A monthly box of sewing goodies, delivered to your door

Make Of The Month; Bex

Every month I trawl the #sewhayleyjanemakes hashtag to find out what everyone has been making and select one lovely maker to tell us more about their beautiful garment. This month it was Bex @sewsewbex

I couldn’t believe it when Hayley offered me the Make of the Month for the Zadie jumpsuit I made from November’s luxury box!

As is probably the same with lots of people this year, I really got into a new hobby – sewing! I had previously dabbled and made a few bits of clothing, but since discovering lots of other amazing sewists on Instagram and a new world of independent pattern makers, I had a new found love.

I kept seeing Hayley’s subscription boxes popping up on my feed and finally bit the bullet to get my first box delivered in November. I loved the idea of having a little bit of luxury delivered every month and also the fact it might be a pattern and fabrics that I wouldn’t have normally chosen. The bonus of a sweet treat in the box also sealed the deal for me!

November’s fabric was a beautiful Art Gallery Fabrics viscose with stars and constellations all over which I received in the blue colourway. I have a love/hate relationship with viscose. I love how light it is and how well it drapes but this also makes it a bit more difficult to control during my least favourite part of the sewing process – cutting out! I’ve found that you can never use enough pins and clips with viscose and the slower you go, the neater it will be in the end.

The fabric feels so buttery smooth and there’s something I really love about a relatively simple pattern being made in such a beautiful fabric – it just adds an extra element to the outfit and makes me feel so good when wearing it.

It’s great to receive around 3.5m of fabric as it opens so many options for patterns. I’d made the Zadie jumpsuit by Paper Theory Patterns once before and thought this fabric would work perfectly for it. I knew I needed to make a few adjustments to shorten the bodice and the rise by about 1.5 inches each and I think it turned out perfectly this time!

The jumpsuit is what I would call a perfect intermediate pattern. There are no fastenings to contend with and it closes with a wrap that ties, but the neckline and bodice edge is all finished with bias binding which can be a bit tricky to make and attach.

These subscription boxes do really feel like a little slice of heaven being delivered every month – I love reading the magazine and seeing what other people have made with their fabric. As I work full-time and have a toddler, I really enjoy taking the time out to go through the box and have some me-time. I can’t wait to see what is coming in the next box!