The Hague is a beautiful city to visit with many wonderful museums including the Design Museum, the classics at The Mauritshuis, and the Kunst Museum which regularly has fashion exhibitions. While it might not be a fashion capital for textiles and clothing it does have one gem of a fabrics store, Tessuti Stoffen & Zo that is worth visiting.
Tessuti Stoffen & Zo
The store is located in the centre of the shopping district of the city. The store is split over three levels with the ground level separated into fabric types with goodies including linen elastane blends, printed cotton canvas and many others. The small basement has fleeces and a small selection of discount fabrics then upstairs the mezzanine includes a wall of buttons, special occasion fabric and heavy upholstery fabrics.
The fabric is sold in cut lengths with the cutting table at the centre of the space. There is everything you need for a project including Fibre Mood Patterns, zippers, threads and fastenings.
You can shop online at https://www.tessuti.nl but nothing beats and in-store experience.
This year, we took our Christmas outfit game to a whole new level — well, more accurately, Audrey did. Every year, our family Christmas dinner is a chance to channel our Nan’s tradition of creating festive outfits for the whole family. It’s a nod to her legacy, and we’ve kept the tradition alive with something handmade for the occasion.
But this September, Audrey threw down the ultimate challenge. She casually said, “You know how you all wear matching outfits? What if ALL of us matched this year?” Game. On.
We dove into fabric hunting mode, shared a few options in the family group chat, and the clear winner emerged: a cheerful red and white gingham from Birch. Next up, everyone shared their vision for their Christmas ensemble, and we hunted down the perfect patterns on the Sewdirect Australia website.
What followed was a marathon of stitching: 10 garments, a mix of our tried-and-true patterns and some exciting new styles. By the time we were done, the sewing machines deserved a rest as much as we did! Wishing you a Christmas as merry and love-filled as our matching outfits!🎅🎁✨
The Full Family Lineup
The full family line up of Nathan in McCall’s 6044, Audrey in Simplicity 9597, Tracy in McCall’s 8030, Lauren in Know Me 2076, Fergus in Two Sewing Sisters Bandana, David in McCall’s 6044, Robyn in Vogue 9237, Austin in McCall’s 6044, Amahli in Simplicity 9848, Erin in Know Me 2091 and James in McCall’s 6044
Ritchie line up
James in McCall’s 6044, Erin in Know Me 2091, Lauren in Know Me 2076, Fergus in Two Sewing Sisters Bandana, Robyn in Vogue 9237 and David in McCall’s 6044,
Taylors line up
Audrey in Simplicity 9597, Tracy in McCall’s 8030, Nathan in McCall’s 6044, Amahli in Simplicity 9848 and Austin in McCall’s 6044
The creative team
Audrey in Simplicity 9597, Erin in Know Me 2091, Amahli in Simplicity 9848, Lauren in Know Me 2076 and Fergus in Two Sewing Sisters Bandana.
Higgs & Higgs is a family-run fabric store based in the UK, you can buy online or visit the fabric shop in Gloucester. They have launched an exciting set of sewing kits and they invited use to give one a test run and we loved it! We have spoken about how fabulous a kit is, there is no running out of anything, no worry if you had the right thing or enough of anything it is all at your fingertips.
Patterns: Peg Trousers by Merchant & Mills
This is our first Merchant & Mills pattern and these Peg Pants were a great fit for us, we are already planning more. The ‘Peg’ pants/ trousers feature a fly front with generous pleats, angled pockets and turn-up cuffs at the hem. The pattern includes a lining piece for a half-lined finish for wool fabrics. Find the pattern on the Higgs and Higgs website here.
Fabric: Cotton Gabardine Fabric in Rust
If you asked us about what fabric we would recommend for a pair of pants, this is it! This gabardine is 100% cotton and 250gsm in weight which is perfect for trousers. We chose the rust colour but equally could have picked any from the range – check out the full-colour selection here.
Even as experienced makers with quite a stash it is such a joy and relief to know that we have everything we need to complete a project. This kit fits this brief so well and even included a fun satin for lining the pockets.
Fabric: Cotton Dotted Swiss Lawn in Rustic Orange Floral on White
The trouble with pants? Matching tops. So when the Higgs & Higgs team invited us to showcase their pants kit we knew it would be a two-garment project. We set about finding a matching fabric from their website to create a top that would compliment the colour tones of the rust. We found the adorable Cotton Dotted Swiss Lawn in Rustic Orange Floral on White and it was meant to be. Check it out here.
Wilder Gown by Friday Pattern Company
Once we found the matching fabric the last piece of the puzzle was selecting a pattern for the top. It was important that this was an all Higgs & Higgs project so we jumped onto their pattern pages and spied The Wilder Gown. We have made this pattern a few times and love the neck details and the loose, flowy bodice.
We did alter the sleeve to make it longer and placed an elastic in the hem to taper it into the wrists. This is our personal style preference that we felt balances the lightweight top by having full-length sleeves with the weight of the pants fabric.
We hosted a Christmas Party this year that had a theme of white and by accident McCall’s! We were excited about the idea of creating some new cotton outfits in a colour that we don’t make a whole heap of. We headed to the Sewdirect website to see what latest patterns we wanted to create. Then we went to Spotlight to the cotton section to see what textured fabrics they had available.
McCall’s 8482 in white seersucker
Erin loved the idea of a set and had seen some fabulous versions of McCall’s 8482. She had created the top for her trip to Europe and we loved that is had a soft gathered neck but still a set-in sleeve which many of these peasant-style tops miss out. The skirt was LONG! So we had to adjust the length and bring it up which also allowed for a little bit more gathering in the top panel.
McCall’s 8385 in white Broderie Anglais
Lauren had been eyeing off this dress pattern for some time, so when the chance to make it came she had to go for it. She had a vision for it in Broderie Anglais which meant was also had to line it with a poplin to make it more opaque. With many buttons later the vision was fulfilled!
McCall’s 6044 in Quilting Cotton
It was a full matching set with James getting a new white shirt in his favourite McCall’s 6044. White he initially was planning a linen, our in house photographer and lighting designer ended up with a texture white quilting cotton in the long sleeve view.
Mr Fergus Banadana
Last but certainly not least, our slightly scruffy-looking host got a new bandana for the occasion. We also like to create him bowties but for this occasion, he went for a more casual look that you could more easily see amongst his fluff.
Best wishes for 2025 from Two Sewing Sisters
We hope you are having a wonderful festive season. May your 2025 be filled with creativity, joy and happiness
We’ve had a vision of painting fabric for a couple of years now, and Melbourne Frocktails was the perfect excuse to embrace our creative vision!
Pattern: McCall’s 8282
Erin wanted to create an off-the-shoulder look with a full skirt for this fabric. We landed on McCall’s 8282 as our base using view B. This pattern was provided by Sewdirect Australia and is available here.
Fabric: Hand Painted
For this vision, we started with a white cotton drill which we purchased from Spotlight. We selected our colour pallette of fabric paints and combined some colours to give a vibrant tone. To make sure we didn’t paint extra fabric and waste painted fabric we cut the fabric first. This also allowed us to consider the placement of the paint and colour balance. We nervously set about stamping the fabric. Check out the video.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DCOoApyPf5Y/
Finished McCall’s 8282
Photo Credits
Pattern: McCall’s 8282 provided by Sewdirect Australia Fabrics: White Cotton Canvas purchased at Spotlight hand painted by Two Sewing Sisters
Melbourne Frocktails upped the game again this year, with a change of venues they had space for more makers to come. It was a wonderful night with a sea of fabulous me-made outfits! At every turn, you could see a great fabric, design or skill. We each wanted to create some new for the occasion. Lauren turned to our stash and came across a beautiful linen that Mum and Dad had purchased when they were visiting Darwin from Injalak Arts.
Pattern: Vogue 1723
We have made this dress a number of times and love that it offers a full silhouette but is a great showcase for fabric that has a strong print. It does not have many design lines or darts that break up the fabric so it was perfect of this fabric which we wanted to be the hero.
Vogue 17233 is a very loose-fitting pull-on dress that has a stand collar that extends into ties at back, with a slit opening at the neck. Imporantly it has side seam pockets and the balloon sleeves are held in shape with a stay.
We were limited in fabric so had to cut economically with the priority of placing the centre on the fold. So we finished the neck with a internal bias.
This pattern is available on Sewdirect Australia here.
Fabric: Linen from Injalak Arts
Injalak Arts is based in remote Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, with over 200 active members – artists, weavers and craftspeople from Gunbalanya and surrounding homelands.
This linen is a hand-printed design created by three talented women, Priscilla Badari, Katra Nganjmirra and Sylvia Badari.
Finished Injalak Arts Linen Dress
Photo Credits
Pattern: Vogue 1723 available at Sewdirect Australia Fabrics: Linen from Injalak Arts Headpiece: Lauren J Ritchie Millinery
Last year we took part in Sew Gorgeous which is a special collaboration between Songlines Art, Flying Fox Fabrics & Papulankutja Artists. You can see our make for this project here. We loved the beautiful fabric designs from Songlines Art so selected a piece to create something for ourselves.
Patterns: Know Me 2016, McCalls 8161 and Simplicity 8669
This was an absolute mash-up of patterns that started with the bodice of Know Me 2016 with a lengthen waist, the sleeves of McCalls 8161 and then the skirt of Simplicity 8669.
Fabric: Flyer Fox Fabrics
The cotton we selected from Flying Fox Fabrics was a beautiful blue and orange print by artist Jennifer Ngunyaka Mitchell called Kapi Tjukula meaning water and holes in rock.
The placement of this print was important, we only had limited fabric but wanted to ensure that there was a strong visual line down the center front of the dress.
The theme of purple floral continued for Lauren on Oaks Day at Flemington Racecourse this year. The hero and starting point for this dress was the beautiful floral cotton she found when travelling in Florence earlier this year.
Pattern: Vogue 1902 with Butterick 5951
We mostly have a me made wardrobe but recently we were looking through Myer and wanted to check out what Cue had in their latest collection. Lauren spied a few dresses with drape detail and knew this was a detail she wanted as part of her Cup Week looks. With the neck detail of Vogue 1902 in mind, she transformed it into a dress by added the A-line skirt of Butterick 5951 to it. This pattern was supplied by Sewdirect Australia.
Fabric: Purple and yellow Floral Cotton from Tessuti Valli
This fabric caught Lauren’s eye when she was in Florence and visited Tessuti Valli for the first time. The print was quite large and had vibrant yellow centres in the flowers. We had spoken quite a bit about what we wanted to create for the Melbourne Cup this year, focusing on natural fibres and styles we would wear repeatedly throughout the year. Due to how light this cotton was we lined it with a light pink cotton poplin weight to help support the fabric and make it more opaque.
When we saw the Electric Blooms printed fabric we knew it was the perfect party fabric for us.
Fabric: Minerva Exclusive Electric Blooms Double Georgette Crepe
This is a Minerva Exclusive fabric that comes in a few different types. This one is the double georgette crepe fabric in the Electric Blooms, it is a woven non-stretch fabric made of 100% polyester. We don’t usually work with this type of fabric —we tend to pick cotton fabrics over polyester fabrics. We were planning our outfits for the Oaks Day Luncheon, so it was the perfect opportunity to try something new!
Pattern: Vogue 1708
We had to hunt through the Sew Direct patterns to find the perfect pattern and landed on Vogue 1708. It is a jumpsuit pattern with v-neck, wide leg pants and a wrap top that extends to a cross over back and tie ends (which could be tied in either a knot or a bow).
For a night at Government House for the Cup Eve reception Lauren chose to create a dress in a floral satin using the pattern Vogue 1802.
Pattern: Vogue 1802
Vogue 1802 is a loose-fitting, pullover dress that has a collar extending into ties in the back, slit opening at the neck, and side seam pockets. We created view B with the long line and gathered tier. This pattern was supplied by Sewdirect Australia.
Fabric: Purple Floral Satin from Tissus Coupons Saint Pierre
When Erin was travelling in Paris earlier in the year she visited Tissus Coupons Saint Pierre and selected this purple floral satin. The satin piece of fabric came in a pre-cut length of 3 meters long. While not our usual choice of fabric type it was a great choice for this pattern. We lined it with a plain white fabric in the top section of the dress which also helps with the static in the fabric.
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Finished Dress Vogue 1802
Photo Credits
Pattern: Vogue 1804 provided by Sewdirect Australia Fabric: Purple Floral Satin purchased from Tissus Coupons Saint Pierre Wide brim hat: Lauren J Ritchie Millinery
