Pockets are the perfect project to use up small pieces of fabric for zero waste sewing. Fun and practical! Add a patch pocket as a design feature or an in-seam pocket to hide things in. Patch pocket on Betty Tote Bag uses up a small pieces of vintage fabric How to make patch pockets Add…
Make a hot water bottle cover from scrap fabric Making our own clothes is eco friendly in many ways. One of the problems most sewists have is how to use up their scrap fabrics. Unless we use a zero waste pattern, small scraps of fabric are inevitable. Creating a larger piece of fabric from small…
‘This coat is definitely my most worn me made but I rarely share the full eyeball-dazzling glory of the inside because usually I’m in it!’ Megan exclaims on her Instagram feed @nutmeg_makes. Olive Road London got involved in the Sewing Bee Style competition by giving away a £20 voucher and bag of goodies for Reduce…
Six sewing themed summer Reads. If we can’t take our sewing machines with us on holiday, at least we can read about sewing Holidays are the best time to catch up on reading. Perhaps fish and chips in South-end-on-sea or two week’s lying on a sandy beach. I’ve pulled together a collection of books that…
Olive Road customer makes We all love a fabric stash, a collection of fabrics we can fold, re-fold and admire. Amazing as they all look together, fabric really is there to be used. My business is created from buying people’s fabric stash. So when a customer sends me a photo of their creations from my…
My top six films for sewing machine day Encanto Blink and you miss it but there is a sewing machine in Encanto! Right at the beginning of the film. Mirabel pulls her skirt from under a vintage sewing machine as she starts singing. I noticed it as I’d just finished making my niece her very…
Paper patterns from Maven Patterns and Seasons of East I met Sharon from Maven Patterns , her husband Richard (from James Tailoring) and their daughters at the Knitting & Stitching Show in October 2019 and loved their patterns. The clean designs that champion vintage fabrics, classic with a vintage style. Shop now Choose from the…
Thanks for coming! I had a blast at The Stitch Festival earlier this month. Thanks so much to everyone who came along to my stand for a sewing chat and bought vintage fabric, patterns and kits from my pop up shop. Thanks to Liz, my mum and Laura for helping me on my stand. It…
Review of London’s Fashion and Textile Museum’s 1960’s exhibition, Beautiful People: The Boutique in 1960s Counter Culture. While Swinging London promoted consumerism and futurism, a very different ideology was developing in parallel. The Underground were ‘arty’ and intellectual. They rejected materialism, seeking instead spiritual and psychedelic enlightenment. On 11 June 1965 this alternative community congregated…
My six favourite bags in the exhibition I managed to catch the exhibition a few days before it closed. Leaving it until the last minute, the exhibition was busy but I’ve chosen my six favourite bags. 1. Sentimental Lulu Guinness, 1996 Florist’s Basket handbag I’m being sentimental as 1996 is the year I met my…
