Sewing

A scrounged blouse

The September theme for Make a Garment a Month over on IG is “Scrounging” and this blouse is properly scrounged – I think I appropriated it from Sarah (workspace fads) studio. I can’t remember whether I fished it out of a bin or just stuffed it up my jumper, but I’m pretty sure I was […]

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Sewing

A slightly different collection of makes

I consider myself a garment sewer but occasionally I will make something a bit different. Over the last two days I’ve made some things that are a bit out of the ordinary for me. First up is a knife roll for Archie to take on a road/camping trip. I was a bit hopeful I could […]

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dyeing, Sewing

Fibremood Ulima

The latest issue of Fibremood magazine (Edition 25) is out and there are some really lovely patterns in it. This time I chose the Ulima which means “astute or wise”; well I think I was pretty wise to choose this lovely pattern, which is a little different from my usual choices, and which will be […]

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Sewing

Indigo dyed Quilla

When I cut out the Fibremood Quilla from the gorgeous silk damask tablecloth, I also cut one from a vintage cotton damask tablecloth and the two couldn’t be more different. I cut out the pieces and then played with shibori stitching. I did folds and a pattern of stitching (to be honest, I’ve forgotten what […]

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Sewing

Shibori/Boro hat

I’ve been busy indigo dyeing and some of the shibori techniques require a “buffer” which is a small piece of fabric stitched at the beginning and end of the shibori to create a clean beginning and end. I finished up with quite a few interesting pieces of fabric that were too small to do much […]

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dyeing

Shibori Kila tank

I was inspired by my class with Cathy Moon to play with more shibori and indigo dye, and by Katherine of Bloom’s Endless Summer to try the Allie Olson Kila Tank. The Kila Tank is designed for stretch knits. It has a slight racerback design with neck and armholes bound with either the same fabric […]

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Sewing

Silk damask tablecloth to Quilla top

I’ve been busy sewing but not much blogging, which I thought I’d better rectify. Some time ago I was given a set of three vintage tablecloths (from the 1950s or 1960s perhaps) made from silk damask; a little one, a medium one and a big one. They are exquisite, but they’ve seen some good times […]

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Sewing

Shibori and Indigo: a match made in heaven

Immediately after I finished the Fibres West 2023 residential programme, I was lucky enough to take someone’s spot in Cathy Moon’s two day Shibori class. It was fabulous and I’ve been completely distracted by the process ever since. I did the class with Megan from Meggipeg, and did enjoy the handstitching elements. It’s so exciting […]

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dyeing, Sewing

Mordant workshop top

As mentioned in a previous post, when I was doing the Mordant Printing Workshop with Julie Ryder at Fibres West 2023 I found the front and the back of a top. With permission from Julie, I painted it with mordant and dyed it with marigold. I’ve never done mordant printing before and I have to […]

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Sewing, Zero waste

Bryer Skirt

The Bryer Skirt, from the zero waste designer Liz Haywood, was bought whilst I was at the Fibres West residential conference; whilst I was in bed in fact. I therefore couldn’t make it immediately, but luckily I acquired fabric at the garage sale whilst I was there and decided to make my first iteration from […]

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