First garment of 2018 complete! And in no time at all.

I have previously made the Coco but in the dress version, you can read the post within my blog. I stand by what I said before, it is a super quick and easy make! 

I used exactly the same fabric as I used for the dress - it helped to clear my fabric stash a little! And I'm planning on pairing it up with a nice little handmade skirt, maybe Arielle.

I would recommend this pattern to any newbie to dressmaking.

It's ironic how Coco was the last garment I made in 2016 to see through into 2017, and now it's the first garment I have made in 2018! Definitely picking up from where I left off.

I feel like I'm getting my dressmaking mojo back and I like it!

Can't wait to get started on my next project.

​Lisa x

So it is now 2018 and I haven't posted onto my blog in over a year!

I have to admit, life totally got in the way of my dressmaking and blogging last year but it's time to catch up. 2017 was a complete rollercoaster...

My partner and I bought our first house...yippee!
My beautiful sister and her lovely partner got married... woohoo!
My dad retired and is now enjoying life with my mum and family... awww!

There were also not so good times...

Cancer entered into our immediate family... never doubt getting checked out!
We lost our beloved Grandad... we miss you so much.
Soon after, we lost another member of the family very suddenly.
And soon after that, a close family friend lost their sister to the cruel battle of cancer.

Sometimes life does take over but it's also too short to not do what you enjoy. This year I have made it my pledge to make more time to do what I love.

At the back end of last year, I started selling some of my handmade pouches. I really enjoyed launching my little business and I've enjoyed making the personalised pouches for customers across the country. Throughout the year I will be introducing new products with the aim to grow and pursue what I love.

As well as this, I will commit to making at least one garment per quarter, that's 4 garments minimum for the year. I have picked my top four and here they are...

Most of these are patterns that I already own but haven't got round to sewing them as of yet, but 2018 is the year!

I have already made the Coco dress and I love it, still one of my faves! But I'm in need of some staple tops for my wardrobe so good ol' Coco seems to be a wise choice.

I will post about all of these makes once complete - no going back now, it's been published to the WWW and you're all witnesses!

Lisa x

This is my much loved Coco, a pattern designed by Tilly Walnes founder of Tilly and the Buttons.

It was a last minute decision of mine to sew this up to wear for my New Years party and after completing it, I realised that this was the best pattern I could have chosen - it was a super quick and easy make!

The fabric is a blue velvet with black roses. I normally absolutely hate velvet but this is an exception.

Not only is this dress stylish but it is so comfortable too! I love how it can be a casual or dressy dress.

The perfect outfit to see into 2017.

Happy dressmaking x

My Simplicity 1142 Jumpsuit was specifically made to wear at The Big Simplicity Blog Meet in Manchester on 21st May 2016, it is now a favourite in my wardrobe!

The fabric I used is Viscose and is from the Minerva Crafts website - It has a lovely drape and a comfortable feel, perfect for this type of garment.

The sizing was very nearly perfect, I only had to make two adjustments one of which is always the case for me being only 5ft2; the leg length and also the arm strap length - The straps were adjusted after I had completed the garment so I'm proud to say that this was my first ever alteration and a successful one at that!

Since my last Simplicity make I have to say that I am understanding the pattern instructions a lot more now and as a result, this project didn't take long to put together at all - Another great beginners pattern. There is also a cute playsuit version with a different neck style, another one of my never ending list of projects.

This outfit will see a lot of the summer I'm sure :)

This is my first #memade skirt – Yay!
 
This super cute skirt is the Tilly and the Button’s Dominique pattern. There are four versions that you can make, an easy peasy straight skirt; one above-the-knee and one knee length and two flared versions; one knee length and the other midi length.
 
I chose to do the knee length flared skirt and to be honest, it’s not a type I am used to wearing but I love it! It has a very vintage feel.
 
The fabric I used is called Trevera in a Teal colour; bought from Tahim Drapers in Coventry at just £3.50 per metre. It has a lovely drape and has a good quality feel – It’s so swishy too!
 
As always, Tilly’s pattern instructions are a dream to work through and the sizing is perfect. She really does guide and support you throughout the whole dressmaking (or in this case skirtmaking) process and if you want any further guidance or ideas her online blog is excellent.
 
I’m hoping to make the straight version of this skirt (pockets included!) very soon – I’m fond of quick makes and this is definitely one of them.​

:)​
 

My second dress is now complete! Well... it was complete on Wednesday night as I was itching to wear it for the Knitting & Stitching Show on Thursday but I've only just had chance to post about it now, I'm still bursting with excitement!

This dress is from the Megan Dress pattern by the lovely Tilly Walnes, founder of Tilly and the Buttons. The pattern came with her book 'Love at First Stitch' - A beautifully written piece of work which includes detailed and illustrated step-by-step instructions on how to make the cutest of clothes. I highly recommend purchasing this book, especially if you are just beginning your dressmaking journey like myself. Check it out here: http://shop.tillyandthebuttons.com/products/love-at-first-stitch​​

​The fabric that I used to make this dress is Tartan, it is 65% Polyester 35% Viscose. and it's so comfy! I bought it from Tahim Drapers Ltd in Coventry at £4.50p a metre, love a bargain.
It's fairly lightweight but is nice and warm with some thick black tights and a cardi.

One problem I came across was matching the bodice to the skirt, as the top was bigger than the skirt and I had to match up the Tartan pattern. However, I'm quite proud with how it matched up in the end. I may use gathering stitches next time I have a pattern like this, what do you think? Any tips on what to do in this situation?​​

​It was also my first time inserting sleeves on a dress, skill up! Surprisingly to me, I done this first time with no un-pick, another proud moment of mine and I was worried about sleeves to begin with but there was no need to worry. Admittedly, they needed a bit of patience but it was well worth the time.​

So I stayed up until gone midnight on Wednesday to finish this dress especially, to wear at The Spring Knitting & Stitching Show at Olympia, London. It was well worth it, as soon as I walked up to the Tilly and the Buttons stall and said Hello, Lexy her Office Manager noticed straight away that I was wearing a Megan Dress! Highlight of my day, thanks Lexy :)​

Ta da!

In between making my dresses, I have been making cute cosmetic bags for family and friends just as a little gift for birthday's or just a random pressie- I'm succeeding at not being a selfish sewer, yay! I actually really enjoy making things for other people.

The pattern I use is from So Sew Easy and is completely free to download - Love a freebie! There is also a video on YouTube and if like me you are a visual learner, this is an added bonus.

Fat Quarters are perfect for making this bag and they come in all sorts of colours and patterns to suit you, your family, your friends, your partner and so on...

This is basically what you need (as well as thread and a sewing machine, vital ingredients!).

You may not choose to cut your fabric with a rotary cutter and cutting board, this is just my preference.

The YouTube video recommended to use a 9" zip, I ignored the guidelines and used an 8" zip (there was no 9" available and I'm too impatient to wait!), but this size worked perfectly.

I used the cute flowery fabric for the outer part of the bag and the stripes for the lining inside. To make the bag a bit more sturdier, I added both iron on interfacing and fleecing to my outer fabric - This was also a recommendation from the YouTube video and I completely agree.

The cosmetic bag is so easy to put together and all instructions are very well detailed within the YouTube video provided. Unfortunately I haven't got step by step photos (I get way to into making things that I forget about the photos!) But here's the completed product...

I loved this cute 'handmade with love' tape that I used to wrap the bag up with.

Happy sewing! xx​

​When making my first dress I started using my dressmakers dummy, Delilah, for assistance in pinning. I was constantly turning around  to my pin cushion to grab more and more pins however, my lovely mother thought up an excellent idea to transform Delilah into the most useful, helpful dummy ever! She created a 'made-to-fit' pin cushion which attaches to the neck of the dummy, clever ey - I now have much easier access to pins for my dressmaking!

And here you have it - The most simple, useful, helpful accessory for anybody's Dressmaker's Dummy!

P.S, the dress on Delilah is currently in progress, blog post to follow soon! xx​

So here you have it! Finally, I have finished my very first dressmaking project - I couldn't be happier or prouder to say that.

I chose the Newlook 6125 as my first project as I wanted to tackle an easy pattern to begin with and I chose style A as this didn't appear to have any tricky bits! Well, this proved to be quite an adventurous first dress for me as I was faced with lining and an invisible zip straight away.

I really struggled to follow the pattern instructions, it was like reading something in a completely different language - Thankfully my lovely mummy was there to guide me in the right direction and I also took full advantage of the internet, YouTube and a few sewing books. I have recently joined up to a dressmaking course to help me understand the traditional dress pattern instructions, but I strongly believe once you are familiar with a technique that works for you​ the patterns are just a guide - I'm hoping this comes true for me soon.

​After late nights of sewing, unpicking and lots of research I have gained a lot of knowledge from my first project which I will certainly put into practise throughout future dressmaking.

Ta da!

P.S, You may have noticed, this is the dress that Delilah is modelling in the background of my blog... it was work in progress at that stage!​​​

Good evening!

So after the launch of my blog yesterday and introducing Delilah & I, for my second post I thought I'd talk about my first ever sewing creations. - These are just a couple of little projects which eased me into my sewing hobby.

After buying my sewing machine, I bought myself a sewing magazine for some bedtime reading, which included some fabric and an instruction booklet on how to make a few simple sews - I chose the envelope cushion cover as it was easy enough to help me get to know my machine and also, practising stitching in a straight line!

I would definitely say that this was a good first project and it only took me a few hours to make (could be finished even quicker with experience!). Although it has a slightly Christmassy pattern with the trees, this cushion has a place on my bed all year round​ - A proud first make moment!​​​

My second creation was a non-selfish make, one of my friends had a birthday coming up so I decided to sew her a present - I suppose that is pretty risky for a beginner! But I went and done it regardless.

I bought a pack which contained all that was required to sew a make-up bag. Now this project was a little adventurous as it contained lining and a zip, ahhh! But not to worry, all was clear in the instructions.

I set myself a very tight deadline on this one, as I knew I was going to see my friend later on that evening, so I aimed to finish for then (allowing time to shower and get ready too!). Now I found this quite challenging as I was dealing with a few different elements and not so much long, straight edges like the cushion - If you know what I mean? And the zip, well that was my first un-pick - All part of learning!

But after a full afternoon of "errrm", "hmmmm", "ahhh", confused faces, concentration faces and finally a "yay" and a smile... I completed my second creation.

My friend was truly thrilled with her present and was touched by the hard work that had gone into it. I've always loved buying and giving presents but this has to be one of the ones I've been most excited to give - I even personalised it with a cute 'Handmade' tag.

Welcome to my new blog, Delilah & Thread!

As this is the first post of my blog I thought this was the opportune moment to introduce both of us.

My name is Lisa, I am a complete newbie to dressmaking and blogging - Hello!

Up until mid-last year I was a very proud horse owner, he was a Thoroughbred called Coby. Since the heart breaking decision to sell Coby (and a few months of luxury having some time to spare) I have felt quite lost without having a hobby to call my own.

So I was doing the usual Christmas shopping in December just gone, and I came across a lovely little vintage shop in the centre of town. As I walked through the door I noticed the young lady at the till desk was using a sewing machine to sew a denim jacket, well needless to say I was truly inspired! I started to read lots of sewing and dressmaking blogs and I just knew it was something I wanted to try and well me being me and hundreds of reviews later, I went all out and bought myself a Christmas present, my first sewing machine! (I even put it under the tree!)

I was so excited to get started on my new project and hobby and after being completely baffled by threading the sewing machine, scared to press the foot pedal in case it went out of control as well as the extreme concentration required (hand, foot and eye coordination!), I finally made myself a lovely cushion cover to start me off - Post to follow soon.

Anyway, enough about me...

Delilah is actually my Dressmakers Dummy. I adopted her from a lady who no longer needed her as she had gained a younger model, poor Delilah - So I welcomed her into my home and named her of course.

During my first dressmaking project, Delilah proved herself worthy and assisted me in a lot of pinning (sorry Delilah!). And I'm sure she will be of great assistance throughout my dressmaking journey.

So there you have it, Delilah & Thread!