I first came across Sewillow patterns a few years back when I stumbled across the Scilla jumpsuit (then named the Surya jumpsuit) which I made a few times as it was so quick and simple to make, ideal for a light coverup and there were NO buckles or fastenings in sight.
Everything she (Hanri) designs is structured around simple lines and no fastenings or buckles – that’s right, there’s not one zip in site!
So I started to follow Sewillow a went ahead and made the Chiono jacket which looked gorgeous in a houndstooth I had which I quilted to give it some autumn warmth.
I then saw Hanri was looking for a pattern tester to try out one of her latest designs which was the Armeria cropped long sleeve top that had a few looks to it that really appealed. So I threw my name into the hat and was chosen to try out the pattern.
"I remember it well because you always hope that a tester make will go well and it really did until…"
So it all came together like a dream, the sleeves were super drapey but with lots of shape with the pinched sleeve
head, and the cropped length was perfect for me. I made a massive mistake though in not trying it on for fit as I went and waited until the end to then realise that the head opening was too small!
I was horrified, wondering if I’d done something wrong. A quick call to Hanri redeemed me from my embarrassment as when we did a bit of head circumference comparison we realised that Hanri has a small head and I, well, I have a big head!
So, a larger hole was formed, the instructions were tweaked and I now wear my top in a few looks, sometimes with leggings and sometimes as smart office wear.
Next up Hanri asked if I fancied trying out her winter dress which she named the Paineira Tiered Jersey dress. This dress I was super excited about as I felt it had the potential to be a real wardrobe staple if it went well. It went so well (apart from sewing the neckband on back to front) that Hanri invited me to visit so she could photograph me in the dress. Here’ a few photo’s of the first spin at the Paineira dress.
I decided to gift this dress to my best friend Helen as she was head over heels for it and looks amazing in it, doing it far more justice than I ever could.
But I did decide to make the dress up again but this time in a solid and with the cameras watching.
So I invited my YouTube audience to tune in and sewalong with me as I made the dress over 3 weeks. Here I go into great detail of how to make the dress and how to work with both a sewing machine and an overlocker to achieve the same results.
When the dress was made in the tan colour I then decided to hack the pattern up to make as a top version which isn’t part of the instructions and oddly enough, it is this top out of all the Paineira’s that I wear the most as it looks so cool layered with cardigans and tanks and matched with jeans or workwear.
These haven’t been the only Sewillow patterns that I’ve made but I will update on that another day when I will share how we also came to collaborate on the fantastic, and inaugural Elizabeth bag too!
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