We've just finished making The Top 64 by Merchant and Mills and we've thoroughly enjoyed making it. 

This style is best described as a work-wear garment, an artists smock or a smart jumper. It features in-seam pockets at the front, along with central seams both front and back and raglan sleeves. It's a feminine take on the style and function of a fisherman's top and we love it!

For this style you need a fabric that will hold its shape, so with that in mind we chose to make ours in Robert Kaufman's Yarn Dyed Essex Linen in Black, shown above, it's the perfect weight for this style but has a lovely hand-feel as well.

As we've come to expect from the Merchant and Mills sewing patterns, the instructions are clearly laid out and illustrated. And this make was surprisingly easy to sew! It's much easier to make than it looks. The raglan sleeves, for example, are much easier than a set in sleeve, and although there are a lot of pattern pieces, they're all easy to sew together. Plus, you can choose whether or not to top-stitch.

Whereas some of the Merchant and Mills patterns have tended to come up a little on the big size, we're really pleased with the fit on this style, the only adjustment made was to shorten the sleeves slightly.

This style lends itself nicely to being top-stitched. We chose to top stitch the central seams, front and back, and the cuff and main hems.You may decide to take it further and top-stitch the bottom panels and the central sleeve seams, or you may prefer not to top-stitch at all.

To get a lovely straight line for our top-stitching we followed Jane, from Jane Makes, advise, and used a low-tack masking tape to mark the stitch-line, which worked a treat!

We love how this top has turned out, and it's definitely a style that we'd make again.

Other fabrics that The Top #64 would work well in, as well as any of the other Essex Linens, including the new metallics! This style would also look good in the 8oz Washed Indigo Denim, and you could top-stitch in a traditional gold colour associated with jeans, and the striped Navy & Cream Railroad Denim would also look good too.

This style would also lend itself well to being adapted, the raglan sleeves are really flattering  and would work well as a short sleeved summer weight top, you might choose to remove the in-seam pockets for this and also possibly the horizontal seam that they're built into.

By co-incidence, Merchant and Mills have been working on a pattern hack of this style and have made it into a short sleeved dress, which we think looks fantastic, the hack for this will be available on their website very soon.

We hope we've inspired you to try The Top #64 for yourselves! And don't forget we love to see your sewing projects, so please do email us via the contact page with your photos!

To celebrate the start of British Summer Time this weekend here in the UK, we've taken 20% off all our Sewing Patterns, including those that are reduced, to help you kick-start those summer sewing projects.

Simply enter the code: SPRING20 at the checkout until the end of Monday 28th March, 2016 to take advantage of this offer.

And remember, we love to see your makes so do send in your photos via the contact page.

We had such a great reaction to The Avid Seamstress sewing patterns, that we sold out of two of the styles within a couple of weeks of launching them! Really pleased to say that we're now fully stocked, just in time for that Easter sewing project.

These sewing patterns, designed by Lisa Falconer, are fairly new, to find out more why not take a look at our previous Blog post.

We've created some new Fat Quarter Bundles, pairing two of Japanese designer Naomi Ito's printed fabrics, under the brand name Nani Iro for Kokka, with two of our 100% Organic Crossweaves.

There are three variations to choose from using Mountain Views in Neon and Grey, Joy Flower Respect, Pierre Pocho in Green and Jewel Song Pocho Asagiri. These fabrics are now discontinued, and some we only have very limited stock of, so be sure to get in quick to avoid disappointment!

We're thrilled to have just added five new sewing patterns designed by The Avid Seamstress to our range of independent designers.

The brainchild of Lisa Falconer, her vision was to create a portfolio of sewing patterns with unfussy details and clear, easy to understand instructions, and we certainly think she's achieved what she set out to do!

We love how these patterns are packaged, Lisa has clearly put a lot of thought and effort into every detail, from the quality of the textured paper envelope, the string tie closure on the back, the photography, as well as the internal content. 

Each sewing pattern is printed onto high quality white pattern paper which won't tear and irons beautifully,and comes with a detailed illustrated instruction booklet, and information cards for:

• Taking the Measurements,
• Fabric and Sewing Basics,
• Sewing terms Demystified, and finally
• Checklist/Important Information Before You Start

The patterns themselves are really clearly printed and the sizes numbered, there are cutting lines to lengthen or shorten the various pieces and usefully all markings are named as you can see above.

The range consists of five patterns, three women's designs and two for girls.

Firstly above, there's The Sheath Dress, which has an elasticated waist and an invisible zip at the back; here we've teamed it up with Nani Iro's double gauze fabric Joy Flower but it would work equally well in other patterns and plains.

The City Trousers are a slim fitting style which fall between a skinny and cigarette shape. With easy to insert side pockets and an optional split hem, these are sure to become a staple item in your wardrobe. Lightweight to medium fabrics work best for this style, here we've teamed the trousers with our Robert Kaufman Essex Linen but as you can see above, they work equally well in patterned fabrics.

The last of the women's patterns is The Day Dress, this flattering style has a fitted bodice, a gathered skirt and internal pockets. For a special occasion, why not make this dress in Nani Iro's Pierre Pocho in Natural, pictured above, which has a beautifully soft metallic sheen to the printed spots. Or the painterly abstract design Spectacle would look equally as good, as well as looking great in plain fabrics too.

The first of the girls patterns is The Gathered Dress, a "T" shaped pattern which is super easy to make with a gathered back and over-sized patch pockets. Here, we've paired this style with one of our Robert Kaufman Chambray Union fabrics, Herringbone.

And last, but by no means least, we have The Raglan Dress, a gorgeous style with easy to set in sleeves and over-sized pockets on the side. Lightweight to medium weight fabrics work best for this style, here we've teamed it with Robert Kaufman's Yarn Dyed Essex Linen in Indigo, which would look fabulous with contrasting pockets in either Flax or Leather.

We hope this has given you some ideas for your own sewing projects, do send us photos as we always like to see what our customers have made.