Book Review: Couture Zéro Chutes
It’s my pleasure to review Couture Zéro Chutes by Charline Durpoix and Mylène L’Orguilloux, which was published last month. The title translates as Sewing Zero Waste, and the book is a collection of six base patterns which can be combined or modified to produce many more styles. Charline Durpoix is a sewing influencer, known in…
Read MoreThe Grey Jacket Makes Progress
To tell you the truth, I was having doubts about this jacket. I’m making a hooded modular jacket as a sew-a-long project for Zero and Zen, a course I’m co-hosting with Kate Ward (we are already underway, but it’s still possible to sign up HERE). The first post on this jacket is here. The jacket…
Read MoreThe Floral Trousers Revamp
On my to-do list for some…years? has been to refashion a pair of floral trousers, because I just haven’t been able to work them into my wardrobe. The trousers are the wrap trousers from Zero Waste Sewing, but these were an early prototype when I was making the pattern. Here’s what they look like in…
Read MoreStitching Away at the Zero and Zen Jacket
It’s school holidays here, and sashiko stitching has begun in earnest on the grey jacket I’m making for Zero and Zen. There’s still time to register for Zero and Zen. It’s a course I’m co-presenting with artist Kate Ward, where you’ll make your own minimal/zero waste jacket and add sashiko stitching for a beautiful and…
Read More3 Ways to Wear a Beach Towel Kaftan
The Beach Towel Kaftan is a new pattern, made in collaboration with Nicole Akong. Read the story of this pattern HERE. Nicole and I each made this kaftan, and my version is sewn from fluffy white bath towels, making it a great backdrop for all sorts of colourful accessories. Here are three ways to wear…
Read MoreZero, Zen, and the Free Hood Update
The popular modular jacket from A Year of Zero Waste Sewing now has an option for a hood. The update is free but you’ll need the original pattern, which is still available as a zine (ie booklet) for a very modest sum, or in A Year of Zero Waste Sewing. The pattern is the same…
Read MoreNew Pattern: Beach Towel Kaftan
Hi All, I have a new pattern, a kaftan cut from beach towels that’s almost zero waste. It’s a collaboration with alterations styling guru Nicole Akong, who I met on Instagram. If you’re a Great British Sewing Bee watcher, Nicole was in the 6th series. The pattern can be ordered here, and there’s an option…
Read MoreDad’s Jumper (a true story)
Today is Father’s Day here in Australia, where Dads are eating breakfast in bed and doing family stuff. An enjoyable day for many, and a reflective day for others. Father’s Day was never a big thing in our family. According to my dad, Father’s Day is a bad idea – fathers should be celebrated everyday!…
Read MoreCuriosity and the Two Hats
(or the boring title: An analysis of textile wastage and yield: a case study comparison of two head coverings.) Lately I wondered how much of a fabric saving the zero waste warm hat delivers, compared to a conventional pattern. The zero waste warm hat is a new pattern, and the culmination of 18 months of…
Read More1920s, 1930s, 1940s: More Gems From The Sewing Library
Following on from last week’s post covering the 1950s, 60s and 70s in the Museum Section of my home sewing library, here’s some beaut books from the three decades before. 1940s The 1940s is represented mostly with Home Ec textbooks produced by the Education Department of South Australia. 1930s Neither of these books has a…
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