sewingpatternreview – Stitch Sessions

March 1, 2023

Simplicity 8701 – A Trousers Sewing Class, Part 2

Nell, a Caucasian person, stands on a colourful rug in front of a blue couch. They are wearing wool trousers, with a grey and black plaid pattern, and a black short-sleeve blouse. They have both hands in their pockets.

Hello friends and welcome to part two in my series all about S8701 . In my previous post I wrote about the design of the pattern and attempting to fit in in a trousers sewing class. For this post I want to focus more on what alterations I made to the pattern after the original fitting method didn’t work, what features I added, and what new techniques I learned in the process. I am a lot happier with this pair of trousers and feel so accomplished in all I learned making them. But these additions wouldn’t have been possible without the teacher’s help. As I mentioned before, our teacher for the class was extremely knowledgeable and she didn’t at all mind guiding me through more advanced techniques!

January 30, 2023February 1, 2023

Simplicity 8701 – A Trousers Sewing Class, Part 1

Nell, a Caucasian person, sits on a white chair facing the camera. They are wearing a dark blue t-shirt with capped, frilled sleeves and high-waisted black corduroy pants.

Hello and welcome friends, to another multipart blog post! Those who have been following along with previous posts will know that I am no expert when it comes to sewing pants. I don’t have a straight size figure, with current measurements registering a 14” difference between waist and hips, and a crotch depth of over 12”. Yet even so, I LOVE pants. Over the course of writing this blog, I’ve challenged myself to improve my fitting technique and produce bottoms of all lengths that will both fit me and be comfortable. I thought that signing up for a proper sewing course around trousers might also benefit me, so I saved up and took part in a multi-week course when it became available in my local area.

November 9, 2022January 26, 2023

Loretta Shorts – Charm Patterns – Part 3

Nell, a Caucasian person, stands side-on to the camera with one leg extended. They are wearing brown corduroy shorts and a light brown patterned Adrienne Blouse.

Hello friends!

In a perhaps not-so surprising turn of events, I decided that I should to circle back to the Loretta Shorts pattern whilst hip-deep in several other makes and one sewing course. This did mean that my next post would be late, because I already had a lot on the go. But I decided it was worth it! It didn’t seem fair to have done such a long series of reviews on the pattern without having done the shorts version as it was intended. Whilst reorganising my fabric stash, I was further encouraged by the discovery that I had not one – but two pieces of suitable fabric for this very purpose.

April 13, 2020January 25, 2023

Butterick B5748 – A reprint of a vintage dress pattern!

Nell, a Caucasian person, stands on an angle to the camera in front of a wooden bench and concrete wall. They are wearing a deep pink dress with a pink sunflower pattern and have one hand in a pocket.

Hello friends! I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am to be sharing this particular post! In all the time I have been focusing quite seriously on developing my skills in sewing, I had never once successfully made a dress. I think, similar to how pants and shorts are now my Everest, dresses were a fitting challenge I didn’t quite have the skills to unravel at the time. But having acquired two large pieces of fabric from a community stall event prior to all the shutdowns which simply told me they had to be made into dresses, I knew it was time to confront this challenge again. So when I stumbled over someone selling Butterick B5748, I knew this was going to be the pattern I would sink my teeth into. It’s a gorgeous reprint of a 1960’s pattern, with updated instructions and multiple sizes – which worked very well for me.

March 31, 2020January 25, 2023

Simplicity 2151 – Pussybow Blouse Shirts

Nell, a Caucasian person, stands in front of a wooden bench and concrete wall. They are wearing a blue and green plaid shirt, with puffy sleeves and a pussybow blouse necktie. They are also wearing blue jeans, and are holding the ends of the tie.

Hello friends. One thing that gives me a lot of comfort at the moment is following along with other people’s sewing and seeing what other projects we’re all working through. It’s inspired me to continue working through my own growing pile of secondhand patterns, seeing what I can create with the fabric I have on hand and how creative I can be with the scraps. It’s a chance to flex my creative muscles. I do have a few bits and pieces in mind, and have already begun investigating the possibility of making my own bias binding from odd pieces – leaving the fabric from some old sheets as pocket lining and things like that. But first on my list was this gorgeous blouse pattern, Simplicity 2151, in combination with this secondhand fabric I’d had for about two months or so.

March 16, 2020January 25, 2023

McCall’s M6436 – Collared Shirts!

Nell, a Caucasian person, stands in front of a wooden bench and concrete wall. They are wearing a blue floral button-up shirt with a band collar, and blue jeans. They have one hand on their hip.

It’s no secret that I love button-up, collared blouses. My regular work wardrobe is comprised almost exclusively of collared shirts, cardigans, sweaters to be mixed and matched with black slacks. It allows me to sneak a bit of 50’s and 60’s style into my professional wardrobe, which pleases me to no end. So I am always on the lookout for more collared blouses when I am out hunting for secondhand goodies, and have gotten quite lucky over time in finding a few in very good condition. My current wardrobe is in fact comprised entirely of secondhand and me-made blouses now, which I consider quite an achievement. However, there is still something I am lacking. And that is the truest of staple blouses, the white collared blouse.

February 26, 2020January 25, 2023

Simple Sew Lottie Blouse

Nell, a Caucasian person, stands facing the camera in front of a wooden bench and concrete wall. They have their arms in the air and one leg raised. They are wearing a sleeveless shirt with a white and blue square pattern and a pussybow necktie, and black jeans.

Hold onto your hats Theydies and Gentlethem, because I am about to tell you something shocking. What I want to tell you is that it’s normal to fail. As scandalous as that might sound, I believe that it doesn’t matter how old we get or how experienced we are, we will always make mistakes. And I don’t say that in a completely negative way either. Certainly failure is disappointing, mistakes are frustrating, and wouldn’t it be great if things worked perfectly all the time? Well, sure. But how good does it feel to come out the other side of a series of failures with one precious success? How much do we learn from when things go wrong, versus when there’s not a single bump in the road? How connected do we feel to others when they share their mistakes? Personally, I love those stories. So let me share the story of the many failures that led to the amazing success of the Lottie Blouse.

February 2, 2020January 25, 2023

McCall’s 2560 – Vintage PJs!

Nell, a Caucasian person, stands side on to the camera in front of a low cabinet full of homewares. They are wearing a white t-shirt, and striped pyjama shorts, and a knee brace. They have their hands on their hips.

It’s no secret that I love button-down shirts, the kind where the collar fastens with a button to get that close-to-the-neck fit. This is because I also love adding little things to an outfit, like a necktie, bow-tie or ribbon in order to create a bit of interest, and these require button-down shirts. However, it hadn’t occurred to me to extend this interest to sleepwear. I was in the habit of getting PJs secondhand, in particular getting full sets where I could. I love a matching set! However, the trend for modern PJs in terms of bottoms seemed to be either 3/4 length, or the shortest of shorts. Neither of which are great for me in the middle of summer.

February 1, 2020January 25, 2023

McCall’s 9900 – Vintage, paneled skirts at their finest!

Nell, a Caucasian person, bends over the side of a cabinet full of various homewares with a book in hand. They are wearing a blue and white gingham skirt, a white top, and a white hairbow.

This skirt pattern is, without a doubt, the pattern that cemented my interest in sewing vintage. My wardrobe largely consists of items that are vintage inspired to some degree, as well as menswear inspired. But I had been hesitant to sew dresses and skirts, as I thought I wouldn’t get much wear out of them.

February 1, 2020January 25, 2023

The Ogden Cami – Good for hot weather days!

Nell, a Caucasian person, stands in front of a blue couch with a colourful cushion. They have both fists lightly closed and resting on their hips. They are wearing black highwaisted pants, and a golden coloured camisole top.

I think it’s safe to say that at some point in many sewer’s journeys, we can become addicted to Indie Patterns. For those who haven’t yet taken the plunge, these are patterns made by independent designers, separate to the big name sewing companies like McCall’s, Vogue, etc. Indie Patterns also tend to be the most common things I see people making on social media, which I now realise helps to drive up the desire to own and make them yourself.