69 Bath road - Felixstowe - Suffolk
07787 981 493

Blog

Mrs Bowden’s dress weights tutorial

How to make dress weights dress weights instructions

Mrs Bowden’s anti-sore-ear Headband tutorial

Mrs Bowden’s anti-sore-ear Headband Tutorial I do hope this finds you well, safe and happy.  Thank you, first of all, for showing your interest in this tutorial.  The idea came about following a request made by a Midwife at Ipswich Hospital.  As face masks are being worn throughout the Hospital, many staff are experiencing chaffing…
Read more

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – perfect pocket pattern placement.

Some week ago my eldest brother sent me a length of fabric with some buttons and  a note asking for a shirt to be constructed.  As you can see I have fulfilled my familial obligation and produced the summer casual shirt for him.  The question is……can you spot the pocket? As you know Mr Tim…
Read more

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – pattern matching

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – pattern matching One of the many advantages of making your own clothes is being able to consider the alignment and placement of the print and motifs of the fabric.  When it’s correct nobody notices – when it’s off it’s really obvious!! This week I am offering you a few snippets…
Read more

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – shirt upcycling

Felixstowe Sewing School https://www.felixstowesewingschool.co.uk Mrs Bowden’s top tip – upcycling shirts.  A few snippets to help you refashion shirts into things of loveliness. So much has been in the news about conserving the resources of our lovely planet and trying not to waste quite so much.  It occurred to me that fashion changes at such…
Read more

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – creating buttonholes

  Mrs Bowden’s top tip – a few snippets of wisdom about creating buttohnoles. As many of you may know I am partial to a button-through dress and have many different styles.  It has struck me that creating buttonholes causes a little bit of anxiety for some sewers so I thought this week I would…
Read more

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – seam accuracy

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – seam allowance accuracy As you may have gathered, when using a commercial dressmaking pattern or instructions for making a sewn product, seam allowances are important. The seam allowance is the difference between the edge of the fabric and the stitching line. The pattern cutter will use different seam allowances to…
Read more

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – avoid snarling

    Mrs Bowden’s top tip – avoid snarling at the start of stitching. Everybody has had a moment when they have started to sew and the machine has caused a spaghetti of threads at the start of the seam.  This week’s top tip deal with this common problem and gives a few solutions to…
Read more

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – pressing v ironing

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – pressing v ironing There is a difference between pressing and ironing folks. Pressing involves the lifting and placement of the iron in specific areas of the garment to help with the construction. Ironing is a gliding movement, back and forth over the surface of fabric. Both are useful but for…
Read more

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – piping part 3

Mrs Bowden’s top tip – piping part 3 Something I was particularly partial to as a child (I daresay I would also be tempted nowadays) was liquorice, particularly pipes as you had the extra feature of the pink bobbly bits on the end!  There lies my introduction to piping part 3. Last week we went…
Read more