Hand-pinned darts. [Click for a larger view.] The thing about darts that kinda drives me bananas is that there aren’t really rules for them. There’s no equation (that I know of) of waist-to-hip ratio that reveals how long and wide a dart should be and where it should be placed. It’s all about feel. And […]

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The world’s cutest pincushion. I nabbed this little beauty at Madison’s annual Craftacular a few years ago. The artist who made the pincushion has an Etsy store filled with other remarkable felted creations. After installing the zipper, it was time to stitch the side seams. This is pretty straight-forward business: sew the seam with a […]

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Staystitching the top edges. Staystitching helps edges from getting stretched out. The doohickey on the right is a seam guide. It has a magnet that sticks to the throat plate of my sewing machine. The seam guide helps keep seams consistent. I use it almost every time I sew a seam. After I drafted the […]

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Click on the image for a larger view. After a sewist has picked fabric and notions, it’s time for her to crunch some numbers: her vital statistics. In other words, you ask yourself, “How do I figure?” To make this skirt, I am using Sew What! Skirts: 16 Simple Styles You Can Make with Fabulous […]

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The cast of characters: brassy buttons, brass jeans zipper, and the star: black chain print cotton twill. I have a vision for a sewing project, and it started in the kitchen. MVH and I received a very nice set of Chicago Cutlery knives for our wedding in 2003. And use those knives we did! But […]

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Aloha, friends. I’ve been swamped with non-blog-related projects lately, and I expect to have something for you very soon. I’ve been really hot to get sewing again, and I can’t wait to share projects and bounce some ideas off of you. If it’s any consolation, I really miss this place, and I think about it […]

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