AAAHHHHH I’ve been keeping a secret and I’m so excited to show it off!!!! Last month I tested the new Nautilus Swimsuit pattern from SeamstressErin, and she’s finally released it! This pattern is quick and so cute. Erin breaks things down into small, clear steps and almost every step is illustrated, so even if you’re […]

Do you feel like this too?! I put out the first “Sewing for Rookies” cartoon strip a few months ago, and I’m pleased to finally release a second one! I’m hoping to put these out more often if people like them.

I’ve finished a wrap skirt from the 11/2014 Burda magazine. The wrap skirt pattern itself is brainbendingly cool. The skirt wraps to form center front inverted pleat, and unlike most wrap skirts, this one is not open at the bottom, so no chance of it flying up! It took me a while to puzzle out how the skirt worked when I was making it. The right leg of the pleat is sewn in place, but the left leg of the pleat…

I made a new dress and it’s got monsters on it!! I’d been ogling this monster fabric in the kids’ section of the fabric for weeks, so I finally broke down and…

Rummaging through the sewing books in a second hand bookstore in Berlin, I came across this sewing magazine from East Germany printed almost exactly 25 years ago.

If you’re ever in Berlin, Germany, don’t miss your chance to go fabric shopping. In the years I lived there, I’ve discovered many great fabric haunts. Today I want to share 3 of my favorites.

I’ve done a mock up of the blazer in size 36, tapering to a 40 at the low hip. The fit is pretty darn close; I just want to take a little bit of fabric out of the back. Since I haven’t finished the edges, the final coat would be a half inch smaller at the center front, collar, and hem. However, I like the length of the hem as it is so I’m going to add another half inch to the pattern. I made this from an old duffle coat…

I just took an intensive weekend course on how to make a blazer at the community college and I learned so much! In just 2 days I put together this sample blazer.

I just made a VERY cool discovery! Buried in my attic in an old suitcase, I found original posters from Pan Am in the 1960s. These were the prototypes for a campaign featuring their new character, “Happy Helen the Airline Hostess”. They never made it into wider circulation, but that just increases their monetary historical value! And I also found the original dress in the suitcase. It’s preserved so…

I have two new scarves, and they’re polar opposites of one another. For the colorful scarf, I used three types of yarn bundled together to make a 7-stranded giant yarn, then arm-knit it together. The black scarf, on the other hand, is sewn from a wool fabric with an oversized woven texture. Speaking of oversized, this scarf is almost too big. I can’t see over the top of it when I’m going down the stairs…