TILLY AND THE BUTTONS CREATES GORGEOUS, EASY-TO-USE GUIDES TO SEWING YOUR OWN CLOTHES
My name is Tilly Walnes and I’m the founder of Tilly and the Buttons, a company which creates gorgeous step-by-step guides to sewing your own clothes.
I started sewing my own clothes in 2009 as a creative outlet and a way to escape from everyday stress, and it quickly became an obsession. I fell in love with the process of dreaming up a garment in my head, cutting and stitching fabric, and using my hands to make something I could feel proud to wear, knowing that I’d made it myself.
My career has always been in learning – I had many years of experience designing national and international training courses before I decided to shift the topic to sewing. I wanted to help other people learn to sew their own clothes – at home, for fun, DIY style – with modern, friendly and accessible resources aimed at people who are coming to sewing now, with little – if any – experience. So many people say they’d been put off sewing by a scary teacher who criticised the teeniest mistake – while I’ll help you improve your sewing, my philosophy is that life’s too short to worry about every imperfection. The point is to have fun, enjoy the process, and be proud to say you made it yourself!
Tilly and the Buttons sewing patterns are now sold around the world, from Paris to Australia to Liberty of London, and have won awards for their fresh designs and clear instructions. I have written three popular books – Love at First Stitch, Stretch! and Make It Simple. I have taught many sewing classes and demonstrations, including for partners such as Janome, on shopping TV, and live on stage with Kirstie Allsopp at the Handmade Festival. I’m excited to be able to now teach you to sew from the comfort of your own home 🙂