I’m sorry guys, it’s my fault! I turned the weather to freezing, non-stop rain by sewing a pair of shorts. 😭 (insert jokes about English “summers” here)| FehrTrade
I’m pretty sure I cut this out back in December (oh god, no – my notes say October?!), but to be honest, I was so sick from opportunistic infections in November and December it’s all a bit of a blur. I sewed this up over a few weeks in January, but then it took another few weeks to take some photos (lacklustre as they are) and then I lost all enthusiasm whatsoever to spend my precious “sitting upright” time to write this blog post. Tbh, sewing has lost all appeal right now – I nev...| FehrTrade
I never really used to wear shorts very much before a) the pandemic and working from home, and b) the Closet Core Patterns Pietra Shorts changed my entire view on wearing shorts. But I’ve made SO many of them now (5? 6?) that I felt like I should do something different.| FehrTrade
This is actually a Very Wearable Muslin for another shirt I’ll go into later, but for now, just know that this is yet another Named Saraste Shirt, from their first book, “Breaking the Pattern” (which has mysteriously disappeared from their website for some reason?).| blog.fehrtrade.com
Sometimes my sewing starts with a fabric. Other times it starts with a specific pattern. But this time it started with a wardrobe need – after 6 months of Long Covid spent almost entirely in bed, I have very few trousers that still fit me and I desperately needed more.| FehrTrade
We recently spent a week down in our favourite corner of Cornwall, but instead of staying with friends, we ended up renting a house for the week. J worked at a local coworking centre for a few days (The Workshed in Liskeard – highly recommend! Friendly, great space, super affordable, and extremely safe air quality!), but as I’m still on sick leave with Long Covid, I’d be alone in the house for three days.| FehrTrade
I’ve seen a lot of great versions of StyleArc’s “Bob” trouser pattern over the past few years, so I finally caved and bought it on a whim during a sale last year. They’re a pretty basic elastic-waist woven trouser apart from a rather bulbous outer leg shape.| FehrTrade
I had a busy yet productive weekend – not only did I finish my Colette Patterns Beignet skirt, but I also made the Patrones 292 sleeveless bias cowl top, too! I didn’t have enough time for a photoshoot over the weekend, but I did remember to finally document my favourite way of finishing the edges of thin blouses like the cowl top so I can finally share this with you.| FehrTrade
I keep saying each Interview with the Vampire The Vampire Lestat teeshirt is "going to be my last for a while" but I keep being tempted by new designs! But this time, it really will be the last teeshirt for a while (mumbles something about sewing a replica designer blouse seen in the S3 teaser instead...) The designs on this shirt are from the set of The Vampire Lestat (IWTV season 3's new show name) that's filming right now - extras going to the in-universe gigs were wearing teeshirts with t...| FehrTrade
Sometimes I plan my sewing in advance. Other times, I see a pattern or a fabric and I just instantly want to make it. I can’t even say exactly what it was about the Thorndike Tank (the Cashmerette Club pattern for July) – it’s just a basic woven shell top, really – but when it dropped it just felt right to sew it.| blog.fehrtrade.com
These two sewing makes don’t really “go together” except in the sense that they were both on my Summer Sewing list and they don’t seem terribly exciting to most people! The porthole curtains were on the list because the ones I’d made for the bedroom in 2014 were really looking ropey and mouldy, and the Axis Tank was in my plans because I really wanted a more comfortable, invisible option to wear underneath a few semi-sheer summer tops in my wardrobe now that I no longer wear “foam...| FehrTrade
I've been planning this shirt for a few weeks, but it was serendipitous that I already had the perfect fabric in my stash - some leftover black bamboo jersey from Fabrics Galore. The 2.5m I bought ended up making my Paris Sucks Versatili-Tank, the Dead Inside tank for my friend AND this tee! So it was excellent value on top of being perfectly soft, and somewhere between a viscose and cotton jersey in terms of weight and drape. This time around, I printed off a Loose Fitting Top Block from “...| FehrTrade
This might possibly be the world's longest UFO! I bought this fabric at a fabric shop in San Cristobel de las Casas when we toured around Mexico in 2013! To my credit, I tried to turn it into a skirt at least twice, with the latest iteration using a Burda magazine pattern with a scooped hem and loads of shirring at the waist. I did the shirring at the Sewing Weekender in 2018, back when it was in person! But no matter what I did, it just looked deeply unflattering.| FehrTrade
I'm posting a little out of order here since I sewed these before the broderie anglaise tee! I'll start off with the Bob trousers since I actually made these first - at the start of June, but then it was far too hot to actually wear them for a photoshoot... Red ramie Bob trousers If you recall, I've sewn the StyleArc Bob trousers twice before - first in brown linen, and then again in black linen. The black linen was far too thin and those wore out way too fast, but the brown Raystitch linen l...| FehrTrade
I’ve got a few garments to share over the next few days/week, but I wanted to start this off with a shorter post about a top I made with leftover fabric, but also a health/Long Covid update (scroll down to the photos if you don’t care!).| blog.fehrtrade.com
Ok I didn’t lie when I said in the last post that those were my last vampire shirts for a while… because I already had the vinyl cut and weeded for these by that point, and these were always planned. I just needed to make the shirts for the vinyl to go onto!| blog.fehrtrade.com
Believe it or not, I didn’t actually set out to post this on the same day that shooting finally (finally!!) begins on season 3 of Interview with the Vampire, but it just turned out to be a ha…| FehrTrade
As I mentioned in my last post, I really needed a lot more sleeveless tops, as I only had one or two that still fit. I really loved the shape of the FibreMood Elza ever since I saw it in their magazine last spring, but I hadn't quite gotten around to sewing it. I'd traced in size L then, though, so I had to re-trace it again in XL now - not a huge deal since it's only four pattern pieces. I had 1m of Ivory Ribbed Jersey in my stash that I apparently bought from Textile Express for £5 this ti...| FehrTrade
After I sewed The Kiss dress, I had a fair bit of fabric leftover, but it was in odd shapes due to the asymmetric cutting layout. It looked like I should be able to fit a teeshirt or a vest top (tank top) out of the remnants… and since I’ve got a lot of teeshirts that fit, but hardly anything sleeveless, I opted for the latter.| blog.fehrtrade.com
For once I’ve actually coordinated my sewing with the weather! Though, like most of my makes, this had a rather long lead time… I actually bought this 1.5m of Atelier Brunette “Shade Ochre” viscose fabric from Lamazi Fabrics last summer but didn’t quite work out which pattern to pair with it until recently, when I decided I wanted to try another variation of the Saraste shirt/dress/top from the first Named book, “Breaking the Pattern”.| blog.fehrtrade.com
I’ve been wanting to make the Saraste shirtdress from the Named book, “Breaking the Pattern” ever since I first saw it at their UK launch party. It comes in three different views in the book: as a princess-seam blouse with ruffles, a button-down shirt with shoulder cutouts, and as a shirtdress with ruffled collar. I ended up making the shirtdress, but added in the shoulder cutouts for some extra interest, too.| blog.fehrtrade.com
Sometimes you have to just close yourself into your sewing room, try to block out the world, and just make. This weekend I closed myself in my sewing cave and emerged on Sunday with a new pair of jeans and a teeshirt.| blog.fehrtrade.com
I’m posting a bit out of order here, but I wanted to make sure I posted about this Cashmerette Irving Dress because it’s the May 2025 Cashmerette Club members pattern, and I want to give you all a chance to grab it before May is over. This one is a breezy, casual dress for knits, and as soon as I got the email about it, I knew I wanted to make it!| blog.fehrtrade.com
Earlier this week I talked about my inspiration and goals for this project, as well as taking a deep dive into the making of the cape, and today’s it’s time to talk about the shirt!| blog.fehrtrade.com
After yesterday’s post detailing the inspiration and fabric sourcing for this outfit, today I’d like to talk about the standout piece – the cape!| blog.fehrtrade.com
As promised, after sharing our usual daytime photos to document all the different ways it can be worn, the seamlines, and details, etc, I really want to take some photos of my recent Wolfkiller Cloak at nighttime, too. I mean, it’s a coat inspired by a vampire AND it’s nearly Halloween, so what better way to capture the vibes than to do a photoshoot in a local graveyard??| FehrTrade
My final summer sewing this year came in the form of three separate teeshirts, all in the basic colours (pink is a basic, right??). Please forgive me that I’m not modelling these – I’ve had several utterly awful weeks fighting multiple infections on top of the Long Covid I’ve been fighting for the past 11 months, and I didn’t want to hold up posting about these!| blog.fehrtrade.com
I’m mostly posting these because I have a bit of a backlog of posts building up and I didn’t want to make them even longer than they already are – also one is a swimsuit from July and it’s November now! And because I felt I owed my long-term readers an explanation as to why I haven’t posted in nearly two months…| blog.fehrtrade.com
Multiple apologies for taking so long to post about these (both!). 11 months in and I’m still struggling massively with Long Covid, not just sewing in small bursts, but also less keen to take photos, or have the energy to sit up to write blog posts, etc… Anyway, I startred these jeans back in June, had them mostly finished before we went to Brittany in early July, and then they’ve been just waiting for a photoshoot for like a month. And yeah, I know these photos are weirdly dark and fog...| blog.fehrtrade.com
While many of my tops from before Covid still fit me, the same cannot be said for trousers or shorts. I haven’t been able to fit into my jeans (which were hardly tight pre-Covid!) since last Fall, and I really only have three pairs of trousers that fit comfortably, all of which I’ve made in the past few months.| blog.fehrtrade.com
A few months ago I visited a good friend who used to work in the fashion industry. Since she doesn’t sew anymore, she ends up gifting me with random jewlels from her stash that I graciously accept. This time around there were some small offcuts of an Alexander McQueen leather! It’s a pale peach-pink with a white crackle top, and the pieces were all fairly small.| FehrTrade
I’m still not sure whether I actually like this design of trousers or not, but my previous StyleArc Bobs are one of like three non-legging bottoms that still fit and aren’t uncomfortable, so making another pair was a necessity sew. | FehrTrade
It’s my 45th birthday today!! It’s not been a great year, tbh, with a truly horrific last 6 months, but to quote my friend Louis de Pointe du Lac, “A shit life beats no life.” And maybe this birthday will mark the start of a fresh new year, eh?| blog.fehrtrade.com
I own the very first Fibre Mood magazine but for some reason I’ve never made any of their patterns before. But when I saw this latest issue I bought it immediately and as soon as I got home from Cornwall I traced off four patterns from it – I want it all!! I even splurged on the viscose/wool jersey shown on the cover!!| blog.fehrtrade.com
It’s been years since I’ve had a reason to sew something for Halloween. I’m pretty sure the last time was when I made the badger and fox suits for J and myself, and that was 6 yea…| FehrTrade
