Posts by lizhaywood
“Flo-Jo of the Pool” cuts a dash at carnival!
Do you remember Florence Joyner? She was a US athletics star of the 1980’s. Part of her fame was her long painted fingernails and figure-hugging flamboyant athletics outfits. She favoured fluro and bright colours, one-legged leggings (ie- one leg bare), big hair, hooded leotards and bold jewellery. It goes without saying that you need to…
Read MoreThe Mystery Skirt part 3: Revealed
Hi All, The Mystery Skirt got finished. You can read how I started it in Part 1 and Part 2. The skirt is from Sato Watanabe’s Stylish Skirts. Mine has emerged slightly different, but I’m very happy with how it turned out, and the fabric was a dream to sew (although difficult to photograph for…
Read MoreThe Mystery Skirt Part 2: The Trial of the Toile
On the weekend I sewed a toile for the “Tweed skirt with panel detail” from Stylish Skirts by Sato Wantanabe. I wrote about this skirt in my previous post. I was reminded how hard it is to fit oneself. I was also reminded how unlike this quickly-sewn calico skirt is to the one I’m eventually…
Read MoreThe Mystery Skirt -part 1
I have been reading Stylish Skirts by Sato Wantanbe. Sewbusylizzie reviewed it here I’m rather partial to Japanese pattern books, with their clear visual instructions, occasional quirky designs and forlorn looking models. Stylish Skirts (which uses dressmakers models instead of the forlorn models) is a little different to other Japanese pattern books in that there’s…
Read MoreWelcome
Hello and welcome to my first ever blog post. I hope to share, inform and entertain on all things dressmaker-y, knitting and fashion. About me: I trained as a clothing patternmaker and worked in the fashion industry for twenty years, mainly ladies wear. I was so fortunate to work at many interesting places with talented,…
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