Making Wendy Ward’s zero waste trousers

Some time ago I bought Wendy Ward‘s new book How to Sew Sustainably. Actually, I borrowed it from the library and liked it so much I bought a copy. I really liked the trousers and dress made using the same cutting concept, and wanted to try them. Cleverly, the dress is the trousers turned upside…

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Makin’ Mittens

Mittens are not something one sews often in Australia in November. Actually, no-one even wears mittens here, at any time of year, (gloves are the hand covering of choice, if anything) but I think they would be great for bike riding when it’s cold. I badly wanted to try this low-waste mitten pattern by Maureen…

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Making the Jones Trousers

The Jones trouser pattern is a new zero/minimal waste pattern by Emily Klug of Goldfinch Textile Studios. You may remember last year I successfully made her Simone overalls. The trousers have a high waist with elastic back, inverted box pleats at the front, a slightly dropped crotch and plenty of ease throughout. There is a…

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Making Fibr & Cloth’s ZW Iris blouse

It’s rare that I sew something for myself that’s not part of work, but I was a bit taken with Fibr & Cloth Studio’s Iris blouse. I liked the soft tie neck and the long sleeves. Iris is essentially a classic square-cut shirt, with a choice of cuff finishes. There are also instructions for turning…

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Styling the Simone Overalls

Simone overalls with ties

The overalls I finished last week have been working their way into my wardrobe. I realised I haven’t worn overalls since I was a preschooler – all those years missing out on such a comfortable garment! I had a fun time trying the overalls on with different things to see what looks best. (Do you…

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Making the Simone low-waste overalls

The Simone Overalls are a low-waste pattern developed by Emily of Goldfinch Limited, a sustainable textile studio. We met on Instagram, and she was writing the overalls pattern as I was doing the Xanthea top. I suggested we do a pattern swap, since overalls and t-shirts go well together. Xanthea was ready first and Emily…

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Making Mompei trousers

Mompei trousers

Weaver Kaz Madigan of the Curiousweaver studio alerted me to a free pattern on her website for making mompei trousers, a traditional Japanese pattern. The pattern was originally published in Curious Weaver mag 25 years ago and is ideal for narrow widths of handwoven fabric. A Japanese friend said her grandma used to wear them.…

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Summiting Mt Kiabi

Yay! I finished it! Or rather, them. It’s been a slow but fun process constructing Zero Waste Design Online’s Kiabi windbreaker (read the first post where I started this project). Last week I decided to make two separate windbreakers rather than one double-layer reversible one, and this week I finished them. How much time did…

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The Kiabi windbreaker: change of plans

Serious sewing has begun on the Kiabi windbreaker, a zero waste pattern which you can read about in last week’s post. I’m in familiar sewing territory with this project, because I used to work in a factory that made similar things. Don’t envy me; it was during The Great Parachute Tracksuit Era, circa early 1990s.…

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Making a zero waste Kiabi windbreaker

The Kiabi windbreaker is a gender-neutral zero waste pattern originally developed by French brand Kiabi in collaboration with Mylène L’Orguilloux, co-founder of Zero Waste Design Online Collective . It’s been adapted into a pattern that can be sewn at home. The pattern is available here. Here’s a short video showing the design process (4:23min) The…

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