Purrfect Sewing

Pattern: Candy Skirt by Sparkly Baby Size Made: 14 + adjustment Fabric: Cotton ponte roma from Minerva Crafts Its January here in the UK so its dark and miserable most days.  That gives me plenty of time to sew (even though I should be studying for my accountancy exam).  Funds are also tight as I have just booked my skiing holiday to Canada. I was looking to make some new work clothes.  I suffer from interstitial cystitis and IBS and sometimes I need to wear clothes that aren’t too tight.  Step in the jersey skirt.  I had some ponte roma left over from an unsuccessful attempt to make a suit jacket so I decided to try and make something.  I’m not a fan of pencil skirts (pear shape, big hips) so I wanted something a bit more A-line.   I’d seen the Sparkly baby skirt on one of the Facebook groups.  Its actually designed for children but having looked at the measurements I sized it up.   T...

Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons – Arielle Skirt Fabric: Stretch denim from Fabricland I wasn’t a fan of buttonholes until I sewed this skirt.  My machine is a Janome CX301 which has an automatic buttonhole so I did some practicing first. I used denim for my skirt so I decided against the lining as I thought it would be too heavy.  It went together very easily and the instructions were very simple.  I even managed to get my buttonholes the correct distance apart.  The thing I love about this skirt is there are so many different styles of buttons that can be used. Poppy also likes it makes her a burrito. She also loves the piece of fabric she stole :-) The first skirt I made has the longer length which is great with leggings in the winter.  My second skirt is shorter because I didn’t have much fabric.  I got the squared denim from Joann when I visited Florida.  It was a little pricey so I bought a metre with n...

Pattern: Candy Skirt by Sparkly Baby Size Made: 14 + adjustment Fabric: Cotton ponte roma from Minerva Crafts Its January here in the UK so its dark and miserable most days.  That gives me plenty of time to sew (even though I should be studying for my accountancy exam).  Funds are also tight as I have just booked my skiing holiday to Canada. I was looking to make some new work clothes.  I suffer from interstitial cystitis and IBS and sometimes I need to wear clothes that aren’t too tight.  Step in the jersey skirt.  I had some ponte roma left over from an unsuccessful attempt to make a suit jacket so I decided to try and make something.  I’m not a fan of pencil skirts (pear shape, big hips) so I wanted something a bit more A-line.   I’d seen the Sparkly baby skirt on one of the Facebook groups.  Its actually designed for children but having looked at the measurements I sized it up.  I al...

Pattern: Sewaholic Thurlow Trousers Fabric: Stretch cotton from Fabricland After I’d been sewing for a while I decided to tackle trousers in my sewing class.  I was quite nervous having read that the pattern often requires significant adjustment and since my bottom half doesn’t seem to fit RTW sizing (except Fat Face jeans) I was nervous. I’d found Sewaholic as I saw the patterns were drafted for a pear shape so I thought it was a good starting point.  I also prefer my trousers to sit on my hip as I have a scar on my side that rubs if I wear anything high waisted. My first attempt was too big so I had to size down.  I then had to increase the darts in the back to accommodate my shape.  I’m very glad I did it with a tutor.  I’m also happy it was a PDF pattern so I could reprint and start again if necessary. I found the fly quite tricky the first time but I went through the LLadybird tutorial which was really helpful. ...

Hi I’m Clare. I started sewing in 2015.  I had a pair on work trousers I got in the USA that fitted perfectly and I wanted to learn to replicate them. Until I started I didn’t realise how much there was to learn! I now love making clothes to fit my pear shape (UK 12-14) and to actually have something that fits  😊 .  I also have my able assistant Poppy who enjoys being a pattern weight and chasing the thread through the sewing machine  😊