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
WAF2016 #2: Librarian in the Stacks
I’m a little bit out of order here, as I have a sewn (gasp!) project that was finished first that I also need to show you, but I’ve been wearing it so much it’s kind of constantly in the wash, and also needs to be ironed. So heck with that, and SWEATER! This is Jenny At The Fair, by Mary Jane Mucklestone, from Ysolda’s book The Rhinebeck Sweater. See, there’s.. Read More
New Pattern! Flamingo Tracks Socks
Remember when we went to Bolivia? Well, we saw a lot of flamingos. And in the mud surrounding the various flamenco-inhabited lagunas, lots of flamingo tracks. Guys, I cannot describe accurately how goofy these birds are. They look like the fluffy bulk of their bodies is going to just snap their spindly little legs at any moment. They have this odd, choreographed pattern of which birds get to put their heads down to.. 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
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
Finished Object: Garter Rib Cowl
I realized something in January while I was working on Imitation Girl in the bitter cold: tucking scarf ends into your jacket can be kind of a pain the butt. I’ve made other cowl-type objects, and while I love the fact that you just throw them over your head and go, I was less thrilled that they inevitably grew out of shape and thus away from the very neck they were intended.. Read More
Finished Object: Negroni
Guys. Almost 3 years after receiving the pattern and buying plaid with the intention of making this shirt for the Husband-Dude… IT IS FINISHED. And it wasn’t really that hard at all. While this is not the lovely Pendleton flannel I originally bought to make this happen (it’s still hanging out in the stash, though, so it’ll happen soon), it is truly a dream realized. This soft cotton version (in.. Read More
Sergin’
Several years ago, when cleaning out her Florida condo and consolidating her sewing machine armada, my Nanny Jo gave me a serger. Sergers, for those of you not intimately familiar with the sewing world and its many strange and terrible nuances, are used for overlocking. Overlocking is a very useful type of stitch for finishing raw edges of fabric so they don’t ravel; and, because it has a lot of.. Read More
Finished Object: Hedera
Yeah yeah. I still knit. So many things in life got fed to the time-hungry monsters that were Awful Job and its accompanying depression, and one of those was my Self-Imposed Sock Club. I finished a measly 4 pairs of that club, and one just this year! So for 2015, I’m aiming to get back on the horse. I’m not aiming too well, judging by the fact that I just.. Read More
Containers of Love, pt. 2
This has so far been a very popular year for comfort items. The friends for whom I made the dragon-scale baby blanket of previous fame have (thankfully) kept me quite busy lately, first with making a repeat of the dragon blankie for another friend of theirs, and then with a ripple afghan for their sister-in-law who’s currently undergoing treatment for leukemia. They picked a lovely, calming blue in one of.. Read More