It’s always fun to look at failed projects! Of course, beauty (or success) is in the eye of the beholder. According to my eye, these were fairly dismal results. Behold, exhibit number One: the Ines Sweater by We Are All Knitters, using their cotton pima yarn. Some serious sloppiness with this one, but I swear it’s the fault of the pattern design. It was a … Continue reading Five Sewing and Knitting ‘Misses’ of 2019
Time for my annual tradition of cheating on the Sewcialists’ Top 5 list and actually giving you a Top 7, because deciding is too hard! Vogue 9075 Jumpsuit: I *adore* this design, and could make a hundred more. I found it to be super-flattering and very comfortable to wear (the fabric is cotton with elastane). I blogged about it here. Next year I’d like … Continue reading 2019 Sewing Top Five
Hi friends! Happy holiday season to you! As we come to the end of another year, how about a fresh new challenge for a fresh new 2020? I’ve started up Slow Fashion 2020, where you decide what challenge you want to set for yourself in terms of being more sustainable with your clothing making/purchasing. As you probably know, textile waste is a serious problem, and … Continue reading #SlowFashion2020: Create Your Own Sustainable Challenge
I always enjoy reading (and sewing) along with Melanie’s Literary Sewing Circle. The latest book that Melanie chose for us to read was A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, a novel set in both Japan as well as a remote area of British Columbia, Canada. Nao is our young female protagonist in Japan, who is struggling with severe bullying at school, a … Continue reading Literary Sewing Circle Project: Jalie Rachel Top
Sometimes I really enjoy participating in the sport of Extreme Sewing. You know, that sport where you have an event to go to or some other drop-dead deadline to meet, and you decide at the last minute you have to sew something for it? My deadline was the Toronto Sewcialists Fancy Sewcial — a party for sewists to get together and ooh and aah over … Continue reading Extreme Sewing: Vogue 9075 Jumpsuit
I made this from Ikea fabric and whenever I wear it I just wanna shout, “START THE CAR!!” The pattern is the Surtout coat and jacket from Ensemble Patterns, cropped version. I was intrigued by the large lapels and boxy, cropped shape. (But note that I had a bit of a helluva time working out parts of the instructions. I don’t recommend this pattern for beginners!)I fear … Continue reading Ensemble Patterns Surtout Jacket
As I’m putting this blog post together I can’t help but think, gee, I look cute in this dress, if I do say so myself! Lol. There’s something I adore about shirt dresses. They are such classics, but they also feel modern and fashion-forward. I feel super put-together wearing this!I used the Alex Shirt Dress pattern from Sew Over It. It’s part of the “City … Continue reading Sew Over It Alex Shirt Dress Review
This is the McCall’s 7908 jumpsuit in stretchy denim. It pretty much combines a lot of current trends: it’s a jumpsuit with a bit of that utilitarian boilersuit look about it, and it has wide, cropped legs. No pats on the back for me, who in theory would like to sew more timeless pieces, but who in practice often jumps on the trendy bandwagon. (But you know … Continue reading M7908: A Charlie’s Angels Dream Come True
New word: sweatershirt. Not a sweatshirt, per se, but a top that looks like a tarted up sweatshirt made with sweater knits. I’m rather pleased with this one because: I got the pattern, Simplicity 0315, from a pattern swap (=free!) I used up a small amount of awkwardly-shaped leftover black sweater knit (only a few tiny scraps leftover!) I used a ready-to-wear sweater for the … Continue reading Sweatershirt and Joan Trousers
Toronto weather. Barely cracking double Celcius digits. IT’S MAY. Raining, like, ALL THE TIME. My sunglasses have been sitting, neglected, in the same spot for so long that there’s a sunglass-shaped outline in the coffee-table dust. COME ON. I overheard a woman on the subway the other day saying to her friend, “Alright, winter’s over. This is just harassment!” We’re DYIN’ over here. I need … Continue reading Refashion: Shirt Dress with Bow and a Dose of Bad-Weather-and-PMS-Induced Ranting
Frivolous At Last 