5 Ways to Wear a Beret

The Louvre Beret is a low or zero waste pattern, first published in TAUKO magazine last year. The copyright has now reverted to me, and the pattern is now in my shop. Please enjoy 25% off for the next month. Louvre has a YouTube sewalong – in the first few minutes I give a little…

Read More

New Pattern: Cotton Time Coatigan

Hello All, I have a new zero waste pattern, published in Japan’s Cotton Time magazine. It’s a coatigan – a kind of relaxed coat, combining the structure a coat with the softness of a cardigan. This opportunity arose via Mirai Pattern, who license and translate my zero waste patterns into Japanese. Cotton Time has featured…

Read More

A Pocket Story

Since last week’s post about the ROO pocket in TAUKO magazine’s Pockets issue, some really fab examples have popped up on Instagram. As part of TAUKO magazine’s celebration of pockets, I thought it would be fun to share a pocket story. Here’s mine: When I was a child, my Dad who was a life-long pocket…

Read More

New Pattern: ROO pocket

New year, new pattern. I’m excited to introduce a new pattern in TAUKO magazine, which has just come out. The theme for this issue is Pockets, celebrating pockets as a statement of style, function, and freedom. There are some really interesting and clever patterns in this issue, all of which can be viewed here. My…

Read More

New Pattern: Humpty Dumpty

Hi Everyone, I have a new pattern. It’s a zero waste Humpty Dumpty. This pattern was my workshop project for Making Zen earlier this year. It’s now got a bunch of extras. The Humpty pattern is in my shop now. Please enjoy 25% off for the next month. Humpty stands at 23.5cm/9″ tall (he’s unable…

Read More

The OTHER Max Tilke Trousers

I couldn’t help myself. From the moment I read PaperCrane’s comment two weeks ago, asking about the light blue trousers, I had to try them. For those just joining my trousers adventure, these are women’s trousers from South-Western China and illustrated in Max Tilke’s Costume Patterns and Designs. (The German edition can be viewed online,…

Read More

Finishing Tilke’s Chinese Trousers

During the week I finished off the Chinese trousers in Max Tilke’s Costume Patterns and Designs. I like them very much, and so does my teen who looks very cool in them. Read about them in last week’s post. Last week after sewing them, I discovered that I needed a zip to get into them,…

Read More

Making Max Tilke’s Chinese Trousers

I’ve been thinking about the Chinese trousers in Max Tilke’s Costume Patterns and Designs since I was alerted to an Instagram reel demonstrating their construction. It was just the nudge I needed to try them. I have the book at home, and looked up the page. They’re women’s trousers from South Western China (date? not…

Read More

Introducing Billy, the Zero Waste Toy Kit

Billy is zero waste DIY toy kit, designed by artist Meg Mader and myself. Meg painted the design, and I made the zero waste pattern and wrote the instructions. The kit is available in my shop now. Let me tell you more… Meg and I both live in South Australia’s Clare Valley, and have been…

Read More

5 Ways to Wear a Cropped Jacket

During the week, my copy of Cotton Time magazine arrived featuring the zero waste short sleeved jacket (see last week’s post). It’s a beautiful magazine, full of craft, crochet, sewing and bags, and those famous easy-to-follow instructions the Japanese are so good at. Here it is in the magazine: I’ve put together a couple of…

Read More