THE DRAPERY BLOG

I've had the Jedediah pattern for a while now, but we've recently begun stocking the Thread Theory pattern range at The Drapery, so it was time for a review. I have made several pairs of the shorts for my teenage sons, with great success. This was my first time making full-length trousers from the pattern, but really the sewing is no more complicated because all the detail is above the knee! The 'brief' The 17y.o. wanted corduroy trousers and was very taken by our wide wale cord. I asked him to find some reference pictures for his 'vision' of the ideal shape, to help me pick the pattern. In the end, after some research, I went back to the good old Jedediahs because I knew they fit him well, and I thought a couple of minor adjustments would achieve the style he wanted: a bit baggy, yet fitted in the waist, and tapered to the ankle. What did I change? I changed the front pockets to a higher, curved jeans-style opening. If you would like to do this, ...

Like many thirteen year olds, my eldest daughter has a burgeoning clothing habit. I've been dropping hints about how useful sewing can be for a clothes-lover - how liberating it is to be able to make exactly what you want to wear or to even replicate a favourite garment or style, but I wasn't sure it was getting through. So when she recently asked me if I could reproduce a ready to wear top she liked, I was all over it. Audrey wanted a simple, lightweight off-the-shoulder top. A couple of Google searches later, enter the Hippie Top by French pattern maker Vanessa Pouzet . A summery top/dress which can be made with or without shoulder straps. The pattern is PDF only, but mercifully the version we were after only needed 3 main pieces so it was printed and sticky-taped together in no time. I decided on the size 36 according to Audrey's measurements (she's 173cm tall, so the smallest adult sizes are usually good for her now). Even though this kind...