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Wild Blossom Life
Wild Blossom Life
drafting a skirt pattern

Drafting a Skirt Pattern: Spanish Style Skirt

July 11, 2020June 24, 2025 Blog, Sewing Archives
1 Comment

This post about drafting a skirt pattern contains affiliate links. So the Great British Sewing Bee is over for another year, and while there are things they made on the programme that I probably wouldn’t make, I feel inspired to make a Spanish style skirt like the dress…

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how to sew a reversible wrap skirt

How to Sew a Reversible Wrap Skirt

July 28, 2017June 24, 2025 Blog, Sewing Archives
5 Comments

How to Sew a Reversible Wrap Skirt In my quest for a neat and tidy house, I have realised that the best way to achieve this is to have less stuff. With 6 of us in a small house, this is not easy! But I know that there…

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easy backpack tutorial

Easy Backpack Tutorial

October 4, 2016June 24, 2025 Blog, Sewing Archives
8 Comments

An Easy Backpack Tutorial When my boys were tiny, I always had a bag of stuff for them. Little cups with milk or water in, an extra blanket, nappies, wipes, a bib, a change of clothes, spare socks, it was easy to fill a large bag! As they got…

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How to Make a Shirt Without a Pattern The full tutorial showing how to make a shirt without a pattern is here on the Minerva Crafts Bloggers' Network. My third little boy, Barnabas, took a fancy to wearing shirts a couple of years ago. I don't know the exact reason but I'm guessing it's also why my second boy, Aidan, won't wear trousers unless they're tracksuit bottoms (apart from his school trousers, which he has no choice about!). As I had never made a shirt before and it was something I wanted to try, I decided to have a go at making a little shirt for Barnabas. Children are an easy shape to make things for and, being small, the things require less fabric. I also wanted to try to make a shirt without a pattern. I thought it would probably be doable as long as I kept things simple. Officially I should probably have taken all his measurements and made the pattern that way, but I did not want to chase him round the house with a tape measure and probably trip over the cat and mangle myself on Lego in the process. So instead I used one of Barnabas' t shirts as a guide for making the pattern. You can read the full tutorial showing how to make a little boy's shirt without a pattern here, including how to make the pattern pieces. Barnabas likes his shirt and I'm very happy with the way it's turned out! It is very simple, nothing fancy. The main part of the shirt is three sections. There are button bands on the front, but they're easy to do and they solve the issue of the front bits needing to be wider than just the back cut in half. The collar has a collar stand so that it sits nicely and doesn't distort the shirt. The collar was the only slightly tricky bit. I made a dress with a collar a few years ago from a pattern and it was a disaster! The instructions were totally confusing and I got into a right muddle. This time I did it my own way. It's turned out okay but I'm going to experiment a bit more next time to see if there is a really easy way to get a nice neat collar. The fabric I used is this superhero print from Minerva Crafts.

How to Make a Shirt Without a Pattern

August 20, 2016June 24, 2025 Blog, Sewing Archives
2 Comments

How to Make a Shirt Without a Pattern The full tutorial showing how to make a shirt without a pattern is here on the Minerva Crafts Bloggers’ Network. My third little boy, Barnabas, took a fancy to wearing shirts a couple of years ago. I don’t know the…

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truth about sewing your own clothes

The Truth About Sewing Your Own Clothes

March 8, 2016June 24, 2025 Blog, Sewing Archives
19 Comments

The Truth About Sewing Your Own Clothes Sewing your own clothes is a lot of fun. I have been making clothes for myself since I was 10, both with using a pattern and without one. Things don’t always go perfectly to plan! In this post I am going…

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attach a waistband

How to Attach a Waistband

July 23, 2015March 23, 2016 Living a Creative Life
8 Comments

According to my mum, the first skirt I ever made was when I was 9 or 10. It was a rectangle of fabric sewn together along one edge, with a hem and casing for and elastic at the waist. Unfortunately now, as a slightly chunky grown up, I…

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Wild Blossom Companion

The Wild Blossom Companion is a gentle, seasonal guide for creative people. You can find out more here.

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"To be creative is to let little pieces of your he "To be creative is to let little pieces of your heart go and place them into each project you make." Pat Bravo, textile designer.

This quote shows perfectly why it doesn't matter if what you make isn't perfect.

Perfection isn't the point! A machine might be able to do something perfectly, and get the same perfect results every time. That's why mass produced is awful. Dozens of things, all the same, with no variation.

Handmade things are different. Each one is unique. Even if we make the same thing several times, each one will be different because it is very hard to make things that are identical.

It's the same in nature. Each little leaf, flower, buzzing insect, cat, or human is different. They're not supposed to be the same. We are not the same. And the things that make things different might be what makes them imperfect, but I'd rather have something unique and imperfect than boringly perfect and the same as a hundred others.

#lettinggoofperfectionism #perfectisboring #creativelife #creativityeveryday
#handmade
As makers of things, it's easy to see how colour i As makers of things, it's easy to see how colour inspires us. It's often the first thing we think of when we're planning to make something.

But textures often come into it as well.

When we're sewing, it's how we want the finished thing to feel. A cool summer skirt, a crisp shirt, a flouncy party dress for a little child, a warm winter coat.

With knitting and crochet, we might choose stitches that give a smoother finish, like stocking stitch, or something more varied, bobbles or cabling.

Even with painting, there are ways to paint that suggest textures, and certain colours that evoke smoothness, or a rougher surface.

Different textures are all around us, and inspiration might strike if we take a moment to notice 💖🌸🌿

The theme of July's Wild Blossom Companion is textures, and if you would like to find out more about it, it is for sale in my Etsy shop Gather and Bloom. The link is in my bio 💖

#summertextures #creativelife #summerinspiration #wildblossomlife #wildblossomcompanion #natureinspired
This is a shameless plug for a thing I've made. This is a shameless plug for a thing I've made. 

It's the Wild Blossom Companion for July.

Can you see how pretty it is? I wanted it to feel like a treat, so they are all pretty colours with nice graphics.

There's a little thing to read. The first couple of paragraphs are in the second picture. 

Then there are some quotes, from writers and artists.

Next there are some creative invitations. These are open ended, joyful suggestions that won't result in anything polished, but will give you a chance to exercise your creativity and might feed into something else later on.

There are journaling prompts, if that's your thing. If it's not, you could pick one or two to have a think about, or ignore them. I won't be coming round to check!

Lastly there's a blank page for you to write your thoughts down on if you want to.

The Wild Blossom Companion is a subscription, so you'd sign up for a year and get one every month. The info is on my website a.wilson.co.uk.

Or if you just want to try July, I have individual months for sale on my new Etsy shop Gather and Bloom etsy.com/shop/gatherandbloomGB

#creativelife #natureinspired #july #seasonalcreativity #slowingdownabit #wildblossomlife #wildblossomcompanion
Helping inspiration to find us doesn't have to be Helping inspiration to find us doesn't have to be complicated. A little walk and our senses are sometimes all we need. 

Even one small sensory thing can spark an idea. 

Swipe through the carousel for prompt for each sense that you can try when you are out. I've combined smell and taste, at least until the blackberries are ripe!

What sense feels most inspiring to you at the moment? 🌸🌿🌱

#creativelife #creativity #natureinspired #summer #slowdownabit #creativityeveryday
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