Are you a more pattern-driven or fabric-driven sewist? I’m definitely more inspired by patterns and then seek out the right fabric after I’ve purchased a pattern. As you can probably tell by the few posts on my blog, I have a pretty neutral wardrobe palette so it isn’t uncommon for me to be underwhelmed by fabric. For whatever reason though, I’m really drawn to bolder prints and colors when I make dresses. Continue reading
Just under the wire (ON January 31st), I finished my make for January—the beloved Ginger Jeans by Closet Case Patterns. Continue reading
I have been mulling over my 2019 sewing plans for weeks now—even while I was planning out my end of 2018 projects, oopsies! 2018 was a great year to kickstart my sewing and get introduced to the wild, wonderful world of sewing Instagram. I realized very quickly, though, that I needed some constraints and guidance on my sewing projects, or else I would just be making things that I don’t need more of in my closet or that are replicating skills that I already have a handle on. Continue reading
Last month I got to experience a first for me as a sewist: testing a new pattern! I occasionally see calls for pattern testers on Instagram and the timing hadn’t ever really been right for me to delve in to sewing something with a deadline. After summer wound down and I saw that Gabriela from Chalk + Notch was releasing a new dress pattern, I decided to apply to be a tester, and now here we are… standing in front of an ivy wall with a beautiful new dress. Continue reading
Do you have a summer uniform? Let me tell you all about my summer of the Emerson Crop Pant. Continue reading
It was extremely difficult to ignore the Persephone Pants when they first popped up on Instagram earlier this year. I think they look good on EVERYONE. Probably because you’ve got to have a lot of confidence to wear ultra high-waisted pants, and the sewing community is nothing if not full of confident folks. (It’s the best.) Also, no side seam. It’s magic! Lots of comparisons have been made to the $395 Sailor Pants by Jesse Kamm but how would we know how they look on someone that isn’t a slender model and posing… super awkwardly? To be fair to the model it is kind of hard to show off the silhouette of the pants if you aren’t doing something weird. Like this: Continue reading
My husband and I lived in Paris for three months when we were newlyweds and we had the opportunity to go back (without kids!) for a wedding just a few weeks ago. Paris… is magic. Understatement of the year, I know, but going back after 9 years away and having more funds than a couple of recent college graduates just really made this trip extra special. Something that I knew I wanted to do this time around was do some fabric shopping, much to my husband’s delight 😉 but really, he was such a good sport about it. If I were to do anything different for a repeat trip, I would have given some more thought into what *exactly* I wanted out of a fabric store trip. While we were in Paris I consulted the Seamworker’s Guide to Paris written by Christine Haynes in 2015, which was the basis for all of my recommendations (it is SO thorough!) and I created a Google Map with all of the shops that looked interesting to me. The Seamwork post is organized by arrondissements, which is useful, but I’m just going to give you the highlights of the places that I visited and why I would or would not go back.
