How I came to write the Zero Waste Sewing book

Last week, the Zero Waste Sewing book turned 3. Many thanks if you’ve bought a copy or borrowed one from the library. I hope you enjoyed reading and making things from it. I thought you might be interested in how I came to write this book… Back in 2016, I happened to read about zero…

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Applique to Zips: The Dressmakers Companion turns 4

The Dressmaker's Companion

The Dressmaker’s Companion has just turned 4 and I thought I would share part of the writing process: the index. I hope that doesn’t sound too dry and ordinary! (You can read my whole publishing story here.) I had always (mistakenly) thought of an index as a kind of expanded table of contents, but it’s…

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Turnin’ 3

It’s been 3 years since The Dressmaker’s Companion was published. Many thanks if you bought a copy or borrowed it from the library. The book has seen a bit of a revival during the pandemic – from people at home learning to sew? Because of Zero Waste Sewing? I can’t be sure. Here’s how I…

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My publishing story

My publishing story

Next month it’s one year since The Dressmaker’s Companion was published and I thought I’d share with you my publishing story.  It’s a bit long, so settle in… The patternmaking years You may know that I trained as a clothing patternmaker, back in 1990-91.  I was fortunate to find something I loved doing early on…

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Creating a book cover

Creating a book cover

The cover of The Dressmaker’s Companion has received many favourable comments, and you might be interested to read about how it was created. Because The Dressmaker’s Companion is a self published book, the cover was my responsibility.  All the advice I read on book cover design exhorted Don’t do your own cover!  This is great…

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