Dot n Cross

Dot n Cross Sewing and pattern cutting workshops in Cornwall and across the UK. We teach you how to make your dream clothes that fit and reflect your style

Making something for me!Teaching sewing and pattern cutting most days, and doing freelance work on other days, means I d...
02/09/2026

Making something for me!

Teaching sewing and pattern cutting most days, and doing freelance work on other days, means I don't often find time to make clothes for me. But as I was going on holiday, I set myself the deadline to make a shorts co-ord to take with me. I had bought this gorgeous fabric from Truro Fabrics 🪡 Est. 1984 probably more than a year ago. It's Sevenberry cotton and I wanted to play with the direction of the stripes.

I used my block to draft a top pattern, making sure the side seams were straight up and down so that they could follow the edge of a vertical stripe. I didn't actually measure the width but rather luckily, it basically finished on the edge of a stripe, so then I put the back side seams on the other edge of the stripe to match.

I made the bust dart perfectly horizontal so I could match up the stripes there, then made the panel at the bottom the same width of 6 stripes so the hem could finish on blue. I left the side seams of the lower panel open so it had splits, for a bit of ventilation!! I finished the neck and armholes with 'inside binding' where you bind the edge first, then turn it in and topstitch it, to make a narrow finish. I cut these on the bias out of a finer fabric so it wouldn't be too bulky.

Then I went on to the shorts pattern, again I matched the stripes at the side seams so it looks seamless, even though it has inseam pockets. The CF fell on half a stripe so when sewn up it looked like a full stripe. All rather lucky! I made the side seams straight again, and then did a deeper pleat on the front and the back had elastic. I put in a stronger fusing on the front waistband so that it wouldn't buckle or twist.

They were lovely and breezy to wear and I'm looking forward to pairing them with other things in my wardrobe.

What have you all been sewing this summer?

Yesterday I helped a 1-1 client with a custom pattern. Swipe to the end to see the original top.They were finishing thei...
06/08/2026

Yesterday I helped a 1-1 client with a custom pattern. 

Swipe to the end to see the original top.

They were finishing their dress block course and we had a couple of hours spare at the end of our last session. She had commented on how much she liked my top and so we decided to pattern cut a version of my top for her, using her block. My top is shop bought and 'fully fashioned' knit, meaning the pieces were knitted to the right shape before being joined. She wanted to make it in a woven fabric, so the design is slightly different as our pattern has got bust darts for shaping, and slightly more flare at the hem.

First we worked out the proportions, using her previous block toile. We drew on new neckline and armhole, and then where the diagonal seams should go, how long it should be and where the hem points should end on her.

Then we planned out the pattern using a 'draft'. This is basically making a template of the pieces that you keep as your master, and then you trace off the individual pieces from that. As it was asymmetric, we needed the do the full front and back, not just half like in symmetrical patterns.

We then traced off our pieces, did a bit of dart manipulation to loose the waist darts and swing them into the bust darts. We opened the waist darts on the lower front panel into the hem to add a little more fullness there, and swung the neck dart into the hem at the back for more full was as the back hen. We also added extra fullness on the left front piece that flicks out a bit, and then joined that panel to the back at the side seams, so it was grown on.

Finally we checked everything and then she'll be adding seams allowance at home. All that took about 2 hours (granted, there was two of us working on it, one of them being a professional pattern cutter) but it is very possible to see designs you like, plan out your own version, and make the pattern using your personal block.

How I made my prom dress...The unexpected joy of being on the Gemma Daly podcast has been looking back at how I got into...
22/07/2026

How I made my prom dress...

The unexpected joy of being on the Gemma Daly podcast has been looking back at how I got into pattern cutting and the fun projects I worked on when I was much younger. This is the prom dress that I spoke about on the podcast, that I am still proud of, 23 years later. In our A Levels Textiles class, our final project was making a prom dress. My idea was a spiral cut dress, with lots of panels and trying to erase the side seams. Yes, I know.... it seems like I was always a pattern cutter. I always loved making a pattern and figuring out how something went together. I wasn't one for using a shop bought pattern, I saw pattern cutting as part of the process of making something myself.

Final Garment: Here's the finished dress in red satin. I love how the different panels catch the light in different ways (I wonder how much attention I paid to grain lines when I was 17!?) I am still so proud of this dress. What an achievement, and it is so great to look back on the development process I went through to get to the end result.

Scroll through for explanations of my development process ---->

Toile 1: I drafted the original pattern using Winifred Aldrich's method, to make a simple dress pattern. I fitted it, and then I drew my spiral seams where I wanted them. To make the pattern I transferred the new seam lines onto the original pattern, ideally with a tracing wheel, but I'm not sure I had one then, so I have no idea how I would have done it! Then I could eliminate the side seams, by sticking the panels together. I remember having trouble with the bust shaping on one side, probably because I didn't have a seam line passing close enough to the bust point. But remember, I was 17 and just making it up as I went along!

Toile 2: I cut and sewed the next toile in white cotton. No idea how I got into it as it had no CB seam at this point. I added in a fishtail/godet at the CB. It needed a lot of refining to get it fitting nicely. I decided to cut through the CB of the top 3 panels for the zip and so that I could refine the fit. I pinned all my alterations on the body and then transferred them back to my paper pattern.

Toile 3: I was ge

The dress I pattern cut for Cate Blanchett to wear to the Cannes film festival, designed by Mary Katrantzou.I spoke abou...
22/07/2026

The dress I pattern cut for Cate Blanchett to wear to the Cannes film festival, designed by Mary Katrantzou.

I spoke about this dress on the Gemma Daly podcast, episode out today. I wanted to show you what this dress looked like! Swipe to see the toile.

This dress had a lot of internal construction, there was a very tight fitting corset, then a sloped waistband that was higher at the front, and a high low hem bubble skirt. The whole thing was fully beaded in a 'paint by numebrs' print design. Meaning one half of the print was an outline of flowers in black and white with numbers, and the other half was 'coloured in' in stunning beadwork flowers. The final garment was so heavy because of the beadwork, that it needed stuffing with tulle, plus metal boning. Listen to the episode to see the solution I came up with! And click the link in the show notes to see Cate wearing the dress on the red carpet.

Let me know if you have any questions on how I tackled this complex design.

At today's social sewing session we had...- A king size duvet cover from Asda, with tomatoes print on one side and vario...
08/07/2026

At today's social sewing session we had...

- A king size duvet cover from Asda, with tomatoes print on one side and various condiments on the other, being turned into a pin tuck dress. (Immediately runs to Asda to buy)

- a Tara Viggo being cut out

- Pattern tracing for a full length beautiful coat. Looking forward to seeing the progress on this!

- An apron and a dress being finished off. This apron was in gorgeous waxed fabric.

- Plans put in motion for this fabric to be sewn into a Merchant & Mills dress. We did a full bust adjustment and a few other adjustments on the toile to make the fit just right.

Thanks all for coming in this heat.. luckily the pattern room was nice and cool.

Definitely one of my most interesting class requests ever!A student on the Falmouth University MA costume course is maki...
07/07/2026

Definitely one of my most interesting class requests ever!

A student on the Falmouth University MA costume course is making a mermaids tail. She had the models legs made in foam in 3D, so that we could 'drape' onto it. We made the pattern by pinning the fabric onto the legs, drawing on the side seams, notches and darts, then taking it off the legs and tracing it onto paper.

Scroll to the last video to see the AMAZING scales that she has 3D printed onto mesh fabric.

The plan is to make the tail in neoprene, and mount the scales on top. There is going to be a lot of development and trials with this one, as to how to join the scales panels together, as they can only be made in 30x30cm squares, and then how to mount that onto the neoprene.

What I didn't photograph was the monofin that the model will also wear. The student will make a silicone piece that sits on the fin, and then the neoprene tail will roll down over it to cover the wearer's feet. This tail needs to work too - it will be tested in the Cornish seas! Let's hope she she swims like the mermaids of old!

What an exciting project, I was so pleased to be involved in the development process!

This week I've been....PHOTO 1 - Monday & Tuesday were website admin days. I need to switch my Squarespace website over ...
03/07/2026

This week I've been....

PHOTO 1 - Monday & Tuesday were website admin days. I need to switch my Squarespace website over from version 7 to 7.1 and I've been putting off for a year!

PHOTO 2 & 3 - Wednesday was my last class handworked for the foreseeable. It was a complete beginners sewing class with 4 lovely ladies. We had such great chats about sewing with grandmothers, the joy that they didn't need to tack their pieces together and that I let them sew over their pins!

PHOTO 4 - A 1-1 class on Thursday morning, fitting a bodice block. I forgot to take photos later on in the process, so this was quite early on when we were checking the bust darts and shoulders. We'd already done quite a bit of work before cutting out to balance the front and back lengths - shortening the back bodice and then shortening the front through the bust dart only, keep the CF length the same.

PHOTO 5 - last class of the week, a 1-1 class on Thursday afternoon, making a lightweight denim skirt. This is the second session on this garment with the same participant. Today we managed to put in the zip, after practising on scrap fabric first. Can you believe this was the first invisible zip she'd ever put on a garment!? It looks so neat and the waistband lines up perfectly!

Have a lovely weekend everyone xx

10/06/2026

Clone your clothes workshops Bristol.

I had a great time last week getting out of Cornwall and heading to Bristol to teach 2 days of workshops. Lots of people had lightbulb moments where something clicked for them to do with pattern cutting and construction. You really can tell a lot from an existing garment, as to what order seams have been sewn, by the way they are arranged. We also discussed seam allowance, grain lines, notches, truing up, sleeve heads and how they relate to their corresponding armhole, ease and lots more!

I am looking forward to seeing these patterns sewn up to make the replica of the existing garment.

Well done to everyone and thanks again to Lydia at Made My Wardrobe for having me. I hope to be back soon!

Sewing and Pattern Cutting Workshops at CAST in Helston My summer series of workshops are live and available to book no...
02/06/2026

Sewing and Pattern Cutting Workshops at CAST in Helston

My summer series of workshops are live and available to book now. I've got lots of different classes available, ranging in abilities and different skills to learn.

I'm Helen and I teach people how to make clothes that fit. I'm a London fashion week pattern cutter, I worked for prestigious brands such as Victoria Beckham, Vivienne Westwood and Karen Millen. I've been teaching home sewers since 2019 and I love passing on industry level skills and techniques, so people can up their sewing skills.

Link in bio for booking, I hope to see you there!

I also teach 1-1 classes at my studio in Falmouth, and I teach more group classes at different venues across Cornwall, in Penzance, Penryn and near Newquay. Check out my website for more info.

1-1 class to take in a prom dress.This was a lovely session with a mother and daughter. The daughter's prom is in July a...
01/06/2026

1-1 class to take in a prom dress.

This was a lovely session with a mother and daughter. The daughter's prom is in July and she has fallen in love with this stunning gown. The only problem.... It was the last one in the shop and it was 4 sizes too big...

They emailed me to see if it was something I could help with. I asked to see detailed pictures before saying yes, there are some designs where it's possible to take in by this much, and some that I wouldn't touch with a barge pole!

This one, whilst time consuming, was doable thankfully. First we had to painstakingly unpick all of the lace motifs around the top of the dress and the waist, on both side seams. This took over an hour with two people working on it. Then we unpicked the waist at the side seams so that we could fit the bodice section. We needed to take in 8cm on each side. (Total 16cm). We pinned with safety pins first, then measured everything to be sure. We decided to do french seams, as we couldn't get inside the dress to take in internally, as all the other lace motifs were still holding the inner and outer layers together. We also had to re-angle the under arms so that they matched up again at the side seam. Luckily this will be covered by the lace motifs when we hand sew them back on, so we topstitched this section.

In the next session, we will sew the boning back onto the sides seams, take in the side seam of the skirt and the skirt lining, then resew the waist seam. Finally, the lace motifs can be hand sewn back over to cover the joins.

What a lovely project for a mother and daughter to work on together. And such a meaningful garment to work on! I just know it's going to look stunning.

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