We've been eagerly awaiting the launch of the latest sewing pattern from Merchant and Mills and The Hattie and Ellis certainly lives up to our high expectations!

This two in one pattern, gives you two different silhouettes, enabling you to make quite different looking dresses from the same pattern.

First up there's Ellis, shown above, she has some more feminine styling with the addition of bust darts, is waisted, and has set in sleeves with in-seam side pockets.

Hattie on the other hand, has a lined bodice, is drop waisted and she's also got bold patch pockets.

Both though, feature four delicate neck darts, which makes for an interesting and striking detail around the neckline.

The back of both styles has a single button fastening, the Ellis above, made by Merchant and Mills in an 8oz Denim, has a self fabric covered button. And, as you can see, the patch pockets work equally well on this style too! They give Ellis a more casual look, should you wish to mix things up a little!

In terms of fabrics, we can see Ellis as the perfect dress for the party season, and think she'd look great in one of the Metallic Essex Linens, pictured below, perhaps Midnight, or Ebony. As you can see she also looks great in denim too, so more casual fabrics work equally well.

For Hattie, we love the idea of the Handwoven Stripe in Indigo, this very special fabric is handwoven in Thailand in a small weaving village, the Railroad Denim by Robert Kaufman would look equally good. As would any of our denims, one customer quick off the mark, has already ordered the Indigo Denim in Black, along with this pattern, which we can't wait to see!

For us, our first make has got to be Ellis in the Metallic Ebony, whichever one you decide on, do remember that we love to see your finished sewing projects, so please do send us a photo via the contact page.

Model shots courtesy of Merchant and Mills

We're really pleased to be back in stock of most of the nani IRO 2016 Collection of fabrics that we had on the website earlier this year.

There is a very limited supply of these fabrics, so we're doubly pleased to have been able to not only re-stock but also add in a couple of new designs too, including the one below, Komorebi Shady.

We've also added to our Robert Kaufman Range. Pictured below are some of the latest fabrics, there's Yarn Dyed Essex Linens in Metallic, such a big trend for this season; and Reversible Double Gauze Chambray Dobbys, to name but two. To see the full collection, click here.

Whatever your preference, we're sure you'll find something lovely for your handmade winter wardrobe. And don't forget we love to see your makes, please send us your photos via the Contact Page and happy sewing!

Newly added to our range of Merchant and Mills sewing patterns is The Rugby Dress.

Why not kick off your day with this feminine, semi-fitted, take on the traditional rugby shirt.

You can choose to call out the collar, inside placket and cuffs, in a contrast colour, or for a more under-stated look use a solid colour, or print, throughout.

Suitable fabrics for this style include linenes, our Robert Kaufman Essex Linens spring to find, denims and other light to medium weight woven cottons.

We love the quality of the Essex Linen Range, and particularly like the Yarn Dyed fabrics with the subtle two-tone effect achieved from using the coloured yarn for the "warp" threads and a Light Cream yarn for the "weft" threads. (To read our blog Crossweave Fabrics Explained click here)

When we heard that Robert Kaufman had developed a Metallic version to sit with this Range we had to check it out for ourselves! And we've got to say we weren't disappointed, it's the same quality that you'd expect but with a small percentage of the cotton and linen replaced with 10% Lurex.

The balance of Lurex is just right; as you can see from the photo above, there's a lovely sheen to this fabric without it being too much! And the really good news is it isn't "scratchy" and has retained the soft handfeel that we've come to expect with this fabric.

For now we've just added the Oyster colourway to our current range, it's perfect for summer and will work well with many of our other fabrics.  We're thinking that this fabric would look fabulous in the Zinnia Skirt by Colette Patterns teamed with the Scout Tee by Grainline Studio made in one of the Nani Iro double gauze fabrics such as Lei Nani or Five Senses; or the Linen/Cotton blend Komorebi Old Film, shown below.

This Metallic Essex Linen would work equally well as a top, we're thinking The Camber Set by Merchant & Mills, or again the Scout Tee by Grainline Studio. Below we've paired it with with one of our Handwoven Ikat's Black Zig Zag, which again would look fantastic in the Zinnia Skirt, together these would definitely make a statement!

Or why not go all out and use this fabric to make a dress, The Day Dress by The Avid Seamstress, pictured below, would look really special as would any of the dresses by Merchant and Mills.

Whatever you decide to make you're sure to create a stylish garment that will set you apart from the crowd; and don't forget we love to see what you make, so please send us your photos via the Contact Page.

To make way for new stock arriving soon, we've up to 30% off selected organic & designer fabrics including Nani Iro for Kokka and Robert Kaufman. Shop our sale fabrics by clicking here.

Also reduced by 40% are the Prym sewing accessories, click here to see the full range.

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