Blog

I love sewing dresses. I started off sewing with making all kinds of dresses. Well fitting dress is such an easy outfit, don't you think? Orla Dress is the first PDF pattern by Sarah from French Navy. I am so in love with everything Sarah makes and her style. I want to repeat every single outfit. She is great! I should also mention that the dress is a free pattern. I really like fit and flare dresses. They have always been my soft spot. But a few years ago I think I made too many and I got tired of them. My dresses were very fitted on top and had a simple gathered skirt. When I saw Orla Dress it reminded me of my old dresses quite a bit, but the top of this dress is semi-fitted and I absolutely love it. This dress strikes the perfect balance between dressy and casual fit and flare dress. I can see it working for either occasion. I made this dress back in February and since it was still very cold in Calgary, and likely will stay chilly for a while, I chose thin wool suiting from my stash. I had this fabric for a year or so. I bought it thinking I would make pants, but in the end I decided it would be a perfect Orla Dress. Since the fabric is wool, I decided to line the bodice of the dress. I used a piece of leftover bemberg lining for it. This resulted in a dress I want to wear all day long. It is not itchy at all! The pattern fit great right away! The only changes I made was to lengthen both front and back bodices and add some width to the back and shoulder. But those are my very standard adjustments. The dress came out exactly like I envisioned it! It is a perfect work dress, and actually any occasion dress. I love this dress so much, that I am trying to figure out what color-way and fabric I can make my next one in. I am a big fan of reusing patterns. If something fits great, why re-invent the wheel, right? Until next time, Anya

This post is a quick update on a couple things. First off, May is here!! Also known as Me Made May, and in our household it is also referred to as "Anya is late every day" May. I insist on taking photos in the morning, as I find I am the freshest and haven't gotten grumpy yet. So I just come across nicer in pictures. Last year was my first time taking part in Me Made May, a challenge ran by Zoe from So, Zo... What do you know? . I loved participating and I am really looking forward to this year! I enjoy seeing what others wear, what the go-to garments are and discovering new patterns. There is just so much inspiration in May! I am not sure what my goals this year are, other than successfully take a photo of myself every day, which is a lot harder than I imagined. I do wear mostly me mades everyday so that part is covered, but I guess I will challenge myself to think of new outfits and try to find even more holes in my wardrobe. Here is my pledge for this May: I, Anya from www.anna-zoe.net and @anna.zoe.sewing , sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '17. I will wear at least one me made garment every day for the duration of May, 2017. In doing so, I hope to find more go-to garments as well as challenge myself to create new outfit combinations. On that note, I think an update on my No Buying Clothes for a Year Challenge is in order! As a reminder, last year I challenged myself not to buy any clothes for a year. Everything that I needed, I had to make myself. I was planning to provide monthly updates, but somewhere halfway through I stopped doing it. First off, I think I succeeded in my challenge! I didn't buy anything, except for a rain jacket. Which I don't consider a failure, as I don't want to make a technical garment like that, and I really needed one to walk the dogs on rainy days. I think it was a great challenge for myself, I learned a lot and it definitely curbed my clothing spending habit. Here are some things that came out of it: I no longer have an impulsive desire to buy clothes and I am a lot more picky when I do. All in all, I think I've only bought a few garments since the challenge has ended I pay a lot more attention to the fit of the clothes, especially when I want to buy something. It made it a lot harder to shop, as I am not longer willing to forego little fitting issues (I am looking at you, short sleeves) I also think that not everything needs to be made myself! This was a surprise to me. But the rain jacket is the prime example. The truth is I don't want to make everything. I want to spend my time making garments I truly enjoy making, so I do not oppose buying things at all! Having said that I want to try and be picky when I spend my money of clothing and I try to buy ethically made items when I can I spent way too much money on shoes last year.... none of them were ethically made I also spend way too much money on fabric. Way too much! I became a lot more picky with my fabric choices. I used to buy just about anything that seemed right, now I am willing to spend more money on quality fabric, even if it means buying less I wore a lot of ill-fitting pants until I got pant fitting down pat. Those were dark days of 2016 My sewing skills have really increased! By challenging myself not to buy clothes, I inadvertently challenged myself to make garments I otherwise wouldn't or would avoid making because they seemed difficult All in all, I think it was a great challenge and I am very happy I did it. And even though I don't think that making everything I wear is for me, I do appreciate what I learned throughout past year. Majority of my wardrobe is me-made and I am proud of it! To wrap it all up, I am super excited for this Me Made May! I can not wait to show you guys some items that I haven't posted anywhere. My closet and I are ready! And I can't wait to spend my nights scrolling through the day's photos of other makers. Until next time, Anya

I made a jumpsuit! And I love it, but when I made it and put it on, Shaun saw me and laughed for 2 hours straight. I am not even joking. I am starting to think he really doesn't understand fashion. Poor lad. This jumpsuit is a brand new pattern from Itch to Stitch designs. Anza Jumpsuit and Dress was released today and I am very excited to share my version. I originally signed up to test the dress version. It is a lovely front buttoned V-neck dress that is super easy to throw on and look put together in. I was very excited to jump in, but after sleeping on it for a few nights I realized I actually wanted to give a jumpsuit a try... I was very surprised by this very strange to me urge. I always thought of jumpsuits as very fashion forward and I envisioned them on super fashionable pinterest-worthy ladies who always look like they are having endless coffees, fabulous lives and are always busy looking effortlessly great and fashionable at every time of day and night. This is not who I am, so I didn't think jumpsuit was for me. Yet, there I was with this insane urge to make a jumpsuit. After trying to talk myself out of it, I decided why not? I sew after all, if I hate it I'll just swap the pant part for the skirt part! So I asked Kennis if I could change my assigned dress to jumpsuit and she agreed. I was so happy! My jumpsuit was to become a reality. For my fabric I chose to go with Mouse Gray Tencel Twill from Blackbird Fabrics. I bought enough of it as I was thinking of making a super lightweight Kelly Anorak, but changed my mind in favor of Anza Jumpsuit. Not to worry, I did buy enough cotton twill to make Kelly Anorak, so it will still happen in the foreseeable future. Tencel twill was the perfect choice for this jumpsuit. It is very lightweight and has a beautiful drape. It is also breathable and will be perfect for warmer months. I also really appreciate that it is opaque so no lining is needed. As well as I just love the subtle texture and sheen of the fabric, it almost looks silky. Yet unlike silk, it is a lot easier to work with and it has more weight. I adjusted the pattern to fit my body. I graded from size 6 at the bust to size 10 at the waist and 12 at the hips. Even though my waist is quite a bit smaller than size 10, I needed to make sure that there was enough width in the waist to get my hips through. The jumpsuit only unbuttons to the waist and then is pulled on through the hips. So if your waist is smaller size than hips, I would recommend not adjusting for it, or making sure that the final measurements of the waist will allow for your hips to slide through. All the extra fabric will be synched in with the elastic anyways. I would think this will not be as essential if you are making a dress version though, as you are likely to be putting it on over your head anyways. My other adjustments included adding length to the bodice and extending the shoulder. I am tall (5'10") and I have broad shoulders. So I added 1.5" to the length of the bodice and 1" to the shoulder. I also deepened the seat of the pants by scooping out the crotch curve. All of these are very standard adjustments for me. In hindsight, I should have added more length to the bodice. I didn't muslin this jumpsuit as in my experience Kennis' patterns are always on point and I figured I can make it work with loose fit, all the extra seams and pattern parts. Once I basted the top and the bottom pieces together I felt that I could really use an extra 3/4" in length of the bodice. So my easy solution to this was to simply widen the waistband and attach it as its own piece, instead of Kennis' unique way to attach waistband on top of the bodice. This worked out great and I am very happy with the result. Once the jumpsuit was all finished and I tired it on, I decided that I want my extra wide cuff to be a little smaller. So I simply folded it over! That is why my cuff may look slightly different from other testers' cuffs. I like both options but I felt that on me folded over cuff looked better. I love this jumpsuit! I simply can not wait till it warms up enough to wear it. It snowed today in Calgary... so it still may be a few weeks for jumpsuit worthy weather. As I've mentioned, Shaun found it hard to appreciate the beauty and fashion forwardness of this jumpsuit. He actually laughed for a couple hours while I paraded around the house in my jumpsuit, while holding a glass of wine and refusing to respond to him, because "I don't talk to haters". Let me tell ya, did I ever feel polished and put together in my get up! Even though my hair hasn't been washed in days and was beyond dry-shampooing, part of my make up ended up under my eyes and the other part left my face completely earlier in the day, my nail polished was chipped to almost non-existence on some of my nails and my legs weren't shaved in weeks. But still, I felt beautiful and sophisticated. I even tried to converse in my very choppy and very forgotten French while I sat there sipping wine and ignoring Shaun's giggling. "Violette à bicyclette" is usually my go-to phrase. I am clearly very cultured. So my conclusion is jumpsuits make you feel awesome, put together and pinterest worthy. Well, jumpsuits, or wine. Either one will do. What do you think of the new Anza pattern? Will you be making it? Would it be a dress or jumpsuit? Or may be both? On that note, I am off to start another week of working. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Love, Anya P.S. This blog post contains affiliate links, but all opinions, as usual, are my own :)

You guys! I made a jean jacket!!! You’ve probably seen it on Instagram already but still, I am so pumped about this one. I am so, so excited to finally write about this jacket! I was so honored when Alina asked me if I would test the Hampton Jean Jacket pattern for her, I agreed right away. When I saw the technical drawings of the jacket I was squealing with excitement. I have been wanting to make a jean jacket for years. I remember looking at jean jacket patterns back in 2010, but I didn’t want to attempt it yet. I have trouble finding jean jackets that fit me right. Actually just like any other jacket and coat. Ready to wear stuff looks off on me, so much so that I have given up on finding a good fitting jean jacket a while back. I am not going to tell you that it is a fast and easy project, it is definitely more involved. But! It is very manageable and so rewarding in the end. I have no doubts that anyone can make a jean jacket using this pattern if they are willing to invest some time. I am always impressed by Alina’s drafting and instructions. This pattern is not an exception. It was clearly apparent to me that she spent a very long time thinking over the pattern and coming up with the best ways to put it together and write instructions. You can see and feel Alina’s dedication to her craft in this pattern. It’s quite amazing actually. It will be an understatement to say that the instruction are very thorough. If the paper could hold my hand, these instructions would be giving me hugs every so often. And I love hugs. Some of the steps are really cool too! I love how both front pockets are assembled. The amount of pattern pieces can seem a little overwhelming, but I tell ya, once you put together those front and back panels it becomes significantly less scary. And putting together the bodice pieces is very easy. The instructions tell you to either use flat felt seams, for super clean finish on the inside, or faux felt seams to make it easier. I opted out for faux felt seams. I was on a tight schedule trying to finish the jacket before we left for the weekend and I was also feeling lazy and needed an excuse not to do the actual flat felt seam. It worked out perfectly! May be on my next jacket I would do flat felt seams, but my topstitched and serger finished seams do not bother me at all. It also sped the whole thing up significantly. For my denim I chose light wash cotton denim I bought from Blackbird fabrics a long time ago. I bought this denim in black for a pair of Morgan Jeans and I loved it so much I ended up buying it in every color way. I still have a very indigo piece in my stash, waiting for it's moment. I love my denim worn in and weathered, so I knew right away I will be distressing the jacket as I put it together. It does take longer to make the garment, but results in a nicer jacket in the end. I sanded every panel and every seam AFTER I stitched it together, but BEFORE topstitching it. This way my topstitching thread stayed intact. For sanding I used a mixture of power sander and hand held sander. I find that I like having both on hand, but if I had to chose one I would go with hand held sander. It provides for a more accurate and nicer finish. I used 80 grit sandpaper on both. I started off sanding with power sander to soften the fabric, and would finish off with hand held sander. Then do my topstitching. It is definitely a slow process but it is so worth it for that worn in look. After I put the jacket together I felt that I wanted it to be even more vintage-y looking. I tried bleaching denim samples but it was just lightening up the blue. What I was looking for instead was a greenish or brownish tint to my denim. I toyed around with the idea of throwing my jacket on the driveway and driving over it a few times with my car, but I felt awful doing that to something I just made with so much love! I started thinking about potentially dyeing my jacket in some sort of low solution of dye to water, but I eventually stumbled upon tea dyeing. I heard about tea dyeing in lingerie making. The idea is to take out the brightness of the white and to give the fabrics and notions a nice off-white tint. This is exactly what I wanted for my jacket! And it was all natural and I could use one of my cooking pots without any issues. I started off with boiling a water in my biggest pot. Then I added about 10-15 black tea bags to it and let it sit for a few minutes. While the tea was brewing, I made myself some tea as well. Nothing like tea dyeing while drinking tea if you ask me! My pot was not big enough for my jacket, so I transferred all the water into a bigger plastic bucket. I discarded all the tea bags as I didn't want them to settle anywhere on the jacket and stain parts of it more than the rest. I held my jacket under running water to make sure it was all wet and then submerged it into my steeped tea mixture. Using tongs I flipped the jacket around every so often. I want to say every 15 minutes but in reality it was whenever I remembered. The jacket stayed in the tea for about an hour or a little longer. At this time I ran it through a quick wash and hung it to dry. When the jacket dried I didn't think much of it until I took a picture of it for comparison. When I put the pictures side by side I was very impressed with the results! This is the exact tint I was looking for. I will definitely be tea dyeing denim in the future again. The idea here is the more tea bags you use the darker the garment will become. And the same with the length of time you keep it submerged. At the same time, tea dye is not a chemical dye, so I can't imagine your garment turning full on brown quickly. To wrap this post up, I am very happy with my Hampton Jean Jacket! It is a fantastic pattern and I definitely recommend it. Alina is doing a very thorough sew-along on her blog right now, and seriously I think it will be really hard to mess this one up. I am very excited to start seeing these jackets popping up on social media soon! Love, Anya P.S. The pictures where I am wearing jeans were taken before tea dyeing the jacket. The pictures in pink skirt were taken after the jacket was dyed.

Where to begin the post about this cardigan? It is so insanely cozy and comfy, I don't ever want to take it off again. I think it is a perfect combination of fabric and pattern. Last year I accidentally stumbled across Kommatia Patterns on Etsy. I loved the designs but the company was new to me and I haven't heard much of them at that point. It turns out Kommatia is a fellow Canadian brand based out of Montreal. After my inability to get Jessica's designs out of my head, I decided to give their Pleated Trousers a chance and I was absolutely smitten. I also just realized I've never blogged about the trousers... and I am even planning to make another pair soon here... The Cocoon Cardigan is a very long cardigan with a cozy cocoon shape. It has a kimono sleeve with a wide sleeve band and inseam pockets. At first I was considering shortening the cardigan, but I decided to go with the original design. For my fabric I chose super soft cloud nine knit from Blackbird Fabrics. This knit is so soft and feels so luxurious, it almost feels like cashmere. Unsurprisingly, I managed to convince myself to buy a lot of it... I've already made two sweaters out of beige and grey colours, and I still have some beige knit left for Blackwood Cardigan I am planning for summer. This fabric is amazing! The only suggestion I have for you, if you bought this fabric and haven't made anything yet, keep your iron on very low heat. This fabric doesn't like hot iron. It also stretches really well, so if you are making a sweater I would recommend shortening the neckband and hem bands just a touch. This cardigan is such an easy sew! Especially if you have a serger. It is fast. The only part that was a little cumbersome was attaching the band to the circumference of the cardigan. It is just so long... But I did it on the first try. All the notches were very helpful! As I mentioned I considered shortening the cardigan but I am so glad that I didn't do it in the end! I love how long and cozy this thing is. I have been wrapping myself up in it every chance I get. I also didn't expect how well it would pair with so many things in my closet. It turned out to be a great staple! I imagine I will be wearing it all the time as it gets warmer. Also, I had to take these photos twice. First time my camera was acting up and didn't focus correctly. But I had so much fun photographing the cardigan the first time because Misha decided to photobomb me and refused to leave. I just have to share it! What a change from this, eh? My fluffy bear dog is almost all grown up! https://www.instagram.com/p/BI1DNFVDWvU/?taken-by=anna.zoe.sewing Until next time, Anya

I have been feeling under the weather for the past few days here which has been slowing down my sewing, but has provided me with opportunities to catch up on blogging! I don’t need to say that this post is overdue. It has been overdue for what feels like months! The testing for this pattern was completed sometime in the beginning of February, and here we are at the beginning of April… Well, better late than never!! I was over the moon when Helen asked me if I wanted to test Blackwood cardigan pattern. It is Helen's second pattern. I really appreciate that her patterns are very beginner friendly and have thorough instructions. Yet the garments look anything but simple and both patterns are great wardrobe builders. I am very curious to see where she takes her patterns in the future! I signed up to test the longer version, view A, but I knew that I would be making both versions and something in the middle in the future. My first Blackwood cardigan I sewed up exactly as per instructions. I chose the size based on my measurements. It is interesting to see that the final garment measurements do not provide the bust circumference. That is simply because the cardigan is not meant to close. It is a layering piece and is meant to be worn open. For my first try I chose a very inexpensive mustard knit I had in my stash. It is some kind of polyester blend that I scored on sale at FabricLand a few years ago. I loved the color, but I wasn’t a fan of the feel of the fabric on my skin. Making a cardigan out of it seemed to be a perfect way to use this fabric up. For my second and third versions of the cardigan I chose to shorten both the length of the body by about 5”, and the sleeve by about 1”. This resulted in a cardigan length being somewhere right in between view A and B. I wanted a cardigan to hit my low hip since I noticed that this is my favourite length of a cardigan. This time around I skipped the pockets since I wanted to make the cardigans really fast. Seriously, when you skip the pockets on the cardigan the whole thing can come together in an hour and a half! It’s that fast. In hindsight, I wish I left the arm length alone. I love the longer feel of the sleeve and the way it bunches on my wrist, but it is not a deal breaker at all. When I first made all three cardigans I thought I would be wearing my teal and gray ones more often, but I can not believe how often I have been reaching for the long mustard one! I have been practically living in it on weekends. It is so comfy. If you are worried to sew with knits, don’t fear! You do not need a serger to make this cardigan. You can make the whole thing on your sewing machine. Helen shows you how to. And if you are still scared, remember, you can skip those pockets to make the whole thing as easy as possible. I am very impressed with this pattern and overall it is one of y favourite go-to patterns. I am planning to make two more of these for spring and summer season. I am still unsure of the length of each, but I know that I will make at least one view A. Nonetheless, both views are great layering pieces and the greedy side of me really wants one in every colour! Love, Anya

I have been pretty quiet on the blog in the last few months. I have so many ideas of what I want to write about and so many makes to share with you, especially after my productive stay-cation, or should I say sew-cation, I took in February. However, life has really been getting in a way lately. Part of me thinks that no one would even really notice, yet I think that update for my readers is in order. So prepare yourself for a long blog post. I'll throw a few random photos and a couple photos of fabric in to make it more fun and break the text. Deal? One of the biggest changes that happened over here is that Shaun and I have drastically moved the timeline of our wedding. We got engaged in December 2016 and we took the first few months to enjoy the holidays and the high that comes with being newly engaged. Originally we planned to have a destination wedding in November 2018, maaaay be February 2018 if we jumped on it right away. We have been to quite a few Mexico destination weddings and we loved every single one of them. Besides I hear that they are easier to plan! So we were sold on the idea. Unfortunately, we have recently realized it was not going to workout as a few of very key people would not be able to make it. So it was decided that the wedding will be in Calgary! I am not even bothered by this change, the most important thing to me is that I marry Shaun, and it doesn't matter where it happens. Even if we do it in our backyard! I also want a pretty dress, but the groom is kind of on top of my list. Once we figured out the location of the wedding, it hit us (ahem, me) that this thing is not going to plan itself. As well as, we really didn't want to live through planning it for another year. At that point we (ahem, me again) hit the ground running.... I didn't know even where to start! But somehow 3 weeks, 1 amazing spread sheet (are you even surprised?), a lot of appointments and phone calls later, we have most of this wedding organized! We managed to secure the location we love, a caterer, a great photographer, a very nice commissioner, order the invitation and get the whole thing pretty much planned out. There is still a lot of work, but at least I don't feel like every free minute of my life is taken by the stress of either planning or not knowing what happens next. Oh, and special thank you and shout out to Heather for mentioning Lougheed House when we went for a coffee a few months ago. That's where we will get married in September 2017! It is a historic building and a museum here in Calgary, and it is simply a gorgeous location. I can not wait to get married there! Now all of this brings me to the question of the dress. As someone who sews I get asked all the time whether I will be making my dress. I toyed around with idea of making my dress for a while, but I didn't even know what style I wanted. I decided to go dress shopping early, just to narrow down the final style. I envisioned something light and airy, nothing too puffy since it was supposed to be a beach wedding. Even though I loved those simple airy dresses, but they didn't feel like me. I was gravitating to something a tad more dramatic and fun. After trying on a lot of dresses in early January and looking at them inside out in the fitting room, I decided against it. They were so intricately made! It is actually quite interesting to see a wedding dress from inside. The amount of work that went into it was clearly immense. I think I could have definitely done it if I really wanted it, but I decided not to. Fabric photo 1 - how lovely is this fabric batch from Blackbird Fabrics? The gray cloud knit is already gone, the rest I can not wait to get to... Back to my wedding dress. I want only positive feeling associated with my dress. And I know a project this big will most certainly have its share of frustrations and mistakes. I also know myself and making my own very involved dress would stress me out. Planning a wedding is enough and I really don't want to add more to it. I want to enjoy this year of being engaged! I want to continue making things I want to make on a whim. I also want to keep working on decorating our partially renovated house. Adding a wedding dress project would most definitely take away from all of it. Besides, I actually found a dress I want on that very trip in January! It was everything I was looking for without even realizing it. As soon as I put it on I knew it was either the one, or very close to it. After sleeping on it (I really wish I could say "in it"), and taking my mom to see it, it was clearly apparent that it was the dress for me. We bought it the same day. I remember thinking that my wedding would not be happening for another year and a half, why would I rush and buy the dress now? I can always come back for it... Yet, I had a feeling that I needed to buy the dress. Boy, was I ever conflicted and I was second guessing my feelings trying to make sure I am not having a bridezilla moment and throwing a tantrum! In hindsight, it probably was my version of bridezilla moment as I was asking everyone if they thought "I should wait, " or "it was okay to buy dress this early" or if "I am pushing this dress thing too much", and "are you sure?...". Eventually my mom lovingly but sternly, and in a slightly annoyed way, told me that "It's fine, just buy the damn dress!!!" I am SO glad I went with my gut feeling of buying the dress back then! The dress will just be ready in time for September wedding and its one less headache for me. Apparently all my experience with posing for this blog did not translate into having nice photos of me trying on various dresses. There was not a single photo on me with a "normal" face. Not a single one. I am so glad I have some time to practice my "eternal love face" before the wedding. I clearly need it. Even though I am not making my own dress, I will be making dresses for my bridesmaids. I really want all three of my ladies to have well made dresses that fit them. It is also very important to me that they are able to wear the dresses again after the wedding. I am thinking of using Marbella Dress by Itch to Stitch as my pattern for bridesmaids dresses, and going with the half sirkle skirt variation. It is such a beautiful simple A-line dress and it has pockets! The pattern also comes in 4 different cup sizes, which will make things a lot easier for me. Fabric photo 2 - these lovelies are from Earth Indigo. They carry great selection of rayon knits. I see many t-shirt in my future... If you are following me on instagram, you would also know that I've done quite a bit of pattern testing in the last couple months. In between that, wedding planning and life, I really have dropped off the face of the earth. I am hoping that I will be able to get back into the swing of things soon here. I have so many finished projects to share! As well as many ideas, one of which is I simply can't decide which shirt dress to make for the #sewtogetherforsummer challenge. Thankfully, the contest is not closing till June so I still have time to get my stuff together here. Thank you so much for reading till the end! On that note, I am going to wrap this up and go work on my brother's winter coat for a bit. He has been getting really upset that it is the end of March and he doesn't have it yet. He can be so impatient... Until next time, Anya

Right after Christmas I got an exciting surprise in my inbox - Eryn from Style Sew Me asked me to participate in the Janelle Skirt Blog Tour. I was so smitten and so excited that I said yes without thinking twice about it. Janelle Skirt is not your typical pencil skirt. She is very form fitting, hits you below your knee and features a high mid thigh opening. This skirt screams sexiness and confidence, yet manages to remain very classy and elegant. Just look at Eryn modeling it, it truly is not for the faint at heart! I am not a pencil skirt type of gal. Don't get me wrong, I love them! I think they look fantastic, but I have not worn one for a few years. I kept entertaining an idea of making a pencil skirt for a while, but I was yet to start on one. Janelle jumped out at me as a perfect opportunity to go ahead and finally make one. Janelle Skirt comes in both PDF and paper pattern, and I am a lucky owner of both. PDF pattern has two files, one for the pattern and one for the instructions. The PDF pattern was pretty easy to assemble. With 29 pages it seems very reasonable, considering there are two separate pieces for left and right front. The paper pattern comes in a standard envelope with pieces printed on regular paper! I love it. I am not a fan of fiddling with tissue paper. I am always worried I will tear it and I can never fold the thing back together like it was meant to. The instructions are printed off in a booklet format and are stapled together so you have a cute pamphlet to follow as you sew. I decided to try out my other white wall for these photos as well. I think in the end I still prefer the colored wall! The skirt covers the sizes from XS to XXL, with hip sizes from 33" to 52". The pattern already includes 3/8" seam allowances and has 4 pattern pieces all together. I found the instructions very clear and easy to follow. The photographs that Eryn provides helped me follow when I didn't want to re-red the instructions. I am pretty bad... I am definitely more of a visual person when it comes to instructions. I was really interested in how the overlapping effect on the front was created. And to be honest I expected this skirt to be a wrap skirt. It is not! The two front pieces are finished along the slit opening separately and then assembled together. There is a seam that holds them in place and the skirt has a zipper in the back. It was really neat! My hips fell into size L, whereas my waist is M. I didn't want to do FSA so I kind of faked it. Rather than blending from a larger size at the hip to medium at the waist, I widened and slightly deepened my darts. Then I took the skirt in at the side seam just a little bit. This helped me achieve almost the perfect fit right off the start! The fit was so good I was very surprised when I first put my muslin on. The only other thing I did was to lower the front rise as the skirt was riding a bit higher at the front than at the back on me. But this is is a very normal adjustment for me to make. For my final fabric I chose dark navy blue, almost black, suiting I had in stash for a while. I figured it would be the prefect way to create a skirt I can dress up or down. The instructions ask you to topstitch the split as a way to finish it, and for my skirt I wanted a very minimal and clean finish with no visible lines. Instead of topstitching I opted for blind hem instead. I even managed to do it on my machine! I also attached my front pieces together from the inside rather than topstitching them together. This also helped in creating a very clean, minimal look. Another thing I did differently is I opted for invisible zipper, as I usually prefer invisible zippers to regular ones. I had so much fun thinking of how I would style this skirt! I think a very obvious way to do it is to play up the sexiness of the split and I love that look. However I wanted to show off how I would wear this skirt in my everyday life and I rarely wear things that are obviously sexy anymore. I definitely lean towards loose, secret pajama and boxy looks. So I wanted to play the skirt down by pairing it with boxy and may be unexpected tops. I call it my "sexy librarian before the make over look", I think it fits the bill. If I ever have an occasion to play up the sexy side of this skirt I certainly will! The skirt sits at your natural waist so any crop top would look amazing with it. Check out how Maggie styled it. Isn't it gorgeous? There you have it, my take on the Janelle skirt. I was very happy with this pattern and if you are considering adding this skirt to your wardrobe, I would hands down recommend it. The skirt is on sale until January 21. Bublebee decided to make an appearance in the photos. He was pretty unhappy with the lack of pets and attention. He always is. Love, Anya Disclaimer: I was provided with a pattern for free but all opinions are my own. P.S. The skirt is paired with Linden Sweatshirt I made out of wool knit and brand new Toaster Sweater, which I will write about in a separate post.

Hello! It has been a while… The end of summer has been extremely busy and with the start of September I sort of fell off the blogging train. I was still making things, but finding time to write about them was harder. Then we went on our trip to Georgia to celebrate my cousin’s wedding, and all hell broke loose and I gave up on social media almost completely. I do have to say that I enjoyed this little break and the time with my family. I feel refreshed and I am ready to jump back in. And what a perfect time it is! I find the change of seasons very exciting and it almost always boost my sew-jo as I start thinking about new fabrics, looks and garments. The beginning of Fall is when I switch my wardrobe over, put away my summer clothes and bring out all my Fall/Winter stuff out of my storage baskets. I re-assess everything I wore last year, what worked and what didn’t. I go through my clothes and do a serious purge and only keep items that fit make me happy. Although this process is a little bit time consuming, I find it really makes me think about the coming season and what I want to wear. I have just finished going through my closet this past weekend, and I am very excited about the items I’ve kept and what I am planning to make in Fall/Winter. So I thought I would share a little bit of my over the top, obsessively organized process. Hopefully it will help or inspire, but at the very least now you will know just how deeply troubled I am. One of my goals with my sewing is to have a cohesive wardrobe, where every piece reflects me, my style and my life. I want my clothes to be of great quality, work together and work for my life. Doing the wardrobe overhaul in the beginning of the season really shows me what holes I need to fill in my closet. I work with that information and my invaluable Pinterest boards (here and here) to come up with a list of items I really want and think would fit well with the look and feel I am going for in the coming season. I don’t always want to recreate the identical looks, rather I go by the feel, colors and silhouettes. All images came from my Pinterest Boards. Can you tell that I don't like seeing the faces? They get me too distracted. I want to make sure I am attracted to the clothes and not the style of the hair, make up or facial expression. From there I start to narrow down the items that fit with what I already have. I try to make sure that every single item will go with some of the other items I either already have or will make. This way, I know the piece will get worn. For fabrics, I try to shop my stash as much as I can and pick fabrics that I already own that will fit nicely in my plan. Unfortunately it doesn’t always turn out! A big chunk of my stash was acquired when I first gotten back into sewing and I was buying fabrics just for the thrill of it. I didn’t put much thought into the quality of fibers or the colors of the fabric and whether it suits me. As a result I ended up with a bunch of fabrics I don’t really want to use… Then of course there are fabrics that I want to use and those are the ones I try to incorporate into my sewing plan. If I can’t find anything in my stash, that’s when I go fabric shopping and start searching internet stores for options. Oh, the temptations… I can get lost for hours! This process doesn’t always follow the exact sequence of steps. Sometimes it starts with a fabric, sometimes there is a pattern I really want to use and sometimes I just have to replicate something that I saw. Even though the process can be quite fluid, I always end up with a list. I love lists. I love excel spread sheets and I love having things organized. May be a little too much. So naturally, I organized my sewing list into an excel spreadsheet. Not only I did that, I also created a list of the things that I currently have in my closet. It helps me visualize which items I can pair together and helps me to keep on track and not get distracted and make all the fancy dresses that I rarely wear. Besides, I find immense satisfaction in getting things crossed off the list. See, definitely too much organizing! For this coming Fall/Winter I have 57 items planned. Yikes! That’s a lot… However, I’ve already made 10! Some of the items will be a really easy and fast sew, while others will be a little more labor intensive. However, I am hoping that all of them will work well together. Even though it is a plan, I do not expect myself to fully implement it the way it is right now. Just like any plan, it needs to be flexible and adaptable. Some things will have to come off, some things will make it onto the list, some things will change and of course there will be selfless sewing and pattern testing. But hopefully the bones of my plan will carry me through the coming season. I am so excited about all of the items on my list that I don’t even know which one to begin with. All the fabrics are pre-washed, folded on my shelf and ready to go. I guess I’ll just have to pick up whichever one speaks to me first and start there! If you want to hear more about how I organize my sewing and my whole process, you can listen to it here at Maker Style Podcast. It's a great new podcast from Rachel over at The Wild Stitch. I feel so honored to be featured on it! Check it out, there are 3 episodes ready for your listening pleasure. Do you plan your sewing? If so, how do you do it? Until next time, Anya

This may be my last catching up post! Although I bet I still have items I haven't photographed or written about. I'll get to those, eventually... I have posted teaser photos of this skirt on my instagram for a while and finally posted the full "reveal" picture last week. Now, I am finally writing about it! This is the last item in my pattern testing craze I have been on this summer. I swear, there is nothing else I am testing (at the moment of writing this post). I love half circle skirts! In the past I have made quite a few of them. By Hand London has a neat little app that does all the complicated math for you. I've used it in the past for all kinds of circle skirts and it is wonderful. However, I was attracted to Brook Blossom Skirt because of the yoke. I love the simple half circle shape, but I felt that the addition of the yoke would help the skirt lie flat in the tummy area. Brook Blossom Skirt comes in 3 views. A full length skirt, a midi skirt and a high-low skirt. I was intrigued by a high-low skirt option, but signed up to test the midi length. The skirt is really easy to sew. Although for a super novice sewer it may be a nice challenge, as the skirt is attached to the yoke on a curve and the yoke is lined with a self piece. There is also a side zipper insertion. Overall, though, I don't think this is a very complicated item to sew. The instructions are clear, and they recommend the skirt to hang for 24 hours prior to hemming. I highly recommend it myself!! Because the fabric is cut on all grains, including bias, it tends to stretch out as it hangs. So after the skirt hangs, the hem becomes uneven. It is easy to even out the hem with a tape measure though. Just measure out the length from the waistband down around the skirt and trim off the excess. My first skirt, in midi length, was made out of polyester suiting. I grabbed so much of this fabric last year in various colors that I am just finishing working through it. It is nice and easy to work with and is very inexpensive. However, because it is polyester, it does get quite warm with wear. So the skirt turned out to be more of a cold weather skirt. I really liked how the first skirt turned out, and I have always wanted to give a high-low skirt a try. So after finishing my first skirt, I promptly decided to make the high-low view. I personally do not quite like the drastic difference in high and low hem, so I decided to even it out a little bit. I brought the back hem of the skirt up so that it would hit just below my knees in the back. After trying the skirt on, and before hemming it, I also decided to even out the sides, since the dip from the front to the back was pretty sharp for such a little difference in the length. The skirt looked almost like it had a dip straight down at the sides. I didn't really think long about it, I laid the skirt out on my cutting table and eye balled where I should cut it. I like to live on the edge! However, I am very happy with how it turned out! The difference in the high and low hem is very gentle and the transition turned out pretty smooth and soft. In hindsight, I wish I put belt loops on the skirt. I don't know why, but for some reason I just feel like the skirt needs a belt loop... It's not really an issue at all though. I don't really need loops to wear a belt if I wish to do so. What about you, have you tried circle or half circle skirts? Love, Anya

If you are wondering what happened to me, I am happy to report that I am still alive! I am currently caught up in delightful adventures of packing up our house and moving. This coming Saturday is the D-Day and I can not wait until it is finally over. I am going to miss the old little house with it's character, quirky colors and sounds. Shaun has had this house for a few before we started dating and I moved in with him last summer. We weren't planning on moving for a while, but with the housing prices being quite favorable in Calgary right now we decided to take a plunge and move to something with room to grow. When Shaun and I decided to take a plunge and move in together, we both were very clear about the need for the sewing space, be it a dedicated corner or a room. I was really lucky, in my old apartment my spare bedroom was my sewing room. I had all the space I needed and all my fabrics were stored in the extra closet in that room. Luckily Shaun's basement was developed, but it was not used or even decorated. It served as a storage for a lot of random things. A big truckload to the dump of random things to be exact. Upon the move I was allowed to do whatever I wanted with that space, with the caveat that I won't do any major changes to the décor in the living room for a couple more months. Shaun wanted to keep the air of bachelor pad for as long as he could I guess. First off, I decided to get rid of the "builder's beige" walls. I have always liked the look of exposed brick! So without any hesitation I decided on wallpapering two walls of the basement with this slightly textured gray brick wallpaper. I also wanted to play with the wall color on the rest of the walls, so I matched a shade of gray and soft cream white paint to shades in the wallpaper. The rest of the walls were painted gray and cream. My couch fit perfectly into the wallpaper corner! This created a cozy comfy nook for Shaun to hangout and play video games or watch TV while I sew. At first we weren't sure about this arrangement. Both of us like space and independence and we were worried that we would be too much into each other's business, but we actually loved it! It was a really cool way to spend time together while doing something we both love, even if those are two separate things. The rest of the room became my sewing paradise! I kept all of my original furniture and it fit perfectly into this space. The room was rarely this clean though. These photos were done by professional photographer when we listed the house so unfortunately I had to spend some of my precious time cleaning this space... They say it helped to sell the house, go figure. But at least it looks great in the pictures and I can show it all to you! My little table where I keep my machines came off Kijiji. I bought it used and in a rough shape. I sanded it down and painted it. The chairs also were used. I repainted the legs to match the color of the table and re-upholstered the rest. They turned out great! Except the one on the other side of the table, it broke in the move and is on it's last legs (ha! Pun intended). I don't think it will survive the coming move. But that's okay, I already have an idea for another chair I want to re-upholster... In the red bookcase in the back I kept all my books, folded patterns and instruction booklets. The bookcase was also bought used, and I have painted it as well. As you can tell, I went on a little re-upholstery, furniture revamp spree a while back. It was great! Now, my cutting table is my pride and joy! This baby is 36" high and 72" long. Plenty of room to cut and draft and do whatever. I wanted a table like this for a while and while on my furniture revamp spree I got a crazy idea that, hey, how hard is it to build a table?? Thankfully, I thought of enrolling my handy brother to help me build it. That's right, we build this table! I did all the research, drew pictures of what I wanted it to look like, calculated the measurements and sent it off to my brother for review. He pointed out a few things and agreed to help. So I got all my supplies, including these awesome pre-cut legs in 36" height, assembled my table top and waited for a weekend when we could put it together. Neither one of us is a certified woodworker, but I think we did great on this table! It is slightly wobbly when it is not against a wall, but overall it is great. And the legs are removable for easy transportation and moving! Although I am very pleased with the table, I have to say that the memories of building it with my brother and thinking about that every time I work at the table are way more important and pleasant to me than anything else! My big brother is the best. And here is the view from my cutting table. You can see Becky, my mannequin, and a flower box which I utilize for pattern storage. It has been a great space! I have so many good memories of spending time there both with Shaun and on my own. I've learnt so many things and created so many garments. I've also market the carpet as my own with a couple wine stains... I am going to miss it. In the new house I won't have a dedicated space for a year or two. The house we bought is older and we are planning to slowly renovate it, starting with the master bathroom and bedroom. Then kitchen and the rest of the main floor. My sewing room falls into the rest of the floor. But eventually I will get a first floor office space as my sewing space! Until then I will use our formal dining room as semi-permanent space to sew. So if you ever come over for dinner be prepared to eat at the cutting table, but hey, I promise to clean up the thread and pins the best I can. Love, Anya

It has been a busy week! I was still sewing up a storm but updating my blog was put to the side for a little bit. But fear not, I am back, and I am back with two pairs of my newly tested and worn into public Winslow Culottes. Winslow Culottes is an upcoming pattern by Helen from Helen's Closet. The pattern is planned to be released at the end of June, but Helen agreed to let us write about the culottes in the meantime. I am so happy about that, because when I make something new and exciting I really want to photograph it and share it with the rest of the world. The wait to show the new thing off is really excruciating! So I guess I am being selfish here and easing my mind by showing my new culottes off so that you ion turn can agonizingly wait until the pattern is released. You are welcome. The pattern is very simple yet comes together into a very elegant garment. It has 4 variations in length, from short shorts (view A), above the knee culottes (view B), below the knee culottes (view C) to full length palazzo pants (view D). The culottes have roomy inseam side pockets which is always a huge benefit! And they have a zip closure in the back which goes all the way through the waistband, eliminating the need for a button. This is a huge plus in my books! I am not a fan of buttons on waistbands unless it is necessary. I much prefer a clean finish of a zipper. Also check out this awesome pattern illustration that Helen came up with! I simply love various body types and female shapes featured. I can not get enough of it. I was also a little wary of culottes as first, but my curiosity was winning me over for the past year and this summer I knew I would give culottes a try. Testing the pattern seemed like great way to do it. If I bought the pattern there was a chance I would talk myself out of it, but with testing I had to do it. There was no way out. So I signed up to test view B, the above the knee length of culottes. I thought that length would be very flattering on me, and anyone else for that matter I chose my size based on my waist measurements. There is plenty of ease in the hips so there is no need to grade between sizes. This was a very pleasant and unusual experience. My hips are 2 sizes bigger than my waist so grading or FSA are a must. With Winslow pattern it is not necessary at all! The deep pleats at the front and back create more than enough room for the hefty behind. The seat curve it also very generous and deep so I didn't do any modifications to it. So my first pair I sewed up as is, with no changes to the pattern at all. And I think it turned out great! For the fabric for this pair I chose a soft luxurious viscose twill in beige from Blackbird Fabrics. The beige one is sold out, but Caroline carries a few other viscose and tencel twills in her shop which are just as great. I got them in almost every color (ooops!). When I first bought the fabric I had no plans for it but Winslow culottes seemed like a good enough idea. Yet in the end I couldn't be more happier with the results! The fabric almost has a very slight sheen to it and drapes so beautifully... It is the perfect pairing to my Winslows! This combination turned into a very solid basic piece in my closet. After the success of the View B, I had to try View D. I simply had to. I never wore wide legged pants until this spring. The beige Hampshire Hack was in fact my first pair of wide legged pants. I wasn't sure if I was ready for another one, but without giving myself a chance to overthink, I dove in and cut view D out. For this view, the only modification I made was to lengthen the pattern by 5". The pattern is drafted for an average height of 5"5' and I am 5"10'. So adding 5" seemed like a good place to start. It worked out great! I even had enough length to hem the pants to wear with a slight heel! This pair is made out of slightly crinkly rayon I got from Fabricland. I figured that if I am going to push myself to make a pair of crazy palazzo pants, might as well make them in crazy print! I love how they turned out!! It is perfectly crazy yet sophisticated. Shaun told me that I look like a rich mom when we met up after work to go home. Ha! I don't know if "rich mom" is a look I strive for, but I'll take it as a compliment nonetheless. Of course I couldn't resist the swooshiness of the full length Palazzo pants! They are so much fun to walk, twirl and twist around in! One thing I do want to reiterate is to hold them up when walking up the stairs. I learned the hard way with a long skirt I made last fall. I didn't hold it up running up the stair, tripped on the skirt and fell straight onto my knee. That ended up in me requiring a few rounds of physio for a couple months. I am pretty much a definition of clumsiness. Sometimes I wonder how the hell I used to teach dance... Oh, and here is the picture of that zipper that goes through the waistband I mentioned at the beginning of the post. Isn't it lovely? Overall, I think this was a successful testing experience. I am very happy with both pairs of my culottes and I can truly stand behind Winslow pattern and recommend it to others. It is great, versatile and required no fitting modifications! Well other than length, but that doesn't count. What about you? Would you make a pair? Which View? Love, Anya