Sewing
Winter shorts – trousers transformation
I dug up an old UFO to finish this week -some trousers I thought I’d turn into winter shorts. Actually, it isn’t so much an UnFinished Object, more like a project I planned and never started. About four years ago I bought two pairs of men’s suit trousers from the op shop, because the fabric…
Read MoreMy Father’s shirt
During my 1970’s childhood, my Dad had a body shirt in an orangey/yellowy/ browny floral Liberty print. It was originally a special shirt but became a gardening shirt at the end of its life. It had worn out by the time I was a teenager, and Mum gave it to me and I unpicked it. …
Read MoreMay 4th: Star Wars Day
As I idly flipped the calendar over for May, my eyes wandered to May 4th: Star Wars Day. I’d never heard of it. Was it a day to remember Ronnie Reagan’s “Star Wars” strategic defense initiative, that had me designing nuclear fallout shelters in the covers of my school books back in the 1980’s? Or…
Read MoreBlast from the Past: PVC clothing
During the school holidays, my daughter and I thought we’d make a pencil case from a pattern in a children’s activity book. The pencil case is shaped like a shark with a clever zippered opening for the mouth. We searched around for some suitable fabric, and I remembered I had some silver PVC fabric offcuts…
Read MoreAn Autumn Outfit
As curling columns of smoke and the buzz of chainsaws announce the settling of autumn in our part of the world, I sat outside and sewed a skirt to go with last week’s Japanese cardigan. It’s my own basic A-line skirt I’ve used several times before. It has a waist facing, centre back invisible zip,…
Read MoreThe curse of the elastic waist
Dear Friends, have you ever made something that deep down you knew wasn’t ideal but secretly you hoped would work out? Like, for example, an elastic waisted skirt? I made myself an elastic waisted skirt to wear last summer; I wore it only once. It was a foolish notion for someone who doesn’t really have…
Read MoreLike or loathe it: tailors chalk
I would say that most home sew-ers don’t use much tailors chalk, because generally we use paper patterns that are pinned to the fabric, not cardboard patterns that need tracing around. I would also say that most home sew-ers don’t like using tailors chalk, mainly because it’s hard to get a fine line. There are…
Read MoreLet’s play Lego!
For some time now I’ve been meaning to make a Lego play mat. The ideas is you play with Lego sitting on a circle of fabric, then when it’s time to pack up you push the Lego into the middle and the fabric becomes the holder. I had sort of imagined loops of fabric around…
Read More“Flo-Jo of the Pool” cuts a dash at carnival!
Do you remember Florence Joyner? She was a US athletics star of the 1980’s. Part of her fame was her long painted fingernails and figure-hugging flamboyant athletics outfits. She favoured fluro and bright colours, one-legged leggings (ie- one leg bare), big hair, hooded leotards and bold jewellery. It goes without saying that you need to…
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