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A Halloween print Saraste dress

I’m no stranger to making clothing out of unexpected fabric sources – afterall, I was on the cover of the New York Times nearly 20 years ago with my shower curtain dress, but this is the first time I’ve sewn anything from a tablecloth!

When Flying Tiger released their seasonal Halloween stuff last fall, I might’ve gone a little overboard, but I have no regrets about buying this tablecloth – it’s 2.2m of 150cm wide 100% cotton fabric for £16! Even though it’s fairly thick and stiff, it was still a little too translucent for my taste so I paired it with a thin 100% cotton lining from New Craft House, 2m at £12/m.

A naked ladies tee and red ramie Bob trousers

I’m posting a little out of order here since I sewed these before the broderie anglaise tee! I’ll start off with the Bob trousers since I actually made these first – at the start of June, but then it was far too hot to actually wear them for a photoshoot…

Red ramie Bob trousers

If you recall, I’ve sewn the StyleArc Bob trousers twice before – first in brown linen, and then again in black linen. The black linen was far too thin and those wore out way too fast, but the brown Raystitch linen lasted much longer (such great quality!) but even they have been declared dead after multiple patches on the inner thighs and hips.

Sage green Aina trousers

In amongst the absolute frenzy of pattern sample sewing (the trisuit pattern is with testers now, for an estimated mid-June release!), I managed to squeeze in a small amount of Non-Work Sewing! Woohoo!

I’ve been wanting to sew the Named Aina trousers ever since they were released – I’m pretty sure I even bought the pattern on release day! I love that they appear to be a standard jean-like trouser from the front, but in the back they’ve got a half-elastic waist and tabs that extend around from the front to snaps. It means they still look like normal trousers, but have some elevated details.

My Monochrome Birthday Rauha Tee

Today is my 43rd birthday!! (And THIRD pandemic birthday…)

I originally thought that this tee would be a practice garment for the dress version of the Named Rauha tee/dress, but after a bit of a fail in terms of both fabric/pattern and body/pattern suitability on the dress, I have upgraded this stash fabric tee to be my birthday make for this year, because I love it! And seriously, is anything more 2022 than making the best of a disappointment and pivoting to something better??

Sewing the Cos “Made By You” Men’s Shirt

As I mentioned in my earlier post showing off this shirt as well as the women’s shirt, this post is to outline how to construct the Cos “Made By You” men’s shirt so that others in the future can construct it in spite of the very sparse video instructions provided with the pattern. A lot of this information may be a repeat of the women’s shirt post since the kits are very similar in structure, right down to the fabric and packaging provided.

My Cos “Made By You” Men’s Shirt

My goal for January was to sew both of the Cos “Made By You” shirt kits, and even though it’s February now, I am pleased to report that I did indeed finish both in January. I’ve already told you all about the Women’s Shirt, so today I want to show off the Men’s Shirt.

Now, they’re labelled “women’s” and “men’s” but to my eyes they’re really fairly gender-neutral, so I bought both kits intending them for myself (hence why I bought a larger size in the women’s, assuming the men’s was drafted a bit bigger). I’ll go all in on the construction and the kit itself in a separate post later this week (like I did with the women’s), but for now, let’s just have a look at the finished shirt!

Sewing the Cos “Made By You” Women’s Shirt

Earlier this week I showed you my finished version of the Cos “Made By You” women’s shirt kit with the promise of giving far, far more details on the kit itself and some construction instructions so strap on in! This is a HEFTY brain dump intended to help others who’ve bought this thinking they were getting a full sewing pattern, or who bought it and no longer have Cos’s video online to help. Or frankly, if you’re just intrigued about what a high street shop thinks a home sewing product should be!

My Cos “Made By You” Women’s Shirt

Back in November I caught wind that the high-end high street shop Cos were selling sewing kits for two of their classic white shirt designs. Coincidentally, it was right after Black Friday so I managed to buy both with a hefty discount, purchasing size M/L for the women’s and size S/M for the men’s (the RRP for each kit is £29/€35 but I think I paid less than £20 each). Now, Cos label these as “women’s” and “men’s” but to my eyes they’re really both unisex designs, so I’m sewing up both for myself! I decided to dedicate my January sewing to tackling these kits, starting with the women’s one (as voted by my Instagram followers), so this post is to show off the finished shirt!