Category Archives: Named patterns

Wiggle Reeta

This is my second Named Reeta dress. My first one, made coincidentally almost exactly a year ago, still gets worn regularly (and for those curious, the Spoonflower poly crepe has held up to washing and wearing very well) so I wanted another one to throw into dress rotation this spring.


I used exactly the same size as before with no extra modifications beyond the length I took off last time. This time I did add the collar and found that while it required careful easing-in the pattern piece does fit fine, so I dunno what I did wrong last time!

I followed the given directions this time which make for a really nice clean interior finish. I managed to get the inner yoke inside out (at least I assume the fabric’s right side should actually face outwards) and sewed a strange Möbius loop at some point which necessitated a bit of unpicking, but it all turned out okay. I’m going to blame those things on sewing in the weekday evenings when my brain’s a bit fried from work.


I made a self-fabric waist tie – just a skinny tube with the ends knotted shut – and the drawstring casing reuses the fabric’s charming rainbow-striped selvedge.

I’ve been hoarding this beautiful fabric for quite a while, maybe three years? It’s a beautifully fluid and drapey viscose from the French website Bennytex. It doesn’t seem top quality unfortunately; I had some fibres pull and snag as I was sewing, particularly around the buttonholes despite interfacing them. But so pretty and twirly!

A dress I made from some other Bennytex fabric (the origami cats one here) sadly didn’t fare well in the wash either, so I’m intending to launder this as little and as gently as possible. The print is so fun and it feels beautifully soft and comfy to wear, so I hope it lasts a long time and get plenty of wear this spring and beyond.

Midi Inari

After the Coat project saga, I really wanted a nice palate cleanser, and this dress fitted the bill perfectly!

I’ve been Pinning lots of midi dresses lately as they seem like just the thing to wear on these in-betweeny not-quite-spring-yet sort of days. It’s a super simple hack of Named’s Inari dress. I added 30cm of length at the hem (in fact I just taped a piece of portrait-wise A4 paper to the bottom, heh) and ended up taking a deep hem, so it’s around 20cm longer than the Inari as patterned.


I fine-tune the fit of the Inari each time I make it and for this knit fabric I ended up taking one-inch seam allowances to bring it in a bit. It’s still loose through the middle and tighter at the hip and hem. I made the side split proportionally longer too.

The awesommmeeee fabric is from Maud’s Fabric Finds, one of my favourite places to shop because most of the fabrics are organic and the customer service is so great. (Maud found out this fabric was narrower than expected after my order, so she added another 70cm for free.) This print seems to be sold out but here are some similar ones. It’s between an interlock and sweatshirting weight so quite thick with lots of stretch and recovery. And pyjama-comfortable, needless to say. I think this’ll be on regular rotation until Autumn.

Chevron Sloane

Finally in my house in daylight hours again to take some photos! I have been sewing away at some some fairly relaxing and fast-gratification projects in December, and I’m extra pleased with this one because it used entirely scraps from other projects.

The pattern is the Named Sloan sweatshirt. I’ve been looking for a basic set-in sleeve sweatshirt pattern for ages and completely forgot Named had this one until I saw Catherine post one on Instagram.

To use up my awkward sized scraps I cut both the front and back into two pieces, creating a chevron shaped V on both. On the front piece I thought I’d be clever and rotate the French dart into the seamline… but then managed to cut two of the lower back piece instead of a front and didn’t have enough to re-cut. It still fitted in place fine but it think it’s causing the slight diagonal drag marks from bust to hem. Otherwise no alterations and like all Named patterns I’m delighted with the drafting and fit.

Can you identify the three previous projects that donated their leftovers? The cuffs and hem came from my Joni track pants, the grey is the other side of the Fabric Store sweatshirting I made a Sunny out of, and the fuzzy black is from my coat. I’m really pleased to have these scraps out of my sewing room and into such a cosy and wearable garment. (p.s. worn here with my Landers, firm favourite pants!)

Fur Yona

Another coat project for a snowy day! This was a real impulse sew and perhaps a bit trend-led, but I really wanted a fluffy coat to call my own after seeing them on some of my friends and general cool girls around London and Instagram. Plus my Freemantle is a bit statement-y so I wanted a plainer and shorter coat for some variation.

I was tempted to buy a new pattern – the Oslo, Marcelle and Silvia were all contenders – but decided to rad my stash instead and reuse the Named Yona pattern which I made two winters ago. I do still really like that first Yona but the more tailored-looking finish doesn’t seem to be so much my style any more. Luckily it’s a real chameleon sort of pattern depending on fabric type so you wouldn’t really even think they were the same base pattern.


I used a faux-sherpa fur fabric from Minerva which is sold out in black but still available in some other shades. The wide lapels are perfect for a few of my favourite pins, which help it read more indiekid than P Diddy, ha ha.

The lining is a simple plain black viscose also from Minerva. Practice really does make perfect and this is my nicest bagged lining insertion yet.

The fur fabric is, as accurately described, quite stretchy and drapey so after consulting Instagram I decided to block-fuse it before cutting for my coat. If you haven’t come across the term before, block-fusing is where you iron interfacing onto your entire yardage before cutting out the pieces. I used a high quality knit interfacing from English Couture. The ironing process was tiresome as hell and took ages, but definitely gave the fabric a much more appropriate heft and handle will still retaining its softness. The coat feels really secure and like it will hold its shape for a good time so it was worth the effort.

A few other tips I found worked well for this fluffbomb fabric:

  • I made sure to line everything up in the same direction, with the nap running downwards, as the fabric has a slight directional pile.
  • I found the easiest cutting technique was to fold my fabric with the wrong side facing out, pin the paper pieces in place then cut with my rotary.
  • After cutting I shook each piece to remove most of the loose fluff then vacuumed it all up before I started sewing. I was advised on Instagram that a spin in the dryer removes all the excess effectively, but I didn’t try this.
  • I used pins instead of snipping notches as they would have got totally lost in the pile.
  • After sewing seams I trimmed them down and pressed open first from the wrong side (with a cloth to protect the interfacing) then gave a shot of steam from the right side and pressed a clapper over it. I don’t have a proper clapper, but my sleeve board works weirdly well for this purpose! Then I fluffed the pile back up and brushed it over the seam.
  • I used a walking foot to deal with the bulk and prevent the layers shifting, and used wonder clips instead of pins.
  • As my fabric maintained a slight stretch, I selected a zigzag stitch to prevent seams from potentially popping.

Luckily having sewn the Yona pattern before, as well as another coat recently, the sewing itself went really fast. The entire project was finished in one day, which might sound a bit mad but the Yona is actually a rather simple coat overall with no fastenings, easy-to-set raglan sleeves and patch pockets, and really good instructions for bagging out the lining, so I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a first or speedy outerwear project.

I adore how this coat turned out! I only wish I had firstly made the pockets a bit bigger so I can dig my hands properly into them (my Freemantle has huge pockets and I basically use them as a glove substitute) and retrospectively I might have thought about extending out the centre front into a little overlap so I could add a snap fastening or two. Nonetheless it’s extremely cosy and warm, so I look forward to rotating both coats throughout this winter.

TNT, or not TNT…

This is my second outfit using my ambassador fabric allowance from The Fabric Store, and it ties rather nicely into this month’s Sewcialists theme of TNTs, or ‘Tried and True’ – the patterns you love and reach for over and over again.

I’m a big TNT fan: once the fit is right and you’ve vouched for a pattern fitting into your wardrobe and lifestyle, why not make it again and again?! I even used to buy RTW clothing I liked in several colours so it’s sort of the same practice at work. Plus of course it’s always easier to sew a garment once you’ve made it once or twice, and you can have fun applying your own little hacks and tweaks to get it perfect.

One of these patterns is a TNT and one isn’t, and guess which was was the most fun to sew and will get more wear…?

Yep the trousers are another pair of Named Ninni Culottes. I wear my first pair in navy aaaaalll the time so really wanted a black pair to match my winter boots! (I’m really glad they pair rather well with boots, meaning I can still wear them in this fairly mild autumn weather).

These are actually a very true TNT because I used basically the exact same fabric too: a crinkle rayon from The Fabric Store. My navy ones have held up beautifully and while they go oddly crispy when the fabric is washed and wet, they straighten out again beautifully with a quick iron. I think this black fabric is slightly thicker and more structured, which makes it easier to work with and a little more suited to cooler weather. I love how smart black projects look inside with matching overlocking, and I used my yoke pocket pattern hack to make more practical pockets. Other than these I’ve made two more pairs of Ninnis, in bubblegum pink and in stripes, so it’s definitely a TNT that’s here to stay for me. The fact it takes like an hour to sew is a bonus!

The tee is the non-TNT, although it’s a pattern I’ve had for ages but hadn’t used yet: the Grainline Linden sweatshirt. I just wanted to try a raglan as opposed to my usual (and very much TNT) Plantain tee. I cut view B with the elbow-length sleeves and slightly dipped hem and eugh, it just didn’t work for me at all! The sleeves looked really dumpy and the fit around the top was poor, plus the neckline gaped like crazy. It seems like Grainline’s block fits like magic on some people and not on others, and I definitely fall into the latter camp. I’m afraid I threw the PDF straight into the recycling as I don’t think I can be bothered working on the fit to make it work for me.

In the end I cut the sleeves right down and finished them and the neckline with some proper ribbing (left over from my Joni pants): the fit is still not perfect but at least this is very wearable now and I didn’t waste the lovely fabric, which is The Fabric Store’s lightweight merino in skinny black/slate stripe. This fabric was again beautiful to work with and didn’t even complain too much about the hacking and altering I had to do to get this tee to fit. The merino should provide a cosy base layer for the cold, too.

I love the colours in this outfit and The Fabric Store’s luxurious-feeling fabrics means it’s really comfortable, and I know it will stand up to repeated wears and washes. I plan to make more TNTs this month for sure, and while I don’t often share repeated patterns on the blog I may make an exception to celebrate this month’s great Sewcialists theme.

A hacky Named outfit

A new little summery outfit of two simple separates, both of which are hacked from Named patterns that I’ve sewn before.

The trousers are the Ninni culottes, sewn up in a lush indigo crinkle rayon that the Fabric Store kindly sent to me. The only thing I changed from my first pair was to convert the pockets from side seam into front yoked. I just can’t stand the way side seam pockets add bulk and flap around, and these yoked ones are actually much easier to prep and sew so it’s win-win. Here’s a quick tute; you can prepare paper pieces or cut these straight onto your fabric.

1. Cut a rectangle for the pocket bag/facing, approximately 16″ wide by 11″ long. The width will be 2x the width of the final pocket bag and the length will be the final length of the pocket.
2. Lay the rectangle on top of your front trouser piece, right sides together and matching the side seam and waistline to the rectangle edges. Cut a curved or straight line through both pieces at the trouser side seam edge. This will be the pocket opening. Mine starts about 3″ in from the edge at the top and is 7″ long.
3. Sew this pocket opening seam using a small (5mm or so) seam allowance. Clip if necessary to release curves, press seam allowances to the pocket facing piece, and understitch.
4. Fold the pocket bag in half, lining up with the trouser waistline and side seam. Sew and finish the bottom edge of the pocket bag, then baste the top and sides to the front trouser leg. Construct the rest of the pattern as written.

The blouse is a rather more extreme hack of the Reeta shirt dress. I wonder when a pattern stops being a hack and becomes essentially a self-draft?! To make this kimono-sleeved blouse from the dress pattern I:

· Merged the back yoke onto the back body piece
· Altered the shoulder seam so it wasn’t forward-facing (took some off the back piece and added to the front)
· Extended the shoulder line to create grown-on cap sleeves
· Drafted a new back facing piece to finish the back neckline
· Left off the collar piece as I did with my previous dress
· Rotated/closed the front bust dart down into added ease, which I then trimmed away from the side seam
· Cut the body and facings off about 14″ below the underarm

I’m considering this a wearable toile, as this space-print fabric (from The Textile Centre) was an impulse buy that isn’t really in my usual style stratosphere but I just couldn’t resist it. Next time I’ll raise the kimono sleeve line an extra half-inch or so as they’re a little bit snug. Otherwise I think this hack came out rather cute, and it didn’t take very long despite the amount of steps. I was sort of more in the mood for drafting than sewing so it was a nice project to try out some advanced hacking.