Teresa made this fabulous flared jersey dress with a digitally printed lightweight viscose jersey and we adore it. Such a lovely cut and drape. Tencel Jersey and Modal Jersey would work in a similar way for this dress.
Simplicity 9222 Jersey Dress
Tag: Jersey
Teal and Silver ZigZag Sparkle Blouse
Carol made this fabulous blouse using Burda 5855 and a drapey poly knit with a sparkly metallic print. This knit is pretty stable so whilst this pattern is designed for lightweight drapey woven fabrics it works well in a jersey too (evidently!).
Sparkly Zigzag Knit Dess
Jacoba made this fabulous sparkly zigzag printed jersey dress for the orchestra and no one could believe she made it. This is a poly jersey with fabulous drape so putting it on the bias for the skirt makes it super-christmassy drapey. We love.
The Pattern is Vogue 1907 version B
Floral Cotton Jersey Maker’s Atelier Wrap Dress
Suzanne chose this digital print floral cotton jersey for her Maker’s Atelier wrap dress and she says it’s a dream to sew (music to our ears!).
Green Ovals Jersey Dress with Overlay
Teresa made this dress using our viscose and elastane lightweight jersey and it is beautiful.
She sent us this message: Really pleased with this comfortable, useful dress. Made with another of your gorgeous fabrics.
The pattern is an old one but maybe there is another similar out there. (Simplicity 8070)
With the patterned fabric it is difficult to see the overlay on the front skirt but in wear it shows with movement. I underlined the body of the dress with one of your tricot knit linings.
Hand Painted Mercerised Cotton Jersey T-Shirt
Burda 6602 pattern strikes again! This versatile pattern is sooo good. This latest version is in the finest silkiest cotton jersey (11313) known to (wo)man- and it’s a double jersey so it doesn’t curl when you cut it (Yayy!). Highly Recommended!
Bess fabric painted “BE STRONG I whispered to my coffee” -a quote she saw outside a NYC coffee shop and so whilst she didn’t come home with a sweatshop made “I ❤️ NYC” T-shirt she has (finally!) got her holiday souvenir 💪
Bess altered the neck in this version – if you alter your neck hole and wonder what size the binding should now be it’s fairly safe to go with 2/3 the circumference measurement of the neck. Hems and neck binding were topstitched with the maraflex stretchy thread 👍
Having a good opaque fabric paint in the stash is a great thing to have on hand for impromptu presents – it’s easy to use and will instantly personalise / add meaning to what otherwise could be quite plain or ordinary.
Fun fact: The first time Bess painted the slogan she painted it on the wrong grainline… so the slogan went vertical instead of horizontal, rather than wasting the fabric she also made a vest top:
Black Chevron Knit Faux Jumpsuit
Anne bought this unusual chevron knit for her amazing (accidental) faux jumpsuit, It’s actually a bodysuit and seperate cropped trousers. Anne adapted the bodysuit was adapted from an ancient pattern for a polo-neck sweater and the cropped trousers were copied from a bought pair. She says “It took quite a while to copy the dimensions, but I really like the wide flare and the angled hem, so I persevered. It was worth the effort because this is the third pair of trousers I have made from the pattern”.
The waistband was from a scrap of black scuba – very comfortable! Though she says the outfit looks more flattering with a wide belt.
This is just simply fabulous ❤️
Parrot Digital Print T-Shirt
Anne and her husband visited the shop in the summer, he was wearing these brilliantly bright and cheerful trousers and they bought the parrot digital print jersey to go with them – such a fun and cheerful outfit!
I am not sure which pattern Anne used but it looks like the Burda pattern I make up frequently -Burda 6602 (highly recommended). Anne used a small piece of turquoise cotton rib for the neck binding and pocket. We stock this pattern.
Yellow Felted Knit Jumper
Ann used the slightly felted jumper knit to make up this Maker’s Atelier ‘flared top’ – she made the short version and didn’t sew the neckband as instructed- joined the neck seam and then attached neckband (which is more logical). Well done Ann- this jumper is fun and happy and we love it.
Robot Print Jersey Bomber Jacket
Bess used up her last precious remnant of her favourite robot print french terry jersey on this Jalie Patterns Charlie Bomber jacket for her niece, it is amazing how little main fabric you need for a bomber jacket as the cuffing, pocket contrasts, sleeves and lining are all other remnants. This pattern may just be the ultimate in stash busting!
Printed French Terry Bomber Jacket
Bess used printed french terry sweatshirting jersey and a variety of other sweatshirtings and ribbing to make this Jolie Patterns Charlie Bomber Jacket.. It was a success and Amelie declared she was never going to take it off (YES!)
The pattern has really clear instructions and goes from teeny tiny toddler size all the way up to adults, it’s highly recommended
Bomber jackets are excellent stash busters as all the pieces are quite small (especially for the kids!) and you can mix and match, bomber jackets are an easy fit so good to make “in secret” without the need to try on.
There was a bit of drama with the making of this one as Bess needed to shorten the zip – usually a simple process of pulling off the teeth at the top and sewing over to stop the puller falling off -except she pulled off the puller before she had it secured and then spent as long trying to get it back on as she did making the entire jacket. 🙄
Sequinned Jalie Bomber Jacket for Teenager
Kitcat here wearing the sequinned bomber jacket @bessworks made for her (she’s very pleased 😀).
This is the Charlie bomber from Jalie patterns – The pattern has really clear instructions and goes from teeny tiny toddler size all the way up to adults, it’s highly recommended 🥰.
Bomber jackets are also excellent stash busters as all the pieces are quite small (especially for the kids!) and you can mix and match, bomber jackets are an easy fit so good to make “in secret” without the need to try on.
This multicolour sequined version used only 45cm of the sequin fabric- handy because it is £55/m 😭! – it’s a great way of getting a jacket out of a special fabric that you don’t have /want to buy much of.
Red Plush Velour Grainline Linden Top
Absolutely love the juxtaposition of Claire modelling her swanky stretchy red velour in her building site of a house ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
This fabulous raglan sleeve simple top is the much popularised Linden Top pattern by Grainline Studio
Black 100% Cotton Jersey ‘Sneetch’ T-Shirt
Bess made a T-Shirt for her ‘star bellied sneetch’ using black 100% cotton piqué low stretch jersey with pale grey Sneetch star (also 100% cotton jersey), -attached with bondaweb and then stitched, black cuffing on the neck, the pattern is Burda 6602 size 44 with no alterations and it is indeed super easy 👏👏👏
Did you know we sell patterns? We do! We stock Burda, Butterick, McCall’s and Vogue, we also can have Simplicity sent direct to you. Our patterns are not on the website but you can browse them online HERE
Grey Bomber Jacket with Neon Cuffing
The best thing about grey is how it makes colours POP and so adding neon colours to grey is a recipe for some serious popping. Lucy made this bomber jacket for her husband and finished it with our neon cuffing and it just delightful.
Pink Daisy Print Jersey Swing Dress
Effee said she bought this pink daisy print 100% cotton jersey fabric ‘by accident’ whilst looking for tailoring supplies, and then I guess this dress was accidentally made into this brilliantly happy swing dress from a self drafted pattern, and a jolly good accident it is too.
This type of 100% cotton jersey does not have too much stretch to it so perfect for this style dress.
Cobalt Floral Jacquard Jersey Dress
Lindy chose this brilliant jacquard jersey to use for McCall’s M6886 dress pattern and it is truly delightful. It is lined with tricot jersey to give it a bit more body and to save wearing a slip. This dress is DIVINE 😍
Stripey Tee and Tencel Cargos
Sally made her tried and tested lark tee in super stretchy viscose jersey, and tencel and cotton denim cargo pants using the Itch to Stitch Sequoia Cargo pattern
Bonus points to Sally for an excellent evaluation of these trousers:
Now – what did I think about the Itch-to-Stitch cargoes? I previously made a dress from them (Oia pattern) for my sister-in-law, which was fabulous. The pattern was very well designed and the instructions were so good that even this very beginner sewer succeeded. So I had high hopes for the Sequoia Cargoes. But in all honesty I am slightly disappointed. Why?
Sizing. Based on her chart I’m half way between a 6 and 8 based on hip and a size 10 for waist. Two toiles later, I wound up cutting the pattern halfway between a 6 and 8 for everything except for the waist which I actually graded DOWN to a size 6. Very illogical. The overall fit works fairly well on me – better than any other trouser patterns I have tried. I generally have to modify the crotch pattern based on a pair of RTW jeans that I like the fit of.
The instructions have some anomalies. The zip insertion is strange.
With a 1″ wide zip, the second stitch line would be on the very edge of the zipper tape. And anyway, why would you want the first stitch line/fold not closer to the teeth? I emailed Kerris at Itch-to-Stitch to question this instruction. She didn’t really understand the problem and advsed me to follow her instructions for putting a zip in jeans. I had already put the zip in my toile using my tried and test jeans zipper insertion method. It worked fine, but created a problem later with the sizing of the left and right waist band pieces. So I cut those pattern pieces larger in order to make it all come together right.
The Waistband is ribbing folded around a 1″ elastic. Following this instruction results in the seam joining the waistband intersecting the zig zag stitch. So half the zig zag is visible in the waistband. Again I asked Kerris about this and she pointed out it was a basting stitch and therefore gets removed. But it is not really feasible to remove this zig zag stitch when it is run through with a seaming stitch. So I did the zig zag higher up the waist band. After I inserted the waistband I decided I liked the look of the zig zag running through the middle of the ribbing so I left it in as a design feature.
Finishing the seam allowances: Given my choice of fabric (very prone to fraying) I struggled. I don’t have an overlocker – would love one but just don’t have the space to set it up. So I zig zagged the seam allowances. Not a great finish. Be interesting to see how they wash up.
Overall impressions of the look: I didn’t include the side pockets or the leg straps. I also didn’t put poppers on the back pocket flaps as I felt they were too heavy for the fabric. I wanted a wider leg but find the legs a bit wider than I would have liked. And I think the back pocket flaps are too large. I think a heavier fabric would better suit this pattern. Perhaps even something with some stretch. Will I make another pair? Probably not.
Thank you Sally!
Cobalt Blue Floral Jacquard Knit Agnes Top
Andrea made this superb Agnes top (by Tilly and the Buttons) using a medium weight jacquard knit – just look at that lovely binding! The jersey is super soft and Andrea said it was lovely to work with (so much so she’d like a dress in it too).
Blush Pink Cotton Knit Jacket
Annie made this lovely knitted jacket using blush pink cotton mix jumper knit, the pattern was See and Sew B6120 (out of print) – due to the nature of the knit she left the darts out (unnecessary), used snap fasteners and added a collar (perfect 👌).
Glow in the Dark Fire Breathing Dragons
George (aptly named) made these fire breathing dragon print cotton jersey PJ’s for her littlest Godson, so much fun to be had with the glow in the dark flames 😊. All sewn on an ancient Singer 338 which all goes to prove those of us with fancy overlockers and coverstitch machines need to raise our game somewhat 🙄.
Check out that TOP STITCHING!
Beautiful.
Fun.
This is what sewing is all about.
Stripey Lark Tee and Stretch Crosscut Cord Jeans
This is Sally with her Jeans and a T-Shirt classic and all round perfect combo using cheerful rainbow stripe cotton and elastane jersey (using the Grainline Studio Lark Tee pattern) and an unusual and super long lasting blue crosscut stretch corduroy. The cords are half copied / half self drafted to get the perfect fit – we are not going to deny it’s a palaver top get jeans to fit but oh so worth the effort.
Black Modal and Elastane French Terry T-Shirt
This is the fabulous Sally showing off her classic black T-Shirt using the Grainline Studio Lark Tee pattern and supersoft modal and elastane french terry jersey – it’s a medium weight jersey with a lot of drape and 4-way stretch.
Red Jersey Flared Dress
A red dress to cheer up any day, Jacoba used mid weight 4-way stretch Cotton Jersey to make this fabulous McCall’s M7538 jersey dress, the seaming is genius and it has a heavenly drape.
A Cat on the Catwalk!
Teddy the chocolate Burmese cat here modelling his super burnt orange viscose jersey elasticated collar. Made by Jessie in a jiffy with the tiniest of scrap. Teddy thinks he looks fantastic (he’s right)
Linen Mix Classic T-Shirt
Julie is on a quest for the perfect T-Shirt which she has trouble with due to boobage. Having to do an FBA to every pattern you get is a pain but the reason why we sew for ourselves is to get the fit right, right? If you ever need to do an FBA Julie is the girl to talk to!
This jersey is a linen mix knit which has resulted in a lovely fit. She thinks there is still work to do but we love it.
Ponte di Roma Abstract Print Dress
Lovely Ros wearing her tiger and abstract print ponte jersey dress. She said it made up really well (as we can see) and it is super comfortable and easy to wear. Simplicity at its finest.
Bubble Texture Cloqué T-Shirt
Julie is on her endeavours to find the perfect T-Shirt- this time re-drafting it with a slight cowl neck (she was hoping for more drape but this is lovely). The fabric is a fab bubble texture mid-weight jersey with moderate 2-way stretch.
Flower Power Retro Print French Terry Tunic
Julie usually makes beach bags to sell (they are exceptional), but she had a lot of fun making this up in floral print cotton and poly mix french terry jersey. There is no elastane so the stretchiness is fairly minimal. Julie sewed it all on her trusty sewing machine.
Ponte di Roma Dress with Long Sleeves
Karen here with her brilliant subtle tile print Ponte di Roma dress with long sleeves (and a sneak peek into her sewing room!), such a useful, versatile, brilliant, classic dress for any occasion. It’s fab. We love it. The Pattern is the Sew Over It Zoe Dress
Cats Print Wrap Jersey Top
Rachel (who is most definitely a dog person) wearing this fabulous cat print cotton & elastane french terry jersey mock wrap top. The pattern is Burda 6848 and is a tried and very much tested pattern.
Ponte Roma Long Sleeve Sheath Dress
This is Jenny wearing her extra long sleeved McCalls M7531 dress made in rococco print posh ponte roma jersey. It’s a very simple pattern (Jenny’s words) . She is usually a 10 – 12 and for this pattern was a medium. Surprisingly she didn’t need to shave anything off the the hips which is an alteration she normally does (snake hips!). This probably means us more endowed in the hip department will need to add.
Jenny chose not to have a seam down the back, as with jersey there is absolutely no need, so cut the back on the fabric fold also having straightened the pattern to match the front .
As it was a beginner pattern she ignored some of the directions (e.g double stitch the seams) and made the sleeves extra long goth style.
It came out good ! Very warm dress for a winter occasion. Pretty good on the lumps and bumps also (Ed. Jenny, WHAT lumps and bumps?!)
Parrot Print Cotton Jersey Dress
Jane made this parrot and glitter print cotton jersey dress up for Miaow using McCall’s 5135. Jane lengthened the top and narrowed down the side seams (because Miaow is a string bean), she also added some gather to the neck.
out takes:
Denim Blue Cropped Sweatshirt with Balloon Sleeves
Super soft and comfy cropped sweatshirt with balloon sleeves made by Jane for Kitcat (soon to be a teenager)
45 Appliqué Denim Jersey T-Shirt
How to celebrate turning 45? Applique a single onto your t-shirt, of course! Bess made the t-shirt out of her precious stash of denim jersey (she has been hoarding this since 2008, and this is her 5th t-shirt out of it). She then used bondaweb to applique the sequined fabric, the reflective grey ‘stylus’ and the glow-in-the-dark centre. Not willing to trust the bondaweb on a stretch she then meticulously stitched around by machine.
With all the shiny/reflective/glowing parts to the applique this t-shirt is brilliant at night.
When feeling uncomfortable with an impending birthday the only thing to do is embrace it!
Indigo Denim Jersey Sirocco Jumpsuit
Sarah made this Dear and Doe Sirocco jumpsuit using heavy indigo dyed denim jersey, it needed washing twice before making up due to the excess dye, and she has added a invisible zipper on the side as the fabric is not as stretchy as the pattern requires, but isn’t this amazing?
You can find sarah on Instagram, but here’s what she says: V2 #ddsirocco Having analysed what went wrong with v1 (fabric too thin and too black, over-lengthened the bodice, over-tapered the legs, short sleeves in winter colour made no sense), I’m glad I had another go. This time I only lengthened the bodice 1.5in, and kept the waistband depth and legs as per pattern, and I extended the sleeves to make it cooler weather appropriate. As this indigo jersey from @stonefabrics is quite sturdy and not as stretchy as the pattern requires, I had to install a side invisible zip. I’m really pleased with the result, even though it is absolutely impossible to wriggle into without getting white deodorant marks on 😂.
Peacock Green Mandy Boat Tee by Tessuti
Lynn made this fabulous jumper using cotton mix jumper knit and the Mandy Boat Tee pattern by Tessuti. The fabric seamed stable enough so the neck seam is just turned over with no stay tape- super simple, easy and effective. ❤️
Jade Green Stretch Velour Top
Daiga (who is a long standing member of our Cloth Club) did a grand job on this fabulous jade green stretchy velour top with a twist front using McCall’s pattern M7975. A perfect accompaniment to dress up a pair of jeans, or to go with a flippy, drapey skirt. We love! ❤️❤️❤️
Grey Cotton and Wool Mix Loose Fit Cardigan
Janet made this fabulous loose fit cardigan using a washable cotton and wool blend jumper knit WITH POCKETS! the pattern is Simplicity 8468 redrafted to lose the collar and get a closer (less coat like) fit
Hand Painted Paint Splatter T-Shirt in Cotton Jersey
Getting 100% Cotton Jersey for t-shirts is harder than it should be, then we get too many metres in one colour so Bess painted a load of this cream with flicks of a paint brush with fabric paint, and then made this T-shirt for her sister Lulu. The pattern is an ancient Vogue Elements hoody pattern V9926 (we still have an out-of-print copy if you would like one)
Spotty Cotton Double Knit Jersey
Carol here using some lovely spotty cotton double knit to make a #toastersweater from @sewhouse7 . She lengthened the bodice by about 3 inches. This is a really comfortable jumper which will be worn a lot👍
Banana Print Josie Hoodie by Style Arc
Alice made this banana print sweatshirting into a hoody for her bananaphile daughter, Lizby. The pattern is Style Arc Josie, the only changes she made was to line the hood with a contrast ochre jersey and to omit the drawstring around the hem.
Sooooo much fun 😊
Red Ditsy Floral Print Cloqué Jersey Top
Pamela here in the fabulous textured cloqué jersey top made using the Style Arc Fran top (her tried and tested pattern). It’s so good when you get your TNT pattern sorted and can make it up in all sorts of things.
Green Pop-Art Print T-Shirt
Trevor here with his first ever t-shirt made by his own fair hands, the pattern is Simplicity 8613 and he used a cotton and elastane jersey, he’s (rightly so) very pleased 😊
Champagne Chunky Jumper Knit Como Cardi
Tina made this fabulous Como Cardi by Style Arc Patterns using the chunky but stable wool-mix jumper knit, she loved it so much she made two others (different colours) straight away (madness!)
We love ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
Black and White Cloqué Pintucked Jersey Dress
A super flattering and comfortable dress here in monotone print cloqué jersey with a fit and flare dress pattern. Made by Jacoba who has been sewing up our fabrics so long she even has her own tag 😉
Sandwashed Modal Jersey Dress with Long Sleeves
This is the wonderful Antonia wearing her Merchant and Mills Curlew dress made up in wonderful sandwashed Modal Jersey, it was so successful she made one up for her mum too!
This silky jersey has a wonderful drape and not too much stretch so is great for the customer who is not sure if jersey is their thing… just watch out as that lesser stretch means you cannot ease sleeves in the way you can cheat with a normal stretchier jersey.
Black and White Stripe Wool Jersey Dress
Catharine sent us this pic of her black and white stripe pure wool double jersey from LG dress that she made. We love the way the stripes go vertical on the kimono sleeves. It’s so fab
Black and White Stripe Double Jersey
Nicola made this perfect long cardigan using pure wool double jersey from LG. As with all double jerseys the stretch is moderate which makes life a little easier when matching all those stripes (these are matched perfectly)
She made a slightly modified Grainline Studio Driftless cardigan. There’s more written about it on her blog.
“The fabric was a dream to sew, although matching the stripes was tricky! It’s a really cosy cardigan and just the right weight as we move towards winter. I’m so glad I chose this fabric.”
Denim Jersey Body-Con Dress
Sewing for the tweens is always tricky but this was deemed a success with the super Kitcat. Fabric is a heavy denim cotton jersey with only a little stretch (plenty for this dress) made by Jane (Granny).
Printed French Terry Sweatshirt
Silversewer (carol) made this fabulous #southbank sweater 🤗. with this fun people with binoculars printed french terry backed cotton sweatshirting. This was her second make of this patter -time adding the bottom cuff. The collar can be either folded over or left upright. This is such a great pattern😊. Her daughter 💕 loves it !
Navy Silk Crepe Self-Drafted Top
Jayne made this fantastic self drafted top using our super slinky navy blue crepe de chine silk and the grey and navy cotton and elastane ribbing for cuffs and neck opening.
Black and White Pinstripe Hoody
Bess made this hoody from an old Burda pattern on the day before going off to a festival and realising she had nothing warm for the evenings. Being somewhat busy she got up a bit early and made it before breakfast – even though it was a pattern she hadn’t used before (needed to be cut out)/there were patch pockets that needed to go on evenly/stripes to match/zip to be inserted. We would like to say it was Bess’s skillz as a dressmaker but most of the credit needs to go to this lovely double wool jersey that behaved soooo nicely.
Space Rocket Print Cotton Jersey Pyjamas
Miaow made these space print cotton jersey pyjamas with a little help from Granny (Jane). Hardly any help really, Mia pinned out the pattern onto the fabric, cut them out, overlocked them together and even made ‘Arfur’ the rabbit a matching nightshirt and nightcap. The only thing Jane did was hem them (which she did because they needed to be done TONIGHT and Miaow didn’t have time).
Miaow is 8. When she grows up she wants to be an astronaut.
The pattern is McCall’s M7499 (discontinued but similar things are available).
Towelling Jersey Hoody
Miaow on the beach wearing the the big beachy hoody Jane made for her. The pattern is McCall’s 7044 (Jane extended the length). A twin needle was used for the hems, all the seams were done in a jiffy on the overlocker.
Jersey Circular Skirt
Kitcat (age 11) made this viscose jersey skirt more or less all by herself. We would say she is clever but don’t want to be accused of favouritism 😉.
No pattern used, just a circle and a straight elasticated waistband 😊
Strawberry Print T-Shirts (a pair of strawberry tarts)
When we received the email entitled ‘a pair of strawberry tarts’ we weren’t quite sure what we were opening. 🙀
This is Rachel and Rachel wearing their matching strawberry print cotton and elastane jersey t-shirts along with wolfy the dog (whippet the whippet was locked outside after rolling in fox excrement).
This is possibly our favourite catwalk photo EVER ❤️❤️❤️
Rainbow Print Viscose T-Shirt
Bess couldn’t resist this dichroic glass mirror in Amsterdam for a selfie of her rainbow print viscose T-Shirt (pattern drafted from a fallen apart Great Plains linen T-Shirt). The neck is bound with the same jersey and a stay tape is inserted on the shoulder seam to keep it stable.
Photobomb of Kitcat was unavoidable.
Black Sweatshirt with Eye Patches
Bess embellished this simple black sweatshirt with iron-on eye patches, she intends to sew them on but so far (6 months down the line) they are mostly still attached so in the name of indolence she hasn’t done it yet. She will. Honest.
Space Travel T-Shirt
Rachel in her brilliant space travel print t-shirt using a self drafted pattern. The neck is bound with the same jersey cut binding. 😍😍😍
