THE DRAPERY BLOG

We're celebrating FROCKTOBER at The Drapery,  to kick-start your spring and summer sewing! When you buy any dress pattern plus the fabric to make it, we'll take 10% off the price  (in store or online using code 'FROCKTOBER' at checkout).  Plus, we've teamed up with the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation ,  and for every pattern + fabric combo sold we'll donate $2 to this great cause. We are almost over and out with Frocktober, but for this one last post about a frock we love: The Merchant and Mills Dress Shirt . Inspired by the shape of a classic men's shirt, the dress shirt is a loose-fitting frock with a bib front and shirt tail hem. It's one of those garments that is easy to throw on over leggings or worn alone, and it really comes into its own when sewn out of lightweight fabrics like linen or chambray. The Dress Shirt, like other Merchant and Mills patterns we have tried (our review of The Factory Dress is here if you missed i

We're celebrating FROCKTOBER at The Drapery,  to kick-start your spring and summer sewing! When you buy any dress pattern plus the fabric to make it, we'll take 10% off the price  (in store or online using code 'FROCKTOBER' at checkout).  Plus, we've teamed up with the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation ,  and for every pattern + fabric combo sold we'll donate $2 to this great cause. Today's Frock We Love is a pattern that seems too simple to be true. It's one we've found ourselves reaching for again and again when summer is so hot you just barely want anything touching your skin (but don't want to run around naked in public). The pattern book is the second Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori , which has been translated into English. View D is the dress that features on the cover, and it lends itself to many different fabrics and improvised variations. With just three or four pattern pieces (front, back, sleeve and neck

We feel like we've been bombarding you a bit with this dress in the past few weeks. But we couldn't help one more post because after sewing it up, we're loving the Grainline Alder more than ever. Please excuse the rumpled-after-a-full-day-of-wear photos, just keeping it real. Buttons down the front are a combination of vintage ones from my hoard practical stash. This is View A made up in a washed 100% linen very similar to our Lithuanian 'Pinot' . (This actual fabric was brought home for me by my husband after a business trip to Ireland.) I just squeezed this dress in Size 12 out of 1.5m of fabric (150cm wide). I'd say with 2m you could be pretty confident in cutting out either View A or B (which has the gathered skirt). Whilst my hip measurement put me more into the Size 14 range, I checked the Finished Garment Measurements (gotta love it when those are supplied as well as comprehensive body measurement sizing charts) and there was plenty of wear

      We're celebrating FROCKTOBER at The Drapery,  to kick-start your spring and summer sewing! When you buy any dress pattern plus the fabric to make it, we'll take 10% off the price  (in store or online using code 'FROCKTOBER' at checkout).  Plus, we've teamed up with the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation ,  and for every pattern + fabric combo sold we'll donate $2 to this great cause.   Another Colette frock from us on this FROCKTOBER day - today the Laurel. If you've been in store looking to make a simple shift dress, you may have found us raving about this pattern. It's aimed at the beginner, but should by no means be overlooked by more experienced garment sewers either. The bust darts at the front coupled with a pair of double pointed darts in the back give this dress some subtle shaping without any fussy fitting. Laurel also works with a variety of fabrics and prints. Here she is as a sleeveless dress in our organic stre

  We're celebrating FROCKTOBER at The Drapery,  to kick-start your spring and summer sewing! When you buy any dress pattern plus the fabric to make it, we'll take 10% off the price  (in store or online using code 'FROCKTOBER' at checkout).  Plus, we've teamed up with the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation ,  and for every pattern + fabric combo sold we'll donate $2 to this great cause. Today's frock we love is the Colette Myrtle - a pattern we've only had in stock for a month or so.  Colette are one of the rockstars of the Indie pattern world, and for good reason. Designer Sarai produces classic, well drafted & finished patterns. Every step in a Colette pattern is clearly described and illustrated, plus more often than not there is further information for some techniques available on the Colette website. Each pattern is a little like a sewing lesson in itself - which makes their beginner patterns in particular an excellent

We're celebrating FROCKTOBER at The Drapery,  to kick-start your spring and summer sewing! When you buy any dress pattern plus the fabric to make it, we'll take 10% off the price  (in store or online using code 'FROCKTOBER' at checkout).  Plus, we've teamed up with the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation ,  and for every pattern + fabric combo sold we'll donate $2 to this great cause. Today's frock we love is the Belladone by French pattern company Deer and Doe. Here it is made up in our Echino cotton/linen teal dots, which shows how the structured shape of this dress lends itself well to mid-weight fabrics. The bodice is beautifully fitted with darts and front and back waist and at the bust, and features the lovely cutout/overlay at the back, which is nonetheless quite modest and requires no specialist underwear! The skirt has back darts and front pleats and adds practicality to style with generous pockets, hooray. Here'

We're celebrating FROCKTOBER at The Drapery,  to kick-start your spring and summer sewing! When you buy any dress pattern plus the fabric to make it, we'll take 10% off the price  (in store or online using code 'FROCKTOBER' at checkout).  Plus, we've teamed up with the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation ,  and for every pattern + fabric combo sold we'll donate $2 to this great cause. Today's 'frock we love' is the Hazel dress by Victory Patterns, the company of lovely Canadian Kristiann Boos. The sample in our shop window receives lots of admiration and we're delighted to have this pattern back in stock.   This really is a maximum-impact-for-effort sew, rated beginner and accessible to anyone who's comfortable sewing a bust dart and a few layers together at the neckline. This version was made sleeveless simply by omitting the sleeve and finishing the arm holes with self-fabric bias tape.  Here's a slightly o

The frock of today just has to be the Alder Shirtdress by Grainline Studio , which has captured the attention of quite a few keen sewists here at The Drapery already. (Yikes, I see a second order coming on soon!) But what a great-looking pattern, with two equally appealing variations. There's a full sew-along with great photos and instructions from Jen Beeman, the pattern designer, on her Grainline blog. Whilst the pattern only arrived here yesterday and we haven't had a chance to sew up any samples ourselves, we think the shaping looks quite forgiving (most important - get bust measurement correct and do a full bust adjustment if necessary). You can see a bunch of Alders on real-life sewists at the Grainline Flickr pool . (You can also see the Scout Tee and Archer Shirt, for which we have printed patterns available too.) Without further ado, here's some fabric inspiration for your Alder:  Chambray-type plains, taking their cue from the pattern cover. Top

We're celebrating FROCKTOBER at The Drapery,  to kick-start your spring and summer sewing! When you buy any dress pattern plus the fabric to make it, we'll take 10% off the price  (in store or online using code 'FROCKTOBER' at checkout).  Plus, we've teamed up with the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation ,  and for every pattern + fabric combo sold we'll donate $2 to this great cause. We'll be posting here throughout the month with some pattern plus fabric suggestions for inspiration. We'll keep it brief, so it's easy for you to glance through and also, we'll be more likely to keep the posts coming! THE WASHI DRESS from MADE BY RAE  This pattern has had a lot of love around the sewing blog-o-sphere, and rightly so.  It's flattering, very comfortable, has pockets, is feminine without being too girly, and sews up beautifully in many, many different fabrics. Even quilting cotton, which is not often recommended for adult garme