As much as I love fancy dresses and crazy prints, I still have to have some basics that go with everything and will be worn to death. This post highlights a few of these; the kind of things that don’t usually show up on the blog, First up, plain black leggings. This pattern may be my most… Read More Boring Basics
As I was taking apart our antique couch that Wade and I brought home from a farm (see my previous posts for pics of the inside, repairs, and the upholstery thus far), I really started to wonder about its origin. Most of all, how old was it? Our initial guess was late 19th century, but… Read More Restoring a 19th Century Couch: Part 4, History
I naturally like to make presents rather than buy them. Sewing gifts can be tricky if you are making a garment because it’s hard to guess measurements. Luckily, I keep a file of the measurements of my close family members to make my job easier. My mom’s present was something that I had been thinking… Read More Christmas Gifts!
The restoration of the 19th century couch that I bought at a local farm has been an ongoing project. In my first post, I tell about how we acquired the couch and show pictures of what the original stuffings looked like. In my second post, I discussed how I cleaned and repaired the frame. The… Read More Restoring a 19th Century Couch: Part 3, Upholstery
This dress was originally planned to be a Christmas dress for last year, but I ran out of time before Christmas. I cut it out in March, but then was not inspired to sew it together until recently. The pattern is Burdastyle 8-2015-116, which I have made several times before as both a top and a… Read More Another Fall Dress
This coat has been in the works for awhile. I started it in the spring, but by the time I was close to finishing, it was already too warm to wear it. I lost motivation at that point, and it sat on Annie (my dress form) all through the summer. The fabric is a silk… Read More Silk Coat
This is yet another project made with fabric that I hand-dyed this summer. This is cotton jersey (from Dharma Trading) that I folded and tied up before dyeing with indigo. The pattern is quite similar another knit dress I made recently. I wasn’t lying about liking mock wraps. I wanted a fairly simple pattern to… Read More Shibori Knit Mock Wrap Dress
This project came about because I had been wanting to do more sashiko embroidery and because this wool twill seemed boring. Sashiko is a Japanese style of embroidery that uses a running stitch to make geometric designs. I had done a tiny bit of sashiko when mending some jeans. This wool fabric was leftover from… Read More Sashiko Embroidery on a Wool Skirt
A couple years ago, I went on a sari-buying binge. I have slowly been turning them into garments, first some dresses, then a skirt, and finally a top made from the scraps. This summer I took advantage of the warm weather and washed all of the saris I have left and hung them outside to… Read More Top from a Vintage Silk Sari
This was actually my Halloween costume from last year. I’m dressed as Claire Randall Fraser from Outlander, in an 18th century robe de anglaise. I wore it to a Halloween party that turned out to be a surprise wedding, and I had too much fun to get good pictures of the dress. So, this post… Read More Me as Claire Fraser from Outlander