VJ


Seamsters

This guide will provide you with a simple framework from which you can structure measuring yourself, adjust your pattern, make a toile that fits, research fabrics, make notes which jog your memory throughout the make-up process and work out how much your make is going to cost.

Before buying the right size pattern you need to take your body measurements... correctly, or as correctly as possible. Here are a few tips to get your measuring 'groove on', so you can (i) measure yourself properly in order to (ii) use the correct size pattern, which (iii) specifies a specific amount of ease so that you can (iv) get the best fit for your personal style. In the studio we often tell customers to come in their slim fitting yoga gear when they've got a firs

Why Every Bride Should Make a Toile (Test Garment) Ok so you know the style of dress you want. You've got the fabric swatches or perhaps have bought the fabric. You've downloaded the pattern. You've drawn new size lines on your pattern pieces if/where required. The next step is to source a cheap fabric which is as close as possible in weight and handle: drape, to that of your chosen dress fabric, so that you can make the toile. A toile, also called a muslin, is a practice or

The toile is finished - or as finished as you need it to be: you haven't bothered to include fastenings such as zips and/or buttons and buttonholes. You've sewn the major seams: side, shoulder and perhaps set in the sleeves. Wearing the appropriate underwear and shoes, try the toile on. Firstly, sit, stand, walk, bend and reach, in fact take every relevant position to thoroughly test garment fit. Keeping in mind that you may want your garment to fit closely to the body with

If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of sewing your own wedding dress, chances are the thought has made your heart skip a beat—half with excitement, half with fear. In our sunny little Sheffield studio, we’ve seen that exact look cross many faces: disbelief, panic, wonder… then a spark of possibility.

sewing stretch fabrics can be an absolute nightmare. However once you get used to sewing them all the terror and anguish begins to slip away

In more recent times Zero Waste in the sewing community has become a hot topic. In this blog we discuss how you can get there.

Pattern Hacking is the best way to get the most out of your favourite patterns. It’s more sustainable too: one pattern, many changes.

‘Waste not, want not’ as the old proverb says can really get you thinking when you’re throwing silly amounts of offcuts in the bin.

My first ever forage into sergers or overlockers (as we say in the UK) was many years ago when I became the owner of the excellent New Home

Gathering should not be off putting or instil the the fear of the universe within your soul; it should be seen as another skill to learn.