Sew Reporter – 1st May
Happy Sunday team and a big welcome to the month of May! May is a pretty exciting month for sewists. We have the Great British Sewing Bee to watch, The Sewing Weekender to virtually attend, and it’s Me Made May – a month dedicated to appreciating our handmade clothes. It is our month!
We’ve been very busy adding new patterns to the shop this week – maybe there is a contender in there for your Sewing Weekender project? If you’ve been watching the Sewing Bee and are inspired to sew some of the things they made on the show, our blog post on the first episode is a must-see! Happy browsing everyone!
What a week! We’ve all been waiting for the Sewing Bee to come back to our screens and it was certainly back with a bang! In the first episode of The Great British Sewing Bee series 8 the contestants are challenged with making a capsule wardrobe. For episode one we have put our detective hats on to discover the sewing patterns from independent designers and commercial pattern houses used in the Sewing Bee TV show. The patterns we found are all matches or inspired by the designs used in the first episode of The Great British Sewing Bee series 8. We also have a coordinating video to chat through the first episode and the patterns which is the perfect accompaniment to a spot of sewing!
If you haven’t already seen our ultimate guide to the Sewing Bee do take a look.
We are very partial to a clever bit of colour blocking and Hannah Corey’s make most definitely has the wow factor. The combination of the lovely gold/mustard colour paired with the stripe is so impactful and the matching of the button colour is just the chef’s kiss. We would love to own this jacket! Check out all of Hannah’s amazing makes on Instagram @hannahmcorey!
How stunning is this make? HRosen sewed this elegant Liberty Patterns Beatrix Maxi Dress in a stunning bold print fabric – taking full advantage of the pattern lending itself to fabrics that need little interruption. Check out this wonderful review to see what HRosen thought of the sewing process.
We’ve taken a whopping 50% off Vogue Patterns so you can snap up a lovely project or two! Vogue have some excellent occasionwear designs, so if you’re sewing for a special function this would be a great selection to browse! The sale runs from the 29th April – 15th May 2022 on Vogue Patterns in the Fold Line Shop while stocks last!
We’ve added a stunning new design from Friday Pattern Company, a new size range for the Jennifer Lauren Handmade Sorrel Dress and a fab new shirt pattern from Experimental Space.
Do you already have a specific design in mind? Or do you need some help finding the perfect pattern for your fabric? You can search all the patterns in our database using our newly updated sewing-specific search tool.
Have you got your ticket yet? There are just a few weeks to go until the big Sewing Weekender virtual event commences. It is going to be a whole lot of fun and there are so many excellent tutorials that might inform and inspire your sewing! Here’s a little idea of the types of content you are going to get:
LEARN
- Jenny from Cashmerette shares her top 5 fitting tips. Everything from measuring yourself correctly to why bust cup options are a must.
- Zips 101: Lisa from the Avid Seamstress is sharing how to insert different zips into your garments.
- Sustainable Fabrics: Harriet from Sew Me Sunshine is talking about what to look for when shopping sustainably for fabric.
- Make Trousers that Fit with Alison Smith. Alison will talk us through some of the most common pattern alterations so you can achieve the perfect fit for your next trouser project.
- Bust Adjustments: Mandi from Make With Mandi is here to show you how to do small and full bust adjustments on patterns.
MAKE
- Statement pockets: Juliet Uzor is here to show you how to customize your next make with a statement pocket or two!
- DIY Skirt Tutorial: DIY Daisy is going to show you how to cut the incredible Sophie skirt from her new book ‘Sew it Yourself’. If you love a curved seam, then this is going to be right up your street.
- Charlotte from Charlotte Emma Patterns will be teaching you how to cut a sew a baseball cap with a downloadable PDF pattern.
CRAFT
- Geri from Geri in Stitches will show you how to get started with marble dying
- Quilted Jacket Tutorial: Sam from Purple Sewing Cloud is here to show you how to add quilting techniques into your handmade wardrobe, by hacking a jacket pattern to add a quilted element. It will make you look at all your sewing patterns in a new way.
- Adding Hand Embroidery into your Next Make. Alexis from Fibr and Cloth Studio is demonstrating some classic embroidery stitches and how you can apply these to your clothing.
INSPIRE
- Maria from Sew Organised Style is creating an exclusive podcast episode for the Weekender.
- Sandy & Judith from #sewover50 are talking about sewing for changing body shapes.
- Alice and Co are back this year! ‘Sew you think you can’t draw?’ They are showing you that putting your design ideas down on paper makes them easier to realise.
- Using your Sewing Wins to Plan your Future Makes with Jess from Muna and Broad
- Styling your handmade Wardrobe: So you’ve made a load of stuff but how do you wear it together? Marie from Marie Stitched Up is here to talk about how she does it.
BEHIND THE SCENES
- Behind the Scenes: Meg from fabric shop Pigeon Wishes is sharing how she’s pivoted her business to serve indie fashion brands.
- The Making of a Magazine: Have you ever wondered what goes into making a sewing pattern magazine? The lovely team at Fibre Mood are here to show us what’s involved.
- Behind the Scenes: Grace who runs Beyond Measure gives us a sneak peek of her beautiful studio, how she works with artisans to create new products and gives us a tour of her new growing space where she is creating a garden for dying fabric.
We also have some wonderful chatty videos from some inspiring sewists, zoom rooms for social hangs over the weekend, a private Facebook group for sewing help over the weekend and a digital goodie bag!
The Sewing Weekender dates: Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd May 2022
Tickets for the online Sewing Weekender 2022 are £18.50 and 10% of profits from the event will be evenly divided between the following charities: Missing People and The British Red Cross Crisis Appeal.
Don’t worry if you can’t take part on the day, you will have access to the content to enjoy at your leisure when it suits you.
Calling all beginner sewers! If the Sewing Bee is inspiring you to dip your toe into garment sewing, picking the right first project can be a little daunting. We’ve got a great list for you to browse rounding up our TOP BEGINNER indie sewing patterns that will set you up for success! Psst! We have a cheeky discount for newbies in our new video that you mustn’t miss. Happy watching!
(The Friday Pattern Company Square Neck Top is pictured – it’s a great pattern because you have the option to make it in woven or knit fabrics so you can dabble in both!)
Sew Over It has organised a sewing event called The Big Sew Off on 12th May 2022 to raise money for Mind. They will be sewing for 24-hours non-stop in a Big Sew Off hub in London along with lots of other sewing businesses and personalities. If you want to get involved you can join in virtually a sew at home for as long as you can, as Sew Over It live stream the whole event.
Sew Over It also announced that Guthrie & Ghani are opening bookings for the studio above the shop in Birmingham from 10am-10pm on 12th May 2022 for anyone who wants to take part in The Big Sew Off challenge in person.
Sew Over It are raising money for Mind so you can sponsor them for the 24-hour sewathon and you’ll be able to bid on the garments they make on the day. Find out more here!
The month of May has become synonyms with one challenge… Me Made May! In its 13th year, Me Made May was devised by Zoe Edwards of @sozoblog and Check Your Thread podcast to help sewists improve their relationship with their handmade items. To participate you need to wear your handmade items more often or style them in a new way to get more out of your handmade pieces. The aim of Me Made May is to give yourself the opportunity to learn some useful lessons on what you like to wear and how you might take what you’ve found into what you make (or don’t) in the future! Read all about Me Made May and how to take part on Zoe’s blog!
Come and join our sewing Facebook group where we are chatting about sewing plans, new patterns and helping each other out with projects.
