THE DRAPERY BLOG

I've had the notion of a longer A-line skirt in my mind for a while, and have been casting my eye around for patterns. I wanted something quite plain, multi-seasonal, comfy; I guess the skirt equivalent of a pair of jeans. Well pattern-wise I certainly went with 'the vision' but perhaps not so much the fabric, ha! This Art Gallery Textured Denim in 'Canyon Sunset' (currently sold out but on re-order) is no shrinking violet. But it makes me happy! I chose Marilla Walker's 'Evan' skir t (named after her young son, how cute) because it had just enough seaming/yoke/fly detail to break up the expanse of fabric, great front pockets and a nice just-A-line-enough shape. Also, because I love her style and have had great success with her Roberts Collection pattern. Pattern description: "This classic a-line skirt is a 'jeans' style with back yoke, fly front fastening and front/back pockets. The waistband is curved for a flattering fit and s...

No matter how enthusiastic a sewist you may be, there's probably some project you've dismissed with an 'oh, I'd never sew that'. To tricky, too dull, too easy to buy ready-made? I'm pretty sure I've said it about underwear in the past. But Fiona and I are both beginning to pause and realise, 'never say never'! Thanks to the ever-inspiring internet I happened upon a free bra pattern called the Maya Bra by Romanian blogger Ana at her blog AFI. Armed with a kit from Booby Traps (Sydney/online), and AFI instructions and more from Cloth Habit , I ventured in. And my first bra was quite a decent fit and quite comfortable! And a world of possibility opened in front of me (cue heavenly harps)..... AFI Maya Bra pattern in Liberty 'Lady Zadie', other components from Booby Traps online *NB: photo above is not my first attempt! One of the biggest revelations to me was that bras don't have to be made entirely of stretchy fabrics. In fact ma...

I feel like I need to make excuses for this shirt because it's so, well, neutral and conservative. However, we all need a bit of that in our wardrobes and I really rather love this make. This is my second version of the Deer and Doe Melilot shirt . I must love this pattern because it's quite something for me to sew two shirts with plackets and cuffs and all that palaver in a row! The fabric is a beautifully soft, yarn-dyed brushed cotton with a teensy tiny check. There's a bit of this left in store and similar here . Buttons are shell, from my stash but we did just order some very similar for the shop! Instead of the full button front I changed this Melilot to a partial placket, or 'popover' style. (I wasn't aware of the term popover until I saw the Grainline Archer 'popover' variation but I guess it's as good a description as any.) To achieve this I folded away the button/buttonhole placket extension of the shirt front pattern piece...

The Melilot shirt, a drop-shouldered button-up, is one of the latest patterns from French designers Deer and Doe. We love both the style and the fit of their patterns - click on the tag 'Deer and Doe' to the right and you'll see posts about others we've made. (There should be an accent on the e of Melilot but I don't know how to type that, forgive me!) I made a combination of Views A and B: long sleeves with cuffs, but omitting the concealed button placket and collar (and no pockets). This fabric needs to speak for itself! However in a plain fabric these details would help make the garment special. This Melilot came about partly by accident... I cut the wrong length of this amazing Nani Iro double gauze 'Beautiful Life' for a customer. But it was the right length for a Melilot, so what's a girl to do? Like all Deer and Doe patterns I've tried, this came together very nicely. Their patterns are drafted for a C to D-cup bust which suits me v...

 Me Made May (MMM) is an annual event organised by British sewing blogger Zoe, and now in its sixth year. It's a personal challenge for sewists to wear their handmades, and an opportunity to share the sewing goodness online. The idea is that it's an individual challenge, so people can choose their own goals that work for them. This is the second year that we've taken part at The Drapery. Our own aims were: - to wear at least one item of 'me made' clothing every day of May (usually more) - to document our outfits on the days we work at The Drapery, via our Instagram account - to demonstrate how our garments work on a day-to-day basis rather than just in the 'we just finished this' blog posts - to inspire our customers with a variety of practical garments/outfits - to learn about our individual wardrobes: what we reach for, what we need etc. We've enjoyed following along with others' MMM posts on social media, in particular observing h...

We have some lovely 100% boiled wools at The Drapery for this first time this year. The care of these fabrics was a bit of a mystery to us as well as to you, so we've done some investigation. Will my boiled wool shrink if I wash it at home? More than likely, yes. That surprised us, too. One would guess since the fabric is called 'boiled wool' and has a felted, non-fray texture, that it is pre-shrunk and would not shrink further. Not so - please be well aware! Here's what we found: We tried three kinds of gentle washing: - Front loading machine wash 'wool cycle', 30 degrees , with wool wash liquid, rinse, spin. - Gentle hand wash, warm , with wool wash liquid, rinse, press dry in a towel. - Front loading machine wash 'wool cycle' cold , with wool wash liquid, rinse, spin. In both warm washes (machine and hand) the wool experienced 10 - 15% shrinkage in length. There was little to no shrinkage in width. The cold wash showed sligh...

We've had our eye on Boston, US-based pattern company Blueprints for Sewing for a little while now. We've admired the designer wearing her newest pattern the Geodesic top , on Instagram for 'Me Made May'. Then when our weather took a turn for the wintry, we were pushed over the edge into action! The Geodesic is inspired by the architectural form of a Geodesic Dome, and you can find out more about it on the Blueprints for Sewing website here .  The pattern is only available as a PDF at the moment, but may be in print by the end of the year. However it's not an arduous cut & paste affair, with only 20 pattern pages. I made up Version 1 in our NZ French Terry in Oatmeal . (Please excuse the self-photography, done in the interests of producing a timely post!)  On front and back the triangular pattern pieces come together in a neat central point, and if you are using a fabric with obvious grain or pattern, this adds to the pieced effect. It's a bit ...