THE DRAPERY BLOG

Have you ever fallen in love with a quilting cotton or even a printed cotton/linen that's not really a traditional 'garment fabric', and really, really wanted to wear it? Here's your answer: the Washi Dress, named for the fabric that designer Rae Hoekstra made her original version in, a quilting cotton print based on strips of colourful Japanese sticky paper 'washi tape'. click image to enlarge Our shop sample in the first photo is made in Field Study 'Fine Feathered' (denim colourway), a quilting cotton designed by the amazing Anna Maria Horner. This dress truly is fabulous: comfortable and flattering to a multitude of shapes and sizes. It's fitted only around the top of the torso to just under the bust, where pleats and a slight A-line make it skim beautifully over everything on the way to your dainty knees. It's worth taking the time to make a muslin (rough test version) of the bodice section to get the size and fit just right. Som...

Got a chilly noggin? How about making a classic flat cap with our beautiful 100% wool tweed ? This is one of those sewing projects that seems almost magical in its ability to turn small, flat pieces of fabric into something so substantially 3-dimensional and pleasing. It rates very highly on the scale of 'seriously, did you make that?' admiration yet it's really not that hard and requires no specialist tools or materials. The pattern used here is Nicole Mallalieu's Flat Cap which is available as a pdf download. At The Drapery we also have the Sew Liberated Huck Finn Cap printed pattern, which is very similar and fits kids aged 6 months to 10 years. (Pictured below in a non-Drapery fabric!) This pattern for the littles has a clever hidden piece of elastic at the back which helps the cap fit growing heads. We also stock the template plastic that's used inside the brims, which is the only other thing you'll need besides fabric, thread, pins ...

A fabric we hunted high and low to source for The Drapery was a good hemp-containing denim. Such a great basic and with the added eco-credentials of hemp. We have two great options: the superb lightweight, versatile Hemp/Organic Cotton Denim and this one used below, which is 25% Hemp 75% Cotton , a substantial 340gsm yet actually quite smooth, supple and a little drapey. At 150cm wide, the dress below was eked out of a 110cm cut. The dress is Style A from the Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori - the translated and western-sized version which we have in the shop: The sizing is very generous - in fact whilst I measured a size 14, I use the size 10 in this pattern and even still took it in a bit at the sides because the denim sits in a more pronounced A-line shape. The pattern has bust darts and soft gathers at the front for shaping, and for further shape and visual interest I added a button tab at the centre back to cinch it in a little. The tab was made with thr...

It's cold here! We're starting to refer to these linen cowls as The Drapery's 'uniform'. They're so soft and cosy, yet lightweight, you can easily wear one all day, indoors and out. The construction is so simple it almost doesn't deserve a tutorial so let's just call this inspiration, shall we? Materials: - 40cm washed linen or linen/cotton blend , 150cm wide, some of ours are double-sided which offers a lovely contrast. - Sewing machine and matching thread or embroidery thread/perle cotton and hand sewing needle Press a narrow, double-fold hem on each long (cut) side of the fabric. Sew by machine or hand-sew with embroidery thread. This hand-sewn stitch goes vertically down over the hem then horizontally across on the back, then vertically up the hem, horizontally across on the back and so forth, giving two rows of small horizontal stitches on the back and a kind of tiny stick fence effect over the hem side. (Let us know if this st...

Have you used any of Megan Nielsen's lovely patterns? She's based in Perth, but spent a few years in the US recently. Megan has been a delight to deal with when ordering for The Drapery and her patterns have many, many fans across the world. I've been wanting to try the Briar Top pattern for some time. Here it is in our Tangerine hemp/organic cotton jersey. This is the cropped option, and I cut the sleeves extra long, because there was enough fabric and I thought the short top with really long sleeves would be a bit fun. I measure closer to size M but made the L because I wanted this to be quite loose for layering. I would definitely cut a size M if I wanted to wear it without a layer underneath. (Under it I am wearing the Make it Perfect Poppy Tunic , cut shorter than usual.) The pattern gives two options for the neckline finish. I used the binding option which is quite thick and sturdy - I like it a lot! In fact, I would usually use my overlocker to se...