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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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've been crazy for sheath dresses lately. A classic sheath is both flattering and versatile, working as well in the office as it does in the evenings. I've been working on my sheath dress skills over the past few weeks and here is my most recent creation, completed just a few days ago! The dress [...]
This dress has a semi-fitted bodice with side front seams, a zipper at the back and a pleated skirt. Bowie's "Golden Years" was stuck in my head for most of the time I worked on this dress. It could be the dress's colour, its suitability for soul music dancing, or that, at any given time, the chances [...]
This short sleeve mini dress pattern is part of the BurdaStyle 1960s Vintage Collection. Wearing the dress is like slipping into 1960s Swinging London, somewhere and sometime I’ve always wished to visit. This might be as close as I get! The beautiful floral fabric dates to the late fifties, and I found it in a Bellingham antique shop [...]
Here's a dress I made from Vintage Vogue 8789 (V8789), based on the original 1957 design.
This post is a bit special for two reasons: First, today is the anniversary of my inaugural post! One year old already! A great time to reflect how infrequently I have posted this past year and how determined I am to post more often in the coming one. Second, I made my wedding dress! Independent of [...]
Here's a little project that I'm especially happy with because of all the "first time" elements it involved: First time sewing a circle skirt, draping a bodice, and making a bustier (to name a few)! The skirt: I made it with the help of Gertie's New Book For Better Sewing. It was my Labour Day weekend project and [...]
Here's a cocktail dress I finished back in July (time flies!). I’ve worn it only once because the otherwise lovely olive satin gave me an allergic reaction! I had underlined the bodice with a cotton voile, but didn't bother making a slip. Well, lesson learned! I'm not super happy with the fit in the bust area, [...]
Allow me to introduce the princess seamed dress with inverted pleats! I finished it a couple weeks ago, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! Let's start with the Patty Young quilting cotton fabric. It's been something of a DeLorean for me, transporting me back in time. My grandparents had a tablecloth [...]
zoubi zoubisou 