With our friends little boy's first birthday fast approaching, we've the perfect excuse to try out the trousers from the Lullaby Layette Set by Oliver + S! And what better fabric to make them in than our beautifully soft 100% Organic Double Cloth, we've made ours up in both the Blue and the Brown. Because this fabric is organic it doesn't contain any harmful chemicals or dyes, making it ideal for babies and young children as well as adults!

We strongly recommend that you trace off the patterns so that you can re-use it again and again as baby grows. The other thing to note is that these patterns only have a 1cm seam allowance compared to the more standard 1.5cm, this is referenced throughout but we thought worth a mention.

These trousers are really straightforward and easy to make, the instructions are clear and come with helpful illustrations to assist you at each stage of your make.

Take time with the pockets to ensure that they are even, we used a tip we picked up when making up one of our adult Colette patterns, and made a template out of card of the shape of the finished pocket so that we could gather the curved end section of pocket evenly and then press before stitching to the back sections of the trousers. For a patterned fabric you may even decide to leave the pockets off making this an even easier make!

 When it comes to top-stitching the waistband to the front of the trousers we tacked it in place rather than just pinning, to ensure that we covered the stitch line where the waistband is attached to the back of the garment.

Once the waistband's on all that's left to do is turn up the trouser hems and you're done!

These are so easy to make we're sure you'll want to make them again and again! Why not try them in our Organic Crossweaves or Ginghams, Robert Kaufman Chambray Union Herringbone or Woven Stripe, or the Nani Iro for Kokka's Sen Ritsu would look lovely for a girl with a hint of shimmer.

We've been busy searching for new contemporary fabrics to add to our collection and we're really pleased to be adding the following Japanese fabrics to our range:

First up we have Ellen Luckett Baker for Kokka's Half Round in a fabulous metallic Gold from the Charm's Collection. This is the first design that we've brought in by Ellen, and judging from the reaction we've had since this went live on our website we'll soon be adding to it!

Another designer who's new to us is Etsuko Furuya, who designs under the name Echino. We absolutely loved this quirky spot and deer design, Samber, the moment we saw it and hope that you do too!

We've also added to our range of Nani Iro prints. These have proved to be really popular since we launched, so we've brought in a further 3 new designs now with more to follow in the Autumn.

The Pierre Pocho in Sage sold really well for us, and we felt that Corsage in a 2 ply knit was a great move on for us, the base colour is again in Sage, the design this time with lovely bright pops of yellow flowers and shimmer.

Next we have Freeway in tones of grey in a double gauze fabric. This beautiful striped design is a new design for 2015 and one which we can't wait to use!

Finally we have Water Window, again in Grey, which is printed on a cotton linen mix fabric, we love the hand painterly quality of this print, it would work well for both home furnishing projects and also for dressmaking where a heavier weight quality fabric is required.

We'd love to see what you make with them! Do email us your photos to karen@drapersdaughter.com.

To make way for new fabrics just in, and on the way, we've marked down some of our current stock by 30% - choose from some of our gorgeous Nani Iro fabrics, including Pierre Pocho in Teal, and Sen Ritsu; as well as some of our lovely 100%Organic Cotton Ginghams and Crossweaves!

Stocks are limited so you'll need to be quick, click on the photo below to go to our Sale Fabric page...

We're really pleased to have added a selection of Oliver + S children's sewing patterns to our collection. Designed by Liesl Gibson, we particularly like their modern, contemporary look, making them perfect to compliment our range of adult patterns.

Their aim is to create sewing patterns you can reply on and that you'll turn to again and again! The patterns are really well designed with interesting details. We've yet to make up a pattern, but we've taken a look at the instructions, which seem to be really comprehensive and clearly illustrated.

We've deliberately selected the newer patterns within the Oliver + S Range, the designs of which have modern silhouettes and detailing such as paneling, top-stitching and pleat interest.

Choose from the Carousel Dress Pattern, a modern style with beautiful paneling which is top-stitched and raglan sleeves. With no fancy buttonholes or set in sleeves, this is an easy pattern to make up! The Lunch Box Tee + Culottes Pattern features wide, pleated culottes which look like a full skirt but are more versatile; and a boxy knit top which can be made as either a t-shirt with cuffed sleeves or as a sweatshirt with pockets within the front panel. Or how about the Playtime Dress, Tunic + Leggings Pattern, which includes an easy to sew dress and tunic, both of which can be made using woven or knit fabrics. The leggings though have been designed for knit fabrics and are made from just one pattern piece. The dress and tunic can be dressed up or down depending on the fabrics you choose.

Finally, we have the Lullaby Layette Set Pattern, the pieces in this set all work together to create a lovely wardrobe for little ones up to 24 months. There's a bodysuit, shirt, elasticated pull on trousers and a reversible jacket to make in light to medium-weight woven and knit fabrics.

Initially we've bought the older size patterns which are for ages 5 to 12, however we'd love to hear from you if you'd like us to stock the smaller size range of 6 months to 4 years; and also what other patterns you'd like us to add to the range.

And we'd love to see your patterns made up so please send your photos to me at karen@drapersdaughter.com

Hello there, we've been busy sourcing new fabrics lately, and the first delivery arrived today!

We think these 100% Organic Cotton Double Cloth fabrics make a lovely addition to our range of carefully curated fabrics. They're really soft, making then suitable for babies and adults alike; as well as for small soft furnishing projects.

Our 100% Organic Cotton Crossweaves are proving to be really popular with all of you, so we've a couple of new colours to the collection, first of all we have the Mid Blue, as pictured below:

And we're also bought this beautiful Burgundy Marl, the photo really doesn't do it justice but it's a great colourway for adding some colour in a subtle way!

We'll be adding more fabric over the coming weeks, here's where we'll be updating you along with our Facebook page & Instagram feed.

We hope these fabrics will give you some inspiration for your next sewing projects!