Friday magazine review

"Sew Hip" issue 20
September 2010

Earlier in the month a copy of this magazine popped its way through my letterbox, along with a special subscriber gift (but more on that later). I'm still a little cautious when it comes to getting out my sewing machine and trying to make anything with it so my way of trying to beat that is to read a magazine about all the fantastic things I could be making if only I was brave enough to try. So this is where the Sew Hip magazine comes in...

The cover project really draws you in - that lovely dress looks so summery, and after reading through the instructions I'm startled to find that I think even I may be able to make it. In fact there are a large number of beginner projects in this issue, and on reading through a few of them carefully the instructions look clear, well written and easy to follow with clear diagrams for any of the trickier steps. But before having a go at trying to put together my first handmade garment I decided to tackle something a little bit more approachable, the lovely kit from clothkits which was my subscriber gift.

The kit was great, the pattern pieces and all the guidelines for folding were actually printed directly on to the canvas so no need to fiddle with cutting round a template - what a fantastic idea! The instructions were clear and helpful and I found myself working my way through them with very little difficulty. The only real problem I encountered was due solely to my not understanding my sewing machine... this was the first time I had every sewn on a zipper and working out how to change the normal foot to the sewing foot took quite a bit of puzzling out.

So now I have a rather lovely new wash bag to add to the increasingly crowded Christmas box. I'm so proud of myself for managing to make something that I think is good enough to give as a gift and I hope that this new found confidence means you'll be seeing more sewing projects here soon.