Clothesline INSTAGRAM

Meri Blouse is a traditional dress worn in the Pacific Islands, originally introduced by missionaries I've heard. I made these four for a concert at church for some New Guinean ladies. The pattern cutting is very simple with little fabric wasted. And

To finish Me Made May, here's my favourite make of all time, worn by the lovely Emily. It's 5 metres of Ikea upholstery fabric, patternmaking uses subtraction cutting methods (google Julian Roberts, he has lots of free resources). As you can see from

What can I say? I'm in no danger of running out of handmade clothes for Me Made May (last count- more than 50 items in my wardrobe) but they are getting more...unusual. This flatpack shawl (it is a flat shape with armholes) was a college design proje

I made three of these dresses, because they look more complicated to make than they really are. This is black linen with a bit of sashiko stitching - cool to wear in summer or over a tee shirt when the temperatures go down.
#memadewardrobe #sewers of

From mood board to final design!

Here's my mood board inspired by some beautiful lampshades from industrial designer Tord Boontje.

It prompted a series of design developments. One of which was made up on a half scale mannequin. Then there was the pattern making and experimenting with constructing a pinata of an underskirt in boning and mesh. Then the 40 white leaves were glued in place and Ta Da! It all looks so easy when some gorgeous young thing like Emily is wearing the final result!