Notes From Neptune

I write about people, places, and things.

WAS2017 #3 – The Ginger Jeans

One of the hardest things to do when you take up a craft like sewing is to judge how difficult a particular project might be, or how tedious you might find it to put together. I have wanted to make jeans for a couple years, and I’ve procrastinated on making them that long because of both these things. I was sure that putting them together–zip fly! all that topstitching! fit.. Read More

WAS2017 #2 – Moji 2: The Moji-ening.

Savvy readers will remember last summer I made a pair of lineny pants. Extremely savvy readers may remember this direct quote from the entry introducing those lineny pants: this fabric is woven SO LOOSELY. I not only got the aforementioned holes in the inseam after two wearings, but the reinforced crotch seam started to fray on the butt. WTF Robert Kaufman? I ran through Evelyn’s darning program (not very neatly, I.. Read More

WAF2016 #6: The Schoolhouse Tunic

I told you guys a I sewed a thing this past fall. And I really really did. Pattern is The Schoolhouse Tunic from Sew Liberated, fabric is some of the lovely gray-on-gray stripe brushed cotton from Moda’s Dapper Luke collection (that I got from the shop, of course). I cut a straight 12, like I did with my last SL pattern, the Clara Dress. The only change I made was.. Read More

WAS2016 Project #6: Butterick 5639 Dress

There are days in the summertime in New York (and I am certain other places as well) that it’s so hot and humid that you want to wear the absolute bare minimum of fabric that modesty dictates you must. This dress is meant for days like that. A crazy rayon challis I found on the remnant rack at P&S Fabrics (RIP, my first fabric store in the city), this material.. Read More

WAS2016 Project #5: The Iris Shorts

Continuing on the pants-type theme I’ve got going, I made some shorts! These are Colette’s Iris Shorts (pattern is out of print but still available as a download) from Cotton + Steel’s amazing Les Fleurs collection, a collaboration with the Rifle Paper Co. The pattern was a piece o’ cake. I even went crazy and added single-welt pockets to the back because MOAR POCKETS ALWAYS. I flat-felled all the seams.. Read More

WAS2016 Project #3: Moji Pants

Well, I made my first pair of pants that weren’t pajamas. Though, in all fairness, these are pretty much pajamas. Fabric is Robert Kaufman’s linen chambray in a pretty denim-navy color. Pattern is the Moji Pant from Colette’s Seamwork magazine. I loved the way these were styled so much in the pattern photo I tried to replicate them as closely as possible… with a few big exceptions. After reading a.. Read More

Almada Robe

I think 2016 has become The Year of the Repeat for me. I’m reknitting a lot of sock patterns I’ve knitted before (not that you’d know that… I need to show you some socks, huh?), and remaking a lot of things I made once but didn’t get quite right. And this is another one. Savvy readers will recall that some time ago I made a bathrobe. I made it out.. Read More

Desert Swing Tank

Yeah, it’s wrinkly. But that’s because I’ve been wearing the crap out of this thing since I finally hemmed it a couple weeks ago. Once upon a time, I started getting boxes from Stitch Fix. They’re usually well-curated, and it’s a lot of fun to open a parcel full of things you will very likely love. But on occasion (two, so far), one of the things I love is just.. Read More

Summer Quilt

A couple years ago, I got us a new bedspread from West Elm. It is glorious. It is a velvet quilt that feels like sleeping under a soft lead blanket. I love it immensely. Unless it’s summer, that is. In summer, all those little velvet piles seem to cling to you like tongues of living flame, and it’s hot and sweaty and miserable. So last year, I decided it would.. Read More

Quinn’s Quilt

One of my best friends from back home is having a bebeh. She is naming him Quinn. He will live in a house with his awesome mom, his awesome dad, a very protective and goofy dog, and a super-chill cat. And this quilt will also be there: When Suzy told me she was expecting, I started planning immediately. Not only is she one of my favorite people ever, she’s also.. Read More