Announcing the Jessa Sewalong!

Are you thinking about sewing the Jessa shorts or trousers but want a bit of extra guidance and support? Want to make some shorts for the hot weather, or get ahead by making trousers or jeans for your autumn wardrobe? We're delighted to announce that we are going to be running a Jessa sewalong!

What is a sewalong, I hear you ask? We pride ourselves on creating clear, comprehensive and inspiring instructions - but we have a limited word and picture count in our instruction booklets. In a sewalong we can take you through each step in more depth, offering extra tips and tricks, and showing more photos - and a video! - of each step to help you on your way. And of course, we'll provide you with a big dose of sewing cheerleading :)

The idea of sewing a pair of shorts or trousers can seem a little intimidating if you haven't done it before, but we're here to show you how, every step of the way.

Jenny's Gathered Skirt Stevie Hack

There's something so fun about hacking one of your favourite sewing patterns - it's like looking at it from a brand new angle. Our Stevie pattern not only looks different depending on the fabric you choose, but it also has fantastic hacking potential.

It's Jenny here, Office Assistant at Tilly Towers. I bought this lilac linen-Tencel mix last summer and it hadn't been paired with a project until it hit me - I can sew a Stevie hack!

This was definitely a situation in which the fabric inspired the project, which is usually the case for many of my me-mades.

It may not look like it here as I'm wearing tights (these pictures were taken at the beginning of June before the summer heat really kicked in), but this Stevie hack was made for those super hot days.

Louise's Pleat Back Stevie Hack

Sometimes a pattern comes along that you love so much, you find yourself thinking of a squillion ways to make it! Or is that just me? It's Louise here from Team Buttons, and I love, love, love Stevie (the pattern and icon Stevie Nicks).

When we launched the Stevie tunic top and dress last summer, I immediately whipped up a couple of dresses before moving on to a top. When I was making that top (in a gorgeous Rifle Paper Co rayon I'll have you know), I was thinking about how gorgeous the drape was and that I wanted to show it off even more. So I followed the #youcanhackit mantra and did just that!




When I posted this on my Instagram I had a few questions about how to do this easy peasy hack. I tried to describe it, but a visual guide is always so much better isn't it? So here's my guide to adding an inverted pleat or box pleat to the back of Stevie - mine are both tops, but this would work equally as well with the dress version.

Sewing Space Tour... Jessica Dance's Colourful Studio

For today's sewing space tour, where we peek behind the closed doors at a maker's inspiring sewing space, we're in the South Downs with Jessica Dance, a textile artist and model maker.

Jessica's gorgeous work has been commissioned by the likes of ITV, Stylist magazine, Cosmo magazine, John Lewis, The Washington Post and so many more! Her bright and colourful home-studio is the stuff of dreams - prepare to be wowed...

Hello! I’m Jessica and I live and work in the South Downs. I'm a textile artist, using a combination of processes and techniques to create my work. The majority of my commissions are machine knitting and hand embroidery and most projects involve sewing and model making too.

I have always loved working with fabric. Although I did a degree in Fashion Studies I must admit, I did not really learn much (anything) about sewing during it. Instead I opted to go down the fashion marketing route on my course. I have always loved sewing, but I have always made it up as I go along.

Jessica was commissioned by John Lewis to create this woolly doppelganger of their most popular machine

Tilly's Pink Jessa Jeans of Dreams

I don't make a habit of posting pictures of my bum on the Internet, but I'm making an exception today because omigawd I made a pair of pink jeans and I LOVE them!

You're welcome.