Cutting zero waste sleeves from triangles
Zero waste sleeves have been on my radar lately. Sleeves were the theme of the newly-published September zine for A Year of Zero Waste Sewing, and I looked through lots of new and old sleeve ideas while writing it. Of course I turned to the influential and significant Zero Waste Fashion Design to see what…
Read MoreMaking Nancy Zieman’s bias spiral
While I was writing the September zine (on bias cut) for A Year of Zero Waste Sewing (see last week’s post), I chanced across some nifty ideas, including Nancy Zieman’s bias spiral method. It turns a rectangle into a bias tube with a point at each end. The late Nancy Zieman had a long-running TV…
Read MoreSeptember and October: A Year of Zero Waste Sewing
Hi Everyone, A Year of Zero Waste Sewing – A year of exploration, making and musings on zero waste patterns and clothes is a book project I started nearly 2 years ago (Mr H says it should be called TWO Years of Zero Waste Sewing). I’m experimentally publishing the book in instalments as zines. The…
Read MoreIt’s back! Making Zen FREE online retreat
It’s been a quiet past 6 days here at Haywood Homestead, after we lost all Internet and phone services – it’s just been restored today. However, it’s been a very creative time without the distraction of Instagram and emails, and a little part of me is sorry to let that go! On the subject of…
Read MoreSlipper Rescue
Have you ever mended something, and then discovered (to your delight!) that the mended version is far superior to the original? That’s exactly what happened when I repaired my slippers on the weekend. Most people wouldn’t bother repairing slippers, especially an inexpensive pair from Target like these, however there’s now nowhere to buy slippers here.…
Read MoreA Better Hat
Last week’s zero waste hat pattern has had a few tweaks and been re-made in a more…erm…exciting fabric (it’s not hard to beat khaki!). I had mixed feelings about the khaki hat, but on the same day as making it, we had a family dinner and it was enthusiastically tried on by all and declared…
Read MoreThe Hat Challenge
I happened to see that #sewover50 on Instagram have a mini challenge to sew a hat. I thought I might sew one, maybe using the free hat pattern on this website. Then I remembered I had a prototype for a zero waste hat lying around behind my sewing machine – maybe now is the time…
Read MoreDiscovering Halston’s bias cuts
A beautiful book I ordered on Halston (at great expense to the management) arrived during the week. I’m too young, and lived in the wrong country, to remember Halston’s fashions. I was a child in the swingin’ 70s, spending much of it on an actual swing. I phoned Mum to ask if she remembered fashions…
Read MoreThoughts on zero waste bias cutting
The bias cut slip dress/pinafore I started last week is practically finished. To re-cap, I’m exploring bias cut & zero waste for the September instalment of A Year of Zero Waste Sewing, a book I’m publishing as zines. I tried out some ideas I had using the slip dress pattern from Birgitta Helmersson’s new book,…
Read MoreBias-cut, tweed and Birgitta Helmersson’s zero waste slip dress
The bias-cut fun continues here at Haywood Homestead, in spite of the recent failed bias-cut slip. This time I’m experimenting with creating bias fabric and then cutting a zero waste pattern from it. The pattern I’m using is Birgitta Helmersson’s slip dress from her new book Zero Waste Patterns. The added catch is I’m using…
Read More