THE DRAPERY BLOG

For the second year, we're bringing you a bunch of ideas for handmade Christmas gifts and also, lovely gifts for the makers in your life. (Or, gifts for you to hint loudly at with your loved ones!) Today, it's a lovely soft and light cowl/circle scarf in our brand new organic cotton double gauze.  For some time now we've been extolling the virtues of cowls  made in our washed 100% linen fabrics.  These beautiful spotty double gauzes happen to also be that ideal width of 150cm,  so you can make the softest, lightest cowl yet!  To increase the feel-good factor, it's organic cotton.  We even have organic cotton thread to sew it with.  Whilst we love the hand-sewn look with our rustic linens, we feel the smooth delicacy of these double gauzes is well-suited to the neatness of machine sewing in matching thread that all-but-disappears. (Oh, and it's a really, really quick way to whip up a gift!) Materials:     4...

  Once more this year, we are bringing you twelve days of Christmas ideas - both handmade gifts and gifts for makers. Today's idea falls firmly in the latter category: a Drapery gift voucher. We will happily make these out for any amount in store, and there's no time limit for the giftee to spend it, either. If you live outside Adelaide, you may be interested to know that we've recently added the gift vouchers to our online store too, available in any multiple of $20. These can be both purchased and redeemed online (and we'll even we'll send you a non-virtual paper voucher in the post to any Australian address so there's something to put under the tree!) For more info, click here . - Fiona & Jane xx

Our twelve days of Christmas ideas continues today with something for the small people. If you're looking for another small tradition to add to your Christmas, how about a handmade santa sack for your kids to put out in anticipation every Christmas Eve? Our sack, pictured, measures 80cm tall, and 73cm wide - big enough to accommodate a large box of Lego! It's basically a pimped-up big rectangle, so you can easily change the size of your santa sack if you prefer. You will need:  40cm Natural Linen (150cm wide) 75cm mid-weight cotton/linen with gold sparkly dots (110cm wide) (in store only, but similar to this ) 1.5m cotton twill tape Sewing machine, thread, large safety pin, general sewing supplies.     Notes: All seam allowances are 1cm. Unless stated otherwise, finish all seams with an overlocker or zig zag stitch for extra strength.  1. Right-o. Start by cutting the dotted fabric in half parallel to the selvedge. You will end ...

For the second year, we're bringing you a bunch of ideas for handmade Christmas gifts and also, lovely gifts for the makers in your life. (Or, gifts for you to hint loudly at with your loved ones!)   First up is the humble teatowel. In my house, we have a large stack in very high rotation, used for everything from actually wiping dishes, to potholders, covering food that's cooling on the bench, wiping hands, wiping up spills on the floor, you name it. They're often still doing the rounds when they're shamefully stained and threadbare. New teatowels are a great excuse to banish some of the worst old ones to the rag pile! Everyone could use a simple and elegant new handmade teatowel in their life. Linen is the fabric of tradition, and it becomes softer and more absorbent, use after use. Combine our natural flax-coloured linen with some decorative machine stitches (you know, those ones your machine does and you probably never use?), simply he...

One of the great things about sewing blogs is learning from the experience of others. Good and bad. In this occasional (well, we hope not too often!) series we will share our errors and disappointments. After all, mistakes are okay so long as you learn something from them, right? Friends, I (Jane) made a wadder. In international sewing parlance, that's a project you just want to wad up into a ball and throw across the room. I made a wadder, in silk. Gaaahh! Project: Colette Myrtle in woven fabric. Yes, it's all dodgy mirror photos for this one, which reflects (geddit?) how I feel about this dress. Mistake #1: Deviating too far from the pattern's recommended fabrics. Remember Fiona's Colette Myrtle she made in our Black Organic Cotton Ribbing? I wanted one; who wouldn't? But I thought I'd try a woven fabric. I tried on her black frock and the fit was large on both of us, but the fabric is quite heavy and has considerable stretch. So I made this up in ...

As soon as I saw the new Tessuti pattern, Alice , I knew it would be a great match for the  linens we have here at The Drapery . It's summery and loose fitting, perfect for linen weather. Alice can be made as a dress (with in-seam pockets - yes!) or the top. The pattern is a nice straightforward sew, with no closures or potential fitting woes. There's a decent amount of understitching on the bodice and arms, and the finish is worth every minute spent. I found the sizing in this pattern to be generous. I was on the borderline between small and medium according to bust measurements, but decided to go the medium to be on the safe side. Perhaps I should have used my upper bust measurement instead? In any case, next time (and oh, there will definitley be a next time) I will size down - perhaps even two sizes given all the lovely roomy gathers in this top.  Yep - there's a little too much room under the arms there! For this version of the top I used Vilnius Fog ...

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...