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It was only going to be a matter of time until this blog post appeared. As an openly obsessed Sabrina addict on Instagram, I thought it was about time I got some inspiration together to make your own Spellman looks, and honestly, I'm doing that anyway so creating this post is easy peasy.

In this post you'll find sewing patterns and fabrics to sew smart-casual looks inspired by the show (sorry no fancy dresses here, I want the everyday looks!), along with some patterns and wool for those knitwear fans out there too! Now I could spend a VERY long time on this post, but there's only so much time I can spend in this rabbit hole. So I've picked out some of my favourite inspired by looks, with a focus on indie patterns. 

Tops & Bottoms

Roll up, roll up! You need a roll neck top ASAP.

Needles at the ready witches. Tight knits, lace work and floral embroidery!

Ever since my first, I've wanted another crack at it. Mainly because my first was not very well made and hasn't stood the test of time. I don't think I did any stay stitching because I'm lazy and I think my seam allowance was off, so the resulting fit was a bit wonky to say the least. The 1960s style of the dress is something I've never fallen out of love with and every year since, I've said 'this will be the year I try it again'. The time has finally come, and it's only taken getting engaged to get my act together!

Basically, Martha is on my potential wedding dress sewing pattern list. Not only that, but it's a style that's cropped up a lot recently with some of my favourite designers e.g. O Pioneers, Vampires Wife & Batsheva So I needed to get back to it and see what this pattern could actually do for me when I act like a good sewist and make it carefully.

I'm so proud of this Martha dress. I really took my time with it (so. much. stay stitching) and my sewing has improved so much since the first. The invisible zip is actually invisible and there's no bump at the bottom and it closes neatly at the top. 

My only slightly questionable sewing moment is the dress hem. I let the dress hang for two days before hemming and it dropped quite a bit (as I expected). I knew I wanted to shorten the dress to make it a mini on me anyway so I was always going to chop a fair bit off. But by the time I came to chopping I think I had lost my previous patience with it and it's probably a bit rougher than I'd like. But unless someone grabs me by the hem and inspects the inside, no one will see the occasional tuck...

Sewing Summary:

Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons 'Martha' Pattern

Fabric: Green floral viscose crepe - watch THIS vlog for a discount code!

Notions: Invisible zip and a button.

Sewing time: Made over a couple of days. Hem needs to drop.

Modifications: Made slightly shorter.

Fit: Great! Could do with a little extra on the bust if I'm being picky.

Difficulty: Intermediate, but simple when broken down.

Watch out for: Make sure to stay stitch, it really does make a difference.

Make Again?: Yes. This pattern is a favourite of mine, it just takes a little longer to sew but it's worth it and I would love to make more. 

Disclaimer: contains affiliate links.

Possibly wrapping up blog posts for 2020 with a simple, cosy (& kind of festive) make! It's got to be pjs. Growing up we got a new pair of pjs every Christmas and this year I plan to spend the entire day being cosy and this outfit is a winner for me!

1. Mint Sewing Machine Pin

Can you tell I covered too much and then couldn't think of a name for this vlog? Whoops. It's been a while since I vlogged (or blogged for that matter), so to get back into the swing of things I thought I'd just sit down in front of the camera and see what happens! 

In the vlog I get into some of my fabric stash highlights, some maybe sewing plans, potential upcoming vlogs and even share my secret Instagram account....

You know I have a love/hate relationship with /YouTube, but at the moment I'm spending a lot of time on there consuming lots of creative content and felt inspired to make a comeback! I really hope you enjoy the catch up.

Thanks for watching,

Abi xo

>> SHOP CRAFTY PINUP FABRIC <<

The Fabric:

Vintage Wedding Style Inspiration:

Vintage Wedding Dresses:

Modern Dress Inspiration:

Modern Sewing Patterns I'm Considering:

To celebrate the release of Deer and Doe's newest sewing pattern, the Passiflore dress, I've collaborated with them to review it on my blog. You know I can't say no to a shirt dress or a wrap dress and this pattern is a great mix of the two.

As soon as I saw this pattern I knew it would be something I'd love to wear and it's different from anything I already own. The Passiflore pattern is a belted coat dress with a relaxed fit, with a double breasted style button detail. I've made option B, a knee length, long sleeve version of the dress.

Here's a peek at the pattern:


Before I get into the pattern, let's just take a moment to appreciate this truly stunning fabric! My favourite fabric to sew with and wear are rayon/viscose types. So when I saw that THIS beautiful print was rayon, I fell in love. I think it has a bit of a 60s vibe and I couldn't get over the colour palette. It's so unlike anything I own but I just thought it would make the loveliest shirt dress and would work well with my hair colour and skin tone. You can tell I may have leaned in to the 1960s secretary vibes I was feeling (and loving!).


Lets get into the pattern... Passiflore has quite a lot of pattern pieces which when printing the PDF at home I regretted pretty quickly (I'd recommend copy shop printing this one)! For the long sleeve version I was sewing, you'll also be making plackets so look out for those, coming from someone who almost binned the pattern piece. There's also a lot of small interfacing pieces you need to trace off of the main pattern so bare that in mind as it's a pretty time consuming step.


When I cut out my pattern and had finally sat down to sew, it wasn't long before I was scratching my head, as I hadn't noticed that the centre back yolk piece is cut out twice, one for a lining. By that point I had used up every inch of my fabric so had to raid my stash. Luckily I found some light weight, pale pink cotton fabric which ended up working well. Phew!

Thanks, I Made It! woven label from my shop

The sewing is reasonably straight forward if you have experience sewing collars. When I was in the zone, it all came together quite quickly. I wasn't looking forward to sewing the sleeve cuff plackets and when I got to that step I even considered abandoning them in favour of the short sleeves, but I knew it would be sacrificing the overall look I wanted for the dress so decided to buckle up and deal with it. Honestly sleeve cuff plackets aren't too difficult but I think they always look like they're going to be a headache. It actually all went quite smoothly and I was just being a drama queen!


Fit wise, I went by my bust measurement like I usually do. But because the dress is designed to have a relaxed fit, with simple princess seams and no buttons on the actual bust (for the dress version), so the fit for this is actually surprisingly simple. I could have sized down, but with the belt in place, I'm really happy with it.

I think the double breasted style button detail is an interesting design choice. Its something you're used to seeing on trench coats and I didn't know if I was going to like it for a dress. But now I've seen a few more versions on Instagram, it's grown on me. For mine, I raided my stash for buttons and as I'd chosen gold for my D rings on the belt, when I came across these vintage plastic and gold glitter buttons I knew it was meant to be. The perfect combo! As the fabric is so busy, they aren't too noticeable but when they do catch your eye it's a nice surprise.


In hindsight, I would have used a heavier weight interfacing for my belt selection as with just light weight interfacing, the belt feels more like a tie because it doesn't hold it's shape very well or sit flat against my body. Next time I sew a belt I'll be sure to use something sturdier. And yes, I did have to watch a tutorial on how to tie a D ring belt...

Sewing Summary:

Pattern: Deer and Doe 'Passiflore' Dress pattern

Fabric: Art Gallery Fabrics - Blue Bank Flora Rayon / Viscose from Catch and Release

Notions: 8 buttons

Sewing time: Best part of a day.

Modifications: None.

Fit: A little loose, but good.

Difficulty: Confident seamstresses.

Watch out for: Getting a neat collar and sleeve plackets. Lots of pressing!

Make Again?: Yes. I think this is a great pattern and an unusual mix of styles.


Overall, I'm really proud of this dress. I think it showcases a great range of sewing skills including collars, plackets, cuffs and button holes. For that reason I would recommend it for sewists with a little more experience. But the pattern's instructions are great and well illustrated if you do want to tackle it.

I think this pattern and fabric are a match made in sewing heaven. I love the 60s vibes and it feels like it could be a true vintage piece. It's so comfortable to wear and will be perfect for warmer months and but I can definitely see myself pairing this with black tights and a leather jacket for Autumn.

Thanks for reading!
Abi xo

Let me provide you with some Spring/Summer sewing inspiration with my latest haul vlog. I don't often do hauls as I'm not a big shopper and I have a small fabric stash, but I have been stocking up for Spring.

Check out the video below:


There was one fabric in particular that had a pretty quick turnaround...


I couldn't wait to use this fabric and it was at the top of my list to wear. Once I had the By Hand London Jenna dress pattern in mind, I needed to make it ASAP. I'll be back soon with some proper photos and a review maybe, but in short, I love it!

--

Thanks for watching!
Abi xo

After the response to these on my Instagram Stories, I had to whip up a blog post ASAP to share how I did my mid century inspired gold star and nude gel nails with my Cricut Joy machine.

In my early twenties I went through an intense nail art phase, I painted leopard print, Aztec patterns, stars, dots, flowers - you name it. I had books on nail art design and all the tools, in hindsight, it feels a little cringe. But honestly I've impressed myself with how nice these gold stars look. Much better than using those old nail art pens...

I invested in an at home gel nail kit a couple of months ago, I've been getting my nails done in the salon for a few years now, so I feel confident in the process and that it could be something I could tackle myself.

I've seen Cricut machines used for nail art a couple of times, and wondered how well it worked. I figured combined with setting it under the UV light with gel nail varnish it would make the vinyl nail art more durable. In this post I'm going to tell you all the supplies you need and include my step by step process to achieve this look for yourself.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's hands are suffering with the excessive hand washing - please excuse the dryness!

Like I've mentioned, for this tutorial I'm using gel nails. You could do this will regular nail polish, it just probably won't last as long.

Firstly, you need all the gel nail equipment:
- I have THIS exact gel nail kit, which includes everything you need (minus polish).
- There are some extra tools I would recommend for doing your own gel nails, like THIS cuticle tool and THIS buffer.
- A polish base colour. I used THIS shade of light pink.

To create my nail art I used:
- Photoshop
- Cricut Design Space
- Cricut Joy Machine
- Cricut Removable Smart Vinyl in gold
- Cricut tools and tweezers


Step 1:
Prep Cricut nail art.

I found a mid century star template and put it through photoshop. I deleted the background and saved it as a PNG. I transferred this over to the Cricut design space. I judged the size by eye and made sure to place plenty, in various sizes, so there would be room for mistakes as I knew it would be very fiddly.

My Cricut Joy then cut them out on removable Smart Vinyl in gold. I was worried it might be too small and fiddly, but Joy handled it perfectly! I made sure to gather up the Cricut tools and set up a space to work at with my gel nail kit and vinyls.

Step 2:
Nail prep & base.

After you've done the normal gel nail prep; cuticle removal, buffing, shaping etc - apply your gel nail base coat as normal. I then applied TWO coats of my chosen polish which provides a semi-nude pink base to work on.

Do this one hand at a time, or one nail at a time. Which ever you find easier. I did my left hand entirely first, then my right.

Step 3:
Apply vinyls.

Gel nails remain tacky until the final step in the gel nail application process, so don't think you can start pressing your finger on your nail etc and remember to work quite quickly to avoid fluff and dust build up.

Use the Cricut tools or tweezers to pick up a star from the vinyl, it can be quite tricky to get the hang of it, but you'll find your flow. Carefully place the nail art where you want it and smooth the vinyl down with the tools being careful not to scrape the polish. Make sure all the fiddly star points are smoothed down. Repeat across your nails.

Step 4:
Top Coat.

Check your art is in place as you want it and no bits are poking out. Carefully apply a generous layer of clear top coat and seal under the UV light. Be careful not to pick up any of the star points with your brush as you don't want the top coat to go under the vinyl as it will lift up.

Repeat. I applied TWO clear top coats (I'd recommend this as a minimum) but I may add a 3rd to make sure none of the points of the stars can be caught and pulled up.

After the final step of setting your gel nails you'll be able to run your fingers over the nails and see how well the vinyls are set in. You might feel they are poking up a little bit, if so add another top coat and seal. Whilst your nails won't feel completely smooth as if they had no vinyl on them, you should still be able to run through your nails through your hair or over fabric and not have them catch.


I have surprised myself with how well these have appeared to have worked and this has unleashed a whole world of possibilities for me and my Cricut Joy now! What a cool thing to be able to use this little machine for. With so may colours of vinyl on offer from Cricut, my mind is whiring away with thousands of nail art designs! So this might not be the last you see of my Cricut nail art!

If you've found yourself looking to do your own gel nails at home with a kit, regardless of nail art, I would really recommend THE KIT I bought. I've used it a few times now and have been really impressed with the products. My first manicure lasted about 2 weeks (but that was before I realised the importance of cuticle removal and nail buffing), my second manicure was much better and the 2 week mark was this week, and whilst they were lasting well (only one chip), I wanted to try this nail art. My toes lasted about 3 weeks, again though it was my first attempt and a bit dodgy, my second looks much better and I hope it'll last a month at least.

You do need quite a bit of patience with this project and a steady hand will help. But practise makes perfect and have fun with it!

Let me know if you're going to try this, it's going to be my new obsession for sure!

Thanks for reading.
Abi xo

Hello! Last week I had one of those days where the sun was shining, new fabric arrived and I had a wave of positivity and creativity. Combined it made for the perfect sew-day, so I decided to film it and take you along with me as I made the Safiya dungarees/jumpsuit from Tilly and the Buttons newest book Make It Simple.

The vlog starts with my plans for the day, then moves into the cutting out and my sewing set up, and I've filmed my first try on and my final review. I really enjoyed this one and it's super casual. I hope it'll provide some light relief and inspire you to crack on with your own perfect sew-day.

Check out the video below: