Love Sewing Magazine: Issue 53, Bumper Edition!

Every now and again a series of sewing related features and projects come together and this month's issue of Love Sewing Magazine (issue 53) is one of those moments for me. As well as my usual Swatch Selector column, I am the reader reviewer for one of the two free cover patterns and I wrote a two-page feature on Patrick Grant (of Sewing Bee fame) and his Community Clothing social enterprise initiative. 

Here I am with Amy, aka Love Sewing editor at the photo shoot.  It was a really fun day at the  Practical Publications photo studio in Stockport.  I had my hair and makeup styled by Nina which was a first for me and I picked up some great tips- namely, a foundation brush has an amazing effect and that eyelash curlers are an essential item!   Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. We had some sewing chat, plus lots of silliness and general fun.  I reviewed McCalls M7547  and made the floral stretch dungarees that I'm wearing in the pics.  It's a great pattern as it also includes trousers and different leg styles- shorts, flared, tapered, and Amy has written an easy-to-follow dungaree/dress hack tutorial inside the magazine. You can read her blog review of M7547 here!

Here's my Reader Review page- I'll write up the review for sewing the dungarees for you here too...that's the post after this one!

By some strange twist of fate, I got a chance to go to Patrick Grant's business workshop at Exeter University which was a preview, and more of his TedxExeter talk on Sustainability in the clothing industry.  All credit to Patrick, he is really making a difference with Community Clothing and his goals of restoring pride, creating jobs and making great clothing. I bought the Breton top in the pic below from their e-commerce site, it's incredible quality and made in the UK.

And as always, there's my Swatch Selector column, this month with a fruity theme.  I've chosen a delicious selection of fabrics with a pretty mix of fruits, florals and picnic inspiration!

It's a very special issue for me, I'm so proud to be a part of it!  In the UK, you can find it at Asda, Morrisons, Sainsburys, Tescos and WHSmiths. In the US, it's available at Barnes and Noble but 40 days after the UK.  Anyone can buy it and have it delivered at moremags.com. There's also a digital edition.