Name: Warp & Weft Studio Ltd
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The g&g team really do love dressmaking and sewing their own clothes as much as our lovely customers and are regularly coming to work in their latest, gorgeous handmade creations! A few times a year we make it more of a concerted team effort to sew a lovely new garment using fabrics and patterns from the shop and share together how the makes went. So without further a-do I bring you the latest g&g team pattern review!

Everyone has put so much effort in to make amazing outfits so I’m sure you will enjoy having a look and read through them! Find links to the fabric and patterns they have used below!

Helen's Kielo Wrap Dress

Helen has made a lovely version of the Named Patterns Kielo Wrap dress using our lightweight and stretchy Etched Jungle Viscose Jersey fabric in green. It’s an origami style wrap dress with unusually shaped side seams with ties that can be wrapped either around the front or back of the body. It can be made as a jumpsuit too and you can further customise it by changing the length of the sleeves, or leaving them off altogether. Helen found that the instructions seemed to jump about a bit between the different versions and picking the correct lines for the arm hole was a bit tricky to follow as the dress version and jumpsuit version are both overlaid on each other. She suggests that it would still be suitable for a confident beginner who had worked with jersey before.

The changes she made were to shorten the length by 6” and take about 4cm out from under the arm and then merged the seam allowance back in again as it felt a bit bulky under there.

It looks amazing on Helen and a super comfy style to be wearing over the festive season!

Jo's Farmer Trousers

Jo made a great version of the farmer trousers from the Nani Iro book ‘A year of Sewing with Nani Iro’ using our Charcoal herringbone stretch cotton fabric as it has a nice and cosy feel and in a super practical colour that's easy to pair with other makes. The Farmers are a pleated baggy trouser with elastic at the back. The also have darts in the hem, which is a more unusual detail and shaping for trousers and the fabric she picked helps to hold the shape of the darts really well.

Tracing the pattern was a bit difficult as all of the pattern pieces are overlaid on each other and there is also now seam allowance included so remember to add that on!

In terms of choosing a size based on her measurements she found that they came out far too big and she took 3” out of the back and 1 inch out of the front as well as taking a dart out of the back rise. She also made the waistband narrower and as the instructions were a bit basic she added her own touches such as under stitching on the pockets. Usually she has to shorten trousers but found she didn’t with the one, so take note of you normally need to lengthen!

Jo has put her usual stylish, personal flair on the pattern and they look great!

Hannah's Sidney Sweater

How cosy does Hannahs version of the Merchant and Mills Sidney Sweater look? You can use stretch or wovens for this pattern as it’s pretty oversized but she choose our Forest Stripe Fleecy loopback fabric with the Light Sand Organic Tubular ribbing to create this boxy oversized style, great for layering!

She found the instructions easy to follow as it’s a pretty simple make. She sized down by two sizes compared to what her body measurements corresponded to and took a 20cm chunk off the length as well as shortening the sleeves. Usually she has to lengthen sleeves so thinks the pattern generally comes up with long sleeves. She also made the hem band the same width as the bodice, rather than smaller as suggested by the pattern, as she didn’t want it to pull in.

The colour looks great and I’m sure it will be a wardrobe staple! Nice work Hannah!

Rosie's Blanc Flight Suit

Rosie has chosen a gorgeous colour of mauve in the Meet Milk Smooth Drape Tencel twill to make her Closet Core Blanca Flight suit and what a combination it is! This pattern is super versatile and can be customised in lots of ways and made up in lots of different fabrics depending on how structured you want it to be. There is an entire sew-a-long on the Closet Core blog that's a great addition to the instructions that come with the pattern but overall she found the construction pretty simple, there was just lots of different stages and bits to work through.

She found the fit was good going off her body measurements as grading between sizes from top to bottom. She didn’t have to change much apart from adding 1” to the legs so that the waist would sit higher. She also lengthened the leg but in the end found she didn’t need it and trimmed it back down again as well as tapering the leg a bit more than the pattern. She did this just by sewing the seam allowances a bit bigger and trying on to check in the mirror.

The zips look great but next time she fancies doing the front closure with poppers. You should definitely make another one Rosie - this one looks so fab!

Lesley's Saturday Set

Lesley has made a brilliant version of the Friday Pattern Company Saturday Set using our Cheetah Blue Viscose fabric. This blouse and skirt combo looks great worn together as well as separates. Overall she found it a pretty simple pattern with easy instructions but that the collar was the most fiddly part. She also decided to interface the whole collar, the front facings and the skirt waistband, which was not part of the instructions. Next time she would add interfacing or some stabilisation to the pockets as well as they are starting to bag out a little. She graded out a size to the waist, as per her body measurements but ended up taking that excess out, so she could have just gotten away with making a straight size. Lesley recommends checking the finished garment measurements and that the waist is key as there is so much fullness in the hips anyway.

Good job Lesley - what a great pair of makes!

Alison's Mabel Top

Alisons version of the Tilly and the Buttons Mabel Top in the Fabric Godmother Ziggy viscose crepe in the jade colourway is so amazingly festive and fun!

This boho style top has shirred elastic details at the cuffs and waist and although this was Alison's first time using shirring she found it super satisfying and fun to sew!

She found the instructions clear and easy to follow and there are extra blogs on the Tilly and the Buttons website as well. She made a toile to check the fit as with the elastic around the neckline and over the shoulders it’s hard to see the fit until you have put it all together. She ended up taking 2cm off the elastic at the neckline to bring it in closer as the fit was quite wide at the neckline. She also added 8cm to the peplum. She recommends keeping an eye on all the markings and notches and making sure they are clearly marked to keep construction as easy as possible and that despite there being lots of steps and moving between sewing and pressing, overall its not that tricky to sew. She found the hot hemmer useful for all the pressing.

It looks gorgeous Alison - excellent job!

Cara's 101 trousers

Cara has made a classic black trouser using the Merchant and Mills 101 trouser pattern paired with our black stretch needlecord. This simple style has elastic all the way around the waistband with a drawstring as well. It’s a year round versatile style that would work in any season depending on your fabric choice, but Caras combo makes for the perfect warm winter trouser.

She found the instructions vague at times so best suited to a dressmaker who has a bit of pattern experience already. When she first made them she found that they came up really big so ended up taking off some of the length as well as the rise and had to take in the sides to fit the waistband after comparing them to another similar pair of trousers she had that fitted well. She also decided to leave off the faux fly as she felt it wasn’t really adding anything with this particular fabric.

I’m sure you will get lots of wear out of them Cara, they look great and a great colour to easily pair with patterned and colourful tops!

Charlie's Tania Cullotes

Charlie looks so festive in her version of the Megan Neilsen Tania Culottes using our Emerald Lurex Check Cotton fabric. This is pretty lightweight so drapes really nicely into the full style of the culottes, which gives the illusion of a skirt with the practicality of shorts. She used the sewalong blog on the Megan Nielsen website (LINK https://blog.megannielsen.com/tania-sewalong/ ) but warns that it doesn’t refer to a specific layplan so you’ll still need to follow along with the instructions that come with the pattern for that.

She found the fabric a bit slippy to work with and cut out on the flat so she had more control of the fabric and recommended handling the fabric gently as it can stretch out easily at its cut on the bias.

It looks great Charlie - perfect for the festive season!

Becca's Olya Shirt Dress

Becca has made a beautiful version of the Paper Theory Olya Shirt Dress using the Atelier Brunette Fizzy Viscose Twill in the rust colourway. The Pattern itself is available directly from the Paper Theory Website and as we featured it in a Sewing Society kit earlier in the year, you can access my hints and tips video linked below. The dress version is essentially the same as the shirt but the bodice sections are lengthened. It’s pretty loose fitting (Becca sized down two sizes) so she simply lengthened them straight down but suggests you might want to grade out depending on your waist to hip ratio.

She cut out with a rotary cutter to help have more control over the slippery viscose and used a walking foot for sewing seams too. She made a simple waist tie by taking her waist measurement and adding on 130cm to get the right length for tying and having it drape and skipped the top stitching for a cleaner look. She also added a slit in the side seams at the bottom and instead of the traditional cuff and placket in the pattern, she shortened them and made an elastic casing instead.

It looks so elegant Becca - a gorgeous make!

Staff Pattern Review Winter 2023