It seems like a lot of the annual wrap-up posts have just barely started happening (at the time of writing), so maybe the Sewing Top 5 isn’t as much of a community thing as it used to be, especially now that the Sewcialists have retired. Last year I didn’t really do any sort of proper … More A Look Back: 2021 Sewing Top 5
September came and went with grand plans of entering the Pattern Review Mini Wardrobe contest fizzling out after many hours of pattern fitting muslins and resulting in only one knit shirt. October started with slightly less grandiose plans of completing just one pair of trousers in time for the Pattern Review Skills contest. I thought … More Better Late than Never
Ok, so back at the beginning of September, I was naively hopeful that I’d complete my Micro-Mini Wardrobe sewing plans. But alas, for it was not to be. I was motivated and excited to work on all of those pieces, but I vastly underestimated the time it would take to fit new-to-me sewing patterns. Vastly. … More A Tale of Twelve Toiles
Writing reviews for new pattern releases used to be one of my favorite parts of posting to this blog. I know a lot of people would read specifically because of those reviews, but at a certain point it got to be too much for me. It was a combination of several things; burnout, for sure, … More Blink Twice for No
So, my Micro-Mini Wardrobe plans got totally derailed during the month of September. Not because I wasn’t doing a lot of sewing (I was, actually), but because I spent the whole month fitting toiles (or mock ups or muslins, if you prefer). After feeling like I’d spent a lot of time accomplishing nothing and that … More The “I Need a Win” Knit Top
For whatever reason the start of fall always brings out the academic in me, and this year I seem to be fulfilling those impulses by binging on a bunch of sewing-related non-fiction books. I find myself having the urge to pair down my “currently reading” list by actually finishing a bunch of books I started … More Book Reviews: A History of the Paper Pattern Industry and The Steal Like an Artist Audio Trilogy
As many of my long-time readers may recall, I did a deep-dive into the Kibbe style system a while ago on the blog. At the time, I really enjoyed looking at the nuances of the system, and exploring the ideas through the lens of modern-day sewing patterns. However, many comments on those posts and general … More Book Review: The Triumph of Individual Style
This is the final of three tops I managed to make as part of my white shirt summer sewing projects. When compared to Top 1 and Top 2, Burda 6632 is probably the most classic top that I made this summer. Much of my original efforts had centered around a (failed paused) attempt at making … More White Shirt Summer: Top 3 Review
I recently posted a book review for Love Your Creative Space, a book about designing and organizing creative workspaces. However, I had a few criticisms of that book, and didn’t really see it as a must-add sort of reference for the sewing library. However, in the comments birdmommy mentioned that Dream Sewing Spaces was their … More Book Review: Dream Sewing Spaces
Continuing on in reviewing my summer projects, this post is about the second top I made as part of my white shirt summer sewing plans. As a complete contrast to the first top, Patrones 406 #33 is a draped knit top with very little structure. I think this also looks good under the blazer, but … More White Shirt Summer: Top 2 Review
Doctor T Designs 