Love at First Stitch: Demystifying Dressmaking

Love at First Stitch gives you all the sewing know-how you need to start making the dresses of your dreams. Written for novice and beginner stitchers by the author of the popular sewing blog Tilly and the Buttons, Tilly Walnes demystifies dressmaking for the generations that have never been taught to sew.

This bestselling book presents the core sewing basics in an informal style, with Tilly''s friendly and encouraging voice cheering the reader on throughout. Instead of overwhelming the novice dressmaker with theory, this book is about learning by doing.

Each chapter presents practical tips and inspiration to guide you through creating a made-to-measure garment from one of the seven versatile and adaptable patterns included with the book, which can then be personalised to suit your individual style.

Peppered throughout the book are Tilly''s top sewing tips, including everything from what to look out for when buying - or borrowing - your first sewing machine, through how to behave in a fabric shop to appear like an expert, to techniques for pressing perfection.

On a whim and feeling the urge to fill a creative void, Tilly Walnes signed up for a three-day dressmaking course. It was love at first stitch. Her new-found joy in sewing her own clothes - but lack of friends who could also sew - lead Tilly to start her blog, Tilly and the Buttons, so that she could share her experiences and swap tips with other would-be dressmakers. Within three years of first threading a needle Tilly's blog is the most popular sewing blog in the UK and she appeared as a contestant in the first series of The Great British Sewing Bee, the only contestant to design and draft her own garment designs. Between teaching dressmaking classes at sewing schools in both London and Birmingham, Tilly is developing her own range of dressmaking patterns.