My 2022 sewing summary

I’ve posted everything I made in 2022 to Instagram and it was interesting that I produced more items in 2022 than in the two previous years as I thought I’d spent more time away and therefore had less time to sew. 2022 started with a couple of Minerva projects early on and then I made […]

Sleeping Bag Puffa Jacket – I try Upcycling

Often on my semi-regular walks on the Downs, I have admired my friend’s lightweight down jacket that she wears when the weather has just a little nip in the air but it’s not cold enough for a big jacket. I continued to covet my friend’s jacket and also considered the ££££ demanded by outdoor apparel […]

Black Skinny Jeans from PatternLab Block

My latest jeans project uses the Pattern Lab system to hopefully get a good fit on these trousers. I’m using PatternLab.Ldn skinny jeans block with some black stretch denim from the stash. Here’s my Affinity Designer sketch for these classic-looking jeans. The denim is a lovely deep inky black and I decided to use white […]

Waffle Patterns Kaede Utility Apron

Out of the blue just before my Italian holiday, I was contacted by Yuki of Waffle Patterns. She was testing a new pattern. She must have read my mind because the latest pattern was a utility apron/belt. That’s a bit out of the ordinary, you may think but, for the longest time, I had been […]

Soft Suit Combo – the Trousers

For the last few years, I’ve been focused on perfecting the fit of my trousers and last summer I made the first of what is now a few pairs of linen trousers. I’ve had linen trousers in various colours over the years and they all were worn until they fell to bits. I’ve been meaning […]

Supercool – white linen trousers

Following along in trouser mode, here’s a quickie. I’ve wanted to make a pair of white linen trousers for the longest time. I once had a pair which I think came from Marks and Spencer’s many years ago. I wore them until they fell foul of my chubby thighs and I eventually mislaid them somewhere. […]

Making the Alice and Co Deauville shirt

I signed up for another sewing pattern test for Alice and Co patterns last autumn. Alice and Co have a nice selection of patterns that you could make a decent capsule from. Their patterns are more suitable for Beginners or Intermediate sewists and upwards with basic details and not many really complicated techniques. I tested […]

2021 in the Rearview Mirror

Oh gosh, the first week of 2022 has already gone by and I am not ready! I found myself busy doing 2021 things right up to the last knockings and so had not thought of the reviews, roundups and planning that were required to close down 2021 and set up 2022! I managed – just […]

Basics B*tches

As it’s approaching the time of year when we start thinking about glamour and glitz, who wants to know about what I made a lot of back in the summer – BASICS of course!

Jeans vs Anzu mash up

Earlier in the spring, I had the pleasure of testing the Waffle Patterns Anzu cargo skirt and while I was making it I thought would be brilliant as a pair of work pants. Now Yuki does have the pattern for a pants version with all the amazing pockets and attachments but I figured I could […]