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Pattern cutting tips
I’ll be helping someone sew a dress soon, and thought some information about cutting out patterns that I’ve gathered for that person would be of general usefulness. There are hows and whys and...
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Braided and ready
The dyed twill tape I showed you in October is now a braided strap. I decided to add some color and interest via a running stitch along the full length of three of the strands, with three colors of...
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A flatiron in the sewing room?
I’m conducting some in-home sewing lessons for a ten-year-old right now, and realized after the first lesson that we hadn’t made any arrangements for ironing. We’re making a dress so ironing is not...
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Plannerama
I have a crafty new planner. Previously, I’d gotten a hardbound planner that had 2-page months between sets of 2-page weeks. However, it was too large for my purse, and I found myself failing to...
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Messenger Bag
And there was bag. The main pocket has no additional pouches or pockets inside it, but there is a flat full-size pocket on either side opening to the outside. The flap, which covers nearly the entire...
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On the uses of tracing paper
Early this year I used tracing paper in two different ways in short order, so I thought I’d write a little post about it. The main way was for patterns to stitch through, whether by machine or by...
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A new family member…
Some people lust after the latest gadgets. I lust after the small appliances of the 1950s. I was unable to resist an amazing mid- to late 50s Morse sewing machine at a charity benefit sale – I tested...
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Drawstring Sachets
My sister wrote to brainstorm remedies for a stale closet, and in that conversation I offered to make some muslin bags for baking soda, dry rice, or scented materials. They are simple but not boring so...
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Let’s 80s this up!
I retrieved a red stretch-velvet dress from my parents’ garage sale pile. Such promise! But look at that grody symmetry and those heinous sagging shoulders. This dress needed some help. A...
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Easy Belt-Looping
My sister wanted me to retrofit some pants with belt loops, which meant constructing the belt loops from scratch. Always efficiency-minded (hahaHAHAHAHAHA), I tried to determine how to create them in...
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New Tote
Ever since downsizing my purse to a wristlet in July I’ve intended to sew a tote-style purse it would fit inside for when I need to carry a bit more – for travel or shopping, say. I finally got around...
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Dragons!
My husband and I were dragons for Halloween! Thanks to my mother-in-law for the only photos I have of us wearing them! At that party my sister-in-law made a Christmas request, so I’ve actually made...
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A fibrous self-portrait
Over on Aquilino Arts, we planned to lend some personality to our site by creating an artistic version of a photograph of ourselves. As the crafter of the group, my medium was fiber. I’m quite pleased...
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Easy Circle Patterns
I generally find it (relatively) easy to construct patterns for sewing that are rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular, etc – anything consisting of not too many straight sides. For the longest time...
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Weavers: Relaxation, Invitation, Ornamentation
I’m in an art exhibit for the first time ever! [This is more a function of me getting in gear than anything else, but it’s exciting nonetheless.] A set of three mixed-media fiber art pieces, with...
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Travel Craft Case
Beginning a monthly (or perhaps twice-monthly) craft night at the Sew-op gave me the urge to sew up a travel craft case that was more of a hussif than a bag. This was the spur for making my host of...
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To Mend Or Not To Mend
In the last few years I’ve become much more aware of my consumption habits. Until recently this was coupled with a distinct shortage of pocket money, and the combo led me to focus on buying less in...
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Jeans mending advice
I’ve mended a lot of jeans over the years – my hubby tends to tear a knee out midway through the jeans’ lifespan, and my jeans simply wear thin before I feel like they’re done with this world. Here’s...
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Shrugging it up
Over the summer I sewed a lot. Clothing items, from commercial patterns – each of those somewhat rare for me (aside from boxer shorts). Specifically, I made myself a collection of lightweight shrugs...
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A little glamour in the morning
I’d been wanting a new lightweight robe for a while. My current one was a friend’s big pajama shirt originally, with the sleeves shortened. While it had a lot going for it, it wasn’t very long and it...
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