Sew Clueless

I am stoked to be a part of the Storyteller Team at Twig and Tale  for 2026. I've loved being more involved in the T&T community since participating in a few of their sew and shows last year, and have consistently been impressed not only by the quality of their sewing patterns, but also by the company ethos around slow and intentional sewing, sustainability and diversity. The fact that they are a NZ based company just tops the cake!  The Storyteller theme for March was Rhythm . The first thing that leapt to mind for me was the pitter-patter rhythm of my wee toddler’s feet, as she had recently mastered the art of bipedal locomotion… Well, I say this, but the mastery is still somewhat questionable. At the moment, her footsteps carry the hurriedly erratic, drunken beat of someone with considerably more enthusiasm than skill, alarmingly frequently interrupted by a solid thump or two as she falls and gets up again. So I knew I wanted to make her a pair of Wayfarer shoes to...

This was probably one of the most ambitious sewing projects I’ve ever undertaken, and I am so thrilled with the outcome!  I was part of the sew and show team for the Flourish coat (where I was given a complimentary copy of the pattern in exchange for taking photos and sharing it on release). I was so stoked to be able to take part in this as I fell in love with the dramatic coat design when I first laid eyes on the line drawing months ago.  Initially I was going to make the collared version however a brief browse of "long coats with hoods" on Pinterest shortly changed my mind - I was swayed by the romanticism of the deep hood - like you could step right out of A Wheel of Time or something 😂. I also chose the sleeve tab option and the optional skirt lining Fitting details: I sewed a size D (my bust size put me between D and E but as I am still breastfeeding I felt like I could safely size down). I did make a toile and found that I needed to widen the shoulders by 1.5cm (it so...

Here are my baby dungarees to fulfill my Mum and bub matchy matchy dreams.  My baby was a few months shy of 1 when I sewed these dungarees and her measurements were a bit smaller than then smallest size available (the Hedgerow is designed for 12m and above). However as I wanted to make something bubba would grow into this wasn't too much of an issue!  At the time of sewing her waist was only 2cm smaller than what the pattern was designed for, and her hips only 1cm. However being a shortie at 68cm she was well under the 79-83cm height the 12m size was designed for.  As I wanted her to get plenty of wear out of these I only took 1cm off the legs and instead compensated with a super deep hem (folded up 2.5cm, then 6.5cm).,with the idea that I'll let it out as she gets older. This meant I had to reshape the leg of the pants slightly to allow for this.  For her waist I added in these buttonhole elastics (just left that portion of the seam allowance open, sewing down the e...

This is the Hedgerow Dungarees by Twig and Tale Patterns. I first came across this NZ based (yay for local!) pattern company when they released their neat face mask pattern for free during the pandemic. They had a lovely shaped facemask design and the instructions for sewing them were great.  I recently made their also free Sunny Hat and was again struck by how clever the instructions were, loads of neat little tips and tricks.  So when they had a call for their sew and show for their new Hedgerow dungarees I jumped at the chance. I was looking for overall patterns for my baby now that she is starting to be a bit more mobile, and the thought of being able to make a matching pair of overalls for the two of us was too cute to pass up! You guys I LOVE these overalls so much. I've never been much of an overalls person (toileting practicalities) but the cuteness of these ones make them totally worth it! (And having worn them a few times can confirm toileting not actually that bad....