It's a Stitch Up

There were a lot of things I’d always wondered about the practical task of pattern cutting: How do you draw a smooth armhole curve? How do you make a straight hem? How do you add seam allowance? On a curve? It turns out that these things are a lot easier with the right tools.

The next phase of Zoe’s wedding dress was to take the and trace it as pattern pieces, add seam allowance, cut it in calico and sew it into a toile. Calico is used because of its firmness and lack of stretch. It’s very unforgiving, so if it looks right in calico, you know it will [...]

I’m not one to go in for expensive knitting accessories when cheap, home-made alternatives are perfectly good. When it comes to stitch markers, loops of left-over yarn in a contrasting shade normally suite me perfectly well – unlike the plastic variety they stay put, and unlike fancy ones they have no awkward bits to get [...]