Following on from this post, Skye has successfully completed her 'trio of tees'. Here's the final one, as promised at the end of the first blog entry!

For my next White Tree Fabrics Project, I chose this incredible warm jersey in grey. I intended to make the long sleeved top from the V8879 pattern, but after making the blue version, I knew that this fabric needed something different. 

Enter the FREE Hemlock Tee from Grainline. This pattern has been sat in my downloads folder for far too long, and I knew its time had come. 
This pattern is amazing - I can't believe it's free! Jen clearly knows her stuff, and the hundreds of versions of the top you can find online by other sewers is testament to that. I can't wait to make tons more, especially proper tshirt versions and not jumpers! (If White Tree Fabrics start stocking stripy jerseys then I'm in real trouble!) 

Anyway, the fabric is amazing and exactly what I'm looking for in a knit fabric. It's soft, cosy, has a subtle marl effect and was so nice to work with. Basically, I can't sing its praises enough! 
I was a little worried about using a heavier knit for the hemlock pattern, but I love the finished result and it came together so quickly. 

All in all this has been a winning combination for me, and I'm pretty excited to see this jumper become a part of my everyday wardrobe; thank you White Tree Fabrics and Jen :)

WhiteTree fabrics are delighted to welcome Suz Reid to the WhiteTree Blogging Team.

We've had such an amazing response to our outreach for bloggers and slowly, over the months our team has been filling up with wonderfully talented, creative people. We're almost at the end of our search for bloggers, with only a space or two left. Suz is a welcome addition to the team!

Here's her bio.

Suz is 29 years old and lives in Scotland with her husband. While she’s always been fascinated by sewing and knitting – having grown up with a mum who was forever making her clothes as a child – it wasn’t until 2011 that she decided to buy a modest little sewing machine to see if she could teach herself the basics of sewing. While this included a lot of trial and error, she slowly made progress and has now made over 20 well-crafted (and really pretty!) dresses.

Since her starting point in 2011, Suz feels more confident with her skills and her initial experiment with the sewing machine has turned in to a real passion. She attributes her success so far to lots of patience and the existence of a wonderfully supportive (and very knowledgeable) online sewing community.

Suz isn’t happy unless she’s learning something new and, for her, this is one of the joys of sewing: there are always new techniques to learn and skills to develop and hone. She’s looking forward to doing this as a part of the White Tree Fabric blog team!

Check out her projects on her blog: www.prettyflorals.co.uk.

You can also follow her on Twitter: @pretty_florals. 

Today we are thrilled to bring you an amazing make from Amanda at Sew Deputy. This dress was inspired by the Duchess of Cambridge's appearance at Wimbledon last month and is such a pretty, fresh Summer dress. What we really love about this dress is the way Amanda has used the scalloped edges for a hemline. She also attempted to use the scallops on the sleeves, but not everything went according to plan so this make is a great example of how you can still succeed even if things don't go right the first time. Amanda wore this dress during a day out and has named it The Leeds Lace Dress.  We love it! Here's the make in full.

This is the most beautiful dress I have EVER sewn. I think I could get married in it!!

The fabric is a Guipure lace from Whitetree Fabrics, which was complimentary as a member of the Blog team. It is just beautiful to sew with and so if you are thinking of having a go this is a good lace to start with.

I decided to use another of my favourite patterns The Navy Squiggle Dress as I thought it would really show off the lace, particularly the beautiful scalloped hem.

I cut the pieces out and rather than add a lining I bought myself an underskirt I could wear underneath. I used a normal sewing stitch on 1.5cm and then cut quite close to the seam and zig-zagged it.  I had been so careful with my cutting out that the pieces matched exactly! Which was a bonus at the hem line. I changed the skirt slightly and instead of gathering I added six pleats to the front and back. I completely made up the bodice before I did this and then made sure it was exactly the same size to sew on. I added a 7inch invisible zip and it has hidden so well into the seam line.

I really wanted to use the scallop hem for the edge of the sleeves but had to cut them smaller than the pattern as I did not have enough scalloping. I inserted them into the dress and tried it on. They looked great but I could not move my arms up or down! Seeing as I really loved the rest of the dress I felt it would perhaps make me not want to wear it, so I painstakingly took them out and cut new ones without the scallop.

This time I went the opposite way and cut the biggest size sleeve so they are too big now! However, I decided if anyone saw this dress they would not think for a minute I had made it because the fabric is just so beautiful , and so it must therefore be a design feature!

After wearing the dress today on a day out into Leeds I think maybe I need to bind the hem inside the sleeve as it does show when I move my arms. I used bias for the neck and the sleeve hems. We went for lunch in Leeds and decided the Town Hall and Civic Hall were good places to get some dress shots…..makes a change from the fuschia bush! (Note from WhiteTree - we like the fuchsia bush!!)

Pattern: New Look 6723

Fabric: 2metres of guipure lace from WhiteTree Fabrics

Notions: bias binding, 7inch concealed zip

Changes?? Next time I would make sure I had enough fabric for scalloped hem sleeves!

Here are WhiteTree fabrics, we've been incredibly lucky to work with such talented seamstresses and bloggers who have produced gorgeous dresses, fabulous tees, blouses, cardis, hoodies, bags, PJs and more. Every make we see inspires us and makes us look at our fabrics in a different light when we see what lovely garments can be created from them.  The latest make is no exception! Sam contacted us to say she was making a blazer, an idea which we loved! So here is the first outerwear make in full.

I MADE THIS - BHL VICTORIA BLAZER WITH A FRILL

I made the blazer using the same alterations as my first one (which was actually a muslin for this version).  The frilled peplum was drafted using the information given with my inspiration version, although a little less deep as I wasn't going to be hemming it.  As the fabric had a lovely scalloped edge, I used that as the hem of my frill. 

Instead of the cuffs given with the pattern I used a strip of the scalloped edge of the fabric here as well to echo the scalloped hem. 

You asked, and we listened.

We've got literally thousand of dressmaking fabrics in our store; laces, satins, jerseys, embroidered fabrics, nets, sparkly fabrics and more....but you couldn't find a good selection of cotton prints, so we got them for you! We are so pleased to be offering Tilda printed cotton fabrics as well as the world famous Liberty Cotton lawn fabrics, part of the Liberty Art Fabrics collection. There are so many fantastic designs and prints to choose from, with more being added constantly. Keep checking back as there will be something new every day.

As well as offering Tilda fabrics, you will also find a great selection of their ribbons, books, gifts, storage and more - take a look here.

We couldn't add such fantastic brands and not include the wonderful sewing patterns designed and created by Tilly Walnes of Tilly and the Buttons. These fabulous patterns are simple to sew and will help you create vintage classics with a modern twist, such as the Coco top (below).

If you're looking for a good selection of haberdashery, we've got you covered there too. We understand that you don't want to have to shop around and get your supplies from more than once place. That's why we're working hard to make sure that we are your one stop place to shop. If there's something you can't find, then please do tell us, and we'll do our best to get it.

Happy Sewing!

We're really pleased to bring you this sparkly skater dress, created by one of our talented bloggers Amy Thomas, who blogs over at Almond Rock. It's always so interesting for us to see fabrics made into something amazing, as our usual view of our materials is a warehouse full of racks and racks of rolls of fabrics. It's so hard to imagine these rolls becoming anything else....so it's always wonderful to see when they do! This fantastic garment is the perfect dress to take you from daytime to evening effortlessly....giving you some Summer sparkle, whilst you stay cool. We love this one! Here's the make in full:

Today I’m really happy to share a lovely sparkly number. This is a happy little dress that makes me smile while wearing it!!

This is the perfect skater dress (McCalls 6754) made in metallic foiled jersey.

I made this dress in association with a new online store, White Tree Fabrics, who specialise in dressmaking fabrics, haberdashery and patterns.

The dress has a darted front, dipped back, and brilliantly swishy circle skirt. I really like the other options in the pattern and will definitely be making it up again.

The jersey is pretty lightweight so I backed the bodice with some blue medium-weight jersey I had in my stash.

One thing to note is not to wash or iron this fabric on too high a heat. High temperature can destroy the sparkle in the fabric and at worst, can melt under the heat of your iron and be rather messy! (Note from White Tree - see here for our recommended wash care.)

The arm and neckholes, and hem are turned under and topstitched (I used a twin needle). And I used my serger to construct all the seams except the darts.

So it turns out it’s reeeeally hard to photograph something metallic without having your camera flash turned on (when we did it looked like the sun had exploded).

The dress looks silver on these photos but in person it definitely has a gold sheen.

Here’s my final attempt, inside with all the lights pointed at me.

I can confirm after buying some of White Tree’s spotted mesh fabric recently (trust me I do still buy fabric) that the price was great, delivery was quick and my fabrics came wrapped around card which was nice.

If you'd like a go at creating this dress yourself, here's everything you need:

Shop for the Metallic Jersey ► Here.

Shop for linings here ► Premium Viscose Lining,  Formaldehyde Free Lining (suitable for childrenswear too!) & Taffeta Lining.

Shop for the Sewing Pattern ► Here.

WhiteTree fabrics are delighted to welcome Emily Macintosh to the WhiteTree blogging team!

Emily's sewing journey began when she was a Journalism student back in her native Scotland around 2007. She'd always loved clothes but felt uncomfortable about spending money on 'fast fashion'; as a result the notion set in that she should learn how to make her own.

She saved up her pennies and bought herself a sewing machine from a wee shop in Glasgow and enrolled in a pattern cutting night class. She trundled on for a few years, making things with varying degrees of success and using some questionable finishing techniques. It was discovering the online sewing community around 2012 that helped her to really learn how to sew, and, in turn she started her own blog last year to join in the fun.

Aside from the pleasure of making orginal clothes and reducing unneccessary consumption, she sews because it helps her to be patient, creative, and meditative.

Aside from spending large chunks of her time locked in her bedroom sewing away, she also likes to cycle, read, run, see friends, drink tea, write, attempt to learn languages and understand economics, play the flute, listen to music, and explore new parts of Brussels, her adopted home city.

But, most of the time you'll find her not to far from her sewing machine!

You can follow her sewing adventures on her blog: belgianseams.blogspot.be

For this post, we're bringing you something from one of the Sew it Yourself Challenge Team. This creation is from Laura, and she's made the perfect custom fit dress, in our gorgeous Damson Chiffon.

Here's Laura's make in full:

I read the instructions through word for word and got to cutting out the right pieces for the dress.

I stitched a simple toile for this dress to ensure that it would fit me right. I'm glad I did because I had to make a few adjustments to the skirt and round my bust to give me more space to breathe but other than that it fitted well.

The damson chiffon fabric is fairly see through so for the lining I used a light blue cotton I had spare. Underneath the chiffon you can barely tell its there. 

Feel like sharing anything you've made with our fabrics? We'd love to hear from you - just drop us a line here.

Happy Sewing!

WhiteTree fabrics are delighted to welcome Susan Dunlop to the WhiteTree Blogging Team.

Susan lives in Scotland with her husband and four children. She's enjoyed various crafts since childhood, discovering her love of sewing a bit later in life. Having spent a good few years making things for the home and as family gifts, Susie eventually decided it would be great to share her designs with others. She was mainly making bags and accessories, so this is what she focused on for her new business venture. Susie has been selling her own sewing patterns for the past few years now, mainly through her own website and on Etsy.

Susie also had a little pipe dream of getting her projects published in sewing magazines, so she approached Sewing World, back in 2012, and since then she's been a regular designer/writer for the magazine. Some of Susie's projects have even been featured on the front cover! In 2013, she secured a publishing deal with USA publishers, Martingale & Co. Her first bag-making book will be released early 2015. Although bag-making is Susie's main area of expertise, she's also enjoying dressmaking as a hobby and is looking forward to filling up her wardrobe with mherown handmade garments.

We are so pleased to welcome Susie onto the team and we look forward to seeing what she makes. You can follow Susie's sewing adventures over at her blog.

Now for something a little more casual! This project features our best-selling plain jersey fabric 7678 which is available in 20 colours - with more colours coming soon. This project is from Skye, one of the very first bloggers to sign up for our blog team. We're really pleased to bring you this one!

Well would you look at that! Skye, the girl with the huge jersey fear has finally bitten the bullet and made tshirts. 

Even though I had moments of second guessing my choice to keep things simple for my first White Tree Fabrics project, I'm so glad I did now as I feel like I've had a little sewing breakthrough. 

The pattern is Vogue V8879 and I've made view A and then a mix of B&C. If I'm honest, I'm not 100% sure that I'd call either top a roaring success in terms of fit, but the fact that I made them (mostly) problem free is definitely an improvement on past experiences with stretch fabrics. 

The twist on the arms of the blue top is a feature I thought was pretty cool, but I'm really not sold on it in these photos. I also love the fit of the black tshirt, it's the perfect oversized slouchy fit that I go for, but again there's something not quite right about the sleeves. 

My determination to really take on making my own hand made wardrobe has increased tenfold, and I have a feeling these fabrics had something to do with it. These jerseys were amazing to work with. Still slippery little suckers, but man what a difference good quality fabric makes. Although they're a little heavy for this weather, I love the drape of them and I hope these tops will become everyday pieces for me when it's cooler. 

I have one more top to share with you which I'm saving for another post, and it's definitely my favourite make so far.

Stay tuned :)