A couple of months ago, I posted on Instagram a sneak peek of this beautiful dress. Today, I'm excited to share it on the Minerva Blog! For my very first guest post on Minerva, I made By Hand London's Jenna dress in a beautiful emerald embroidered voile. All the sewing details and more pics are [...]
We just spent a relaxing Sunday afternoon on the Lake Mendota shoreline and I got to wear my newest make for the first time. Ségur is a lovely summery top and dress pattern by Cozy Little World. There are lots of variations to play with, and I decided on the ruffled button-front dress. I typically don’t [...]
After a 3 month hiatus, I'm back on the blog to share a cute mini gown named "Wilder" that I just finished.
Deer And Doe just released their new collection of patterns and I was lucky to receive the Agave pattern a few weeks ago. Agave is a high-waisted A-line wrap skirt with asymmetrical panels. The design is super cute AND version A is reversible! 2 skirts in 1, what's not to like?! Another great thing about [...]
I just completed a Saraste Shirt Dress from Named Clothing's book Breaking the Pattern. The Saraste is a semi-fitted shirt dress with a gathered skirt. It’s my second project from Breaking the Pattern (I made the Ruska knit dress) and I’m really fond of this collection of designs. They are simple yet full of interesting details [...]
I started this Jackie Dress way back in December, but with holiday travels, my mom visiting from France, and several time-sensitive orders (including a very special wedding dress - pics soon!), I’ve only just finished it. And here I thought it would make the perfect holiday outfit… Maybe next year! This was my first time sewing [...]
Athina just released a new dress pattern, the Kimberly, and I’ve been lucky to be able to test it for her. The Kimberly has a beautiful, classic silhouette with a half circle skirt, a soft V-neck and optional long sleeves and pockets. This was the first time sewing this style of garment since my wedding [...]
I had been eyeing the oversized blazer trend this fall. So when I saw Orageuse’s menswear-inspired Amsterdam blazer, I decided to give it a try. Having recently made my first coat, I went into making the Amsterdam feeling confident and ready to tackle the tailored jacket challenge. I usually keep my personal stash pretty small [...]
What better way to start October than to wear a newly me-made autumn coat. For the past couple of years, I've been wanting to make a coat for myself but have always chickened out, thinking it would be too big a time commitment or would require tailoring tools which I do not own. So when [...]
Here is my new Givre dress with contrasting yoke. It is close-fitting. Wearing such a close-fitting body-con dress is a bit intimidating, but having worn it around yesterday, I realized it can be quite liberating too. Yep, this is me, and I ain't hiding it! The two jersey knits that I used for this dress [...]
They say Wisconsin is beautiful in autumn, full of wonderful foliage changing all sorts of colours. While I anxiously await this fall technicolour display, another autumn display -- one I actually have control over -- is my fall wardrobe! To start it off, I've just completed this technicolour (okay, tri-colour) vegan suede panel skirt with [...]
The Story: I remember seeing By Hand London's beautiful Anna Dress when the pattern was released years ago: a long, flattering maxi dress with a daring thigh-high split. It looked superb on everyone I saw wearing it, but I convinced myself it wouldn't look anything like that on me. Fast-forward four years: after seeing many beautiful [...]
Sewing For Friends Part 2: Amandine’s Sheath Dress One day, Amandine told me she had been checking my blog and happened upon this dress. She asked if I might make a similar one for her. I was all too happy to oblige! What immediately came to mind was a beautiful 1960’s fabric that I had [...]
We’re finally settled into our new home here in Madison, and I’m so happy to get back to sewing. My most recent make is a cute “mini dress” from BurdaStyle magazine. It has a teardrop shape at the neckline, a contrast yoke and my favorite design element: pockets with accent bands. What’s great about this [...]
Back in June, I made a pretty flowy summer dress for my friend Laura. I loved it so much that I really wanted to make something similar for myself. The problem was, we were in the middle of packing everything up to move out of Vancouver. Time was short and household items were rapidly disappearing [...]
Sewing for friends is so much fun! Laura wanted a summer dress that she could wear to her sister's wedding, and we decided the classic silhouette of a strapless bustier and a 3/4 circle skirt would suit the occasion perfectly. Laura and I share a love for bold, beautiful prints. She picked this Kaffee Fasset [...]
We are moving out of Vancouver in a few days (sad!), and things have been pretty hectic around here. But I've still managed to some time to sew for myself and for friends (which will be the subject of a couple of different posts in the coming weeks). Here's a bustier and shorts playsuit that [...]
The Story: I sometimes visit clothing websites to inspire my next sewing project. During one of these visits (ModCloth), I fell in love with a cute floral trench. Upon seeing the coat on the website, my thought was, "Wow, I love it so much, I must have it!" This rarely occurs, so I decided to listen to [...]
I finally have a Cleo in my life! The pattern had been sitting on my shelf since November, but I told myself I had to complete all current projects before opening the Tilly envelope. This was difficult, especially with so many gorgeous Cleos continually popping up on Instagram. But at long last, I did it! A [...]
I'm on a real Tilly and the Buttons kick these days. I completed my first Cleo last week (post coming next week!), and I just completed my Françoise dress yesterday! Shown here is Françoise. I used a medium weight stretch jacquard that I had in my stash and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Here [...]
I completed this beige taffeta dress and navy jacket a few months ago and I've worn them several times since. The weather never quite cooperated when it came to taking photos of it, but yesterday, on New Year's Eve, it happened! A combination of snow, time off work, and my little dog Garcon (who is [...]
