skirt design - croquis

 So the next step of the designing process is the croquis. The class recommends using a photo to use as a base, so I had my husband take a handful of photos of me. I've got front, diagonal, and back views, but I'm starting with just the front view. I might have him retake some pictures - the forward leg screws with perspective and makes it harder to draw on it. Suddenly I understand why so many clothes-showing photos have the leg to the *side* not forward, but this is a detail I hadn't really noticed until I started looking... One then traces the outline of the body onto paper.

skirt design - inspiration

So it turns out that learning to make clothes that fit me is not the easiest thing to do. After a lot of frustration with commercial patterns, I tried taking in-person classes locally in patternmaking. While it was super helpful, the particular instructor I chose doesn't really work from blocks/slopers like I'd hoped. Instead, she drafts to measurements using the patternmaking method she was trained in (which of course involves some 'standard' measurements) and then adds design before fitting. I've got an excellent trouser pattern now, plus I got help in fitting a half dozen other patterns/designs, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. I want to learn how to use a sloper or block to both make my own patterns and to adapt commercial patterns more easily to me.

Halifax Hoodie review

I actually finished this sweatshirt like, a month or more ago, but didn't get around to pictures til today.  Lovely weather at the park today! (finally! it's been cold and drizzly/rainy/cloudy up til last week...)

photo tutorial: Fully lined pyramid bag with tab and zip stop

So in my last post (October! So long ago!), I talked about pyramid bags and why I thought the tutorials I could find were not ideal. I thought about it for a while, and have figured out how to do a fully lined, no raw seam showing, folded zipper pyramid bag with a zip stop and a pull tab. It is possible to put in a top tab as well, but I didn't here. I mention how in the cutting instructions. This is a bit of a fiddly/tricky construction, but it's not all that difficult, and I really think it's worth taking the extra time to get the result I wanted.

sewing: pyramid bags

I decided I wanted to try making some dice bags, maybe even sell them. However, selling them requires bags to sell, which meant, finding some bag types I can make.

I decided to try making pyramid bags - maybe I'll make a big one for a knitting bag sometime; they seem to be quite popular. All three bags have fusible fleece fused to the outer fabric, and quilted in straight lines lengthwise at ~2.5cm intervals.

stitches

For my first post in a very, very long time, I'm going to talk about my new hobby, sewing. Or hopefully will be a hobby. I'll do a "year in review" photo catchup post soon (possibly divided into "stuff I knit" and "other stuff"), but I wanted to get this posted because I'm kind of excited about it :)