Posts by lizhaywood
The zero waste geometric top
It’s less than 7 weeks until Zero Waste Sewing is set free in the world! Or unleashed, as my husband is fond of saying. Leading up, I’ll be making some of the projects from the book on this blog, and today here’s one of them. The Geometric Top is composed of 2 squares, 2 rectangles…
Read MoreSewing a perfect bias binding facing (a tutorial)
One of the techniques I used in Zero Waste Sewing was facing an edge using bias binding. Specifically, I used it for necklines, but it also works well for other edges such as armholes and pocket openings. The edge can be straight or curved. The finished edge looks clean with a single line of visible…
Read MoreHitting the virtual road: the Zero Waste Sewing blog tour
Happy New Year All! Here’s to a year of creativity, fun and fulfillment. Coming up in March, Zero Waste Sewing will be available in shops and there’ll be a one-week blog tour leading up to Publishing Day, for your reading pleasure. Each day, Zero Waste Sewing will be reviewed on a different blog. I thought…
Read MoreLast post for 2019
Hi Everyone, Well, here we are at the last post for the year and we’re counting down til Christmas. Many thanks indeed for reading, writing lovely comments, and getting excited about my book. Zero Waste Sewing will be published in just under 3 months, and before then I’ll be show-and-telling more projects in the book,…
Read MoreMaking a zero waste pattern
We have passed the 100 day mark and now there’s only 96 days to go until Zero Waste Sewing is published. I thought I would talk about how I make a zero waste pattern and show you an example from the book. A zero waste pattern uses 100% of the fabric, with no scraps or…
Read MoreThe beards are back!
This week we dug out the knitted beard collection for some shepherds to wear in a Christmas play (I’m on the costume committee). You may remember these from a few years back (here and then here). We had a lot of fun trying them on. They look best with hats. The two loopy beards tie…
Read MoreRevisiting the puce floral
Almost exactly a year ago I made a raglan sleeve dress from the book Built by Wendy. The original post with the finished dress is here. (Here’s where I started the project, and here’s progress part-way through after excessive dithering and indecision.) I wore it last summer and liked it, but every time I put…
Read MoreImagining the Magi – a trousers cutting challenge
Next month my children will be in a Christmas musical play, which means line-learning in front of the bathroom mirror, Christmas tunes in everyone’s heads, and, naturally, costume making. One of my girls is part of the Magi, and requires loose drapey trousers for her costume. I was given a piece of maroon polyester from…
Read MoreHappy Corduroy Day 2019
In this rural antipodean outpost, it appears that I alone am still flying the flag for Corduroy Appreciation Day, long after the world has moved on to denim, drill and gabardine. Corduroy Day is today, the 11th of November, the date which most closely resembles the wales of corduroy (11/11). You may remember previous corduroy…
Read MoreMy journaling journey
Way back in 2002, an artist friend recommended keeping a design journal. I did, and it turned out to be excellent advice. I now keep 5 types of journals, which sounds obsessive but each serves a purpose and they’re not all used daily. None of them are the beautifully presented, artistic books one sees on…
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