Simple sewing: When you’re not really feeling it.

At the beginning of the year, I said I was going to slow down my makes so that I could concentrate on drafting and fitting. Well, my creative impulses kind of ground to a halt. Not only has my sewing dried up to a dribble, but I did not really achieve any of the planning […]

Washed Denim Jumpsuit

If you’ve been around for a while you might remember #sewtogtherforsummer2019 when our assignment was to make a jumpsuit. I went a bit mad that year and created a total of five jumpsuits but was still eclipsed by the awesome Jen Legg’s 11! One of my suits was a self-drafted boilersuit style which I made […]

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 […]

I snoozed and so I had to hack M7969

A while back I kept getting notifications that Minerva was offering a free download of the popular McCall’s M7969 pattern. I thought that’s great, I’ll have to get that. Well, I kept seeing the emails and kept saying I was going to get it, and I finally got ready to download the pattern, only to […]

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 […]

Cloned Ponte Pencil Skirt

UFO alert! This project has been in the UFO pile for a long time and I’m not sure why. The only probable reason is that other more interesting things got in the way. One day I had both my sewing machine and overlocker threaded with black thread so I just said to myself. “Line up […]

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 […]

But you don’t do trends….. Soft Suit Combo Intro

I’ve said many times on this blog that I don’t like to follow trends, well apparently that’s not the case anymore. Out and about this summer, I’ve seen a lot of this look and I’m really into it. I’ve also been liking this a lot – a linen waistcoat. I’ve seen this a lot in […]

Sorbet season is here – self-drafted trousers in red shot linen

I’ve always loved linen trousers, especially on the hot days of summer. I’ve had several RTW pairs over the years and I always wore them to destruction. I’ve been meaning to make a pair for ages, but because I wanted to draft my own, it’s taken a while. I’ve also had a piece of beautiful […]

Floral Cuff Tee shirt Dress

This was another basic that I needed in my wardrobe. Tee shirt dresses are great in my book. Easy to make and more importantly easy to pack. I always like some of these for a summer trip. This dress is made with another of my own Tees developed from an RTW favourite. I’m calling this […]