We were pretty lax in our vacation planning--we were more or less spontaneous in the things we did once we were on Oahu. However, I did look up fabric stores on the island before we went and was pleased that a trip to buy some fabric could be coordinated with another activity on the Honolulu/Waikiki… Continue reading Hawaiian sunrise Hazel
In all honesty and seriousness, it was the Hayden pattern this month that convinced me to finally subscribe to Seamwork. Mostly, I just I love the idea of a woven t-shirt with style lines.If you plan to make this top, you really MUST make a muslin. Seriously, I can't stress this enough. I raced… Continue reading Handful of Haydens (and a fix to a fit problem)
After making a couple of fancy Linden sweaters (here, here, and here), I wasn't ready to give up my comfy sweatshirt-analogs when the warm weather hit. Papercut's Bowline sweater was such an unusual design, I couldn't resist! As an aside, if you haven't ordered a printed PDF from Papercut, do it! It takes a while to arrive… Continue reading Striped Bowline sweater
Even in a world where "Birdie Sanders" is a thing, for me, the word "birdie" will always conjure up the feeling of sheer embarrassment I had during my (poor) performance of my one-line solo in the middle school production of "Bye Bye Birdie". Isn't it funny that such a seemingly benign word can have terrible… Continue reading Birdie shorts
If you're coming from Britex, welcome! With the holidays coming up, surely there are a few parties to attend, right? The iridescent magenta-black color of this stunning silk taffeta is so joyous and opulent that I knew it had to be a sassy, swingy skirt for an evening fête! When the fabric arrived, I was… Continue reading Fancy holiday skirt in silk taffeta
I've made the Renfrew cowl neck top a couple times (here and here), and I love it. The cowl is more like a floppy turtleneck, so for it to hang nicely, the fabric has to be pretty lightweight and drapey. After sewing up the Renfrew in this cute bicycle print (purchased at Harts, but it… Continue reading Renfrew top and a neckline conversion
With a cute blouse or sweater, skirts are great for my job, so the unusual shape and nice details (pockets!) of the City Stroll Skirt by Liesl & Co definitely caught my eye when the pattern was released. For this version, I used a "scrap" of fabric leftover from my self-drafted blazer project. I couldn't… Continue reading City Stroll Skirt in cashmere
I wasn't particularly excited about Grainline's Linden Sweatshirt pattern when it was released. It's cool, but I don't wear too many sweatshirts, and I wasn't sure I could make it look as hip as Jen does! That all changed on my last trip over the mountain to Hart's Fabric. I spotted this a-mazing white quilted… Continue reading Quilted Linden sweatshirt
A few months ago, I learned how to make corn tortillas from scratch....just in time to teach a class of 4th graders and then a class of 4 year olds 🙂 After making (and eating) that many tortillas with the kids, I was completely hooked! And after purchasing a press, the obvious next thought was… Continue reading Tutorial: Tortilla warmer
I was relishing the finale of "The Great British Sewing Bee" (season 3) with a bowl of popcorn this evening, when I was surprised and thrilled to see that the contestants' first challenge was to sew the Drape Drape 2 no.2 top that I posted the other day! It was the exact pattern! It was… Continue reading Drape Drape 2: skirt no. 5
Bea & Lucille 