Day 16 - Sonja

My name is Sonja and I live i the Netherlands. 
I started making my own clothes almost five years ago 

because I wasn’t able to find suitable and good fitted clothes anymore. 
I’me a self taught seamstress who likes to use books, 

YouTube and experience of others to learn more about the sewing process. 

Besides making clothes for myself I also make them for my husband, 

youngest daughter, my mother and sometimes for friends as well. 


Refashions are another part of my sewing 
but also re-cycling discarded jeans into bags, useful objects 

or decorative toys and discarded sweaters into soft toys for kids. 


On one fine day I want to start making a Chanel jacket with the quilting, 

hand sewn buttonholes and chain at the hem.
This dress is made of a self drafted T-shirt pattern. 

I like patterns with a twist, an unusual design or asymmetrical details. 

I decided to share this make with you because I want to show you 

how you can turn a simple T-shirt pattern into a great dress 

by using a striped fabric, drafting an asymmetrical vertical line 
into the pattern, using the stripe horizontal and vertical. 
To create more interest I did the same with sleeves. 
This dress has a ‘sister’ with a curved line and 
using the ‘wrong’ side of the fabric for contrast. 

If you like to see more of my makes, please take a look at:

My Blog or 



Don’t be afraid, see it as a journey when you start 
something you’ve never made before. 
Invest in good quality haberdashery (pins, scissors, needles, yarn) 
and never use sewing yarn to baste with. 
Invest in a good sewing machine and buy at a sewing machine dealer 
(they often have good reliable second hand machines). 
And when you want to buy a sewing machine do ‘test rides’. 


I have a small range of sewing books. 
Our public library have some good sewing books I can lend 
as well and when one is a winner I sometimes buy it. 

My favorites sewing books are the Pattern Magic series 

but also the Drape Drape series


Make toiles if you’re not sure about the fit or not how to sew it together. 
Read sewing instructions before you start sewing 

even when you think ‘I know how to sew this together’. 

Last but not least: Try to laugh when you make a mistake, 

think about what is already in your wardrobe, 
then pick up the seam ripper, unpick, 
start again and then when it’s ready 
and you are satisfied with the result: ENJOY 

and think it was worth unpicking!

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