Destination: Quant

Mary Quant exhibition

Mum and I got back from a road trip last week to see the V&A’s Mary Quant exhibition in Bendigo, Victoria. We drove from Adelaide, 8 hours away. Mum did the driving and I navigated with an old-school paper map on my lap. When we got really lost we used the car’s sat nav! We…

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Sandie goes ultra-rural

Sandie shirt with ruffles and zip

This week I’ve got some fun variations of the Sandie shirt to show you. Sandie is a new minimal waste pattern and it’s in my shop now. Please enjoy 25% off during May. But first, remember last week I told you about the real Sandie? Here’s a photo of her when she was young. I…

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New Pattern: the Sandie shirt

Sandie shirt

Finally! Introducing my new pattern, the Sandie shirt. It’s in my shop now; please enjoy 25% off during May. This pattern has taken a long time to develop and write, and it’s the most ambitious one I’ve attempted yet. I’m extremely happy with it – the samples have firmly worked their way into my wardrobe…

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Me Made May, 3 days in…

Me Made May 2021

May started 3 days ago and with it my pledge for Me Made May: to wear me-made clothes every day for the month of May, striving for “exciting new combinations and fresh interpretations of well-worn favourites” As an addendum, I’m aiming to wear me-made both top and bottom, with one of them preferably a zero…

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Two for Twenty-two

Two for Twenty Two

It’s our 22nd wedding anniversary this week, so I thought I’d try on my me-made wedding dress. I last tried it on in 2017, 2019 and 2020 (take a look at these if you like looking at wedding photos). To be honest, I was doubtful whether the dress would fit this year, but I managed…

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I’m doing Me Made May 2021

Me Made May 2021

It isn’t May yet but I’m planning to participate in Me Made May again. It will be my 5th time. Me Made May is an annual event which you can read more about here, where you wear your me-made clothes during the month of May, as a way of wearing them more often, or in…

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Blast from the past: 1991 grad collection

1991 grad parade collection sketches

While digging around in the shed in last month’s cleanup, I found a box containing some of the pieces from my graduation collection from fashion college. I was 18-nearly-19 when I graduated with an “Advanced Certificate in Pattern Technology” and my three-piece collection was called Cycle into Streetwear. The header picture in this blog post…

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Okay, final words on the zero waste undies

Zero waste gusset on undies

Thank you everyone who’s followed and participated in these blog posts on Zero Waste Wardrobe’s free underpants pattern. There were lots of good ideas on leg bands, gussets and bottom cover. The first post on these is here and the second is here. Last week I had the situation of a non-zero waste gusset in…

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Revisiting the zero waste underpants

New zero waste undies cut out

I’ve been thinking about the zero waste underpants I made last week from Zero Waste Wardrobe’s free pattern. Since then, some others have tried the pattern. Donna-in-the-comments made some in swimwear fabric. She left the legs unhemmed and cut a conventional gusset from a different fabric. @duckgoesoink made a beautiful red pair with lace trim.…

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Zero Waste Underpants

Zero Waste Underpants

Yep, on the weekend I made a pair of zero waste underpants. The pattern is by Zero Waste Wardrobe; it’s a free pattern that’s part of a personal design project by clothing and costume designer Saara Jolkkonen. The mission of the project is to provide a free (creative commons licensed) collection of zero waste patterns…

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