Secret Life of a Seamstress

Secret Life of a Seamstress

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  • Pattern Reviews

    The Florence Blouse by Size Me Sewing – A Pattern Review (in collaboration with Makerist.Com)

    January 6, 2021 /

    Before Christmas Makerist kindly asked me if I would like to try one of the patterns from the designers they were featuring in a post Christmas $2 sale.  Makerist have an amazing selection of craft patterns including sewing, knitting, crochet and embroidery, you can visit their website and view their vast collection here. Flicking through all of the lovely sewing patterns on their website the Florence Blouse caught my eye.  I loved the relaxed style of the blouse and the shirring detail at the cuff.  I thought this would be a make for my wardrobe that could be dressed up or down so I knew I would get a lot…

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    Sally Gauntlett 0 Comments

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    DIBY Club Emmeline Gathered Dress Pattern Review

    March 5, 2020
  • You Tube

    VLOG – Sew a Tilly & the Buttons Billie Sweatshirt with me…

    December 8, 2020 /

    Hello everyone – I hope you’ll enjoy this ‘sewalong’ video in collaboration with Becky from Notes from the Sewing Room where we’ll both be sewing up a different version of the Billie Sweatshirt by Tilly and the Buttons. Happy watching! Sally xx

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    Sally Gauntlett 0 Comments
  • You Tube

    VLOG – How to – Sew a little girls jersey dress

    October 10, 2020 /

    Today I’m sewing a jersey dress for my daughter using a T shirt pattern I already have and adding a gathered skirt. I talk about how I plan to resize the pattern pieces to adapt them to make a dress, fitting the jersey neckband and how to measure the skirt depending on how much gather you like. Thank you so much for watching. If you have any questions about the making process do let me know in the comments below. If you haven’t already subscribed to my channel I’d love you to consider subscribing for more sewing and making content. My normal upload day is a Saturday morning. Lots of…

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    Sally Gauntlett 0 Comments
  • Uncategorized

    Five mistakes I made as a beginner Sewist – who is very much still learning…

    June 5, 2020 /

    If you’re thinking of trying out sewing or dressmaking but are worried about making mistakes, don’t let it put you off! We’ve all been there and I for one am very much still learning… Here are five (there are many more) mistakes I made in the beginning which have helped me to learn and hopefully might be helpful to you too if you’re thinking about starting out on your own dressmaking journey. Trying patterns that were beyond my skillset as a beginner It’s all too easy to be tempted to sew that beautiful dress that you’ve seen and fallen in love with but so many times in the beginning of…

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    Sally Gauntlett 0 Comments

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    Beginner Sewing Project Hair Scrunchie Tutorial – easy ‘make in an hour’ project

    April 14, 2020

    Five of My Favourite Sewing Tools

    April 24, 2020
  • The Fabric Guys

    Sew Over It Ava Skirt Pattern and Fabric Review with The Fabric Guys

    January 31, 2020 /

    THE PATTERN I have wanted to make a Sew Over It Ava Skirt for ages and when I saw this super pretty needlecord on the Fabric Guys website I knew it would be perfect for this pattern.  I have a similar ready to wear skirt in corduroy and it’s just perfect for the autumn and winter months. I chose to make the mini version of this skirt without the pockets.  Leaving out pockets was not a decision I took lightly because we all love a pocket don’t we but I didn’t want the inseam pockets to interfere with the silhouette of the skirt in this fabric. I made a size…

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    Sally Gauntlett 0 Comments
  • Christmas Stocking Tutorial
    Tutorials

    How to Sew a Lined Christmas Stocking with a Cute Pom Pom Trim

    December 10, 2019 /

    You will need: Wide paper of any sort to draw out your pattern – you can use wrapping paper, newspaper, greaseproof paper or anything else you have lying around. Main fabric for the outside of your stocking, I’ve used this beautiful gold glitter star print cotton from Minerva which is available to purchase here. Fabric for your lining, you can use anything you have available, I’ve used an inexpensive plain white polycotton but you could make it fancy! Scraps of fabric for the cuff of your stocking. The amount of fabric you require for these parts will depend on how large you would like to make your stocking. Pom pom…

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    Sally Gauntlett 0 Comments

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    Beginner Sewing Project Hair Scrunchie Tutorial – easy ‘make in an hour’ project

    April 14, 2020

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New VLOG- Sharing some fabrics I picked up in the New VLOG- Sharing some fabrics I picked up in the January sales and some plans I have for them. I’ve just passed 3000 subscribers over there so thank you so much if you have subscribed - the link to my YouTube channel is in my bio if you’d like to watch 💗
Instagram is such a brilliant way of documenting a Instagram is such a brilliant way of documenting all of my makes - like a little scrapbook of my crafting world. At the beginning of the month I wanted to write down and count up everything I made in 2020, so I did that with the help of my account and I’d made 48 things!! Not all for me I might add but I was surprised at how much. It’s ironic that lockdown has given me my best handmade wardrobe ever but yet I have nowhere to wear it all 🤣 Still claiming that sewing has helped keep me sane though!! 😂 xx
Pattern: @deer_and_doe_patterns Myosotis Dress
Fabric: @stoffstil
I do love a bit of January planning. At the beginn I do love a bit of January planning. At the beginning of this year (at least!!) I’m going to try to be sensible with my makes and sew up some things I’m actually going to get some wear out of during these strange lockdown times. So it’s all the cosy wear for the foreseeable (apart from the pretty dress I need to finish up this weekend but that’s another story) 😜 Are you a planner or a just make what you feel like-er?? Xx
Never taking this sweatshirt off!! 😉 A little s Never taking this sweatshirt off!! 😉 A little snap of my first Linden Sweatshirt from @grainlinestudio on. This was made in a super cosy fleece backed jersey fabric from @minervadotcom. Since I’m all about the lockdown lounge wear at the moment I think there will be many more of these to come in the foreseeable 🥰 What’s your favourite sweatshirt pattern? I have my eye on a couple more 👀 Xx
Team cable match or team non cable match it’s al Team cable match or team non cable match it’s always good to have pockets 🥰
I almost didn’t post this close up because it suddenly became obvious to me that my cables don’t match on the neck band. Then I realised I really don’t care that much because I absolutely love this dress! 😜
Personally I wouldn’t be too put off by stripe matching if you really find it difficult/don’t want to. I have a pretty expensive rtw and the stripe matching on it is terrible - I’m sure I wouldn’t even have noticed if I didn’t sew and I’m even more sure that no one else would be that bothered. 
Of course the finer details are something we can all work towards as we get better I guess I’m just trying to say don’t let it put you off learning (just my humble opinion and I’m talking as much to myself as anyone else here!!) 🤣 xx
Dress: @sewoveritlondon Heather Dress
Fabric: @minervadotcom
Good morning!! I have a new VLOG up on my YouTube Good morning!! I have a new VLOG up on my YouTube channel chatting all about my 10 favourite makes of 2020. The link is in my bio if you fancy a watch 💗 Sneak peek at one of my faves from the picture 😉 xx
I shared this on my stories yesterday so apologies I shared this on my stories yesterday so apologies for the overkill but as a couple of people had asked how I found the pattern I thought I’d share a bit more. This is my first attempt at the Linden Sweatshirt pattern by @grainlinestudio which I made with a lovely cosy fleece backed jersey from @minervadotcom (I think it’s out of stock now sadly). I LOVED this pattern it was so quick to make and if I hadn’t had a couple of overlocker threading issues in the middle I think I’d have made it in about an hour. I love the raglan sleeve style of this pattern too, it makes it a little different from say the Billie pattern which is another sweatshirt pattern I’ve bought recently. I did make mine slightly cropped as I did my usual trick of not checking whether I had enough fabric for the pattern before cutting and just hoping to wing it! 🙈😂🙈
Oh I do love a shirt dress - especially an animal Oh I do love a shirt dress - especially an animal print one! Also - my hand looks strangely huge in this picture 😂
So I’ve decided I’m going to try #makenine2021 this year. I haven’t in the past because I know how easily I feel the pressure of a list but I think this year it might be a good distraction and something to focus on. I hope to share more about this soon. Are you doing make nine this year?
Pattern: @deer_and_doe_patterns #ddmyosotis 
Fabric: @stoffstil
I made this Sew Over It Heather Dress before Chris I made this Sew Over It Heather Dress before Christmas in a beautiful cable knit fabric from @minervadotcom.  This is the perfect every day winter dress for me, I’ve already worn it a good few times and the fabric is super cosy for the chillier days. I always shorten mine a good 15cm so that they are more of a tunic length as I tend to wear leggings rather than tights and for this version I made the long sleeve rather than three quarter as I have in the past, for extra cosiness. Have you made a Heather Dress? This pattern is way too underrated in my opinion 😉 🥰
My @petiteknit Novice Cardigan all finished and aw My @petiteknit Novice Cardigan all finished and awaiting buttons. I can’t tell you how many buttons I’ve ordered online for this cardigan but they haven’t been quite right so I’m now waiting on some I’ve ordered from Etsy 🙈
Two of my 2020 knitting goals were to learn to knit top down and to learn to knit in the round. Luckily for me I snuck in before the end of the year with this pattern which taught me both of these new techniques. It’s not perfect but there are a lot of firsts in there and for that reason I’ll always be proud of it 🥰 I hope day one of lockdown has been ok so far for you xx
AD Just another little view of the Florence Blous AD  Just another little view of the Florence Blouse by @sizemesewing I made just before Christmas. Don’t forget you can nab this pattern for only $2 in the @makerist_com sale - there’s a link in my bio if you fancy a closer look.
What will you be wearing for NYE? Still planning to dress up or will it be PJs all the way?? Xx
I wore my latest Myosotis Dress on Christmas Day ( I wore my latest Myosotis Dress on Christmas Day (with tights!!) and it was super comfy! Swipe left for full length. For this version I shortened the top skirt  piece and lengthened the frill to give more of a tiered look and then simply lengthened down the sleeves and elasticated them at the wrist. Have I mentioned how much I love this pattern? I might have to tell you again 😂🙈🥰
Pattern: @deer_and_doe_patterns bought from @thefoldline 
Fabric: Animal print viscose from @stoffstil
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Recent Posts

  • VLOG Fabric haul | What I bought in the January sales and some sewing plans January 17, 2021
  • Thoughts on 2020 and what I’ve learned in my crafting journey this past year… January 13, 2021
  • VLOG – Sharing my 10 favourite makes of 2020… January 11, 2021
  • The Florence Blouse by Size Me Sewing – A Pattern Review (in collaboration with Makerist.Com) January 6, 2021
  • VLOG – What I’ve been sewing in November and December… December 21, 2020
  • VLOG – Fabric haul & sewing plans | What I’m hoping to sew in time for Christmas December 15, 2020
  • VLOG – Sew a Tilly & the Buttons Billie Sweatshirt with me… December 8, 2020
  • The Fred Cardigan from Lovecrafts.com – a knitting pattern review… December 4, 2020
  • VLOG – Unboxing my new overlocker and sewing up my first make… November 24, 2020
  • VLOG – What I’ve been making during October and November… November 23, 2020

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