The fabulous Janet who teaches pattern cutting at Exeter Sewing Machines showing off her skills with this amazing self drafted jumpsuit made using printed Japanese cotton., and to top it off (quite literally), a magnificent matching hat 😊
Bess made these stretch denim shorts for her ridiculously fussy husband (she keeps swearing she will never make for him again, but then the morale boost when he likes it and wears it is too much of a temptation). The denim is not that heavy but to keep them light she lined the waistband, pockets and fly with the pointy finger print cotton poplin.
She used odd buttons on the fly because she was using up old stocks, but loves that feature. and will do it again.
The pattern is taken off an old favourite pair.
The shorts passed the temperamental sewing machine test AND the fussy husband test 😊
Jane made this fabulous shirtdress for Miaow using tencel denim and the Ottobre spring 13 pattern. It is topstitched with pink silk thread and because life is too short to turn rouleau loops Jane used a denim herringbone tape
Pamela made up this super navy and white seersucker lawn into the Vogue V9251 wrap dress, the proportions of this dress are beautifully cut and suits Pamela perfectly.
Sewing for boys can be harder than girls ads the choices of prints and colours are more restricting, but Susan gets and A+ with these these delightful romper trousers and shirt using burda patterns. The trousers are a mustard babycord and the shirt is a quilting weight cotton
Bess wanted a lightweight but warm jacket so used grey herringbone cotton poly and elastane -it’s a medium weight, the sort that would make lightweight chino type trousers, then she quilted silk crepe de chine (in the brightest coral colour possible) to wool wadding. The results are a super snuggly jacket that feels like you are putting on a duvet (if you ever wondered what the definition of hygge is, this jacket is it)
Whilst the outer fabric is not waterproof it is a tight enough weave to not get wet through in a brief shower.
The pattern is the Kelly Anorak by Closet Case Patterns, the instructions and drafting is simply brilliant. Bess shortened it and hacked the collar and hood pieces to enable both (the hood folds away into the collar)
Alice’s further adventures in bananas here with a cotton poplin dress (McCall’s McCalls 6696 view A). She made quite a few alterations to the pattern –
Changed the back bodice to get rid of the gathers at the yoke and added darts at the waist.
The front bodice was a bit too big in an 8 which is the smallest pattern size so pinched out the excess on the toile and re-drew the pattern which resulted in making the neckline smaller so the collar and collar band also had to be resized.
Trimmed about half an inch off the collar long edge to make it neater.
It sounds worse than it was in practice!
She decided to gather and line the skirt rather than pleat it and omitted the side seam pockets. This is the second dress she’s made for Lizby in this pattern which makes the adjustments worth the effort!
The fabric was a dream to work with and Lizby is delighted with the finished results.
This is Carole wearing this super loose-weave cotton shirt using the Butterick 6070 which she has used several times as the buttonholes are hidden behind the placket. Great if your buttonholes have the occasional wobble!
This cotton is super soft with a gauzey jacquard type weave (unusual), it resists creasing and is great to wear in the hot weather as the drape tends to hold it off the body.
The lovely Sian here visiting all the way from Australia* wearing her lovely red cotton voile shirt dress that she made with her purchases from her last visit. The pattern is Burda 6353 (lengthened in the skirt), it’s lined in an equally fine cotton lawn to keep the lightness and coolness. (and it is very cool 😎)
*I don’t think Sian travels 10,000 miles just to see us.
Bess made up this sleeveless shirt using a fabulous eye print poplin cotton. The pattern is taken and amended from an old White Stuff shirt, the buttons are wiggly eye buttons but how long they will last is debatable as she keeps ironing over them!
As the poplin is very stable and Bess wanted the shirt as light as possible no interfacing was used apart from down the front placket so the button holes would be stabilised.
Whilst Bess lined up the front and back when cutting out no attempt was made to match the pattern. It actually does match where the yoke meets the back piece but that was an accident.
Rachel doesn’t believe that kids prints should be solely for kids. Here she is in her self drafted quilting cotton dress printed in sugar plum fairies.. and frogs… and things. 😊
Jane made this lovely pineapple print yellow seersucker sundress for Mioaw, she chose the fabric herself which has proved a good move as she has lived in it all summer (YAYYYY!). The pattern is Burda 9417.
Martine made this lovely printed needlecord dress up for her 9 year old granddaughter in dressmaking classes in the South of France. We ❤️!
Rachel in her brilliant space travel print t-shirt using a self drafted pattern. The neck is bound with the same jersey cut binding. 😍😍😍
Louisa here wearing her lovely denim cleo dungaree dress from Tilly and the Buttons, complete with impressive top-stitching and super fastenings.
Karen came to the shop wearing this brilliant blossom print Japanese cotton shift dress, she made it using the Tilly and the Buttons Françoise pattern, it has been lengthened and a with bit of tweaking to the french darts (hardly visible in this fabric) this has become a firm favourite in Karen’s wardrobe. This cotton has a great weight to it that barely creases, doesn’t shrink (and so pre-washing shouldn’t be necessary) and is loose enough weave to remain cool and breezy.
The wonderful Julie cheering up a decidedly grey day with this amazing parrot print heavy cotton canvas made up into the Kwik Sew K4097 dress.
We love it. We love it!
The lovely Sandra here modelling her navy blue needlecord/babycord cotton shirtwaister with matching classic marble effect buttons. The pattern is McCall’s 4769. She is really please (as she should be) and has had a lot of wear out of it 😊).
This is Christine’s Granddaughter Georgia, who was nearly 5. She’d just been to stay, and as soon as her parents had dropped her off she wanted to ‘do sewing – a hat and a dress!’
They found a lovely free bucket hat pattern online – from Oliver + s – a PDF, a first for Christine but very easy, and sewed up nicely. Then they found a New Look G205 pattern for the dress.
Everything made up really nicely in the seaweed print cotton. Christine was thinking of ric-rac, but as soon as Georgia saw the daisy trim she fell in love with it. As you can see, she loves her dress, and thinks it’s very good for twirling in! The hems are sewn with a daisy stitch to match the trim.
Sheryl made this lovely tunic up in heavy slubby cotton with a blue paisley overprint. The pattern comes from the book The Tunic Bible. Continue reading Blue and White Paisley Print Slubby Cotton Tunic
Heather in the sunshine wearing her lovely embroidered denim Cleo dress by Tilly and the Buttons. Sooooo Good!
Marion wearing her mauve and blue geometric print cotton needlecord shift dress with short sleeves and princess seams. made and designed by Dawn Hooper of Hardy and Hooper (Maidenhead)
We have been looking at this stretch cotton sateen multicolour stripe for a while thinking “something FANTASTIC could be made out of this”, and here we have the proof. Marion, with her dress made and designed by the clever stick Dawn Hooper of Hardy and Hooper (Maidenhead). We love the chevron detailing on the back, and the perfectly matched seams. This kind of attention to detail really pays off. 👍
Marion wearing this great animal print stretch cotton sateen dress with asymmetric zip detailing and shawl collar. Made and designed by Dawn Hooper of Hardy and Hooper (Maidenhead).
White Broderie Anglaise embroidered cotton dress made by Jane for Lulu using Vogue pattern 1942 (discontinued). IT is trimmed with turquoise blue satin bias, soft cotton bias and piping around the neck, and lined in cotton voile.
Jane this lobster print cotton voile shirt for Scotty. Cut extra roomy as the fabric is super fine, and french seams all round. The pattern is Burda 3800
Marion in this super fresh blue and multicolour print cotton needlecord short sleeve dress made and designed by Dawn Hooper of Hardy and Hooper (Maidenhead)
Marion wearing her super dress made with brown and yellow geometric floral print cotton babycord, there are clever princess seams that are piped and curve out to the side seams below the waist, which is a very flattering design feature. Made and designed by Dawn Hooper of Hardy and Hooper (Maidenhead)
This is Sophie who has a degree in Costume Design and keeps turning up at the shop with friends and family working out what she will make next. She is quite an inspiration.
The pattern was drafted herself and is using a cotton brocade which is heavy enough to hold shape but drapey enough to swing and not stick out.
Pauline made this delicious summery watermelon print cotton up into this great a-line dress from McCall’s (M2401). The cotton is pretty lightweight (somewhere between a lawn and a poplin) and could have got away with no lining but Pauline went for the smarter option and lined it in cotton voile.
Ann came in smiling wearing this skirt that gets her stopped in the street to ask her where it’s from 🙂
Made from meadow print slightly brushed cotton canvas with just a centre back seam, elasticated waist and a ruffle hem. It only took an afternoon which is fairly impressive, until you see every single seam is sewn beautifully BY HAND (at which point the staff at Stone Fabrics jaws drop). Ann argues it’s quicker than getting the machine out. 😮
Another superb shirt made by Rachel and modelled here by Luke. Again the fabric is a quilting weight cotton which is great for casual shirts. There is a light knit interfacing in the collar, cuffs and front placket.
Marion looking fabulous in her peacock blue abstract print short sleeve stretch cotton sateen dress made and designed by Dawn Hooper of Hardy and Hooper (Maidenhead)
Rachel made Luke this beautiful harlequin jacquard cotton shirt. I think we can tell he likes it 😉
Two little sweeties here (like butter wouldn’t melt) wearing their printed brushed cotton pajamas made by Aiste. Love the funky flared cut. 
Rachel made this fabulous vinyl records print shirt for Luke, perfectly matching everything, of course. Shirtmaking is an art Rachel has mastered to a tee. The fabric is a quilting weight cotton which is on the heavy side for a shirt but great for casual (and fun!) projects. There is a light knit interfacing in the collar, cuffs and front placket.
Here is a close up of Rachel’s matching: (in her previous life she was a chameleon)
Pauline made this fabulous denim jumpsuit using a 1970’s jumpsuit pattern from Simplicity (3322), she used a soft medium weight linen mix denim with floral painted buttons and hand embroidered pocket details.
Pauline made this sweet bunny print shirt with printed quilting weight cotton. It is a Butterick pattern (6324) that has minimal/confusing instructions (it is clearly the instructions at fault and not the readers!), so Pauline came a bit unstuck working out how to do the concealed buttonhole band, but she got there in the end 🙂
The collar and cuffs are interfaced with lightweight knit iron-on interfacing
Marion wearing her lovely blue and yellow geometric print stretch cotton sateen shift dress made and designed by Dawn Hooper of Hardy and Hooper (Maidenhead).
Rachel made this fabulous cotton shirt for her son Luke. Rachel is applying for title ‘Queen of shirt making’. This fabric is quilting weight which is great for a slightly heavier warmer shirt (and also happens to have the wackiest prints).
Thank you Luke for modelling for us, much appreciated!
Marion again, this time in a floral and paisley print cotton babycord top and skirt. All of us at Stone Fabrics are loving the scalloped hem and pattern matching. Made and designed by Dawn Hooper of Hardy and Hooper (Maidenhead). Soooo Clever!
Marion here wearing this super fitted stretch drill dress with lovely cut out detail on the back. She cheats by getting the uber talented Dawn Hooper of Hardy and Hooper (Maidenhead) to design and make it up for her (I must say if I had a Dawn I would too).
There is a danger with not-so-good designers to make ‘funeral clothes’ -clothes that look great on the front but are plain and boring on the back (you don’t need the back to look pretty if you are lying in a coffin). When we look at ourselves we rarely see our behinds (hoorah for that I say!) but other people do so it’s good to make it look pretty.
School shirts don’t have to be made out of polyester to be easy care, why are all the school shirts in the shops either horrid stiff cotton or polyester? Jane makes Kitcat and Miaow’s school shirts in supersoft cotton dobby lawn which hardly needs ironing at all, just flatten the collar and they are good to go! Made using Burda 9744 with such a tiny bit of fabric the under collar has been seamed in the middle.
Susie wearing her super cobalt blue polka-dot printed cotton needlecord tunic pattern made from the indie pattern company Wiksten Tova.
Miaow (age 6) made this tropical bird printed cotton canvas bag (with help from Jane). With appliqué parrot dangling. How cool is this?
Bernie in the South of France wearing her blue and cream dragon print cotton culottes made using a pattern taken from the Burda magazine no 195, March 2016. She made adjustments (intentionally) and took out the pleat in the front simply by seaming it down. The culottes were finished by then but felt they were far too wide so rather than disturb the good fit over the hips and waist she just took out the fullness by stitching the pleat down as a seam and then cutting away the surplus, an overall difference of several inches. Bernie did have to undo the waistband for a few inches on each side to do the job properly. Then (unintentionally as when using the overlocker to finish these extra seams she got the back caught up in it thus making a hole!) made a similar seam down the centre back of each leg of the culottes, no more than an inch or so of width, and is very pleased with the result. (HOORAH!)
As for to the top, it is made from some lightweight organic cotton jersey and the pattern is an amalgam of several for a far too complicated reason to explain! Let’s just say it is a t-shirt!
Lesley made this fabulous chartreuse and camel stripey proofed cotton cape. This was a cape pattern picked up at a Quilt Show in France which she embellished with flowers cut with a Sizzix machine attached using the Bernini Eyelet accessory and printed with Thermofax screens. It was fun to make!
Rachel wearing her Tula Pink for Free Spirit woodland animals print cotton skirt using Vogue 8588 pattern, the hem is bound in satin bias binding. She was worried she was going to feel like mutton dressed as lamb (as if), but actually feels fabulous wearing it. There were debates about adding lace to the hem to extend it (there is no more of the fabric) but we think she’s right to have left it be.
Bess wearing her super summery light blue broderie anglaise cotton dress at the Pimm’s stall at the village fête. The dress is her same Jaeger dress pattern with the neck cut lower and lined in ivory cotton lawn. The neck is piped with red satin piping (made with a super lightweight bias binding and piping cord) and bias binding around the armholes.
Just to be extra fancy Bess used french seams on the lining (this has practical reasons as well as showing off -it is stronger and everything looks neater), and a heavy repp bias binding around the hem to give it a little structure. Despite the snug fit and no lycra Bess can still wiggle in without a zip.
Neon shoes are an optional extra 😉
Jane made this Denim jacket and matching skirt with stretch pink denim for Kitcat. It is trimmed in black lace (because Kitcat is 9 going on 19). The skirt is a great little pattern from Burda (9480) – the back was made slightly wider so elastic could be put in. The Jacket was an utter nightmare – BEWARE OF INDIE PATTERNS DOWNLOADED FROM THE INTERNET! She eventually got there though! And Kitcat is very pleased.
Topstitched with two poly sew all threads run through the same eye of the needle (a trick that is far easier and reliable than using topstitching thread, we have found). The coloured jeans buttons are riveted in.
The belt was made by Harlequin (you send them the fabric and hey presto!)
Kitcat came up with the bright idea that when Jane makes her an outfit her dolly, Ayla should get one too. This concept is like a red rag to the bull to Jane so here we have a matching pink denim jacket and mini skirt to match her life size one; even down to the black lace trim.
She’s no fool, that Kitcat.
Daiga made this aqua, brown and chartreuse green geometric print cotton needlecord up into a great retro inspired dress for a nine year old and embellished the seams and front with lace and does up with a concealed zip down the back.
Maxine came to the shop with her bag stuffed with nearly finished projects and wearing this fabulous creation.
Made using a Marcy Tilton for Vogue pattern (9171), it’s a shirt/tunic which she has lengthened a bit. The fabric is a grey dobby cotton lawn. Isn’t it lovely?
Cammie came to the shop with a sewing bug after making up this fabulous cotton voile dress. She used Simplicity 1873 and lined it in cotton lawn. Well done Cammie! It looks ace!
Celia looking stunning in her rose print stretch cotton sateen dress made using Burda pattern 6920 (slightly lengthened). The dress is unlined as the fabric is already quite structured. Celia loves these stretchy cotton prints, as they are so easy to make up and fit beautifully.
Celia showing off her floral print linen and cotton flared dress made using New Look pattern 6390 (lengthened a bit). It is fully lined in cotton lawn and has an invisible zip in the back.
Summer ready and super stylish Kitcat in her white spotty jacquard cotton school shirt and green gingham shorts. There is also a matching belt (covered by Harlequin). This girl will not be showing her knickers whilst handstanding in the playground!
To make the gingham a little heavier for the shorts Jane backed it with cotton lawn interfacing (iron-on).
Patterns: The shirt is Burda 9744 and the shorts are Burda 9481.
Eloise modelling her bright blue jumbo cord dress with jersey circle inserts and inseam pockets. Made by Aunty Bess who would really like one for herself but suspects she’s too big.
