The Paphos Tester Call is Out Now!

June 22, 2025 Bianca Silva

Hello, hello!

Did I have an exciting weekend!

I hosted, not my first sewing workshop, but my first in a shop! 😃

The event went really well, but most importantly, everyone enjoyed it.

I love being able to share my knowledge with others! Seeing the look on people’s faces after they achieve things they never knew they were capable of is something I will never tire of.

I had planned out the lesson for the day, but once we got started and I heard what some of the fears of those present were, I decided to ditch the lesson plan and focus on those and some more unplanned topics.

I can’t wait to host more workshops, so I have some planning to do. 😀

Thank you to Abakhan Mostyn for allowing me to use their space for this workshop! 🥰

Stitches of the Week

Paphos Pouch

The tester call for the Paphos Pouch has gone out and I am looking for sewists to help straighten out any creases the pattern may have!

If you missed me telling you about this last week, this is my next sewing pattern, a cute and fun ruffle pouch. 😍

As a newsletter subscriber, you were the first to know about this call as I sent an email out yesterday inviting you to apply. If you missed it and would love to take part in helping me get the creases ironed out, please apply using this link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MbDVfuBKOzhf98-kv8QWxU_szBynGJKRcp_o5p0iT00/edit

There are a couple of things left to do in the instructions that I will finish while the tester call is running as they are small details.

Closet Core - Fiona sundress

The progress has been very slow on this one. 🙃

All the pattern pieces for the toile are cut out, notches and markings transferred and the bodice half done. It’s sewn to a point where I can wrap it around my body and do a quick fit test.

When I tried it on at the end of the day after my body did all it’s expanding throughout the day, it felt a little tight around my waist but I am going to keep going with it anyway and trust the process. 😂

Once the straps and skirt are on, I will be able to tell for sure how it feels. The worst that can happen is to unpick the side seams and let them out a bit.

I am still a bit of a long way off from completing it, never mind making the real one. 😣

There is so much that I am doing, that I feel I have become very unorganised with my time(or maybe I’ve always been and never noticed before🤔) and my sewing projects suffer a little bit.

I will slowly chip away at it and hope that I somehow manage to get both toile and real version done in time for the last day of #sewbloodpressure25.

Fabric: Toile - burgundy duvet cover. Final version - blue viscose linen fabric.

The Drama: I cut the wrong skirt pieces! I was doing my first Youtube LIVE and I wasn’t paying attention to what pattern pieces I was cutting.

The Win: I am using a double bed duvet cover, so there was plenty of fabric left to cut out the right skirt pieces.

Size: 4 bust, 8 waist, 10 hips. My measurements are B32.75’, W28.5’, H38’.

Rita Made This - Ellie Sweater (hack)

I can’t believe how much progress I have made on this sweater this week!

The bodices have been stitched together at the shoulders and I am finishing off sleeve number 2!

It helped that we had some long distance car journeys this week. We went to the beach one day for a few hours and another day we went to Abakhan Mostyn.

So between all these, I had about 6 - 7 hours of knitting.

The next step after finishing the second sleeve, is to embroider the lazy daisies all over.

Since the sleeves are knit flat, it will be easier for me to stitch them on at that point, instead of seaming the sleeves and sides together and then the daisies.

I have yet to decide on colours for the daisies, so I will be raiding my yarn stash very soon to see what I think will go well.

Yarn: So Crafty Aran Yarn(Cobalt)8575M

Size: S, but I have hacked the pattern to accommodate for a different yarn thickness, so it may not come out the intended size it was designed for.

Karas Knit Eng - Take It or Leaf It Sweater

I knit 2 swatches this week with the Yarnsmiths Create Super Chunky in white using two different needles(9mm and 10mm) sizes to check my gauge.

I am a bit on the fence with my colour choice, White, because it’s not a colour I would normally go for, but thought it would work well with basically all clothes.

To make the white more appealing to me, I have been thinking about adding silver thread, the same one I used a while back when I knit the pistachio colour bubble sweater.

It would probably be a good idea to make a test swatch with this silver thread to see if I like it before actually starting the sweater.

Yarn: Yarnsmiths Create Super Chunky from Wool Warehouse

Pattern: Take It or Leaf It Sweater from Karas.Knit.Eng.

Skill Builder of the Week

How to change a presser foot

Having run a few workshops now, I’ve noticed that many people think that changing the presser foot would be tricky, but it's actually really simple once you know how.

This can differ slightly from one sewing machine to the other, some snap on and other screw on.

The one I come across the most is the snap on version, so we will cover that today.

1- Raise the needle to its highest position and lift the presser foot.

2- At the back of the foot holder, there is a lever or button that you push in to release the presser foot. On my machine, it’s this black button, but some machines have a silver coloured one.

3- Position your chosen presser foot so that the small metal bar is in line with the groove on the presser foot holder

4- Slowly lower the presser foot lever so the bar on the presser foot snaps into the groove of the holder. If it doesn’t go in the first time, keep on moving the presser foot slightly until it snaps into place.

5- Lastly, raise the presser foot lever to see that the presser foot is securely attached.