Category Archives: TUTORIALS

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema was a dreamy romanticist, painting idealised historical scenes set amongst the marble pillars and iridescent light of ancient Greece. Cool shades of aqua blue like BLUE BAYOU Linen brought crisp, fresh lightness into his scenes, particularly when combined with the glossy marble architecture of the ancient world. In amongst these tranquil and…

This tutorial will focus on the stitching of Sashiko on the fabric pieces cut out for the front and back bodices of the Ashton Top by Helen’s Closet. These fabric pieces have been prepared for Sashiko stitching by drawing 0.5cm x 0.5cm grids on them. For my preferred method for drawing a grid on dark-coloured…

Although green is found abundantly in nature, especially here on the “Emerald Isle”, there is no one plant that gives you a rich deep green directly from the dye pot. Yes, a variety of plants can indeed give you subtle hues or shades of green but to get a true green one has two main…

This is a tutorial where I will be sharing how I embellish the Ashton Top (designed by Helen’s Closet Patterns) with Hitomezashi Sashiko. The tutorial is divided into two parts, and in the first instalment, we will be focusing on preparing the grid for Sashiko-stitching on the Ashton Top. After drawing the grid on the…

If you like sewing your own clothes, there will be a time where you will come across a pattern that requires knowing how to sew set-in sleeves and attaching them to the bodice. And this is when this tutorial will come in handy. A set-in sleeve is the most basic of sleeves and as its…

19th century painter Alexei Savrasov portrayed stunning, Romanticised visions of the Russian landscape, capturing the sparkling freshness and icy air of winter when everything was obscured by layers and layers of snow. Sensitively attuned to the natural world at this time of year, he carefully observed how subtle shades of bluish grey like that of…

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…