VJ


Seamsters

This guide will walk you through step-by-step instructions, highlight common mistakes to avoid, and share techniques for practising on toiles. Whether you’re sewing your own dress or 'just asking for a friend', you’ll gain confidence and skills to master this essential sewing technique.

Wedding dresses often feature delicate buttons, lace, or hidden zippers to keep the look seamless and elegant. But what if the zipper itself became a striking part of the design? Exposed zips in the backs of wedding dresses add a modern, edgy touch that can transform a traditional gown into a statement piece. This post explores why exposed zips deserve a place in bridal fashion and offers practical tips on how to create one yourself.

Invisible zips have a reputation for being a little intimidating — but once you know the right steps, they’re one of the quickest ways to give your wedding dress a professional finish. In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know: from choosing the right zip and preparing your seams, to mastering the necessary stitching techniques that keep the zip truly “invisible.”

For the modern bride who loves making things her own, the question isn’t just what to wear — it’s whether you should make it yourself. Sewing your wedding dress is equal parts artistry, commitment, and self-knowledge. At VJ Seamsters, we champion thoughtful, skill-led design, and this 10-question quiz is crafted to help you decide if creating your dress will be a joyful creative journey or an unnecessary pressure on your big-day plans. Take a breath, take the quiz, and discov

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.

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.

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.

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.