The curse of the elastic waist

elastic waisted skirt front waist

Dear Friends, have you ever made something that deep down you knew wasn’t ideal but secretly you hoped would work out?  Like, for example, an elastic waisted skirt? I made myself an elastic waisted skirt to wear last summer; I wore it only once.  It was a foolish notion for someone who doesn’t really have…

Read More

Yarn magazine issue 41: All laced up

Yarn mag issue 41 front cover

Issue 41 of Yarn magazine came out this month, featuring my article on designing your own lace with a companion project, the leaf and caterpillar scarf (it’s the orange scarf on the cover).  I used the project as the design example in the article.  The scarf was returned to me last week, just in time…

Read More

Like or loathe it: tailors chalk

I would say that most home sew-ers don’t use much tailors chalk, because generally we use paper patterns that are pinned to the fabric, not cardboard patterns that need tracing around. I would also say that most home sew-ers don’t like using tailors chalk, mainly because it’s hard to get a fine line.  There are…

Read More

Let’s play Lego!

lego people with tablecloths

For some time now I’ve been meaning to make a Lego play mat.  The ideas is you play with Lego sitting on a circle of fabric, then when it’s time to pack up you push the Lego into the middle and the fabric becomes the holder.  I had sort of imagined loops of fabric around…

Read More

“Flo-Jo of the Pool” cuts a dash at carnival!

spotty bathing ensemble head and shoulders

Do you remember Florence Joyner?  She was a US athletics star of the 1980’s.  Part of her fame was her long painted fingernails and figure-hugging flamboyant athletics outfits.  She favoured fluro and bright colours, one-legged leggings (ie- one leg bare), big hair, hooded leotards and bold jewellery. It goes without saying that you need to…

Read More

The Mystery Skirt part 3: Revealed

Liz Haywood modeling finished mystery skirt

Hi All, The Mystery Skirt got finished.  You can read how I started it in Part 1 and Part 2. The skirt is from Sato Watanabe’s Stylish Skirts.  Mine has emerged slightly different, but I’m very happy with how it turned out, and the fabric was a dream to sew (although difficult to photograph for…

Read More