Sewing

The making of clothing: book reviews

Over the last few years I’ve managed to read several books which have changed my views about the manufacture of clothing, and which have influenced my choices when sewing. I’m going to do a quick and dirty review of four of them in case anyone is interested. The first book, The travels of a T-shirt in the global […]

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family sewing, Sewing

Shorts and trousers

Once Mark retired he began to hanker after some different sorts of clothes, and his first request was for some shorts. He is wearing the first pair I made him with his new sports shirt. These shorts are made from some really nice fabric that I had in my stash, and it was only after […]

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family sewing, Stashbusting

Shirt Sewalong

The January theme of one of the Facebook groups I belong to – Sewalongs and Sewing Contests – is Making Shirts, hosted by none other than David Page Coffin, author of The Shirtmaking Workbook.  I was away for the first week of the SAL and will be away for the last week, which presented me with a little problem. I […]

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Sewing, Stashbusting

Karen drape dress: another go

After my mixed feelings about my first Karen drape dress from Mariadenmark, I decided to have another go, without modifying the pattern as I went along. This one is from a rich, plum poly/viscose knit that I’ve had in my stash for years. I decided that, being polyester, I could sacrifice the fabric if need be, […]

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self-drafted, Sewing, Stashbusting

Split bottom top take 2

Following on from my first split bottom top, I made a second one to wear on the Singapore Perth leg of our trip home from our recent holiday, as we were arriving in the middle of the day and I knew it would be hot outside. This is taken after a very long flight from […]

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Scout tee, self-drafted, Sewing

Bespoke culottes

I’ve made a pair of culottes, or are they a bifurcated skirt? Hmmm! This is a pattern that I drafted in my pattern making class using my pencil skirt block as the basis. This surprised me, I thought I would use my trouser block, but no, they are based on a skirt. Anyone who has […]

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Sewing, Stashbusting

Jungle January dress (if you squint)

It’s January again which means that it’s time to sew jungly things as urged by Anne at  Pretty Grievances. The minute I saw the Karen drape dress from Maria Denmark, I knew I had to have it – drapey in a Japanese way without all the faffing around. I bought the pattern with the launch discount whilst I […]

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Sewing, Travel

Missoni makes

I had a couple of pieces of Missoni wool in my stash that I decided to make up for this trip. First up is a jumper made from a classic Missoni chevron stripe. This fabric came from Tessuti, Sydney. I made the jumper using the same self-drafted pattern that I used for my red top and […]

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Photography, Travel

London by night

This is a follow up post to the London by day post. The rain held off one night so we headed off to take some night-time photos. These were all taken by Archie with assistance from his parents! Big Ben with a big red bus passing by. My job was to spot the buses coming […]

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Travel, vintage

A tiny bit of fabric shopping in London

I had very little space in my suitcase so I determined to just buy a tiny bit of fabric, and I wanted it to be Liberty. Yes, the Liberty store, but I didn’t buy anything in spite of the sale. The store is always worth a visit though as the building is so stunning. Brick […]

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