I grabbed the Helen’s Closet Brooks Jeans on a whim in a sale in late 2022. I was curious, because they looked well drafted for my shape, but I was also on my bikeable work pants kick and didn’t have any urgency to make some. Then somehow I volunteered to…
Closet Core Sasha Toile
Today, in the category of pants I’ve planned to make for literal years and finally got around to, only to find out that they’re pretty much perfect for me and I should have made them years ago: Closet Core Sasha Trousers. The simple thing that kept me from making these…
Summer exercise scrap busters
I have this thing with matching my running shoes to my workout outfits. When I used to be a gymnastics coach, I always had four or five pairs of runners (Nike Shocks usually) in rotation with matching stretch pants and jackets. I haven’t coached in almost 16 years but my…
Lander sailor pants
Inspiration struck recently. It started with wanting to experiment with a pair of Lander Pants in stretch denim. I picked up some 9 oz. organic raw stretch denim (2% spandex 98% cotton, though it feels lighter and more stretchy than that) from Fabricana in Richmond but they didn’t have a…
Cropped Grainline Archer
I was gifted this cut of light-weight embroidered cotton by the same lovely friend who gave me the flower print viscose that I used for my recent Orla Midi. There wasn’t a lot of it, only at 1.5m in a narrow width, but it was lovely and light so I…
French Navy – Orla midi dress
I had two summer dresses on my list this year. The first was my Fiona dress with gathered skirt. The second, I wasn’t certain of until I started to work on it. My uncertainty was about the fabric. In both the many vibrant colours and the large size of the…
Closet Core Fiona-ish
I first had this idea in the late winter or early springâŻa fitted princess seamed bodice with straps, a gathered midi skirt and a button front. I debated briefly whether or not to look for a pattern before deciding to shop my existing collection. The Fiona dress from Closet Core…
Paola Workwear Jacket for him
This year, for his birthday, my husband wanted a custom garment. His specifications were a heavy, dark grey wool over shirt with wood buttons that he could wear both inside as a house jacket and outside if needed. I looked around at patterns and decided to start with the free…
Tilly and the Buttons – Arielle Skirt
My impromptu Arielle skirt a few weeks ago gave me an idea for the leftovers of my Italian wool. After my Jasika Blazer and my first Oia Dress, I only had a very small amount of the gorgeous grey wool twill that I brought back from Italy in 2019. Remember…
Another Oia, but different
Ever since I made my first Itch to Stitch Oia Dress in early 2021, I’ve wanted to make another without the centre front bodice panel. I didn’t know if it would work but I knew I had to try it. This is the dress I was finally cutting out (after…
Closet Core – Sienna Maker Jacket
I’ve been toying with the idea of making a light coloured cropped denim jacket for a few years. I wanted a little more modern style than a traditional jean jacket. It was the back button placket on the Sienna Maker Jacket from Closet Core Patterns that sold me. I saw…
Draped Bull Denim Jumpsuit
Late last summer, I had a sudden desire for a white bull denim jumpsuit with a fitted bodice and wide leg pants. It came out of nowhere (that I was aware of) but I didn’t have room in my schedule to make it. I wanted it so intensely that I…
2021 Underwear Refresh
Let me start by saying, I dislike making underwear. It’s fiddly and slippery and I just don’t enjoy it. So I don’t. Then two years go by and my few bras as threadbare and too small and my underwear is falling apart from too much wear… and I have no…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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……
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 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…
By Hand London – Rumana Hack 2
I think this is the best thing I’ve ever made. By ‘best’ I mean best fitted and best workmanship. It’s also now the dressiest coat in my closet and the last make on my 2019 Make Nine list so I’m feeling awfully happy about it. Like my last version of…