It was 20 years ago today
This week was our wedding anniversary and I got out my dress to try on. It last got an airing two years ago in this blog post. I can still get the zip up but the dress is uncomfortably tight. The days of trying this dress on are numbered: I got stuck both getting it…
Read MoreBook recommendation: Measure of a Man
Measure of a Man – From Auschwitz survivor to presidents’ tailor is the memoir of Martin Greenfield, considered by many to be the best men’s tailor in the United States. I read this book in one day! Martin Greenfield grew up in a Czechoslovakian village by the Carpathian mountains. When he was 15, he and…
Read MoreMust-have dress-ups: the bear costume
Here’s a statement you may or may not agree with: all households with children require a dress-ups box. Our household does, and has gone a step further by having an adult’s dress-ups box. I’m going to pause writing here because I know exactly what you’re thinking. No, it’s not an “adult” dress-ups box, it simply…
Read MoreVogue 2507, 30 years on
Not many people can say they still have something in their wardrobe they sewed 30 years ago and still wear. I realised that I do! I sewed Vogue 2507 when I was 16 years old in the late 1980’s. It’s designed by Claude Montana, whose runway collections didn’t appeal to me at the time. (I…
Read MoreA lifetime of sewing patterns: a tribute
Last week I got a call from a man offering me his late wife’s sewing patterns. Her name was Carol. I took the patterns to my sewing class, but before the class I looked through them all. Carol’s pattern collection reflected a lifetime of sewing, beginning in the late 1960’s with some cute maternity patterns…
Read MoreThe unexpected conclusion to the hug-me-tight experiment
Last week’s hug-me-tight experiment has taken an unexpected turn. You can read about the adventure so far here. This is the cutting concept I started with: I felt that the maroon double knit hug-me-tight that I was experimenting with was too short (it finished at my waist), although the sleeves were good and the collar…
Read MoreThe hug-me-tight experiment
Folks, I’m not sure what to call this garment I’ve been experimenting with this week. I’ve seen it called a hug-me-tight but does it have another name? Some sort of shrug? The cutting concept is very simple and can easily be zero waste: John Galliano did a very glamorous brocade hug-me-tight for Dior spring/summer 1998.…
Read MoreHappy 60th, Barbie
March 9th is the 60th birthday of the barbie doll. While there’s much to be read on the history of Barbie, today’s post is my tribute to my own. Yes, while Barbie is controversial and perpetuates unrealistic body expectations for girls who we’re trying to raise into confident, happy women who are comfortable with their…
Read MoreBehold my zero waste jeans
On the weekend I finished my zero waste jeans, and here they are! Read about my research and the beginning of my quest, cutting out, and the start of sewing them. The sewing turned out to be fairly straight forward, much like sewing ordinary jeans. There were some unusual shapes which were tamed as I…
Read MoreCheers to three years
We’re taking a little break from zero waste jeans this week to charge the glasses for The Craft of Clothes’s third birthday! I thank you all sincerely for reading, your lovely comments and helpful insights. There have been many hits and misses in my blogging/sewing life over the past three years. Let’s recap some of…
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