Making SKFK’s Zero Waste Habene Dress

SkunkFunk (SKFK) is an ethical clothing label in Basque country, Spain, and were early on the scene with using zero waste patterncutting for some of their garments. Their zero waste garments come with the pattern printed on the label as proof of authenticity. All of their zero waste patterns have been compiled into a booklet…

Read More

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 More

Free Pattern: Zero Waste Eye Mask, and how to sew one.

The zero waste eye mask quest is now complete. I’m very happy with how the mask turned out, and my teen and I have been wearing the samples for the past week. If you’d like to embark on your own quest, I’m here with the pattern, instructions and handy hints 🙂 Read about this pattern…

Read More

Testing out the new zero waste eyemask

Following last week’s eye mask quest post, I’ve sewn a proper sample to trial. Actually, I sewed two (and was going to make a joke about a double-blind trial, reducing bias, but it all sounded funnier in my head). The reason I sewed two was to try out the suggestions in last week’s comments for…

Read More

The Quest for the Perfect Eye Mask

In my childhood, eye masks were only worn by Americans on TV. Carol Brady wore one, so did Maxwell Smart and Holly Golightly. It was something only worn by pampered movie stars. No-one I knew wore one. After all, we’ve got eyelids haven’t we? Isn’t it dark when we go to sleep? But somehow I’m…

Read More

Finished! 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 More

Making 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 More

New Pattern: Zero Waste Belt Bag

Hi Everyone, I have a new pattern. It’s a belt bag that slips onto a belt, and is a great little pattern for offcuts of denim. It’s in my shop now. Please enjoy 25% off for the next month. If I’m honest, it’s technically not a new pattern. I made it almost two years ago…

Read More

Six, Wait! NINE Ways to Style Linen Trousers

The linen elastic waist trousers made for last week’s book review of Couture Zéro Chute came out so well they deserved another post. The trousers are now the property of my younger teen, who happens to be the same height and size as me (for now…I’m sure a growth spurt is on the horizon and…

Read More

Book Review: Couture Zéro Chute

It’s my pleasure to review Couture Zéro Chute by Charline Durpoix and Mylène L’Orguilloux, which was published last month. The title translates as Sewing Zero Waste, and the book is a collection of six base patterns which can be combined or modified to produce many more styles. Charline Durpoix is a sewing influencer, known in…

Read More