Anyone else like Tilly and the Buttons sewing patterns?

[Chamomileteaplease]

I am new to sewing and so far really enjoying it but I wanted to ask if anyone knows of any beginners' patterns which have a decent sewalong video ?

My very first project was Tilly's Jaime pyjamas and she has a little video which shows you how to do various bits. It was brilliant and so helpful for a beginner.

But when I did the next pattern, a skirt, there were of course instructions and pictures but no video. I think sewers forget how hard it is when you are a beginner to decipher instructions. It can take six goes of reading each bit to understand! And it takes away some of the joy IMO.

So I was wondering if any mumsnetters know of any other companies or even just patterns which have sewalong videos to help those of us who have no human help and and doing our best in the dark?

I have made quite a few things by Waves and Wild. Their instructions are really clear and easy to follow. There is also a Facebook group you can join and if you have any queries lots of people will be able to help. Some people have also made YouTube tutorials of some of their patterns too, though they don't specifically come with a video tutorial. The Facebook group is called Team Waves and Wild I have been meaning to try out Tilly and the buttons patterns for a while but my toddler has scuppered my sewing plans for the new future!

Thank you Rosie, that sounds like the next best thing, I will have a look at Waves and Wild. It's a great name anyway!

Yes I can imagine that toddlers and sewing paraphernalia don't mix .

TATB patterns are great - her books are particularly good, I've made everything in Make it Simple, and a lot of Stretch. Also made Ness, Billie and Lotta. Even if there aren't sewalongs for the whole thing, there are often tutorials for key things on their blog. I do think they're the best beginner patterns.

Sew Over It are also good - I've made a few of theirs, and they often have sewalongs.

Closet Core have quite a few video tutorials, but their patterns are more complex.

Fibremood patterns are more simple than many, and the instructions are pretty good. They have sewalong videos for a lot of them.

Which TATB patterns take your fancy - I'm pretty familiar with a lot of them, so may be able to give you some pointers.

Instagram is also your friend for sewing. I signed up specifically for this. All the well known patterns have a #, and there is a wealth of information there - people share their makes and highlight potential issues, and link to videos etc. All the TATB patterns follow the same convention #sewingpatternname (eg #sewingjamie). I've learnt so much from there, and taken a lot of inspiration too.

I did their Get to Know Your Sewing online video course when I first got my machine and found it really helpful. By Hand London have a great blog which gives detailed instructions for a lot of their patterns. A lot of the Indie companies produce how to guides and there's a lot of online tutorials out there for specific techniques, such as inserting zips.

I've been dressmaking for a few years now and would recommend making toiles to help you figure out the process too.

Out of interest what skirt did you make? I've made the Dominque and Arielle patterns. The Dominique was really straightforward, the Arielle's got a waistband and a lot of buttons so there was quite a few techniques to learn.

@ReviewingTheSituation thank you. Re the tutorials for key things on their blog - that sounds great but how would you find the particular thing? I have seen the list of dates down the side but wasn't sure how to find specifics.

Thank you too for the recommendations - they sound well worth a look .

I made a skirt with a Liberty pattern and swore not to go back there for a while as although I did actually manage it, it was tough! The TATB skirt I am currently doing is the Miette @Ulysses. I am just joining the waistband and ties to the skirt. I tend to get there in the end but don't find it easy as I said in my OP.

I am about to get on with it a bit more this afternoon so may come back to you . I did the online getting to know your machine and yes I found that really helpful.

I do have a look at YouTube for certain things I am not sure of like staystitching etc but videos of the actual pattern you are doing are better I find.

The Instragram suggestion sounds brilliant too - thank you, I will definitely get my teens to set me up and take a look!

I came here to say Waves and Wild too

That's a nice skirt - just looked it up!

On the blog, there is a box on the right (I'm on a laptop, don't know what it looks like on a mobile site) where you can search the blog. So if you put in zip (for example) it will bring up everything relating to zips. And so on. They are a really great resource.

I made a Liberty blouse and it was a challenge. The instructions were pretty basic.

The Miette's a really nice skirt, though I'm not terribly familiar with it. Waistbands can be a bit tricky and it's worth googling if you are struggling. I see that there is an tutorial for it

Miette Tutorial

Happy to help if I can . I am away to do some sewing myself. It brings a lot of joy, as well as frustration!

Thanks again everyone . So much.

OK so if anyone is in the mood - regarding the Miette skirt:

The pieces for the waistband and the interfacing are exactly the same size. So when you stitch them together they have interfacing on the seam. In her picture though, she has some lovely clean denim on the seam where the gap is for the tie.

This has annoyed me! As she didn't say about this so mine is now rather messy. She also wants you to press the seams open but they are stitched at the top and bottom so how do you?!

I can see now how hard it is to explain in the written word!

I am looking at the blog but so far can only see her usual tutorial/instructions but will look again!

Can you upload a picture? Interfacing pieces will always be the same size as the pattern piece they fit. Has she pressed the seam upwards (ie towards the waistband)? That would show denim rather than interfacing.
You're not stitching interfacing to the denim are you? (just wondering from the way you've phrased the question)

These posts show all the steps close up...

www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2013/04/miette-construct-waistband.html

www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2013/04/miette-attach-waistband-to-skirt.html

I think I see where you mean.

FWIW sewing is really learning from your mistakes. To be honest though once you've finished you'll forget about what the insides look like. I'm guessing the tie will cover the opening so you wouldn't see the interfacing anyway.

Looking ahead, I have to admit to always finding stitch in the ditch really tricky for a waistband. Don't despair if you try it and it doesn't turn out perfectly. You might prefer to hand stitch that anyway.

I like By Hand London and Colette patterns, but I haven't looked for video tutorials (I just get my mum to demonstrate because she's been sewing for 60 years!). I follow a woman called Roisin Muldoon on Instagram and she has a really good blog about her sewing (dollyclackett.blogspot.com) which you may find interesting.

Thanks @ReviewingTheSituation but these instructions are what I am saying are not helpful enough. It's the kind of thing which when you have finally worked it out, you think, oh yeah, but it's the making sense of it all which personally I feel takes longer than it might.

Thanks @Ulysses for hopefully understanding what I mean. She has the interface on but on her next picture, the interface is not where the seam meets - magically!

Anyway, I have done it now, just need to hem. I actually did a stitch in the ditch for my Liberty pattern and found a really good youtube video for that technique so that bit was fine.

I think you are right, on each pattern I do I think, well next time I will know what that means, or how to do it differently . Can't wait to find something I love and I will make six of them in different fabrics .

Roisin, I envy you your mum. I will look at your recommendation too.

Ellie and Mac and Patterns for Pirates have some very beginner-friendly patterns and lots of them have sew-along videos.

Have you seen the Stitch and Bitch thread? It might be worth joining in on there as well.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/arts_and_crafts/4261344-Stitch-and-bitch-thread-3-Sewing-is-harder-than-it-seams?msgid=111644952

Thank you everyone - I am still looking up all your ideas .

Jalie patterns are great. They have video tutorials for a few of them but there are also some blogs too. Their leggings are amazing!

If you don’t mind downloading pdf patterns then Sinclair patterns and love notions are also pretty well described and love notions has links to videos in the instructions.

I’m about to try my first Ellie and Mac pattern but it looks well described

The avid seamstress does patterns with sew along blogs and videos

I like waves and wild too, I'm quite a beginner but things have been turning out well and the Facebook group is great for asking questions!

The avid seamstress online support is great but does seem to assume you have an overlocker. I only bought one recently and started sewing 40 odd years ago!

It's a pattern well beyond beginner level but I recently made up a sew house seven tea house top and the online sewalong was excellent, as it was done by someone other than the designer, so made no assumptions.

You can usually Google your pattern and someone will have uploaded their own make onto YouTube.

You've been given some great recommendations so I will advise you to steer clear of Style Arc patterns for the time being, they come with minimal instructions. I love the patterns, they're very well drafted, but I've been dressmaking for a few years now, I think I might have struggled as a complete beginner. Have a look to see if there are any classes in your area, I found them really useful.

I also found this YouTube channel helpful.

I haven't heard of waves and wild so I'm going to check them out.

Speaking of pattern makers I have struggled with, Named Clothing stands out. Steps like stay stitching were missed out and changing seam allowances is something to watch out for too. T&TB is usually 1.5cm, but many others use 1cm and narrower.

I like the Made to Sew videos too. Guthrie-Ghani springs to mind as well.