Sewing
Absolutely riveting: re-using jeans pockets
The jacket I’m making from old jeans now has pockets unpicked off one of the original pairs. (Are you also making a jacket from jeans? The previous posts are here and then here.) I’ve had lots of useful advice for re-using the jeans pockets; thank you for all the ideas. The two big issues were…
Read MoreProgress report: denim jacket
A couple of weeks ago I began making a jacket out of denim jeans. The jeans had been rejected by the opshop and I used 3 pairs. The jacket is my sew-a-long project for Zero and Zen, a course I’m co-presenting with Kate Ward. I’ve since started the sashiko stitching which is going across the…
Read More10 DIY Present Ideas
It’s coming up to that time of Christmas and end-of-year gift giving. The truly organised will have started present-planning back in June or July, but that isn’t most people! If you’re planning to make gifts, here are 10 ideas: 1. Water bottle holder (free pattern) The pattern and instructions are here. Make one from a…
Read MoreJacket Making for Zero and Zen
During the week I started sewing a jacket as my project for Zero and Zen, an online course that artist Kate Ward and I are offering. We offered this course last year and it was very popular; it combines sewing a modular jacket (with me) with learning to stitch various sashiko stitch patterns (with Kate),…
Read MoreMaking Nancy Zieman’s bias spiral
While I was writing the September zine (on bias cut) for A Year of Zero Waste Sewing (see last week’s post), I chanced across some nifty ideas, including Nancy Zieman’s bias spiral method. It turns a rectangle into a bias tube with a point at each end. The late Nancy Zieman had a long-running TV…
Read MoreSewing success! A bigger bumbag
The larger size bumbag I started sewing last week is now finished (and my children’s predictable bum jokes continue…). I’m so thrilled with how this bag turned out! I took the zero waste waist bag pattern I made 2 years ago and simply got it printed it out at double the size, to make a…
Read MoreOverlocker Woes: The Curse of the Lower Looper
Dear Lizzy, How do I stop that blasted lower looper from coming unthreaded all by itself, especially starting off? Dear Friend, Yes, it happens to me too. Sometimes the thread on the looper jumps out of its hole and keeps on sewing – HOW? I can offer no absolute solution, but here’s a list of…
Read MoreFinishing that Sashiko Jacket
Have you ever started a project without thinking the design through clearly? “Guilty, your honour!” I’ve now finished adding sashiko stitching to the jacket I cut from an old army blanket, which I’ve been making for Zero and Zen, a course I’m presenting with textile artist Kate Ward. (Btw, it’s not too late to register…
Read MoreSashiko meets Jacket
Right at the beginning of this year, my friend Kate Ward of ZenStitching said I’d like to make myself a jacket and put some stitching on it. Would you like to do a collaboration? Would I! Kate is a textile artist who is passionate about recycling and mending, and is also the person who really…
Read MoreThe Last Book Week
Here in Australia, it’s Children’s Book Week. Primary schools across the country are reading, visiting libraries, doing book activities, and arriving at school for one day dressed as their favourite book character. Or whatever character can be conveniently tacked together from available costumes at home. I understand that some parents loathe the dress ups part,…
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