Super excited to have teamed up with my lovely ‘sewing wife’, Sarah from Like Sew Amazing on this latest make. If you have followed me for a while, you might already know that the deep love of sewing is not the only thing Sarah and I have in common – we also share the same birthday! Birthday twins, yay!

So to celebrate this year, we decided to do the same as we did last year. We each bought each other some fabric to make something with – then, in a way, it’s like our makes are a gift to each other. I know, we’re sweet right?! LOLs.

Last year we made Ogden cami tops (see HERE for last year’s blog post). This year we have opted for the Nora top from everyone’s fav, Tilly and the Buttons. The fabric we used was this is from Sarah’s shop, both of us using this light knit jersey. I added a little bit of ribbing to the neckline and made up some ribbed cuffs too, from this gorgeous mint green ribbing.

The Nora pattern is lovely – and as a pattern from Tilly, it’s as solid and reliable as they come. It’s one of those wardrobe staple makes which is a lovely quick-sew, but also one which you will wear time and time again. The style is loose and boxy, and I absolutely love styling with a ‘French tuck’ at the front!

So there we have it – a little birthday treat for us. Hope you all likey! Now I’m off to eat my body weight in cake. Because in case you didn’t already know… it’s mah birthday!

Lots of love,

Jen x

A bit of twin needle activity at the hem

Minty cuffs (and an obligatory birthday balloon shot!)

It’s official guys – sweater weather is well and truly upon us. And I couldn’t be happier. Why? Because Autumn is my fav. The colours, the crispy coldness (only it has to be sunny too for me to be ok with this part!), the crunchy leaves under foot, fireworks, pumpkins, hot chocolates and oh – November happens to be my birthday 🙂 And the best part of A/W – keeping fashionably warm!

This part is where the humble sweatshirt comes in to its own. For this make, the pattern is one I’ve had for well over a year, and if I’m really honest with you guys, it’s taken me over a year to actually make it too. Sounds bad right? Ah well… I started it, then my overlocker was playing up, then the weather warmed up and the half made jumper entered the dreaded UFO pile – I’m pretty sure y’all know the story. Anyway, back to what I was saying… the pattern is from one of my fav pattern designers, I Am Patterns, called I Am Zebre. It has the most gorgeous puff sleeves which balloon out above the cuff – which I think is a really nice design statement to jazz up a simple sweater. It also has snap fastenings to the left shoulder.

This was one of the makes I took away on holiday in September and finished making it then. And I’m so pleased I did. I have basically lived in this jumper since the day I finished it. Even my dad is jealous of this make. He ordered a jumper for himself from the same fabric because he liked it so much. Only problem is… I can’t source any more. So hit me up in the comments or drop me an email if you happen to know where I can find something similar. I’m all ears!

This fabric was a purchase I made from my local, Backstitch a really long time ago. It’s navy blue (obvs!) and has a knitted effect on the right side, and a little fleeciness on the inside. Honestly guys, this is the sweatshirt fabric of dreams. So so warm and super comfy! Navy blue ribbing was added (also from Backstitch) as well as some metal snap fastenings from Prym.

The pattern instructions were easy to follow, well laid out. The sleeves are attached to the cuffs with a heck of a lot of gathering – so that bit was fun. Can you tell I’m not the hugest fan of gathering…? But the end result is, well, many many heart eyes.

So if you’re after a sweatshirt pattern with a little bit of a difference… I urge you to try this! It will serve you well in the winter months, I promise.

Lots of love, warmth and cosy vibes

Jen x

Pattern: I Am Patterns, I Am Zebre

Fabric: Backstitch

Size made: 38

Adjustments made: None

So excited to share with you all this brand spanking new event which I have been working on organising! I have previously shared this on Instagram and since doing this I am astonished/thrilled/completely touched to report that all 30 tickets sold out within 36 hours of being on sale…!

The first event is a festive sewing day which is taking place on Sunday 9th December at Storey’s Field Centre in Eddington, Cambridge. It is an opportunity for likeminded sewists to meet up and work on our own sewing projects, whilst having a good old natter… and generally geek out over sewing together!

Attendees will be bringing along their own sewing machines, and I will be setting up a couple of ironing board stations… and hopefully a little overlocker station too (fingers crossed!). And we will be scoffing on mince pies for our sewing energy throughout the day too.

More info on this event is available via the Eventbrite page HERE.

I will be photographing and videoing snippets from the day, so full details will follow after the event. So keep your eyes peeled for that.

Sew excited for this!