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A modern Hamilton Spencer jacket

Settle in, because this is an epic post! Which partially explains why it’s taken me so long to post about this jacket, considering I finished sewing it in mid-December (also partially explained by the grim winter weather making it really difficult to take photos. I eventually gave up and just took some indoor shots instead!)

Our story starts back in 2020 when the Costume Industry Coalition launched a fundraiser for their members who were out of work with the theatres closed in lockdown- the Hamilton Spencer Jacket sewing pattern. I’d link to the pattern but their website domain is 404ing and their Etsy Shop is “taking a break” so I think they might’ve disbanded…? I think I paid around £20 for the pattern, which I viewed more as a donation than anything.

Inspiration

Happy 2026!

Happy New Year! At the start of each year I like to look back over my sewing, life, and other events because usually things ended up being better than I remembered (though definitely not true in 2024!). So without further ado, have a read and let’s look back on 2025 together…

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Three pyjamas and a top

As we approach the end of the year, I realise that there were a few things I made this year that I neglected to blog about – not because I didn’t like them or wear them loads, but because I either was too sick to sit up and write, or because I didn’t have much to say about them.

So before I start compiling my end of year post for the first of the new year, I wanted to clear the decks a bit and share some of the garments you’ve not seen yet…

Tartan pyjama bottoms

The Fiske pyjma set was the January 2025 Cashmerette Club members pattern, which I actually cut out in January 2025 while very sick with Long Covid.

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A black lingerie set

And now, for the fourth and final lingerie set (at least for now!), I’ve got a new-to-me bra pattern to show off!

I’ve been wanting to sew the Hari Ito “Epervier Bralette” pattern for a while and even printed it out pre-Long Covid but never quite got around to sewing it. Considering my current lingerie sewing momentum, I thought it’d be a perfect time to give it a try. So I first printed it out in a bigger size – since the NCH Wren bra fits brilliantly at 36 C/D I decided to go with a size 36C for the Epervier too (my pre-LC size was always 34B but I’m still ~10kg heavier). I’m not even going to rehash all the various ways of bra size measuring never ever work for me, so I always just ignore the size charts entirely and choose my RTW bra size which works 90% of the time.

Before buying from New Craft House’s lingerie haberdashery section, I did the smart thing and raided/reorganised my lingerie sewing drawer, making a checklist of all the notions each set needed, and ticked off what I already had and put those into a ziploc bag for each set. Then I only bought what I needed. 😎

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A pale floral lingerie set

Are we sensing a theme yet with my posts lately?? 😂

Carrying on with my recent lingerie sewing spree, after my success with the New Craft House Wren Bra in fuchsia and then olive mesh, I thought I’d make a set using fabrics and mesh from my embarrassingly large lingerie sewing stash.

When I was determining what I needed to buy for the fuchsia and olive sets, I realised that I had a lot of white, pink, and grey notions. Furthermore, they all tied together nicely with a pale pink and monochrome rose printed satin I had. I think this might’ve even been free in a bag of scraps that Kellie at Sewing Chest sent to me years ago? It’s a thin lingerie weight with only a small amount of width wise stretch and no lengthwise stretch, in pale pink with printed monochrome roses and a lovely satin sheen.

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An olive lingerie set

This is almost a duplicate of the fuchsia mesh lingerie set I posted yesterday, but this time using the remains of an olive green kit I’d bought from New Craft House when I made their Wren bra a few years ago. Because I’d bought a bra kit and a panty kit, I ended up with a lot of mesh leftover, but not much in the way of elastics.

NCH don’t offer the kits anymore, but they do have a lot of the various olive notions, so I did the smart thing of sorting through my lingerie sewing drawer before ordering. As it turned out, I already had a hook closure, rings and sliders, and a ton of the mesh, so I just needed to buy more FOE, strap elastic, and under bust elastic.

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A fuchsia lingerie set

Once a year or so, I go all-in on lingerie sewing for a bit. More often than not, it tends to be when it’s cold out and I’m sick of sewing sweaters and warm layers. Many times it happens in January, but it seems my sewing proclivities are earlier than usual this year, because I’ve just sewn an absolute lingerie explosion. This is just the first of four posts!

It doesn’t hurt that none of my nice, pre-Long Covid lingerie really fits anymore, and I’m sick of wallowing in Axis Tanks and bog standard comfy underwear day in and day out… So I thought I’d celebrate losing half of the weight I’d gained during Long Covid by sewing up a few nice sets for myself.

The fuchsia bra

I’d made the New Craft House Wren Bra twice a few years ago, both times using the kits of mesh & elastic that NCH sold.

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A leopard print sling bag

As I’ve started to cycle around London on our friend’s borrowed e-bike, I’ve noticed a problem that I could fix with sewing. Both the borrowed bike and mine (on order) use a Swytch conversion kit, which means the battery can’t be locked to the bike and therefore must be carried with you when you reach your destination. It’s not particularly big or heavy, but it’s bigger than my waist packs, which meant I had to wear a big backpack everywhere, even if there wasn’t really anything in it except the battery!

So I went on the lookout for a bag pattern that was big enough to hold the battery, but is smaller than a backpack, and found the Noodlehead Sandhill Sling bag. I’ve not sewn any Noodlehead patterns before, but I’ve heard good things, and I see why now! It’s a great little pattern and definitely fills a void in pattern offerings.

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A Skeleton Tuuli dress

I made a Tuuli dress made out of jersey with tiny bats right after I got sick in 2023 and I loved that dress SO MUCH but I hardly got to wear it at all before I gained too much weight from being long covid bedbound.

That bat fabric was the Art Gallery Fabrics 2023 Halloween print so there’s no way I could get more, but I was able to get their 2025 Halloween print – the same super soft cotton elastane jersey but with little skeletons all over! It’s called “Mister No Body” and I bought mine from Goldstitch for £35.00 total for the 2.5m (now out of stock, but do some googling as other retailers seem to have it).

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A test Denver lips bra

I bought the new FibreMood “Sports” special issue and there’s quite a bit in it that I want to make, but I thought I’d start off with something simple that I don’t have to buy special fabric for. “Denver” isn’t really a sports bra – there’s zero support there – not even a lining! – just one layer of lycra. It’s called “cropped top” in the magazine and I’d agree with that.

I need an extremely basic sports bra for low impact stretching, walking, and e-biking, so my favourite supportive Jalie Coco pattern seemed like overkill here. I figured Denver would be something quick that’s better than just wearing a cotton Axis tank, and I could use up a bit more of my Lycra scraps drawer in the process.