Tutorial: Tessellating Pattern Pieces
Tessellating is a concept I use sometimes when making zero waste patterns. It’s one way to add curves to a pattern. In this post I’m going to show you how I do this, and some examples of tessellated sewing patterns. This is a fairly long post, so settle in 🙂 Tessellations are shapes that fit…
Read MoreFree Pattern: Zero Waste Eye Mask, and how to sew one.
The zero waste eye mask quest is now complete. I’m very happy with how the mask turned out, and my teen and I have been wearing the samples for the past week. If you’d like to embark on your own quest, I’m here with the pattern, instructions and handy hints 🙂 Read about this pattern…
Read MoreTesting out the new zero waste eyemask
Following last week’s eye mask quest post, I’ve sewn a proper sample to trial. Actually, I sewed two (and was going to make a joke about a double-blind trial, reducing bias, but it all sounded funnier in my head). The reason I sewed two was to try out the suggestions in last week’s comments for…
Read MoreThe Quest for the Perfect Eye Mask
In my childhood, eye masks were only worn by Americans on TV. Carol Brady wore one, so did Maxwell Smart and Holly Golightly. It was something only worn by pampered movie stars. No-one I knew wore one. After all, we’ve got eyelids haven’t we? Isn’t it dark when we go to sleep? But somehow I’m…
Read MoreThe Tale of the Gigantic Waistband
Amongst some work trousers Mr H brought home from the op shop was pair of mid-brown RM Williams (an iconic sort of brand here in Australia). Back when he bought them, he didn’t bother to try things on in the shop – this has since changed – and the trousers were too big and too…
Read MoreFinished! The Shirt from Couture Zéro Chute
Continued from last week… The shirt I’ve been sewing, from the French book Couture Zéro Chute (translated: Sewing Zero Waste), is now finished. It turned out great and I’m very happy with it. After last week’s start, there was “only” the collar, hem and buttons to sew. The collar is interesting; it’s a conventional shape…
Read MoreMaking the Shirt from Couture Zéro Chute
Late last year I reviewed the book Couture Zéro Chute by Charline Durpoix and Mylène L’Orguilloux. The title translates as Sewing Zero Waste, and it’s a collection of six base patterns with many options for combining or modifying them. As part of the review, I sewed the elastic waist trousers. They were really great, and…
Read MoreThree Ways to Sew a Crownless Sunhat
A crownless sunhat has been on my mind for some time, but not literally…until now! I wondered if the low waste sunhat pattern I made last year (or indeed, any sunhat) could be converted to a crownless version. If a person had too much hair to fit within a hat’s crown, it could poke out…
Read MoreThe fabric made me do it
Just before Christmas, I broke my five-year zero waste sewing streak with a Burda pattern. I wanted to make my older teen a Christmas dress, as a surprise, using a spectacular wax print fabric that I already had. However, the print had a huge repeat of 80cm and really needed to be positioned symmetrically on…
Read MoreWrapping up 2024
Hi Everyone, welcome to the final post for 2024. The blog is now on annual leave until late January-ish. The Craft of Clothes staff Christmas party was on last week – see photo above. Normally it’s just me, being a one-woman business, but Mr Haywood and the younger Haywoods came too. They have all helped…
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