Last month, I decided to sew a holiday dress for myself, and I even finished it on time (woot!). Unfortunately, the holiday turned out to be much more sweatpants-appropriate (trying to keep up with the kids during the day and eating all the comfort food at night after putting the kids to bed). So I [...]
Every time a new Closet Core's Cielo pops up on my feed, I tell myself, "Wow, I can't believe this is Cielo; it looks so different!" With its effortless boxy silhouette, it's been made in all sorts of fabrics and hacked in so many ways... I'm amazed how versatile this pattern is. So I decided [...]
This one I’m naming “Dawn Chorus”. Lately, I’ve had trouble falling back asleep after Jules’s night feeding. So, for better or worse, I’ve decided to just stay up and do some uninterrupted sewing between 4:30-7:30am. That’s how the dress came to be. In the process, it has helped shift my thoughts from the COVID-19 pandemic [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
What's your most used sewing-related accessory that's actually a non-sewing accessory? Mine is a camera remote! After all, one needs pics to share their makes. And it comes to a point when you don't want to keep bothering your significant other, friend or family member to take the pictures. That's when the remote comes to [...]
When I was in France recently, I did a bit of fabric shopping (obviously). I found 3 meters of a striking cotton lawn at my local fabric shop. They couldn't tell me much about it, so I took my inquiries to Google. It appears the cotton used to be available via the Sew Over It [...]
A quick post for a quick summer make. It's our first summer in the Midwest, and it's been very warm. I am definitely not used to these high temperatures, so I've been adjusting my wardrobe to include more lightweight and breathable pieces. One example is this striped dress in a very lightweight cotton. It was [...]
I recently spent a week exploring the beautiful Spanish islands of Majorca and Menorca. I got to wear one my newest makes: The Highlands Wrap Dress. It's a beautiful, easy-to-wear dress that has options for sleeves (sleeveless or short sleeve) and dress length (midi or maxi). THE PATTERN This pattern by Allie Olson is very [...]
Today I am sharing my latest make, a Tilly and The Buttons’ Francoise dress. It’s my second time making a Francoise dress, so I thought that instead of blogging about the same thing as last time, I'll focus on different aspects of my version of the lovely 1960s-inspired pattern. (But if you want to read [...]
Happy New Year! May your 2018 be filled with love and stitches! Matthew and I spent New Year's in Akron, Ohio with his family and then stopped in Chicago for a few days on our way back to Madison. We had a great time but I'm excited to be back home and working towards my [...]
With temperatures dropping and winter on its way, it's perhaps not the greatest time to make a summer dress with the deepest v-neck I ever dared to wear... But that's what turtlenecks and tights are for, right? Regardless of its seasonality, I enjoyed sewing this Lois midi dress very much. Tessuti's instructions were extremely detailed, [...]
At last... 🎶My Etta dress is finally done. It took one helluva long time! More on that later, but first, the pattern: Tilly And The Buttons’ Etta is a flattering fitted dress that falls just below the knee, my favorite length. The dress is shaped with darts at the bust, waist and shoulders. It has lined [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
zoubi zoubisou 