BEST OF THE SEW DOWN: 2021

May 27, 2024

Kate Underdown December 19, 2021

It’s time for the “Best Of” bonanza, so we thought we would round up some of the best of the things we shared in the Sew Down through 2021. Enjoy!

We were enthralled by the BBC series at the beginning of the year and that fashion that was in it so we got hunting for patterns that matched the wardrobe! If you haven’t watched the Find That Pattern: The Serpent video on our YouTube channel it’s one to add to your list!

If you enjoyed that, you could check out this episode of Table Manners with Jessie Wareand guest Jenna Coleman. They chat about how Coleman had to learn French for her role in the Serpent and much more!

Image from The Guardian. Composite: BBC / Getty Images / Instagram / GC Images / Guardian Design Team

Sewists everywhere were excited to discover that GEORGE CLOONEY SEWS! We shared this article from the Guardian that looks at ‘sew bros’ who took up sewing in the pandemic.

We were swept away by the beautiful costumes in the Nextflix film, The Dig so you guessed it, we hunted down patterns to match some of the looks from the film. If you haven’t watched this Find That Pattern, you can catch up!

And if you enjoyed that, this article on the National Trust website looks at the true story behind the film!

We know many of you loved the series, Secrets of the Museum on the BBC. If you didn’t watch it, this clip is a great place to get you started! Conserving the Mary Quant Mini shows the V&A taking on the mammoth task of making a 1960s Mary Quant mini-dress looks as good as new!

This is a wonderful watch! Craftivism: Making a Difference on the BBC sees writer, comedian and art lover Jenny Eclair meeting people doing extraordinary things with knitting, cross-stitch, banners and felt to change hearts and minds.

Make do and mend…but make it fashion. Mary Portas is joined by Anki Josefsson and Orsola de Castro on her podcast to discuss stylish sewing patterns, and how to care for your clothes. It’s a perfect accompaniment to your sewing session!

We added a new sewing magazine to the shop this year, Tauko! Issue One was edited by Orsola de Castro.

Something to watch while you sew… Fashion Culture | Curating Frida Kahlo: Fashion & Prosthetics.

We were hooked on the series, Halston this year and we loved this article about how Ewan Mcgregor learned to sew to play Halston.

This was a lovely series if you haven’t seen it already. Worn Stories on Netflix sees people share stories around their most meaningful pieces of clothing.

This is a fab article we shared from the BBC: Standing our in camouflage about photographer Thandiwe Muriu’s work.

This is a great article by Marcy Tilton about how Georgia O’Keefe sewed and dressed like she painted. If you liked that then you could watch this short video from the Brooklyn Museum – Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern.

Wedding dress of Diana, Princess of Wales, © Royal Collection Trust / All Rights Reserved

This exhibition seemed very popular with you all and it’s the last chance to see it! Royal Style in the Making: Designing for Royalty is on at Kensington Palace until the 2nd January 2022. If you can’t make it, there’s a short video on the website that’s worth checking out.

Holly Tucker’s podcast is a great one to subscribe to as she has so many great guests. If you haven’t caught it, check out this episode of Conversations of Inspiration with guest Katy Emck OBE, Founding Director of Fine Cell Work.

Another fabulous series that hit our screens this year was The Pursuit of Love on the BBC. We couldn’t resist doing a ‘Find That Pattern‘ for the show to see how you could recreate some of these beautiful looks.

If you enjoyed that you could check out this article on Vogue about filming The Pursuit of Love.