I love working with wool! All the wool I've worked with to date has been woven, so boiled wool is a new experience. It's actually a dense knit, and unlike a woven it doesn't ravel. Not a shred! Still, I pre-treat it as I would for any wool. My TNT method is the London Shrink. [...]
Yes, a new project has taken off... and once again it's because I must be looking at too much French couture fashion! First it was Kim Jones at Dior. Then I fell down the rabbit hole of Hermès. Now it's Givenchy, and the initial offering of their new designer Matthew Williams. You can see the [...]
When you're a global luxury brand, clearly focused ads are apparently tres passé. Hermès seems to have a whole campaign of these burry ads, so I'm following suit. Behold my most recent Summer shirt... All kidding aside, my Summer sewing almost always revolves around new shirts. What used to be a drawer of polo shirts [...]
Did you, faithful blog followers, give up on this? Was this going to be the UFO of the pandemic? Truth be told, I totally ran out of steam on this project. Maybe you've been there? As many of you know, I love sewing for a special occasion. One of my nephews was going to be [...]
OK. I'll admit that pajamas haven't been in my wardrobe for a long time. I have but one pair of flannel bottoms that I pull out in the dead of winter. Other than that, it's a bathrobe and my underwear. Hardly glamorous, and not for public viewing! Now that we're all spending a LOT more [...]
Ah, yes... imitation. I've been a Junya Watanabe fan for several years. He's able to spin out new versions of his patchwork shirts, season after season. I never tire of them. He takes traditional menswear shirting and shakes it up in a way that's fun and approachable. The price point, however, is another story. These [...]
Eventually the lining has to be made. I'll be honest with you, it's my very least favorite part of any tailoring project. I have SO MUCH admiration for all the sewists out there who add piping, all kinds of little pockets and wildly curving seams. I just want it over and done with ASAP. So [...]
I continue to bang away on my Vogue 9262 Blazer. It's been quite cold here in Maine (It snowed a few inches just two nights ago), so I've had no problem staying inside; working away in my little sewing space. This post will be quite "tailoring geekery" heavy, so be forewarned. My purpose is just [...]
OK, call me crazy but I like to get dressed up a bit to walk the dog (my sweet schnauzer Homer). It's a special time between us, usually early enough in the morning that it's just the two of us out in the neighborhood. It's such a great way to start the day. After a [...]
It's finally finished! My interpretation of a Christian Dior toile jacket that's featured in Kim Jones' collection for Spring / Summer 2019. I've affectionately dubbed mine the "Too Poor for Dior" jacket. For the record, here's the original. I die! The matching is perfect. If you look closely you can just make out the pocket [...]
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