), and more.

If you're after some style inspiration and fabric ideas to create your Marnie, read on...

Mad about floral minis

Fabric: 'Rita' floral viscose crepe from Fabric Godmother

Everybody needs a ditsy floral mini dress in their lives and they are HOT this season. With so much inspiration on the high street for this style right now, as I'm writing this I'm itching to finish my own floral Marnie mini dress that's watching me from the corner of the office...

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Ditsy florals in lightweight fabrics with drape are ideal for Marnie. Think viscose, crepe and rayon types. Let your fabric do the talking with simple style lines, or opt for contrasting but complimentary prints to make a statement of the gorgeous features with one print for the main body but the shoulder and neck ruffles in a different print - swoon!

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Handmade Holiday Wardrobe

As we're amid a UK heatwave, us Brits won't need to save our most summery makes for our holiday, but can rock them in our own back gardens instead! With our hot-weather sewing plans in full swing, here's some me-made summer sewing inspiration. We'll leave the actual making and the packing to you...

One of the many things we love about sewing is the versatility of patterns. Take a sewing pattern and instead of looking at the ready-made garment sample images (however gorge they may be!), have a look at the simple line technical drawings instead. This can get the old sewing-brain cogs turning and what you thought was just a pair of stay-at-home PJ bottoms could become a lovely pair of linen trousers! It's all in your fabric and styling choices. So here's some handmade holiday sewing inspiration, from the beach to the bar...

Don't leave for your summer hols without a Coralie swimsuit or two. Sew your swimwear in coordinating prints and colours to make the most out of your holiday wardrobe. You can mix and match your bikini sets and pair them with one sarong all week long! 

Our beginner-friendly Dominique skirt would double up as a fab sarong-style beach skirt - sew in a lightweight fabric like chiffon or voile for a dreamy beach-ready look. 

Sewing patterns: Coralie, Dominique
Fabric: swimwear fabric from our shop, turquoise chiffon
Style with: cat eye sunglasses, beach bag

Inspiration and Fabric Shopping for Coralie Swimwear

Ready for some mouthwatering ideas for sewing your Coralie swimsuits and bikinis? 

Sewing swimwear can feel daunting and we know for lots of sewists this may be your first toe-dip into the pool of supply shopping for this type of project. 

This is why we aren't only launching a gorgeous swimwear sewing pattern and an online workshop, we've also got a fully stocked supply shop with everything you need to sew Coralie - including all the fabrics we used for our stunning photoshoot samples!

BUY YOUR SWIMWEAR SUPPLIES

We are stocking swimwear fabric for a limited period this summer, so be quick! If the fabric you have your heart set says 'OUT OF STOCK', click the 'TELL ME WHEN IT'S BACK' button underneath to get a notification if we restock it. At the time of writing, we have solid colours, lining and 6mm elastic back in stock verrrry soon and ginghams due back in early July.

SWIMWEAR FABRIC & SUPPLIES

Your main fabric needs to be a four-way stretch knit swimwear fabric with at least 50% stretch in both directions - crosswise and lengthwise. Look for a mix of nylon or polyester with elastane (AKA Lycra/Spandex). 

For your lining you can use a swimwear lining, stretch mesh or more of your main fabric, with at least 50% stretch in both directions. (If you're using main fabric for the lining though, we'd recommend more like 60/70% stretch as two layers of outer fabric will reduce how much the finished garment can stretch.) 

See above for the full breakdown of the Coralie sewing supplies!

Watch Tilly take you through our swimwear fabric collection!

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

Bethany Rutter's Sewing Style!

Hi makers! We've got a gorgeous blog post for you today, courtesy of one of our Indigo sewing pattern models, Bethany Rutter. Not only is Bethany #StyleGoals, but she's also a talented author and it just so happens the protagonist of her latest book Welcome To Your Life is just as obsessed with sewing as us. 

Let's hand things over to Bethany for some serious sewing inspiration...

Serena, the protagonist of my new book Welcome To Your Life, lives to sew. She would rather be sewing than doing pretty much anything else: for her, it's a relaxation tool, a hobby, but most importantly a way of reclaiming her personal style from fashion brands that don't want to make clothes in her size. Throughout the book, Serena makes loads of different pieces for different occasions, and here are a few more size-inclusive styles I think she would love to make!

INDIGO ADD-ON

In the book, Serena does actually make an outfit featuring white Broderie Anglaise so it felt fitting to include the Tilly and the Buttons pattern that I modelled in a white Broderie Anglaise! Serena is quite a low-key dresser (unlike her colleague Nicole) so the Indigo add-on sewing pattern in this pretty fabric represents the perfect mix of a more relaxed shape with a sweet, summery edge.

Erin Dungarees Sewalong: Gather Your Supplies & Sewing Inspiration

In need of some inspiration for sewing your Erin dungarees or overalls? You've come to the right place! Welcome to the first part of our Erin dungarees sewalong, supported by Janome. This blog post is jam-packed with fabric possibilities and inspo for your Erin makes. 

In this part of the Erin sewalong we'll cover:

• What supplies you'll need for your dungarees
• What fabrics are suitable (stretch and woven options)
• Sewing inspiration from the high street
• The fabrics we've used for our Erin samples

Follow the Erin sewalong!

FABRIC & SUPPLIES

One of our favourite things about Erin is that the dungarees can be made in both woven and knit fabrics - the sewing pattern dream! We bet you have something in your fabric stash right now, perfect for a pair of Erin dungas.

It works well with a wide range of fabrics, from medium-weight soft woven fabrics such as needlecord, linen and soft cotton twill, through lighter-weight drapey wovens such as viscose (rayon) or Tencel (lyocell), to low stretch knit fabrics such as French terry and ponte roma. The range of fabrics makes it great for year-round wear! 

Your choice of fabric will affect how the dungas look and feel when you wear them - see how the linen shorts sample we made holds its shape, while the leopard viscose blend gives a softer silhouette, the pink terry gives a snuggly vibe, and the mustard cord is cosy and strokeable! I would avoid anything that feels too stiff, as it could make the dungas a bit uncomfy to wear.

If your fabric is on the thicker side, like needlecord, use something lighter weight like a cotton lawn for the bib lining. You can also use this for the pockets if you like - just bear in mind this fabric will peep out a little at the pocket openings, so it's up to you whether you want it to show or not.

If you're using the same fabric for the outer and lining, add the lengths together on the fabric requirements chart to get the total length.

You'll also need to get your hands on some interfacing. We like woven as opposed to the papery kind. If you're making Erin in a terry or ponte knit, ideally you would use a knit interfacing but it's not the end of the world if you don’t have any - regular interfacing should work fine as the fabric isn’t very stretchy. 

Now let's get onto the fun stuff, some design inspiration for your Erin dungarees...

Inspiration and Fabric Picks for Pearl!

We hope you're loving our Pearl wrap cardigan sewing pattern as much as Team Buttons have been! It's Abi here with your latest dose of sewing inspiration and with all of us making a variety of versions over the past month, we've got loads of Pearl inspo and fabric picks for you - yay!

MEET THE PEARL CARDIGAN!

The choice of fabric really informs the silhouette, so you can have a lot of fun here! If you want to show off the balloon sleeves, a knit with slightly more structure such as French Terry, interlock or jacquard knit will do the job nicely, whereas a drapier fabric will result in a softer look.

Pearl is perfect for medium-weight, drapey knit fabrics with at least 20% stretch. Look out for Hacci knit, sweater knit, jacquard knit, stretch velvet, ponte, interlock, lighter weight French terry. 

ORDER PEARL HERE

If you want to pick a chunkier fabric for Pearl (like some of the heavier knits in this blog post), you may want to select a stretchier material such as ribbing for the neckband, hem band and cuffs. It's a good idea to pick a fabric with good recovery for the neckband, hem band and cuffs, in other words, a fabric that pings back down to size easily after stretching, to avoid these pieces getting stretched out during sewing or becoming loose with wear.

Now let's get some inspiration!

Super Soft

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Ideal for your softest and most snuggly fabrics, lean into the ballet cardigan vibes with cashmere or fluffy knit fabric. You'll be stroking your arms all day with one of these options!

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Sewing For The Season - Winter!

Brrr! You've guessed it, it's time for a new sewing for the season blog post with me (Abi)! Where I'll be sharing lots of on-trend inspiration for your winter sewing projects. From the cosiest loungewear to stylish dresses to layer with your woolly tights.

See what my own winter sewing plans are, inspired by these highstreet finds, in the video below. Grab a cuppa and enjoy this little lot...

SHOP OUR WINTER SEWING PATTERN EDIT HERE

Statement Sweaters

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If you watched the accompanying vlog, you'll see I've certainly been stocking up on my plain sweatshirt fabrics! I'm totally obsessed with the sewing patterns we're working on behind the scenes, so consider those fabric choices a clue... But I'll be reserving at least one for a Billie sweater. I can't decide between adding a touch of embroidery to mine or creating an iron-on transfer (much like our MAKER decal).

Do you like the look of the sweet shoulder ruffle on the pink number above? Well last year, Tilly created a free downloadable ruffle template to hack your Billie sweater with. For all the details, go to this blog post - cute!

Fabric Picks:

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Sew a Perfect Party Dress!

Party season is upon us, sewists! It's the perfect excuse to sew up those extra fancy, luxurious makes you've been dreaming up all year. Perhaps you've been lusting after designer velvet dresses or swishy sequin skirts, this blog post will get you in the mood for whatever your festive party feel.

SHOP THE 'PARTY DRESS SEWING PATTERN EDIT'

However... we're advocates of wearing your fanciest dresses whenever you want. So don't pack your make away after one wear. Love it, wear it and restyle it to give it the love it deserves!

Simple Chic

Indigo is one of our all-time best-selling sewing patterns. Just check out the super inspiring #SewingIndigo hashtag on Instagram (with over 4000 posts!) to see what the online sewing community makes of it. 

Recently re-released in our UK 16-34 size band AND with a trendy puff sleeve add-on update, now is the best time to get your copy and join the Indigo bandwagon! 

With a whopping possible 60 combinations to make with our Indigo Add-on bundle, you'll be whipping up simple smock dresses left, right and centre! So if you want to make your own party dress this season but are short on time, our simple Indigo pattern is the perfect place to start.

Need some fabric inspo for Indigo? GO HERE

Want to know how to sew a smooth dart? GO HERE

SHOP THE INDIGO PATTERN BUNDLE

Sewing For The Season - Autumn!

Want some drool-worthy inspiration for sewing all the cosy, autumnal things? Sure you do! It’s Abi here (you may have seen my spring and summer sewing inspiration posts and vlogs this year too), I feel like I spend the majority of my year thinking "oh that would be perfect for autumn" - it's just such a satisfying time of year to sew and there always feels like there's a buzz online for sewing some snuggly new makes!

So here I am with my own autumn sewing plans and loooads for inspiration from the high street along with dreamy fabric picks. Grab a cuppa and enjoy this little lot...

SHOP OUR AUTUMN SEWING PATTERN EDIT HERE

Rock 'n' roll neck

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Roll neck tops are back in a big way. From fitted styles perfect for layering or slouchy styles ideal for snuggling up in. Whatever your roll neck preference we've got multiple styles to suit you! Go relaxed and retro with our classic Coco top, modern and oversized with Nora or try our fan-favourite Freya (from Tilly's book Stretch). 

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One of the perks of sewing your own clothes is that the possibilities are endless. Take Nora for example, you can use snuggly cable knit jersey fabric or even fleece-backed knits for something toasty (or check out this STUNNING Nora top made with teddy fabric!), or use something lightweight to layer her up for all your Autumn outfits. 

Designing Combos & Choosing Supplies for Dreamy Iris Undies!

We understand that sewing lingerie can seem intimidating, especially when it comes to shopping for supplies like elastic and lace that you might not have encountered in your dressmaking sewing projects. But we promise you that sewing the Iris knickers isn't as scary as it can first seem and we're confident you'll find that too...

In this blog post, we'll be sharing all the details on our exciting knicker supply store, along with lots of inspiration and ideas for the kinds of combinations you can create with your sewing pattern, plus a peek at the hacks demonstrated in our online workshop. 

Let's Sew Skye! Inspo & Fabric Shopping

Summer is in full swing and lucky for you we've just released the ultimate hot-weather sewing pattern, the Skye sundress. If you haven't read Nikki's introduction post, then pop on over because she's shared all the details you need to know about this easy-breezy design. 

MEET THE SKYE SUNDRESS!

The simple fitting empire waist bodice is gently shaped with pleats under the bust and has a neat bias binding finish on the inside. The slightly square scoop neckline is designed to cover a bra, with optional bra strap stays for added security. Add the optional faux ties to the straps for an extra touch of whimsy. Choose from mini-, knee- or maxi-length hemlines for the floaty, gathered skirt. And, of course, it has side seam pockets for your ice cream money!

Get your copy of the Skye sundress sewing pattern HERE. Skye is available in TWO size bands UK 6-24 / US 2-20 / EUR 34-52 or UK 16-34 / US 12-30 / EUR 44-62. If you are in between the two size bands or want to learn more about our new sizes, check out this post to see which one is right for you. 

Skye is a fabric versatile pattern, so we're sure you'll have something perfect waiting in your fabric stash already! We recommend light to medium weight fabrics such as cotton lawn, poplin, seersucker, lighter weight linen and blends, double gauze, viscose (rayon), lyocell (Tencel), silk or poly crepe de chine.

Now let's get some inspiration!

Checks and Gingham

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Fabric: black, pink, blue, lilac, pastel, dark, red

Sewing For The Season - Summer!

Hurrah! Didn't it feel like summer wasn't quite going to make it back in May? So. Much. Rain... But luckily the clouds have cleared right on time and we've been blessed with plenty of sunny days with lots more to come. So let's get that summer sewing in full swing, shall we... 

I've had a look through aaalllll the high street trends for summer so I'll be showing you how to sew the looks for yourself, including gorgeous fabric recommendations for some must-make summer patterns.

SHOP OUR SUMMER SEWING PATTERN EDIT HERE

Fancy seeing some of our summer sewing picks in action? Check out our video below with some sewing chat with Abi:

Cool & Comfy

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We all know comfy dresses are where it's at and here at Tilly and the Buttons, comfy dresses are our bread and butter! Loose-fitting smock dresses are SO comfy in summer, swishing gently in the breeze and if you make midi or maxi length, you can protect your skin from the sun at the same time (always a plus if you're as pale as me!). 

Our Stevie add-on pattern has a gathered skirt so you can turn Stevie into a breezy, oversized smock dress, with the easiest sleeves you'll ever sew. Or if you fancy upping your smock dress sewing game, try our Indigo pattern in a fabric with more stability like cotton poplin, for super trendy slightly puffed sleeves. 

Fabric Finds:

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