How I made My white lace pintucked blouse

A Jaycotts.co.uk blog post 

This is how I made my beautiful lace pintucked blouse and how I wear it without looking too "girly" Thanks to the wonderful Alex Jaycott for his input into my  adventure with corded pintucks.

If you don't have a pair of leather trousers do go and try some on right now, they are an effort to get into I admit, well my skinny ones are , but they are the most comfortable thing ever. I love lace but for me it needs to look edgy rather than girly, so this pretty blouse will be worn with my leather pants and upcycled leather biker jacket. I will show you how I blinged my jacket later.

To give you a view of what we are going to make this is the front whilst It is being worn. The shape is very flattering with a fitted waist and lots of pintucks to create shape.

I must stress that if you do not want to do pintucks then gathers are quite acceptable, but do at least try them

Using an Overlocking foot on your regular sewing machine .Making warm jersey tops.

A review for Jaycotts.co.uk 

Do you have an overlocker? They are great and I would not be without mine, I love owning one, but sometimes it seems too much hassle to re-thread it when you only want to overlock one thing, or you do not want to go out and buy overlock threads in a colour you will not use again.

What is the answer?  I recently made this stretch jersey top using just my sewing machine with an overlock foot. I have to say it was no trouble at all to switch feet and choose a different  stitch in fact it was quick and enjoyable.

I found a piece of this unusual burnout fabric at Abakhan Fabrics. It is a soft feel stretch jersey, there was just enough to make a top.

How to make bags, totes and wallets Perfect for gifts!

I love making bags, there is something satisfying about using up remnants of fabric to make something practical (and free) Whenever I make a coat or jacket I always make some sort of bag to use when wearing it, especially now that we need to take a larger bag shopping with us. It is an opportunity to be a bit creative too and use trimmings that would otherwise me overwhelming on a garment.

These are two toiletry bags which I made out of leftover fabric. Have you seen how expensive they are to buy in the shops! A length of bag interfacing will make you lots of bags, then you just need a fastener.  I will talk about magnetic snaps and zips in each section.

All of my bag making supplies are from Jaycotts.co.uk,  take a look at the link  HERE  They sell handles, snaps, interfacings and everything else you will need including patterns and some fabulous templates so you can design your own.

The pattern I am using is this one and in this post I am making a bag and two envalope wallets using an interfacing called   DECOVIL which is a firm but flexible stabiliser for bags, and also some FUSIBLE VOLUME FLEECE which is easier to use

HOW TO MAKE YOUR MAN A TIE HE WILL TREASURE Christmas Gift

in my last post I made bags of all descriptions, perfect for a gift for women , but what about men? I have been making mens ties for a long time now and I must say that I enjoy sewing mens ties and shirts more than I do for women.
When I saw the December issue of Sew Magazine I noticed a template for a man's tie. I already have my own tie pattern, but they are all mostly the same so the instructions I give here will be fine if you choose a commercial pattern or a pattern download.

The fabric I chose was a Liberty Lawn in this fabulous print. I chose a small piece of mint green spotted Lawn to line the tips.

How to Sew a Simplicity 1960s style dress

This is a pattern which was given in SEW magazine a couple of months ago. It is Simplicity K1609.

The pattern is a simple shift style which became popular in the 1960s. 
After the austerity of earlier years fashion for the young suddenly became fun and young designers, boutiques and fun fashion, heralded the start of the swinging 60s. 
The key look of the period was mini skirts and short A-line dresses and coats. Graphic  prints were used to create a strong look. It was during this period that tights came into being, so now that young women were free of stockings skirts could become shorter and shorter. 
Boutiques were a new way of shopping for clothes, they were dark and mysterious with loud music playing, sales staff wore the clothes they were selling and chatted about fashion passionately. 
Mary Quant was a pioneer in fashion and she desIgned dresses which were very short, with zips down the front with a circular pull-ring. She used a new fabric called courtelle, one of the first synthetic materials used in fashion.
Of course we cannot mention the 60s without paying homage to Twiggy probably the most famous fashion model of all time.Her waif like figure epitomises the era and the total change in how women looked and dressed. This was the age when fashion was
young and fun, and girls dressed for themselves not as copies of their mothers.