There's a complete sew-a-long for these pants on the Thread Theory website. The instructions are very easy to follow, and things go together flawlessly. Other than shaving some off the hips and back seam, I only made one significant change to the pattern. I increased the width of the cut-on fly to 2.5 inches, as [...]
Blog posts
The Jeds Muslin — Oh, my saggy butt!
Yesterday I launched into the Jedediah pants muslin. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I cut the size 36 thinking that the 34's would never fit. Wrong! They ended up way too big. Frightening. All I could think of was Betty Draper in her jodhpurs! They looked great on her, on me?... Not so much. Lesson learned.....go [...]
Jeds
Pants -- A new frontier in sewing for me! For my first pair I'm making the Jedediah Pants from Thread Theory Designs. Let me just start by saying that these "kids", Morgan and Mattt, are doing some pretty amazing things out there in Vancouver. They've launched their own pattern company devoted exclusively to MENSWEAR. A [...]
Velvet jacket update, and moving forward
Thanks SO much for all the positive feedback on the velvet jacket. I just want to let you all know that it was a HUGE hit at the engagement party. I'm so glad that I both made it AND wore it. I have to admit that I almost chickened out at the last minute, knowing [...]
The Joy of Wearing my Ombré Shirts
I'm ready to wear these shirts everywhere! Thanks to Brian and Martin for being my fashion photographers. I hope they're not too upset that some of the whacky photos didn't make the cut. For anyone who wants to know the specifics.... Fabric for both shirts was purchased from Denver Fabrics. They always have [...]
Ombré dyeing, Taking two shirts to the next level
I'm a huge fan of Claudine and her blog Rolling in Cloth. Maybe you are too? She's out in her backyard, gloved up and fearlessly spraying dye with abandon. Her results are truly inspirational, and she'd be the first to say it's not all that difficult. I'm so glad I had the chance to meet [...]
Falling for Floral – Round 2
The floral trend continues in Milan and also here on the coast of Maine. I started this latest shirtmaking project with two lengths of fabric, one floral, the other a stripe. Each piece was adequate to make a shirt, but just barely. After adding some striped accents to the mostly floral shirt, I naturally don't [...]
Stop, Start, Stop, Start… And so it goes
It's been weeks since I've posted anything here. Things were moving ahead nicely on the velvet jacket. Maybe you remember? Unfortunately, my mom, who lives in a retirement community in New Hampshire, developed some pretty serious health problems. In response, I've been back and forth from my home in Maine almost weekly for the past [...]
A Little Tailoring
As much as I want this jacket to be unstructured, I keep veering off into "tailoring territory". It's hard to resist. I want this garment to be the best possible that I can produce, considering my abilities and the tools at my disposal. Chances are that I won't make this design again, and I probably [...]
Plodding Along
There's been very little momentum with my velvet jacket project. It seems I just get started and, Bam! Something comes up. Most recently my daughter and her boyfriend visited from California. I had a wonderful time with them and, trust me, lobster rolls and craft beers trump sewing any day! Lunch at the Kennebec Tavern [...]
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