Author: thespeckyseamstress

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Something Spooky This Way Comes!

FeO x The Specky Seamstress Fangtastic Collaboration

This Halloween we wanted to try something a little different; we love our bias and labels, but they’re *part* of a project, and not the whole thing.

So we teamed up with the absolutely lovely Kayleigh at Fleur et Ours to create a Halloween box. It created the opportunity to use our bias and her fantastic fabric to make a whole r project.

What was in the box?

The boxes came in two sizes, with either 1.5 or 2.5m of ‘Oh My Ghost’ fabric, 1m or 3m of an exclusive Ghost themed Bias and 4 or 8 mini ghost labels in two exclusive designs. And, as an unexpected bonus item, Kayleigh created a fabulous hand printed piece of Ghost artwork too!

The exclusive Bias and labels won’t be available for general sale until autumn next year.

@ginger_doodlesdesigns snapped this fabulous photo when their box arrived!

Team Specky Makes

At Team Specky, neither Laura nor Cassie could resist the opportunity to get involved; Laura got the Small box and Cassie, the large. Both chose makes that showed off some exciting ways to use the fabric and the bias. Check them out:

Laura made:

Laura in her finished make at Specky HQ!

Ever the patten hacker, Laura made some PJs using a mash up of some of her current favourite Zero Waste patterns to get the most out of the smaller amount of fabric.

She created a vest top using the top half of the Process of Sewing Zero Waste Strap Dress, finishing the top edge with the Ghost Bias.

A ‘ghoulish’ back, edged with the exclusive bias and using both label designs.

And then she used the Birgitta Helmerson Zero Waste Block Pants hacked into shorts for the bottom.

Who knew it was so tricky to get a picture of the back!

Cassie made:

Cassie in her finished make in her garden.

Opting for a pattern she’s made before too, Cassie opted for the ‘Cleo’ dress from Original Digby Patterns, the designer Lauren currently has two patterns available for sale, check her out!

Cleo is a sleeveless dress, with a neckline facing, that uses bias binding strips to make channels for elastic to create a shirred effect without shirring! A bit of an odd choice given the time of year, but with a high necked top underneath and some heavy tights – perfect for spooky season.

Bias is perfect for finishing facings as it works well with the curves!

She made the Uppercase Size G with no modifications, managing to squeeze nearly 10m of bias made from the fabric itself too, to use as the elastic channels. She finished the facing piece with the exclusive ghosts bias, and then used the new Specky ‘Skulls’ bias to hem the skirt. 

‘Skulls‘ bias used on the hem; available on the website now.

We really enjoyed the process of collaborating with another Small Business to bring these boxes to you, and honestly, we can’t wait to do it again!

Did you get a box?

If you treated yourself to a box, we’d love to see what you made! And we’re really interested in your overall experience with this box, and if you’re interested in any more in the future. Drop us a comment below, or email us at hello@thespeckyseamstress.com

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The Bias Tape Appreciation Society is 1, let’s celebrate!

A look back at the first year of BTAS

Cassie here! I’m the ‘Chief Bias Elf’ at The Specky Seamstress… it was one of those titles that started as a joke and just kind of stuck! Chances are if you email or message us, it’s me you get first and I love hearing from you 🙂

I joined #TeamSpecky late September 2023 to help Laura and Yvann with a *bit* of admin with their new subscription box… Laura said it’ll be “a couple of hours a week”, “we’re not really sure how it’ll go…” and I’ve been running a lot of the admin side of the subscription boxes ever since.  Little did we know that earlier this year I’d become the first contracted employee. And, we’d not only be at the end of our first year of the Bias Tape Appreciation Society, but that we’d already have designed almost all of the next year too!

So we wanted to mark the birthday of our ‘baby’ with a round up of our fabulous designs!

What’s special about The Bias Tape Appreciation Society?

When Laura first started the company, and designing Bias Tape, she was looking for unique and well made bias to add to her precious makes. That’s exactly what the Bias Tape Appreciation Society embodies. 

2m of Bias through the letterbox each month is first and foremost a fabulous, affordable treat – it’s less than a fancy frothy coffee and a slice of cake!! But it’s also just the right amount of Bias to dip your toes in, with enough to add to most garments, and not so much that you’ve got loads left over. Plus, members can purchase extra packs with their special code during the exclusivity period, so you can grab a little more for those bigger projects.

Whether you’re a #BiasMatcher or a #BiasRebel, we’ve seen lots of fantastic makes featuring Bias Tape Appreciation Society Designs this year. 

The First 6 Designs…

  • We started strong with Sewing Machines! Adorning handmades with sewing machines seemed too perfect for words, and it’s a design that people keep coming back to.
  • Please Look After Me is a definite crowd pleaser; with both a strong message AND a fabulous colour palette, it’s a #TeamSpecky favourite… watch this space for a new colourway!
  • Sewing Makes Me Happy; this one pretty much explains itself, and that’s why we chose to make it into a design for The Label Collective too! And there’s a bonus colourway too. Are you a Lemon Meringue or a Key Lime Pie?
  • Go Fish – ideal for summery and nautical makes, as well as on darker fabrics, what’s not to love about this bias? And as of this month, there’s a matching Woven Label through The Label Collective too. 
  • Made With Love and Mistakes, is another strong message on a bias; we know that all of our makes are made with love… and tears, sweat, accidentally some blood when you catch yourself with a stray pin, and definitely some mistakes. And that is ABSOLUTELY FINE because we’re not machines!
  • Disco Tape Measure – we love our Disco designs, there’s just something so satisfying about the bright colours on the dark background, and it’s ideal for darker fabrics, where it won’t show through.

And the next 6 designs…

  • Thanks, I Made It. Who doesn’t want to shout this about makes they’re particularly proud of? We certainly do!
  • Berries in June coincided with #SewFruity24 and we see it being used in lots of makes; it definitely felt like adding a cream tea to your makes. And the darker colourway version has been popular too, especially on darker fabrics… who said fruit is just for the summer?
  • Doesn’t Have To Perfect, as sewists, we’re all our own harshest critics and this bias – and matching label – remind us that not everything has be perfect and that that is just fine… as long as it gets used or worn, it’s perfect in our eyes… for everything else, there’s the unpicker. 
  • Sunshines – we thought this one would be great as summer was in full swing, add some sunshine to your makes to keep that summer feeling for the rest of the year. 
  • Cream Daisies – who wouldn’t want to add a little flower power to their makes? We love these multi-coloured designs that match with everything and nothing, which means they can go in ANY make!
  • Ducks, our latest design is simply too cute for words! Did you love it too? You might even say we’re ‘Quackers’ about it… yes, you can groan at the pun!

We’re so happy with how our first year of the Bias Tape Appreciation Society has gone. It hasn’t been without hiccups, from the lows of underestimating how much bias we’d need and parcels going missing, to the laugh out loud moment when we received an email from a customer whose husband had accidentally put her newly arrived bias out with the recycling – still in the envelope! 

So here’s to another year, and hopefully many more! And knowing I created some of the Bias designs for next year, with complete BIAS, I can tell you, you’re in for a good time.

Have you got a favourite design from the last year? Let us know below!

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It’s a #SpeckyPickNMixParty!

It’s a #SpeckyPickNMixParty!

We love a Woven Label here at The Specky Seamstress. It’s another way to share our favourite designs, whether you use them on their own, or paired with bias. Plus, they’re all made in our signature recycled polyester thread – so they’re environmentally friendly too! We think that they finish off a garment beautifully, whether it’s one you’ve for yourself, or or one made as a gift… so we’re throwing them a party!

We usually sell labels in packs of 6, which is great if you know what you want, or you’re looking to add the same design to a set of garments – #TeamMatchyMatchy is always a winner in our books. Sometimes though, you want something a bit different.

Now, we have mixed packs of our long labels or our original 6 square label designs, and that might be just what you need. But what if you wanted some of our The Label Collective designs? Or a mix of Long and Square labels? Enter Pick ‘n’ Mix!

Pick ‘n’ Mix Labels

Choose up to 6 different labels, from the 20 designs currently available, and we’ll hand pack your perfect picks…

You want three ‘Please Look After Me’, a Mini Dino and two ‘Sewing Is My Superpower’ (Long)? DONE!

What about Mini Labels?

Or a mixed set of The Label Collective designs? We’ve got you covered! 

Available Label Designs

Square Labels

  • Made By Me
  • It’s What’s On The Inside That Counts
  • Made To Measure
  • You Are A Superstar
  • Stitched With Love
  • Sewing Is My Superpower
  • My New Favourite Make
  • Please Look After Me
  • You Look Fabulous!
  • It Doesn’t Have To Be Perfect

Long Labels

  • Made By Me
  • It’s What’s On The Inside That Counts
  • Made To Measure
  • You Are A Superstar
  • Stitched With Love
  • Sewing Is My Superpower

Mini Labels

  • Mini Machine
  • Mini Dino
  • Mini Planet
  • Mini Daisy

As part of our party, we’re running a fabulous giveaway!

What will you choose?

Why not check out #TeamSpecky’s picks below!

Yvann’s picks are:
You are a SUPERSTAR (Long)
It’s what’s on the inside that counts (Long)
Please Look After Me
Made To Measure (Square)
Mini Planet
Mini Dino

Laura’s picks are:
Sewing Is My Superpower (Long)
It’s what’s on the inside that counts (Long)
It’s what’s on the inside that counts (Square)
Please Look After Me x2
Mini Dino
Cassie’s picks are:
You are a SUPERSTAR (Long)
It’s what’s on the inside that counts (Long)
Please Look After Me x2
Made By Me (Square)
My New Favourite Make

Not sure how to insert a woven label? Tutorial coming soon!

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Sewing Shows – Small Biz Behind The Scenes

Sewing Shows – Small Biz Behind The Scenes

Hey everyone, Laura checking in here for some Small Biz behind the scenes real talk.

Yvann and Laura at The Creative Craft Show Farnborough 2024

Sewing shows…  

They’re great, right? 

Small businesses get to show their wares to hundreds (or even thousands) of potential customers, and shoppers get to see all kinds of craft businesses under one roof.  

They sound great, on the tin, but for us at least, we are calling time on them (sort of….).  

After a year of dipping our toe in the water in 2023, and another year of really going for in-person selling this year, we’ve decided to take a break on these big sewing shows for a while.  There is one notable exception – so frequenters of Thread Festival at Farnham Maltings do not fear, we shall be returning to this show (if I remember the paperwork this year!).  

So why are we doing this? Well, there are a few main reasons:

  1. They’re just sooo expensive!
    These big shows charge upwards of £1500 for what can only be described as a cupboard of space.  When you include travel, food and wages where applicable, they are such a huge investment of capital.  We’ve decided we’d rather invest elsewhere in the business on things like new products and resource! 
  2. Honestly, we just don’t make the sales. 
    For real honestly – at Stitch festival this year we barely made back our stall fee.  Part of that is inherent to our business – we sell low value items and need to make a lot of sales to make back the investment – part of that is on us too – our stall design needs work and we need to make sure that if and when we return to the big shows, we need to make sure we can make new people want to come and see what we are all about! We realistically don’t have the time to do that right now. 
Our stand at The Creative Craft Show Farnborough 2024

3. They take SO much time. 
We run this business alongside busy family lives and taking 4 days out of day-jobs/parenting to attend these shows is a huge commitment.  And it isn’t just  the show days either – it’s the weeks of prep/manufacturing/packaging in the lead up.  I think my husband has just about had enough of the front room being piled high with boxes and packages for the entire month of Feb! And then it’s the exhaustion after each day, and the few days that follow.

4. They are super stressful!
We have had real drama in launching new products at Stitch festival the last two years (who can forget washi-tape-gate) and I’m not sure the Specky crew can handle that again – I definitely feel the pressure of being able to take something new to a big show and alongside the other business work we have on, its just  a bit too much for us right now.

I’ll confess that in the social media buzz of the run up to The Knitting and Stitching show, there is a tinge of sadness that we won’t be there.  It is so much fun meeting everyone and chatting through your purchases, plans and project ideas! And we will definitely miss that.  But maybe we can keep chatting online instead? Let us know what you think of sewing shows – we’d love to hear!

And in the meantime, we’ve decided to offer 15% off everything in store (except subscriptions, remnant packs and gift cards) for the duration of The Knitting and Stitching show – so whether you’re attending the show or not, you can make the most of some retail therapy in the comfort of your own home. 

Use the code speckyshowsale at the checkout for 15% off
valid 10:00 am 10.10.2024 – 11:59pm 13.10.2024

That’s goodbye from us for now!
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What Is ‘Bias Binding’?

What Is ‘Bias Binding’?

This seems like a great place for us to restart our blog, as Bias is one of our main reasons for existing… Laura was looking for beautiful bias tape to finish her makes and wasn’t happy with what she could find, so she created her own!

We know that when you first start looking into Bias it can be really confusing. It might be described as ‘Bias Tape’, ‘Bias Facing’ or ‘Bias Binding’. Some patterns want it to be seen, whilst others have it hidden on the inside. There are lots of different widths and ‘folds’ of bias too, which can be especially confusing when you’re new to using it. 

So what is it?

At its simplest, ‘Bias’ refers to strips of fabric, cut ‘on the bias’ that are intended to enclose the raw edges of a make. If we take a piece of woven fabric, we can use the selvedge edge to show us the grain line, and at a 90° angle, we have the cross grain. When we cut ‘on the bias’ we’re cutting at a 45° angle from the grain. The 45° angle helps to give the fabric a little stretch, allowing it to be applied to curves without any tucks and puckers! 

You might think, ‘but how can woven fabric stretch?’, but if you go ahead and give your fabric a little tug from one corner to the other and you’ll find it ‘gives’ a bit. It’s not truly stretch, but just enough to allow the strips to ease around curves. And it’s this ‘stretch’ that makes finishing the curved hem or neckline so smooth and crisp!

Once you’ve got your cut strips, how you fold them determines how you use them. The main two types of commercially available bias are ‘Single Fold’ and ‘Double Fold’:

Single Fold Bias Binding:

Single fold bias is mostly used for facings and hems, and in places where it is INSIDE the make – although you absolutely can put it on the outside too!

The raw edges of the strips are both folded inwards to the middle of the strip, depending on the width of your bias, there may or may not be a gap between the two.

Double Fold Bias Binding:

Double fold bias is meant to be seen! It’s often used in bag and quilt making and wraps around the raw edges to completely enclose them. The extra fold means it can be folded over the top of an edge. 

The raw edges of the strips are both folded inwards to the middle of the strip, and then it is folded again along the middle, so one edge will sit either side of the fabric. 

Single Fold and Double Fold Bias Tape, image from: https://www.blueprintsforsewing.com/blog/tutorial-bias-facings-and-bindings

Can I Make My Own?

You absolutely CAN make your own, and you’ll find some patterns even come with a pattern piece for bias so you can make it in the matching fabric. It can be the perfect choice when the binding it going to be on show, and lots of people enjoy the process of making bias themselves.

However, it’s worth noting, you often need A LOT of extra fabric to make it, and it can be quite fiddly, which as a beginner can be really off putting! Which is where we come in…

Our Bias:

At The Specky Seamstress, we currently make Single Fold Bias Binding. We think it’s absolutely perfect for finishing off makes and giving them a professional look. Our bias is unique as we design our fabric *just* for bias, so the patterns are printed to run along the length of the strips; every piece is high quality with a fun, intentionally placed design.

When Laura started The Specky Seamstress, she found herself wondering: Why would anyone spend all that time making a beautiful item, only to finish it with cheap, scratchy binding? Doesn’t your make deserve something special?! 

Our bias is all printed in the UK on 130gsm Cotton Poplin, and manufactured in house.

Want To Give It A Go?

Why not try our Bias Tape Appreciation Society and get 2m of an exclusive new design through the post every month! That’s enough for a neckline and armholes, or maybe the hem of a dress: The Bias Tape Appreciation Society

Just want a bit to try out – what about our remnant packs? Each pack contains 3 individual pieces of bias ranging from 50cm to 100cm/1m in length: Remnant Packs

Not Sure How To Sew With Bias?

Why not check out Laura’s tutorial on Youtube? Bias Binding Tutorial – necklines and hems – YouTube