Gingham drapery

It's festival season, and my client wanted me to create her something drapey and easy to wear that is also unique and eye-catching.

I love working with gingham - it's such a fun weave and looks so bold and shows off the drapes in this shirt perfectly.

It's wrap-style means it's held together with just two buttons (the third is decorative!) so can be worn untied for a floaty, loose look. When it is tied it adds even more interest as the gingham weave shows off the drape and tied bow beautifully.

Having the yoke only connected to the shirt and the shoulders makes it perfect for hot weather too, and stops the shirt feeling like it swamps you :)

This client had also won one of my Instagram competitions for a free bento bag so I was able to make it a matching bag! Quite a coordinated festival outfit!

Making a favourite coat

A lovely lady called Lisa approached me recently with a cashmere/wool mix coat that she wanted a brand new carbon copy of. It had been bought at a charity shop 20 years ago, and despite looking good for it's age, it definitely had seen better days. 

The first challenge was finding exactly the right fabric to make it out of. The cashmere in the original gives a lovely softness that a pure wool just wouldn't give, though we also needed to bear in mind the weight and warmth. There are a huge range of coatings available out there and we went through a lot of swatches before she went for a luxurious navy cashmere/wool/poly mix, with a rich lavender crepe-backed satin lining.

I created a pattern from the original coat without having to take the original part, so she still gets to keep the old one too! I really enjoy how smart a well tailored winter coat looks, and Lisa is thrilled to have a brand new coat in a style she has been enjoying for 20 years already. Here's to another 20 years at least!