The beards are back!
This week we dug out the knitted beard collection for some shepherds to wear in a Christmas play (I’m on the costume committee). You may remember these from a few years back (here and then here). We had a lot of fun trying them on. They look best with hats. The two loopy beards tie…
Read MoreRevisiting the puce floral
Almost exactly a year ago I made a raglan sleeve dress from the book Built by Wendy. The original post with the finished dress is here. (Here’s where I started the project, and here’s progress part-way through after excessive dithering and indecision.) I wore it last summer and liked it, but every time I put…
Read MoreImagining the Magi – a trousers cutting challenge
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…
Read MoreHappy Corduroy Day 2019
In this rural antipodean outpost, it appears that I alone am still flying the flag for Corduroy Appreciation Day, long after the world has moved on to denim, drill and gabardine. Corduroy Day is today, the 11th of November, the date which most closely resembles the wales of corduroy (11/11). You may remember previous corduroy…
Read MoreMy journaling journey
Way back in 2002, an artist friend recommended keeping a design journal. I did, and it turned out to be excellent advice. I now keep 5 types of journals, which sounds obsessive but each serves a purpose and they’re not all used daily. None of them are the beautifully presented, artistic books one sees on…
Read MoreZero waste tie front top
I’ve been sewing (for me) one of the projects from my forthcoming book Zero Waste Sewing – the tie front top. Here’s what it looks like in the book: And here’s mine: This is the fourth version of this top I’ve made; some of my sewing students have made it too. For this one, I…
Read MoreCountry show day
On the weekend was our town’s one-day country show. Regrettably, our family couldn’t go, but we still entered some things in handicrafts and cooking. (Read about last year when I entered some dressmaking, the year before when I wished I had, and the year before that when we went for the first time.) I entered…
Read MoreWhat happens after size 16? A discussion on plus-size grading.
Much talk has taken place in the sewing world on plus sizes, inclusivity and diversity, both in size ranges offered and models photographed. I was very conscious of this while doing my new book, Zero Waste Sewing, and this blog post by Song of the Sewing Machine reminded me again how frustrating is it to…
Read MoreComing soon: my new book Zero Waste Sewing
Hi Everyone, since mid-last year I’ve been working on a new book and it’s now ready to show you. Zero Waste Sewing is a collection of 16 garments all designed to use 100% of the fabric, with no scraps or waste. If you’re looking for a new sewing adventure, creating a slow wardrobe for yourself…
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