Wow, where is 2019 going? September already?! It's definitely starting to feel autumnal here in the UK with the winds picking up, temperatures dropping and darker evenings drawing in.  So for most it's time to sew all the sweaters, coats and jeans, of which I have plenty planned.  

​We have just received a wedding invite for a November wedding though, so instead, my sewing has been focussing on making myself an outfit warm enough for cooler weather whilst still looking dressy enough for the occasion, fingers crossed I've managed!  

Welcome to the final day of the Itch to Stitch Love Blogtour.  Like many others when the news hit that Kennis, the designer behind Itch to Stitch had been burgled whilst away on holiday, I was deeply saddened and felt like I needed to do something to help.  I am always in awe of how the sewing community and bloggers pull together in times of need and this was no exception, before very long a blog tour was arranged and here it is, I'm so glad to be involved in this tour and do my part to help, as such this post contains NO AFFILIATE LINKS.

When considering what to make for my post of the tour, I was torn between sewing one of the few ITS patterns I hadn't yet sewn or going back to my ever faithful, favourite pattern of all time, the Marbella. Guess what won?!

I'm really enjoying taking part in blog tours this year, they are pushing me to create and try sewing some things I probably wouldn't have thought about before.

​Today I'm excited to be included in the Lulu & Celeste, Sprouting JubeJube Productions Back to School Tour now I hear you saying, "but don't you home educate?!" and yes, yes I do but we still have several groups which take a break over the summer and restart in Autumn time along with the need to change wardrobes for the new seasons weather.

Here in the UK, the Autumnal weather is wind, intermittent and unpredictable rain and temperatures. We spend a LOT of time outdoors so waterproofs and layers feature heavily for us.

I'm super excited by this outfit, It's just perfect for going to his forest group, walking through the countryside or even just playing out in the garden and I can't hide it from you any longer so here it is!

Welcome to my stop on the Sew Long Summer Blogtour hosted by Melissa of mahlicadesigns, it couldn't have come at a better time for us here in the UK as we've definitely seen a change in the seasons in the past week or two! 

As we say SewLong to Summer, my thoughts are turned to Autumnal sews and keeping the cold, wind and rain at bay whilst being able to remove layers on those days where the weather can't make it's mind up!  (Yesterday we had everything from 23°C bright sunshine to 11°C with thunderstorms and gale force winds!) 

Whilst I've been keeping up to date sewing cardigans, sweaters and hoodies throughout the Summer, I now need to think about heavier, warmer and drier functionality garments so where better to start sewing for Autumn than a coat!? 

This Summer one of my sons broke his arm and needed it cast almost to his shoulder, this made getting tees on and off very tricky.  Inspired by the port access placket of the Pickle Toes Pattern Hope, I added a snap up placket to the shoulders of some of his tees.  I hope you never need it but I've put together a little tutorial for you just in case! A snap placket can either be done on ready made tees or as you are making a new one, this tutorial covers adding one to a new tee and I used the Pickle Toes Patterns Fried Pickles which is FREE with the code from their Facebook Group 

I'm loving being involved in blog tours at the moment, here is my stop on the first Sewing by Ti tour I've been involved in! I've followed Ti's blog and tours for quite a while now so it's a little nerve wracking to be involved myself this time! Ti's blogtours are all themed but what that means to us is up to our individual interpretation! This tour is themed "Dress up this Town" and my immediate thoughts on that were dresses for occasions, not just for Weddings, Christenings and evenings out but for the lunch dates with your girlfriends, for attending Church, for any occasion where you want something a little more than an everyday casual dress. What I came up with may not surprise those of you who know me and know what a HUGE fan of Itch to Stitch Designs I am, so here we have 3 dresses all from ITS all very suitable for occasion wear when sewn in the right fabrics whilst still working brilliantly as casual everyday dresses in others. PS. make it to the bottom for the great giveaways!

 ​Thank you for joining me on my stop of the Swimsuit Edition blog tour, I'm really excited to be in my first Lulu & Celeste, Sprouting JubeJube Productions blogtour! This one is full of fantastic seamstresses and bloggers focused on inspiring you with all things swimwear, be sure to check out all the stops and enter the giveaways as well for your chances to win some fab prizes from our blogtour sponsors! 

For those of you who read my last swim post, you'll have seen I was making a swim capsule for my boys, not long after the tour we went camping during a mini heatwave and they wore their swimming suits so much that I quickly realised they were both missing a few things from their capsules.  They both needed a hat which could go in the water with them and a complete spare swim outfit which they could switch into after the sand and forest debris had become to much in the first suit or for when they didn't want to be in a wet suit any longer! So here, I've tried to fill those gaps!

​I am SO excited to be part of this blog tour celebrating the Bluezette's 2 year anniversary! Released by Love Notions in both Ladies and Girls sizes, this is a dress pattern I've not tried before but have seen so many gorgeous versions of and hadn't realised quite how many variations could be made from the pattern and blog add-on! So many, I couldn't decide on just 1 version to make so made 2!