Make It Simple – Book Review

Hi and welcome to my October book review. This month I reviewed the Make It Simple Book by Tilly and the Buttons’ Tilly Walnes. She is an English fashion designer, author and educator based in South London. Tilly currently has three sewing books. They are: Love at First Stitch, Stretch!, and Make it Simple. I chose to review her Make it Simple book because it was the newest of the three, having come out in March 2020.

The subtitle of the book is “Easy, Speedy Sewing Projects To Stitch up in an Afternoon. I believe that if you are a seasoned sewist, this may be true. But if you are a slow sewist like me, these numbers may be off. This book is perfect for you if you have very little sewing knowledge, but someone more experienced can still find some interesting alterations and hacks to the more simple patterns. None of the patterns are extremely challenging which can be a good thing when you just want to sew up something quick and still yield a lovely result!

Tilly starts you off with an introduction, sewing terms, fabric choices, fitting advice and shortcuts. The patterns are on large sheets folded in a pocket at the back of the book. They are layered so you have to trace out the pieces you need for each particular pattern in your proper size. They are well labeled and there is some color coding to make it easier. I admit its not the most fun part, but once you get your pieces traced and cut you can use them over and over again.

The Patterns

There are six basic patterns, but each pattern has shortcuts, hacks and alterations to “make it your own”! For example, the Safiya Trousers are elastic waist, wide leg cropped pants. You can then add pockets, add a bodice or bib to make it a jumper or turn it into a playsuit with a wrap front top. This is just one example of the wide variety of pieces you can make to add to your wardrobe. There are patterns for both wovens and knits. The six main patterns are: The Safiya Trousers, The Tabitha T-shirt, The Suki Dress, The Bertha Cardigan, The Juno Pyjamas, and The Olive Pinafore. I chose to make the Safiya Trousers jumper, or as Tilly calls them – Easy-Fitting Dungarees, and the Bertha Cardigan.

Easy-Fitting Dungarees

The Easy-Fitting Dungarees were so simple to make and they turned out so cute. I actually made them as a project for the Art Gallery Fabrics “Eve” lookbook in a beautiful blue, floral rayon. I paired it with a RTW white t-shirt but you can just as easily make a Tabitha tee as well.

Bertha Cardigan

Since the first pattern required using a woven fabric, I decided to choose a pattern that used knit fabric for my next project. I was originally going to make the Tabitha t-shirt but then I realized I could really use a new cardigan. Even though the Bertha Cardigan with it’s bat-wing sleeves is not my usual style, I couldn’t be happier with my choice. I love how it looks and feels and I know I will be wearing it throughout the fall months and beyond. If I do make another one I may lengthen the body some. I happen to have a very long torso and it fits fine, but I would like to see how it looks a bit longer. I used a speckled jersey knit by Robert Kaufman for this one. It’s gray with some tiny, colorful speckles all over.

By this time you can pretty much tell that if I am reviewing a book, it’s because I like it. This one is no exception. I am looking forward to making the Juno Pyjamas and the Suki Dress and if I make them I will create a post to show you the results.

Thank you again for choosing to spend your time with me! And remember:

Make Something Beautiful Today!

You can get Make it Simple hereYou can purchase this book and most others that I have reviewed (or plan to) here.

If you liked this review, you might be interested in this one too…

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