Sewing Gage

New year, new shirt. Here's a time lapse video of me pattern cutting for a shirt.

I've uploaded three more sewing tutorials to my YouTube channel, please watch and subscribe.

I hope to produce these videos about once a week, starting with the basics and then looking at more advanced techniques. Stay tuned (and subscribe).

I decided to practice my tailoring skills again and make a new shirt. I got the material from Paris when I was there a few months ago. I was pretty impressed with the result, I still need to improve my collars, but practice makes perfect! I haven't added any buttons or buttonholes yet. It was the Friday before Christmas and the last thing I wanted to do was head to the shops just to buy buttons. I'll add these later.

Photo by Captured by Corinne Photo by  Captured by Corinne Photo by  Captured by Corinne Just a few pics of the Marilyn dress finally completed. I really enjoyed making this, it was time consuming but I love the result. It's the first time I made a toile to get the fitting spot on before making the final garment, and it fitted perfectly.  The boyfriend made the headpieces, which were stunning! We even made the gay press. (c) QX Magazine (c) Boyz Magazine

Just a quick update on the red dress. The bodice is almost done, just the zip to put in at the back. I'm covered in sequins, but am so happy in how's it's progressing! And this arrived yesterday, my new overlocker! It just makes life so much easier! I'm going to try and send my old one back to the British Sewing Centre and demand a refund, which may be a challenge, going on reviews from other people trying to do the same thing. Wish me luck!

Me and the boyfriend have decided to make this iconic dress from the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (he's Jane Russell, and i'm Marilyn) for our Christmas outing at Cybil's House . I know it's not Christmasey (apart from being red maybe), but it's a good excuse to try and make it. Yeah, this really is a challenge! It was a challenge just sourcing the material. I searched everywhere online and only found one place that stocked it, but they were out of stock. When I contacted them, they told me that the material had been discontinued. I had tried all my usual shops, but one day I decided to visit Shepherds Bush, in West London. There's a whole street full of fabric shops there. After visiting six or seven shops, I finally found it at Toni Textiles . There was only five meters left on the roll, so I took the lot! We began by creating a toile, a test version of the bodice, so that adjustments could be made. I have never done this before, but for th...

In my normal job I often do night shifts, which are long and boring, so I thought I would see if there were  any online courses that I could do at work, and try and learn a few new sewing skills. A quick look online and I found a course at Online Academies   in Dress Making and Fashion Design. It was online £25 through Groupon, so thought I would give it a go. The online materials were a bit dated. The sketches of 'fashion' were very late 80's/early 90's and it didn't even touch on new technology or fashion blogging. The course really needs some updating. Having said that the materials have provided me with some resources that I can use and refer to. I passed with distinction! To be honest the qualification is pretty worthless, but the certificate looks good on my wall above my sewing machine!