Category Archives: TUTORIALS

Following on from Part One last weekend, here is Part Two of our Shibori techniques tutorial. Remember to check the Organic Indigo Vat Tutorial to use in combination with these techniques. The first method I will show you is a traditional Japanese technique known as Itajme. This is the name given to a method of…

Don’t you just love it when your garment looks as good on the inside as the outside? There are many terrific sewing techniques that can provide a neat and clean finish to your projects and the flat-felled seams are one of them. A flat-felled seam finish gives sturdy seams and a clean look. Just like…

Following on from our recent Organic Indigo Vat Tutorial, today we have a Shibori tutorial for you in two parts. Shibori is the Japanese word for the ancient art of creating patterns through resistance and manipulation. This is usually done by binding, stitching or clamping fabric before dyeing in an Indigo vat. There are many…

If something about pleats reads as old-fashioned or formal in your mind, let our Sara Pleated Pants sewing pattern be the proof they can be anything but. Everything about these pants is as effortlessly chic as it gets. They are relaxed and airy, the sort of pants you’d want to wear all summer long on…

My first forays into natural dyeing began with the vibrant blue dye of indigo. Indigo is the name given to the dye that comes from plants (of which there are many species) containing the indican compound that produces an incredible blue dye. Used throughout Asia, South America & Africa, indigo has a rich and vibrant…

As advertised by nearly every minimalist-chic clothing brand, culottes are making a major comeback and becoming an indispensable wardrobe item. But there is one style the fashion world is most crazy about – the high-waisted, wide-leg culottes. Charged with the ability to skim over curvy hips and elongate the silhouette, the wide-leg culottes are as…

Who doesn’t need a good looking, sturdy pencil case? Or maybe two or three, make it four and call it a makeup bag. Intricate detailing and geometry challenge teenagers to elevate their sewing beyond simple straight lines. This is also a great introduction to sewing zippers, and the non-traditional and simple method for inserting it…

This is a great project to try out with younger kids, and a handy way to use up your scraps of left over fabric. You can encourage your child to come up with their very own character and help them make it into a DIY pattern, by simply drawing it out on a piece of…

“Painters of the Northern Renaissance clothe their figures in a fabric that has the friable angularity of carvings made from wood.” Andrew Graham-Dixon During the 15th and 16th centuries, the enlightening ideas of the Italian Renaissance spread throughout Northern Europe, lifting it out of the Dark Ages into the wonder of a new era. Much…

Teaching your kids and teenagers to sew is an admirable achievement, yet instilling the confidence to use the skills they’ve learned to go off on their own and make something independently is a gift for life. Having taught children and teenagers to sew for almost a decade, I would love to share how to encourage…

I have been on the hunt for a classic white shirt for years. Since starting a capsule wardrobe, or well-worn wardrobe as I like to call it, this closet staple has been on my project list. I finally found the style I was looking for in the Cameron Blouse pattern and recently spent a Saturday…

Natural dyes have been with us since the dawn of civilisation & before the creation of synthetic dyes they were the sole source of colour for the fabrics, fibres and textiles of our lives. They have a rich and fascinating history, valued, traded and transported throughout the ancient world. It always fascinates me to learn…

The whole sewing community has been going crazy about Anna Allen’s Persephone Pants and Shorts pattern since its release in 2018. If you’ve been following some sewing blogs or makers on Instagram, chances are that you’ve already seen versions of it in your feed. It’s been so popular online that we just had to try…

Adaptive layering is something we feel can be practiced all year round. If you are looking for something light to throw on, or feel you need to add a little flair and colour to your warmer layers but still look effortlessly chic, then you probably need a duster! What exactly is a duster you might…

“The best of these designs are so eye-poppingly gorgeous that it’s hard to know how to begin to account for them. But then, good art can never be fully accounted for, just described…” Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, 2002 Brilliantly eccentric and ludicrously inventive, the multi-generational quilts emerging from Boykin, colloquially known as Gee’s Bend,…