Posts Tagged ‘books’
Tutorial: Tessellating Pattern Pieces
Tessellating is a concept I use sometimes when making zero waste patterns. It’s one way to add curves to a pattern. In this post I’m going to show you how I do this, and some examples of tessellated sewing patterns. This is a fairly long post, so settle in 🙂 Tessellations are shapes that fit…
Read MoreFinished! The Shirt from Couture Zéro Chute
Continued from last week… The shirt I’ve been sewing, from the French book Couture Zéro Chute (translated: Sewing Zero Waste), is now finished. It turned out great and I’m very happy with it. After last week’s start, there was “only” the collar, hem and buttons to sew. The collar is interesting; it’s a conventional shape…
Read MoreMaking the Shirt from Couture Zéro Chute
Late last year I reviewed the book Couture Zéro Chute by Charline Durpoix and Mylène L’Orguilloux. The title translates as Sewing Zero Waste, and it’s a collection of six base patterns with many options for combining or modifying them. As part of the review, I sewed the elastic waist trousers. They were really great, and…
Read More1920s, 1930s, 1940s: More Gems From The Sewing Library
Following on from last week’s post covering the 1950s, 60s and 70s in the Museum Section of my home sewing library, here’s some beaut books from the three decades before. 1940s The 1940s is represented mostly with Home Ec textbooks produced by the Education Department of South Australia. 1930s Neither of these books has a…
Read More1950s, 1960s, 1970s: Gems From The Sewing Library
Do you have a sewing library at home? I bet you do! I’ve been cultivation a sewing library since I was a fashion student in 1990. It’s a collection of sewing, fashion and patternmaking books, but it also has a Museum Section. The Museum Section contains old books that I inherited, found at garage sales…
Read MoreMaking Wendy Ward’s zero waste trousers
Some time ago I bought Wendy Ward‘s new book How to Sew Sustainably. Actually, I borrowed it from the library and liked it so much I bought a copy. I really liked the trousers and dress made using the same cutting concept, and wanted to try them. Cleverly, the dress is the trousers turned upside…
Read MoreRecommended Reading: Disney, Fibershed and Francis Marshall
A mixture of great books have arrived from the library lately, all very different but so interesting. The Art of Disney Costuming – Heroes, Villains and Spaces Between by Jeff Kurtti and the Staff of the Walt Disney Archive (2019 Disney Enterprises Inc) Everyone at home loved this book! It’s a big book, almost A3…
Read MoreApril and May: A Year of Zero Waste Sewing
Earlier this year I started a new book project, A Year of Zero Waste Sewing, to be published in installments as a zine. The first one is complimentary – read about this project and download your free copy here. April and May are now ready, and in my shop. They’re $AU5 each (+ tax). Here’s…
Read MoreRecommended Reading: Talley, Fassett and McMaster
Yes, Talley, Fassett and McMaster sounds somewhat like an academic paper, but they’re the authors of three interesting books I’ve just finished reading. The Chiffon Trenches – a memoir The Chiffon Trenches – a memoir by Andre Leon Talley (2020 Harper Collins). (Note: small very font.) I was alerted to this book after reading Andre…
Read More3 places to get design ideas
Sometimes I get asked where I get ideas from. I get great ideas from all sorts of places, but primarily these three… Professional library I’ve been slowly building an at-home professional library for some decades now, and I now that I work at home I find it extremely helpful. Some of the places I’ve worked…
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