Miaow (age 4; not staying still for the camera) wearing her reversible wrap dress made using Liberty Lantana (80% Wool 20% Cotton) animals in the forest print with a spotty cotton lawn on reverse. Made by Bess.
Miaow (age 4; not staying still for the camera) wearing her reversible wrap dress made using Liberty Lantana (80% Wool 20% Cotton) animals in the forest print with a spotty cotton lawn on reverse. Made by Bess.
Pink and Red double-sided wool and cotton jumper with heart elbow patches. Made by Bess.
This jersey is 50:50 wool and cotton with one side (red) being wool and the other side (pink) being cotton which means you can not only choose what colour to show but also what fibre to have against your skin. It’s fab.
Green pussycat printed poplin weight cotton A-line skirt with neon rickrack and double elasticated belt. Made by Bess. Find more printed poplin cottons here
Cobalt Blue lightweight sweatshirting 3/4 sleeve cardigan with neon rickrack, made by Bess.
Ann wearing her floral print Liberty Tana lawn wedding dress.
“It was a dream of a fabric to work with and the venezia lining was also lovely to work with. The dress washes well and irons up looking lovely.”
That’s what we like to hear!
Superb quality cotton lawn slash neck flared dress made by Jacoba.
Blue cotton drill mini skirt with scalloped front opening made by Lucinda for her Mum.
Typewriter print quilting cotton A-line skirt with neon rickrack and elasticated double belt, made by Bess who has a fondness for neon rickrack.
Quilting cotton isn’t always the best choice for dressmaking, but A-line skirts work well (and the prints are cool)
Bess doing I-don’t-know-quite-what wearing her Amy Butler Chinese lantern skirt (as seen on the Great British Sewing Bee), or onion skirt as her husband calls it. The pattern is a Donna Karan for Vogue but has been (infuriatingly) discontinued. It’s great; the side seams are twisted so at the hips the back wraps around to the front and at the hem the front wraps around the back. The yoke is cut in one piece which made fitting a bit of a nightmare (no side seams to take in), but for a pattern like this you get a great effect on the back where the grain is taken off to near bias. Bess piped the side seams to make them a feature and gave the skirt an extra-deep hem so the skirt had a bit of weight to it; you should be careful what you make out of these ‘quilting cottons’ as they don’t drape terribly well, but they are an excellent choice for garments such as this.
Bess wearing her much-loved cotton lawn trellis print shirt. Lawn is a brilliant weave to wear in the heat as it is so fine, yet still nice to sew with. The pattern was copied from a worn-out White Stuff shirt (now out of production), The bust darts are really tucks coming down from the shoulders. The armholes are faced with a wide tapered bias armhole binding that folds back to give the armhole some substance (anything to balance out Bess’s hips, she says, is a good thing 😉 )
Bess used no interfacing in the construction of this shirt – looking at the one she copied it didn’t seem they had used any, she worried about the buttonholes cocking up not working and the collar-band not lying properly but it was fine, if the fabric was less stable than lawn she would use light interfacing.
Fabric and Notions:
Blue trellis print cotton lawn
10mm red buttons
Pattern: drafted from manufactured shirt.
Also seen, cloud print red and white jersey skirt
Cathy wearing her fabulous short sleeved blouse made with lovely soft cotton and square buttons.
Fabrics and Notions:
Aeroplane print lightweight viscose,
Lightweight knitted interfacing,
Buttons.
Amazing Liberty blossom printed Tana Lawn cotton dress made using the Vintage Vogue Pattern V2960 (the dress has been altered from the pattern), made by Jane for Lulu.
If you can’t face the fiddle of making the belt yourself (we couldn’t) send the fabric off to Harlequin—they will do it for you along with covering buttons and various other fiddly jobs. It’s worth it as it looks so professional.
The dress petticoat is made up in a plain cotton lawn which has been bound with the Liberty lawn using a 19mm Bias Maker.
Alyson wearing her fabulous Mathilde blouse from Tilly’s blog using the supersoft blue and white aeroplane printed cotton.
You can read all about the construction on Aly’s blog HERE
Rachel wearing stretch cotton jacket with embossed squares, eyelet tape and various trims, and elephant printed floppy viscose panelled skirt.
Fabrics and Notions:
Jacket:
Black embossed stretch cotton
Black hatch print Linen (border/collar)
Velvet ribbon
Suedette eyelet tape
Haematite beads
Machine embroidery
Pattern: Marcy Tilton (discontinued)
Skirt:
Elephant print viscose
Medium weight knitted iron-on interfacing
Invisible zip
Bella wearing turquoise crewel embroidered cotton with purple voile petticoat.
Fabrics and Notions:
Turquoise crewel embroidered cotton
Purple cotton voile
Invisible zip
Pattern: Burda 9799
Pam wearing her lovely French blue polka dot dress with piped seams and contrast collar and pocket flaps.
Fabrics and Notions:
Blue polka dot cotton
White cotton poplin
White piping
Invisible zip
Lightweight knitted iron-on interfacing
Pattern: Simplicity 1882
Rachel (from classes) wearing her turquoise boiled wool waterfall jacket with red wool binding, and Paddy Campbell off-white cotton waffle wide leg trousers.
Fabrics and Notions:
Jacket:
Turquoise boiled wool
Red wool fold-over binding
Trousers:
Paddy Campbell off-white cotton waffle
Zip
Knitted iron-on interfacing
Patterns:
Jacket, McCall’s 5937
Trousers, Vogue 8717
Elwen (our Saturday girl) wearing her designer printed poplin cotton princess line dress with three box pleats coming from the waist.
She says don’t look at the hem
(The hem is fine)
Fabrics and Notions:
Designer printed cotton poplin #2823
22″ Concealed zip
Mustard poly cotton bias binding
Pattern: Very Easy Vogue (discontinued)
White spot cotton lawn top with printed red varuna wool skirt made by Lucinda. (The twins were made by her sister)
Fabrics and Notions:
Top:
White semi-sheer spot cotton lawn
Skirt:
Red printed varuna wool
Red venezia lining
Invisible zip
Red fold-over petersham binding
Lucinda (reluctantly having her photograph taken) wearing Amy Butler wiggly stripe cotton dress.
Fabrics and Notions:
Amy Butler printed cotton
Invisible zip
Stay tape
Pattern: Burda 7798
Lulu wearing vintage Vogue dress made with swimmers printed cotton and pink linen bolero, all made by Jane.
Fabrics and Notions:
Dress:
Swimmers print cotton
Riviera cotton lawn lining
Cover buttons
Covered belt
Bias binding
Pattern: Vintage Vogue V2960
Bolero:
Pink Heavy Linen
Swimmers print cotton
Button
Piping
Reversible coat made by Jane for Lulu using stripe proofed cotton and printed cotton lawn.
Fabrics and Notions:
Pink stripe proofed cotton
Pink and multi peacock printed cotton lawn
Cotton lawn (interfacing)
Shell buttons
Medium weight iron-on knitted interfacing
Piping
Monkey print cotton romper made by Lucinda for her nephew.
Fabrics and Notions:
Anne Kelle monkey print cotton
Cream/multi spot cotton
Poppas
Frog buttons
Bias binding
Giant spot coat that reverses to Marimekko floral print cotton made by Bess
Fabrics and Notions:
Giant spot cotton lawn 2746
Marimekko printed cotton
Cotton muslin (interlining)
Viscose iron-on interlining
Cover buttons (wired together so double)
Saddle stitch piping
Black grosgrain fold-over binding
Pattern: Bess’s own
Reversible bag made by Bess with a shy birdy embroidered onto the outside.
Fabrics and Notions:
Chartreuse stripe proofed cotton
Marrimeko printed cotton
Chartreuse Cotton Drill
Miaow wearing Boden spot cotton dress with white cotton detailing and bow at the back (made by Clair).
Fabric and Notions:
Boden spot printed cotton
White cotton poplin
Zip
Cover buttons
Piping
Ribbon
Floral printed needlecord cotton dress with pink marl jersey, and blue twill cotton romper with contrast pockets.
Fabrics and Notions:
Ditsy floral printed needlecord cotton
Polka dot lawn (lining)
Pink marl cotton elastane jersey
Blue twill cotton
Spotty cotton
Elastic
Poppers
Piping
Rickrack trim
Bias Binding
Pattern: Ottobre magazine
Ditsy floral printed needlecord skirt with ribbon trim made by Lucinda for her sister-in-law
Fabrics and Notions:
Ditsy floral printed needlecord
Pink ribbon trim
Invisible zip
Jane from classes made these pj’s to go camping in New Zealand at Christmas (they have all the reindeer names printed in case she forgets them)
Fabrics and Notions:
Printed cotton
Elastic
Cotton lawn iron-on interfacing
Luke wearing his embroidered cotton shirt made by Rachel (from classes).
Fabrics and Notions:
Embroidered and printed cotton
Buttons
Cotton lawn iron-on interfacing
Faafar the wabbits and Miaow in French France wearing her lilac spotty Kaffe Fassett cotton dress and bandana.
Fabrics and Notions:
Kaffe Fassett lilac spot printed cotton
Floral printed muslin (bandana)
Cotton lawn iron-on interfacing
Shell buttons
Miaow at the festival wearing Tina Givens printed cotton dress and matching trousers. (Ice-cream an optional extra)
Fabrics and Notions:
Tina Givens bird print cotton
Tina Givens bird and spot print cotton
Cotton lawn iron-on interfacing
Buttons
Elastic
Pam wearing her John Kaldor printed lawn blouse with satin ribbon trim and dyed shell buttons.
Fabrics and Notions:
John Kaldor cotton lawn
Dyed shell buttons
Narrow satin ribbon
Cotton lawn iron-on interfacing
Elastic
Pam from the Cloth Club wearing her big flower Free Spirit printed cotton sundress.
Fabrics and Notions:
Free Spirit printed cotton
Invisible zip
Satin ribbon trim
Pam from the Cloth Club wearing her funky floral printed cotton lawn dress with waist detailing.
Fabrics and Notions:
Printed cotton lawn
Cotton lawn lining
Ribbon trim
Invisible zip
Reinforced stay tape
Cotton lawn iron-on interfacing
Kitcat wearing her printed cotton dress using Aneela Hoey designed cotton.
Fabrics and Notions:
Aneela Hoey girls on swings printed cotton
Cotton lawn iron-on interfacing
Buttons
Invisible zip
Megan wears chartreuse cotton drill A-line skirt with a spiral zip inserted, worn with a grey wool mesh hoody top with ears, designed by Bess
Fabrics and Notions:
Skirt:
Charteuse cotton drill
White continuouse zipping
Viscose acetate spot print lining (Inside zip)
Black venezia lining
Invisible zip
Bias binding
Black fold-over grosgrain binding
Top:
Wool stretch mesh
Stretch semi-sheer turquoise lycra binding
Patterns: Bess’s own
Modelled below by Bronte showing what happens when you undo the zip
Clair braving the British summer in her red bubble spot cotton panelled dress.
Rachel’s granddaughter wearing printed cotton sundress with stripe contrast trim.
Miaow learning to walk in the garden wearing her yellow Italian cotton rara dress made by Granny
Kitcat wearing Italian yellow printed cotton rara skirt with trimmed purple t-shirt
Kitcat wearing her red gingham little red riding hood dress and cotton velvet cape.
Miaow’s christmas tree print smocked cotton dress with petticoat made by Jane.
Proper smocking is a laborious business, but Jane doesn’t get put off by labour. No detail was spared in the making of this outfit. It is amazing.
Jacoba wearing big flower print lined cotton skirt.
Fabrics and Notions:
Flower print cotton #1580
Cotton lawn lining
Invisible zip
Bias binding
Jacoba wearing black and white polka dot printed cotton dress with collar detail and purchased belt.
Fabrics and Notions:
Polka dot print cotton
Lightweight iron on knitted interfacing
Invisible zip
Jacoba wearing red bubble spot panelled dress.
Kitcat’s daisy printed cotton a-line dress with daisy buttons and matching knickers. (Made for Kitcat by Jane)
Fabrics and notions:
Printed cotton
Rickrack trim
Daisy buttons
Elastic
Spotty bias binding
Blue and White Gingham Dorothy Dress made by Clair.
Kitkat is only *slightly* obsessed with the Wizard of Oz. (this dress needs to be surgically removed, sometimes)
Fabrics and Notions
Blue and White Cotton Gingham
White Poplin shirting
Invisible zip
Buttons
White Cotton Stayflex iron-on interfacing
Piping cord
Naomi in her fabulous Amy Butler tunic using two printed cottons
Fabrics and Notions
Amy Butler printed cotton
Kaffe Fassett spot printed cotton
Cover buttons
Bias binding
Light-weight knitted iron-on interfacing
Pattern: Amy Butler tunic.
Kitcat’s combined spotty/gingham dress
Fabrics and Notions:
Red and White cotton gingham
Blue and red spotty printed cotton
Rickrack trim
Miaow’s turquoise seersucker gingham sundress with matching bloomers, made by Jane.
Fabrics and Notions:
Turquoise cotton seersucker gingham
Rickrack trim
Elastic
Kitcat’s simple a-line dress with matching knickers, and appliquéd flower pocket. (made by Jane)
Fabrics and Notions:
Flower printed cotton #1580
Elastic
Spotty bias binding
Clair wearing Off-white raincoat with Kaffe Fassett Green spotty panelled dress.
Fabrics and Notions (raincoat):
Proofed cotton
Kaffe Fassett spotty printed cotton (lining)
Double cover buttons
Piping cord with self-made bias binding
Viscose iron-on interfacing.
Pattern: McCall’s 5525
Fabrics and Notions (dress)
Green Kaffe Fassett spotty printed cotton
Green Venezia lining
Invisible zip
Piping cord and bias binding
Knitted medium weight iron- on interfacing
Clair, being the queen of matchy-matchy fashion excelled herself here with this summer-weight all-weather ensemble. Proofed fabrics will need a sharp, fine needle, such as ‘super-stitch’ or those intended for use on microfibre
Gerbera printed cotton dress with matching rickrack and ribbon trimmed bloomers made for Miaow by Jane
Romper suit made by Jane for Miaow using lovebird printed cotton, rick rack trim and piped detailing
Cheryl stood outside our shop wearing a red robot printed cotton dress
Fabrics and Notions:
Red robot print cotton
Invisible zip
Medium weight iron-on interfacing
This style dress is easy to make and will often not even need a zip, a great choice for beginners, or those who want to knock something up quickly. For best results choose an interesting print and let the fabric do the talking, or trim a plain fabric with ribbons, bindings or braids around the hem and neckline. This style also works really well in jersey.
KitCat with her Tina Givens cupcake ensemble in pink and yellow bubble cotton
Fabrics and Notions:
Pink and yellow spotty bubble cotton
Lightweight knitted iron-on interfacing
Button
Elastic
Pattern: Tina Givens Cupcakes
Bubble cotton, like the rest of the seersucker cotton family, is a great choice of fabric for children as there is minimal ironing required whilst still retaining the natural fibre content.
Clair wearing Martha Negley printed cotton shift dress
Fabrics and Notions:
Martha Negley printed cotton
Venezia lining
Fine piping cord and bias binding
Lightweight knitted iron-on interfacing
Invisible zip
Pattern: Burda 3477
Red embroidered cotton ra-ra dress made by Clair
Fabrics and Notions
Red Cotton Embroidery Anglaise
Invisible zip
Lightweight knitted iron-on interfacing
Pattern: Burda 5085
Bag made up with Amy Butler printed fabric (the instructions and bag pattern is printed on to the fabric)
Fabric and Notions:
Amy Butler printed cotton
Vilene fleece interlining
Printed cotton lining