Love Sewing Magazine - mini giveaway!

Since I started sewing I've more or less given up reading magazines like I used to. I still make a beeline for Vogue at the hairdressers, but I never buy it any more and I always end up flicking through it rather than devouring it like I did in the olden days. I think it's because I make most of my own clothes now, so feel even more disconnected from high fashion magazines. I will admit to a weakness for interior mags from time to time, (I LOVE nosing around people's houses), but the main thing I really enjoy reading about is sewing. There have been a couple of sewing magazines that have come and gone in the past few years, but since the demise of Cloth and then Crafty, there hasn't been much out there to float my boat. I subscribed to Mollie Makes for a while and although the photography and interiors were beautiful, the constant crocheted vegetables and lack of anything to actually read started to get a bit tiresome. So I have high hopes for Love Sewing magazine, who published their first issue this month (no pressure then!)

It doesn't disappoint so far. There are lots of projects to try out, with a good balance between dressmaking, accessories and quilting.  On the dressmaking side, there's a free downloadable Brigitte shift dress pattern from Simple Sew patterns (dress shown on the front cover). Basic instructions are included in the magazine, but if you want detailed step-by-step instructions, hop over to the Thread Carefully blog where they're holding a sewalong. In the magazine there's also a tutorial on how to hem a pair of jeans (which sounds basic but is actually really useful!) a girl's skirt project and how-to articles on underlining and zip insertion. On the accessories side there are at least five projects, including the cute bow clutch bag on the front cover, a scarf, napkins and baby accessories.

I was pleased to see so many indie patterns reviewed in the magazine - on the double page above they feature Gather, Sew Over It and Oliver + S. There's also an interview with sewing blogger of the moment Tilly Walnes…

...a sneaky peak behind the scenes at Backstitch….

and a Q and A with May Martin. Oh yes, and a certain lace trimmed Peter Pan collar tutorial was mentioned, which was a lovely surprise!

They have some great contributors on board, and above all there was plenty to read, which really pleased me. I do like to actually read magazines that I'm interested in, so if there was one thing I'd change it would be to have one or two fewer projects and more feature articles to pore over. But that's just me. Overall, I think it's a great first issue and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Talking of which, it's been a popular launch and the first issue has sold out in a lot of places. But never fear… I have a spare copy! The original issue I ordered got lost in the post, a replacement was sent and then the original copy turned up. As it's in high demand, I'm going to offer the spare copy as a giveaway on my blog. The giveaway is for Issue One of Love Sewing magazine which comes with a free Kirstie Allsop FQ and a booklet of Liberty sewing patterns and ideas. To enter, just leave a comment on this post by midnight GMT on Monday 19th May. The winner will be chosen at random after this date and notified by email. On this occasion, the giveaway is open to UK readers only I'm afraid. But don't worry, worldwide readers, I have a few giveaways planned soon that are open to everybody.

Have a great weekend! x