6 Ways to wear a tunic dress

A Year of Zero Waste Sewing is now published, and I thought I’d show you some ways to wear one of the patterns in the book, the pleated top (which can also be made as a dress like I’ve done here). This pattern is still available on its own for the bargain price of $5AU…

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New zero waste pattern: Optimatium dress

Hi Everyone! I have a new zero waste pattern. Introducing the Optimatium dress. The pattern is in Tauko magazine, Issue #9. The theme of the magazine’s issue is Blue. My take on the theme was “Blue can be conservative, in a good way”, and Optimatium is a conservative dress. Optimatium is Latin for conservative or…

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September 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…

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Thoughts 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,…

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New Pattern: Petrea Dress and Blouse

Hi Everyone, I have a new pattern. Introducing Petrea, a dress and blouse. The pattern is in my Etsy shop now – please enjoy 25% off for the next month. This pattern comes in twenty sizes, to fit an 81cm/32″ bust to a 178cm/70″. The dress is zero waste and has generous in-seam pockets, and…

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Xanthea as a Dress: Free Pattern Update

It’s been a long time brewing, but finally I’ve nailed a dress version of the very popular Xanthea top. Xanthea is a zero waste, bias cut t-shirt for wovens or knits. It comes in 19 sizes, to fit up to a 117cm/70″ bust, and it’s very economical on fabric. It has a long sleeve option,…

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Celebrating 23 years!

It’s that time of the year again, where champagne is chilled, heartfelt love notes are written and the wedding gown is given an airing. Yes, it’s wedding anniversary time. Here we were on the big day… My wedding dress, me-made 23 years ago, has been getting alarmingly smaller over the past several years. I’d like…

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New pattern: the Smith Pinafore Dress

Smith Pinafore dress

Hi Everyone, I’m excited to introduce a new pattern: the Smith Pinafore Dress. It’s in my little Etsy shop now; please enjoy 25% off during October. This pattern comes in 12 sizes, from an 87cm/34″ bust to a 142cm/56″ (but can actually be made bigger than that). It’s designed for traditional non-stretch (rigid) denim and…

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Celebrating 21 years

Wedding dress 3

It’s our wedding anniversary, and I thought I’d give the dress an airing. Trying on this dress feels like the glamorous antithesis to the hospital scrub sewing which has gripped our household for the past couple of weeks. To be honest, I was apprehensive about trying it on, in case I got stuck like last…

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Country show day

Country show dress

On the weekend was our town’s one-day country show. Regrettably, our family couldn’t go, but we still entered some things in handicrafts and cooking. (Read about last year when I entered some dressmaking, the year before when I wished I had, and the year before that when we went for the first time.) I entered…

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