Posts by lizhaywood
A lifetime of sewing patterns: a tribute
Last week I got a call from a man offering me his late wife’s sewing patterns. Her name was Carol. I took the patterns to my sewing class, but before the class I looked through them all. Carol’s pattern collection reflected a lifetime of sewing, beginning in the late 1960’s with some cute maternity patterns…
Read MoreThe unexpected conclusion to the hug-me-tight experiment
Last week’s hug-me-tight experiment has taken an unexpected turn. You can read about the adventure so far here. This is the cutting concept I started with: I felt that the maroon double knit hug-me-tight that I was experimenting with was too short (it finished at my waist), although the sleeves were good and the collar…
Read MoreThe hug-me-tight experiment
Folks, I’m not sure what to call this garment I’ve been experimenting with this week. I’ve seen it called a hug-me-tight but does it have another name? Some sort of shrug? The cutting concept is very simple and can easily be zero waste: John Galliano did a very glamorous brocade hug-me-tight for Dior spring/summer 1998.…
Read MoreHappy 60th, Barbie
March 9th is the 60th birthday of the barbie doll. While there’s much to be read on the history of Barbie, today’s post is my tribute to my own. Yes, while Barbie is controversial and perpetuates unrealistic body expectations for girls who we’re trying to raise into confident, happy women who are comfortable with their…
Read MoreBehold my zero waste jeans
On the weekend I finished my zero waste jeans, and here they are! Read about my research and the beginning of my quest, cutting out, and the start of sewing them. The sewing turned out to be fairly straight forward, much like sewing ordinary jeans. There were some unusual shapes which were tamed as I…
Read MoreCheers to three years
We’re taking a little break from zero waste jeans this week to charge the glasses for The Craft of Clothes’s third birthday! I thank you all sincerely for reading, your lovely comments and helpful insights. There have been many hits and misses in my blogging/sewing life over the past three years. Let’s recap some of…
Read MoreStitchin’ away at those zero waste jeans
Work is part way through the zero waste jeans project (last week I cut them out and the week before I did research and procrastinated). I’m happy with how things are going so far and I’m enjoying putting them together. I forgot to buy a zip so I’ve done everything possible before the fly front…
Read MoreZero waste jeans: The Quest continues….
I’ve just cut out my first pair of zero waste jeans and the pieces are sitting here waiting to be sewn. Read my first post on this here. The jeans have all the details of regular jeans: 5 pockets, fly front, waistband and back yoke. The aim was to make a zero waste layout so…
Read MoreOn a quest for zero waste jeans
An item which isn’t on my sewing bucket list (but should be) is to make a pair of zero waste jeans. What do I mean by zero waste jeans? I mean a pair of jeans cut using 100% of the fabric, with no scraps, offcuts or waste. The layout needs to fit neatly within the…
Read MoreFree pattern: 3-gore wrap maxi skirt
Welcome! The Craft of Clothes is back from holidays. While on holidays, a reader named Ella commented on my 6-gore wrap skirt post, asking if it could be made as a 3-gore (the wrap skirt is a free pattern on this website). I hadn’t ever considered making it with three gores, but sure! I suddenly…
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