Sleeves, Triangles, and the Arc T-Shirt

Last week’s post had (I thought) satisfied the head-scratching on using triangles as sleeves. But was it “correct”? Here’s a quick re-cap: This is how I thought the sleeves might be formed: Here it is tried in fabric, full-scale. It works OK, although I’m not sure how to control the width of the sleeve for…

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Thoughts on zero waste bias cutting

The bias cut slip dress/pinafore I started last week is practically finished. To re-cap, I’m exploring bias cut & zero waste for the September instalment of A Year of Zero Waste Sewing, a book I’m publishing as zines. I tried out some ideas I had using the slip dress pattern from Birgitta Helmersson’s new book,…

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Changing a Silhouette with Unexpected Armholes

Boho dress sleeve closeup

I came across this little drawing in my sketchbook, while I was looking for something else. It’s a drawing of a top I saw on Pinterest ages ago: The neckline is on one side and the sleeves are in asymmetrical positions. I imagine it’s in knit fabric with ribbing arms and waist. There’s no picture…

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Trying to fix the world’s problems, one pajama at a time

My children, who aren’t particularly “tidy” sleepers in bed, have been complaining that their pajama shorts cut them in half. You know what I mean by this – a kind of naturally-occurring pajama wedgie. Their pajamas are loose enough, but I told them that if you change position in bed, you often need to move…

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Zero Waste Oven Mitts, Episode III

Like a dog after a bone, I just can’t seem to let this challenge go! Episode I: The quest for the perfect oven mitt Episode II: The oven mitt report The story so far… Faced with the prospect of no usable oven mitts in the Haywood kitchen, our hero Liz Haywood embarks on a perilous…

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The Oven Mitt Report

Things haven’t been going all that well in Oven Mitt Land. To recap last week, after the oven mitt situation was declared “dire”, I resolved to make some new ones using fabric we had at home. I came up with some low/zero waste ideas, and this week I tried them out. I had two ideas,…

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The Quest for the Perfect Oven Mitt

Kitchen harmony took a dive on the weekend, when it was declared that the two (mis-matched) oven mitts currently in service were “unfit for purpose”. Maybe yours are in the same sad state as ours? I’ve been meaning to make some new ones for ages. Sure, I could buy some, but I could make some…

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A bra-making odyssey…but can I do it zero waste?

Folks, these are dire times: since Target Country closed their doors in April, there isn’t a bra shop within a 2-hour drive radius of here. As daughters have growth-spurt after growth-spurt, something must be done – but alas, the options are few. With these distances, it’s quicker to sew a bra than drive to the…

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Making a zero waste pattern

Making 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…

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Imagining the Magi – a trousers cutting challenge

Magi trousers 1

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…

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