Posts by lizhaywood
Free pattern ballerina slippers
Hello Everyone, May I present, for your sewing pleasure, this free pattern for ballerina slippers -my first ever downloadable PDF pattern. These are the slippers I made for my Jeans Recycling Challenge, where the challenge was to turn every part of an old pair of jeans into something else. Click on these for the pattern:…
Read MoreThe Jeans Recycling Challenge the final analysis
The Challenge: Transform a torn pair of jeans into something useful, re-using every part of the jeans. The jeans recycling challenge is now finished. I just couldn’t find a use for the final scraps; they were too scrappy. They didn’t end up in the bin -I added them to a cushion…
Read MoreThe Jeans Recycling Challenge the last leg
The Jeans Recycling Challenge: Transform a torn pair of jeans into something useful, re-using every part of the jeans. The story so far… I haven’t quite finished the jeans recycling challenge yet. I still have the slippers to sew, and some small…
Read MoreThe Jeans Recycling Challenge
The Challenge: Transform a torn pair of jeans into something useful, re-using every part of the jeans. These jeans belonged to my sister and were worn during The Maternity Years. What I have been wanting to make for a while is a jeans handbag, after a friend visited with one she’d made. There…
Read MoreYarn magazine issue 43: Getting closure
Yarn magazine issue 43 came out this week featuring my very last article, aptly named Get some Closure. It’s been almost six years since I began writing articles for Yarn, and ten years since they published my first project. There are no terrible reasons why I’ve decided to stop being a contributor; I’ve simply just…
Read MoreBook review Zero Waste Fashion
The book Zero Waste Fashion by Timo Rissanen and Holly McQuillan (Bloomsbury 2016) has arrived and I’m keen to share my thoughts on it with you. I ordered it last month when I wrote Considering zero waste fashion, which has become my second highest visited post. I cannot deny a frisson of excitement went through…
Read MoreSewing mythbusters: twisting thread
I’ve just tested a theory I heard of a long time ago and always wondered about. The theory is: When handsewing, does thread threaded from a spool twist more than if it were threaded from a bobbin? In other words, does it matter which end is knotted? Have you ever tried this to see? I…
Read More2 Good Reads
Lately I’ve been on a reading diet of fashion industry books, and just finished two really interesting ones. The Thoughtful Dresser: The Art of Adornment, the Pleasures of Shopping, and Why Clothes Matter by Linda Grant (Scribner, 2010) is a great book for reading in the bath while eating chocolate! It’s a book about…
Read MoreFree pattern: children’s shorts
Hi All, Last week’s pajama pants pattern draft has been tested on my favourite seven-and-a-half year old with great success! I made her a pair of shorts in a very brightly printed cotton. The fit is great and she really likes them. I followed the same draft with three changes: The crotch depth…
Read MoreFree pattern: pajama pants (or shorts)
Hello All, today here’s a simple draft for a pair of pajama pants. They could also be shorts, three-quarter length, or whatever length you like. This pattern is very nearly a zero-waste pattern. If your hip measurement is 39″ or less and your fabric width is 150cm, then you’ll have almost no waste at all.…
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