I’ve been bitten by the shoe making bug this year and have spent the first part of the year accruing supplies and watching SO many videos of shoe repair on YouTube. It’s become a true obsession. Before I get started on real shoes though, I thought I’d brush up my…
My first draped project
One of the skills I want to develop this year is draping. I purchased a new dress form last year for this purpose. It’s not a perfect fit but I’ve padded it out close enough that I think I’ll be able to use it. This first project – a plaid,…
Workout Set – Take 2
When I made my first workout set at the beginning of 2020, I was a different. Since then there’s been a pandemic and I’ve been making different choice on fit and style. Each of the three pieces in my original set had fit issues and the colours and fabrics I…
Waffle Patterns – Mens Tosti Coat
I started this project in early fall 2019 when my husband was looking for a very specific style of coat and couldn’t find it anywhere. So I offered to make it for him… eventually. He picked up the wool in Florence from Bacci Tessuti on our trip to Italy when…
Itch to Stitch – Oia Dress
Back when I made plans for this dress in late 2019, I still went in to an office to work every day and had no idea that might one day soon change. Well, things did change. I now work from home and find myself wearing leggings almost every day, and…
Make Nine 2021
My 2020 Make Nine list was intended to help me slow down, make less, and be more intentional about my making. But then a pandemic happened and I stopped leaving my house and I ended up making 50 different garments and projects for myself and others, plus a quilt and…
Italian Wool Blazer – Closet Core Patterns
I decided to make the Jasika Blazer in the late summer of 2019. I picked up the wool in Florence, Italy from Bacci Tessuti in October 2019, grabbed the Learn to Sew a Classic Blazer Closet Core course on sale in November 2019, put it on my 2020 Make Nine……
Petite Knit – Stockholm Sweater
When I made my navy blue Penny Dress, I’d always intended to transition it to fall with a coordinating sweater – and I knew which sweater I wanted (even though I was still mid-way through my husband’s now-finished but as-yet-unblogged Little Wave Cardigan… I’ll get it up eventually, I promise).…
Grainline Archer – 2 Versions
Now that I work from home and will be for the long-term, I’ve noticed a lack of comfortable, professional tops in my wardrobe that look good on webcam. V-neck blouses don’t work when you only show from the clavicles up and all my button down Kalles with grown-on sleeves make…
Shoe Camaraderie – Astrid Sandals
It took me almost a year to finally order a Shoe Camaraderie kit after first seeing and falling in love with the Astrid Sandal on Instagram. It took me another two months after the kit arrived before I got up the guts to make my sandals. Once I started though,…
Shorts – but only because I had to
I don’t like shorts. Full stop. I don’t like how they look on me and I really don’t like how they feel on me. I don’t like my thighs taking centre stage. So why did I make shorts? Well, my husband and I like to go on bike rides. It’s…
White Linen Closet Core Kalle Shirt
My new wide-leg Closet Case Ginger Jeans (newly renamed Closet Core) were destined to be paired with a white linen Kalle Shirt from the first moment they popped into my mind. I’ve never had a linen button up shirt before, never mind a white one, so I’m not sure where…
Modified Fibre Mood Charlotte Wrap Dress
I’ve wanted a wrap dress with a ruffle for a while so when I saw the Fibre Mood Charlotte release, and saw that the short version was free for a week, I snapped it up. A month or two later, I took a look at the hashtag on Instagram and…
Wide Leg Ginger Jeans #2
Since nailing the fit of my skinny Ginger Jeans and then modifying to an even better fitting wide leg version earlier this year, I’ve officially lost all fear, trepidation, or hesitancy around making jeans. So when I decided I needed some light-wash, wide leg jeans for our cooler-than-usual summer weather,…
A Tale of Two Pennys
Since making my Intrepid Boiler Suit and Len Coveralls this year, I’ve decided I really love the collared shirt look without having to tuck said shirt into pants or a skirt. But what’s easier to take on and off than a collared jumpsuit? Why a collared dress of course! I…
French Poetry – Lune Dress
Sometimes my sewing plans veer way off course and I decide on a whim that I must make something I’d never thought of before. Usually, I prefer to consider my wardrobe needs and choose my makes to fill gaps. This dress fills no gaps. I just had to make it.…
Friday Pattern Co. – Vernazza Two Piece
I wasn’t going to make a swimsuit this year. I still haven’t worn all the pieces of my capsule swim collection that I made at the end of last summer and in the current pandemic and whatever the new normal looks like, I don’t know how many chances I will…
Sugardale – Len Coveralls
UPDATE (January 22, 2021) – It looks like the Sugardale site is back and this pattern is available again. Thank you Gina for letting me know in the comments! I’m not sure how I found Sugardale on Instagram, but sometime in April I stumbled across Trista’s feed and was instantly…
Named Clothing – Isla Trench Coat
I didn’t have a trench coat on my list when I started this year, though I’ve been looking for the perfect trench for almost two decades so it’s probably been in the back of my mind since I started sewing. Then three things happened this year. Well, make that four…
Alice & Co. – Intrepid Boiler Suit
I’ve had this one on my list for a while but it was working from home and having consistent access to my very own washroom that motivated me to make it. It’s not that I can’t use my work washroom wearing a jumpsuit… there’s just something so odd and uncomfortable…
My modified V9253
Yes, it’s the dress that everyone seems to make. I’ve scrolled the hashtag on Instagram for so long wondering if I should make it too. Then Sitka Fabrics gifted me some lovely washed linen in the colour teal and I decided the time was right to tackle this fan favourite……
Waffle Patterns – Mens Tosti Toile
One of my plans this year is to make a winter coat for my husband. I’ve never made him a coat before so after I found a pattern, I decided to make him a wearable toile first. We chose the Waffle Patterns Mens Tosti jacket for its high collar (though…
Ginger Jeans 3 – More Experiments in Stretch
Believe it or not, these are Closet Case Ginger Jeans. They started out life as the high-waisted, skinny leg pattern and became these cropped, straight leg beauties that just need a black and white striped t-shirt to complete my fantasy of dressing like a mime. Seriously though, I will make…
Ginger Jeans Take 2 – An Experiment in Stretch
One of my goals this year, and the reason I purchased my cover stitch machine, was to learn to construct skinny jeans the way my favourite ready-to-wear jeans are constructed. I wanted to figure out how to maintain the horizontal stretch of the fabric but still use what appeared to…
Closet Case Kelly Anorak – Take 2
I first made the Kelly Anorak from Closet Case Patterns early last year. My first version was a size 8 (based on my measurements) made of cotton chino twill. I was really pleased with my work on it and I loved it at first. After wearing is a few times…
Blueprints for Sewing – A Frame Skirt
This make wasn’t originally on my list for this year but I lost my desire to sew for most of January (I thought it was because we’re in the middle of a furniture overhaul and our place is a mess with stuff everywhere) and I realized it was because I…
Workout Capsule – Make Nine 2020
My modified Avery Leggings were the first of three planned makes for the first project of my Make Nine plans this year. Next up were a reversible Power Sports Bra and a modified Sundance Jacket (both from Greenstyle Creations). These were my first makes with Greenstyle Creations patterns and they…
Avery Leggings – Side Panel Hack
The first makes on my Make Nine 2020 list are a workout set made up of leggings with side pockets for my cell phone and keys/credit card for when I go for a walk, a sports bra, and a fitted half-zip pullover. I started with the Avery Leggings from Helen’s…
Make Nine 2020
Here we go again. Make Nine worked well for me last year. It kept me focused and helped me push through some tough makes that I’m really happy I accomplished though was very hesitant to start (read more about my Make Nine 2019 success here). So I’m doing it again.…
Make Nine 2019 Recap
My plan for this year’s Make Nine was to really dig in – to pick nine makes that I wouldn’t just make, but would toile and make and make again until I felt like I’d mastered something new. I set out my plans at the end of 2018 and stayed…