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image source For the past couple years or so I have been striving to live more minimally. I am in no way a full on follower of minimalist movement (not because I don't like it, it's just hard for me), but I do try to limit the amount of “things” that I owe. Although, I bet my brother would disagree with that statement. Still, I do strive to do my best to live with less. I find when it comes to my clothing I feel better and more prepared when I don’t have a lot of things, and everything that I have fits me well and goes well together. A closet overflowing with items is seriously anxiety evoking for me. Back in the early days of September 2015 I started thinking about switching my summer wardrobe over to fall/winter. Normally I would pack my summer clothes up and bring all my fall/winter clothes out. I would take everything, put it into my closet and go from there. This time around I decided to do something different. I started with trying to figure out a color scheme, an arbitrary number of items I would want to have and then work within those parameters I narrowed down what I would ideally want in my closet. I tried taking into account what I prefer to wear and what I already have. It did take quite a bit of effort and time, and one day I will share what I came up with, but this post is about something that the process eventually lead me to. Over the fall and early December I couldn’t help but question all my wants and potential purchases from clothing stores. I wondered what I really needed and whether the item(s) I thought I so desperately needed were actually important. Spoiler, unless you don’t have anything to wear, they are not important. That gray sweater I am eyeing is not going to make me happy. I questioned the quality and fit of the items I saw in stores, as well as their prices. The final straw came when I read “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of the Cheap Fashion” by Elizabeth L. Cline. It is a great read, and although I am a big proponent of questioning everything you read and see, the book aligned with something I felt for a while – I did not like the constant internal pressure to buy things. Yet, there was a dissonance since I loved clothes! After I’ve had some time to digest the information and my own feelings on the subject, I think I’ve finally come to an interesting challenge I was considering. The challenge scared me as I wasn’t sure I could follow through, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt sure that I need to give it a good try. So shortly after in January 2016 I have decided to not buy any clothes for a whole year. Feels pretty big and scary! What? No clothes shopping? For a year?? Now, there are some exclusions and rules that will have to apply here: Everything I wear will be something I either already own or I make myself. This is key, if I want/need something new this coming year, I need to make it. That goes for everything – lingerie, workout clothes, jeans, dresses, t-shirts, everything. I am allowed to buy the following items – socks, tights, stockings, shoes, accessories. But only when I truly need them. That will involve some kind of evaluation process that I didn’t think through yet. I just don’t want to end up buying a ton of things I don’t need just because they are the things I am allowed to buy. I am allowed to buy fabric – but only after I’ve looked through my stash to see if there was something suitable. In other words I need to shop my stash first. I can already see this will be a challenge of it's own. I think that if I utterly fail at making certain items I still have plenty of clothes at home that should carry me through the year. I have no doubts about my dresses, tops and coats. I have been making those items for a few years and I mostly wear what I made when it comes to those categories. But I’ve never tried making jeans, workout clothes, lingerie and trousers until this challenge. My thoughts were that if I run into troubles, be it my skills or the lack of suitable fabrics, I have more than enough right now. I am definitely nervous about this challenge and am worried about certain aspects. I am worried that my “slight” shopping addiction would turn to fabrics and I will end up with a fabric stash bigger than I, or my home, can handle. I am worried that I will end up without a pair of black workout capris halfway through the year since it is hard to find a suitable fabric and I’ve been utterly spoilt by Lululemon (this is definitely a first world problem and part of me doesn't even feel bad for myself!). I am also worried about my sweaters. I love good quality sweaters and it is very hard to find good quality knit fabric to make my own. However, all my worries aside, I think I should have what it takes to get through a whole year of not buying clothes. As much as this challenge is about not shopping, it is also about learning in the process. I am very excited about all the things I will take away from it! I will be posting updates and my thoughts throughout the process on the blog, I haven’t figured out the format or the schedule of updates and that is something I will think about in the coming couple weeks. In the meantime, wish me luck! Love, Anya

Back in the beginning of Fall I decided that I desperately needed a sleeved shift dress. My idea for the dress was that I wanted it to be a go-to dress that can be easily worn for work or dressed up or down for any occasion. I’ve been eyeing Colette Patterns for a while and decided that it finally was a perfect opportunity to give their classic Laurel dress a try. The technical drawing of the dress was everything that I was looking for – clean lines, bust darts and shaping darts in the back, zipper in the center back seam, as well as elbow length sleeve with an option to add ruffle. This dress is perfect for modifications too! It is easy to add a collar, full length sleeves, short sleeves, go sleeveless, add pockets, change the neckline… the opportunities to play with this pattern are endless! I’ve never used Colette patterns before so my first step was to put together a muslin to see how the final dress would fit. Boy, am I ever glad I didn’t cut into my fashion fabric right away! The muslin came out so off. It seems that Colette patterns are targeting a different body type from mine. I ended up having to move the darts to my proper bust height, increase the shoulder width, re-draft the armcycle and sleeve cap, take out most of the ease out of the sleeve cap and fit the dress along the side seams. It sounds like it was a lot of work, but in reality I am not complaining. It wasn’t too difficult and since everything was done on cheap white muslin fabric I could easily draw on it and make all the markings that I needed and then transfer them to the pattern. Because the dress has a very 60’s vibe and is intended to be looser fitting I hemmed it a bit shorter that I would normally prefer. I think this length fits the style of the dress quite well. I do have to wear it with thick tights tough as I feel a little too exposed otherwise. I suppose one can even try wearing fun colored tights with this dress, but it is a little bit outside of my comfort zone. I finished the neckline with a bias binding made out of the same fabric and hemmed the sleeves and the dress using my hemming foot and invisible stitch. The dress is not lined and was very easy and fast to put together. I used a fabric from my stash. I don’t remember what exactly it was, but it felt like a soft suiting blend. It definitely is a bit thicker for fall/winter wear. It washes nicely and hopefully will last me a while (unless I eat too many cookies). How could I not mention the absolutely fantastic animal print? This could hardly get any better. The effort I put into fitting the dress was definitely worth it. I ended up with a pattern that fit me exactly like I wanted it to. This particular dress was made for a black and white themed birthday party we were invited to. I wanted a dress that would be a bit different yet easy to wear every day. I think I hit the nail on the head with this one. I’ve been wearing this dress all the time after the party. As a matter of fact, I loved the dress so much I ended up making 2 more and I have a fourth one cut out and ready to be put together! Love, Anya P.S. I finally put my new tri-pod to good use and spent a good portion of my Sunday afternoon snapping pictures. It's hard to be a model... my hair is in a weird in-between stage right now and ended up falling out, my arms got tired of putting things on, I forgot to put lipstick on... Sigh. But at least now I have enough material to blog about for a while! Yay!

In this post I will talk about underpants. Yep. I finally got the courage and made myself a pair of knickers. My plan for the coming year includes venturing out into the lingerie territory and trying to make some of my own. I must admit, it seems hard and scary! But when I get super scared I remind myself that I've been sewing a while, made a lot of more challenging garments, and even if I screw up a pair of underwear... so what? The amount of fabric used is so miniscule, it really wouldn't be the end of the world. So I finally gave in and tried it. I don't mean to sound weird, but the other day as I was folding laundry I looked at a pair of my favorite underwear and it hit me, this is not hard! The pattern is really like 4 pieces and there must be may be 3 seams altogether... How hard can it be?? I took my favorite pair down to my sewing table, pulled out the ruler and drafting paper and off I went ripping off the pattern. It wasn't difficult. I drafted the main piece and the long thong part and then from there I drafted the lining and a piece for the stretch lace band. For my main fabric I used stretch cotton jersey I had on hand. I also found perfectly matching 2.5" wide stretch lace. Amazing. I think I ended up using a total 8"x8" square of fabric... This is the smallest project ever!! It took me less than half hour to put it together. I love fast and rewarding projects like that. There is one seam that connects all the fabric parts. Then there are two seams in the lace pieces. Attaching elastic to the sides of the fabric was the hardest part. Probably because it was my first time doing it and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to stretch it and how much. I am sure that will come with practice. I attached the lace to the main part with a small zigzag stitch... Half hour, people!! And just like that I had a brand new pair of knickers. I have to say that I wasn't completely sure of the pattern I drafted. I wanted to test it and see if it needs to be smaller, narrower or if the elastic waistband was too tight or too long. After a day of wear I have noticed a few things I could improve on in my next pair: I will shorten the elastic waistband by 4 cm and see how I like that. The elastic was probably stretcher than my ready-to-wear pair and as I wore them I thought it was a little too lose I definitely need to stretch the elastic on the sides as I attach it. With wear the sides stretched out and were gaping a little. I think shortening the elastic and stretching it as I sew it on will remedy this issue I may want to take 1/4-1/2" off the center seam so that they sit a little lower and see if I like that better Overall though I think my first pair turned out great and I would say the experience was a success! Now I will toy around with my pattern and technique over the next couple weeks and I am confident I will come up with my perfect underwear pattern! No more laundry! Just kidding... Love, Anya

I finished my coat!! And I already have been wearing it out every. single. day. It turned out exactly like I wanted and I couldn't be happier. I am still missing a tripod, and I am secretly hoping / was told that with Christmas being so close I shouldn't go out and buy one. Although I am notorious for buying things I want and need right before gift giving holidays. Usually they are the things that someone else has already bought for me too... So, in the absence of tripod, I have to take shameless selfies in poor light and with a bad angle. What can you do? The coat ended up coming together really nicely. I didn't really have issues with it at all! Nothing major at least. After the first fitting I mentioned in the previous post I was very happy with the way it looked and I proceeded to sew the sleeves. Unfortunately the tab at the bottom of the sleeve didn't want to lie flat no matter what I did to it, and kept looking like it was gathering the whole sleeve. I took the sleeve seam apart a few times trying to fix it but it wasn't happening. I even interfaced the bottom of the sleeve hoping that if I make it stiffer it wouldn't look gathered. That didn't help either. So I ended up hand stitching the tabs to the sleeve so that they are lying flat against the fabric. It's not what was intended, but it doesn't change anything about the look or the functionality of the coat at all. Thinking about it now, if I really want to I can try taking my stitching out and see if having lining added bulk to the sleeve and it doesn't look gathered anymore, but I really could care less. When I got the pattern from Lekala, there was an option to make shoulders wider and sleeves longer. I made sure I clicked those off, since I have winder than normal shoulders and longer than normal arms. But I soon learned that was not necessary! When I set the sleeves in for the first time they were a good 1.5 cm wider than I needed. So I ended up having to re-set the sleeves so that the shoulder line sits on my shoulder where it should be. I have to say, I do not mind setting sleeves into a coat at all. I probably sound crazy since most people hate setting sleeves in, but I find on a coat it is a lot easier. Wool is very pliable and responsive to heat, so one has to try really hard to mess up sleeves in a coat. I also had to shorten the sleeves because with extra length they were too long for me. I used kasha lining to line the coat. It is very thick satin lining with flannel side. It is warmer than regular lining and it is not bulky at all. There are other options if one wants even a warmer coat, but I wanted something that will not be bulky but will still be warmer than normal lining. Unfortunately FabricLand does not carry a great selection of kasha lining colors so I decided on this silver looking color. It doesn't match my coat, but it adds a little fun to the inside of it. I am pretty sure I wore my lining as I was sewing and setting sleeves into the coat too... its so cozy! To line the coat I finally decided to give a bagged method a try. I read about it a long time ago but I was just too scared to try it. I've tried my own versions of it, or what I call half-bagged method. I am sure it is a proper term for it as well. In my method I would still need to hand stitch the lining to the bottom of the coat. But this time around I decided that I am going full in and trying the whole thing. Jen from Grainline has an amazing tutorial on bagging a jacket/coat. She even made a tiny little jacket for it! So I followed that step by step and ended up with an amazingly finished lining. There were scary moments when I doubted my ability to turn my whole coat out through a hole in the sleeve, but I did it! I still can't believe how good and professional looking it turned out. Every now and then I admire my lining when I wear the coat... Just yesterday I was telling Mr. Man on our ride home about how amazing my lining is. I must say my Man is also amazing because he listened to my whole story. I can't imagine it being super captivating. Oh yes, I did not talk about coat fabric! I received a very generous gift certificate to the FabricLand for the cushion I made (I also got some amazing silk that I am keeping safe until I find the perfect project for it!!) and I didn't hesitate to put it toward a really nice Melton Cloth I saw and pretty much daydreamed about but wasn't planning on buying. So when I got the gift certificate I knew where it was going to go - coat and denim! Two things I wanted but couldn't justifying buying yet. When I look for coating fabrics I prefer a nice blend with at least 70% of wool content. I find anything less than that is not warm enough, doesn't behave well in sewing and doesn't wear well. This particular Melton Cloth was 80% wool and 20%... something else, that I already forgot... Something man-made that I remember thinking altogether was a really good blend. It was a dream to sew and mold with heat, and so far it has been a dream to wear, but we'll see how it behaves in a year or two and how it holds up! In the end I am very happy with the coat. It turned out exactly like I wanted it to and it is a, I hate to call it that, basic coat that goes with everything. I have been and will be wearing it to work every day, and I imagine that will be the story next year as well. Well, every day until it gets too cold and that is when I imagine my next coat project, the one that I actually planned for this year, will come in - Cascade coat. But that's s a different story! Love, Anya P.S. Secretly hoping that with my tripod, whenever that happen, I will get a better picture of the coat!

Last fall I made myself a fabulous pink coat that I managed to wear out to pieces within one season. The construction was well done, but the lining fabric was cheap and it started tearing. The coat got extremely dirty and rather than cleaning it and re-doing the lining I decided I wanted a new coat this winter. I really hate mending, alterations and just generally re-working anything that has already been sewn. My old coat needs major cleaning and mending work, so it will go into textile recycling bin. It was a good ride and it served me real well, but it is time for a new one! When I started looking for inspiration I soon realized that I wanted a fitted coat with classic lines. I love all the trendy details, but ultimately I am drawn to classic lines. I also wanted something that flares out a little bit at the hem. I find BurdaStyle has a lot of beautiful coat patterns that fit what I am looking for, but from the past experience, their patterns need work to fit me well. The patterns seem to have a lot of ease, are quite generous in the waist and tight in the chest, even though I pick the correct size. I've made a lot of their coats, and although they fit, they never end up fitting the way they do in the pictures. And although I love all of the coats I made using their patterns, I just didn't feel like doing the extra work and wanted to give a new pattern a try. Lekala Patterns sounds like a really cool concept! You pick the design out of numerous options on their website, enter your measurements and then you get the pattern in the email that fits you based on the information you provided. Ideally, you should end up with a pattern that fits right off the bat. This was my first try with their patters and I was eager to see how it goes. Granted, coat was probably not the best place to start... Though I find that my style is very simple and Lekala patterns are very elaborate with lots of cool details. I can definitely tell that the designs come from Russia and are targeting Russian markets. The style over there is more expressive and extravagant. It just doesn't quite work for me anymore, but I do think that one day I will be able to find another pattern to try from their collection. I've chosen 4333 Coat. I think it is quite classic, yet has a modern twist. The two pleats at the front of the coat give it a little something extra that I was okay with. I also like the box pleat at the back, it's a really neat detail. The pocket flaps are fake, as there are no pockets in this coat. That was the only downfall. But it is not hard to add inseam pockets to this coat at all, so I figured I would give it a try. I've input my measurements (height, bust, underbust, waist, hip and full hip). There are also advanced options to further modify your pattern. I've decided to add wider shoulder (I have swimmer shoulders! And I suck at swimming, although I can do a mad doggie paddle), and longer arm length (my arms are 4 cm longer than average... I have monkey arms). I've also opted to add seam allowances. There was an extra charge for it, but it was dismal and would save me from adding seam allowances myself. The pattern arrived in my inbox within 10 minutes! I was impressed. I chose to have it on Tabloid size paper and in hindsight it was not the greatest decision because I was having issues with printer (likely, operator was at fault...) and I could not print my pattern out! I was saved by the Boyfriend, who easily printed the pattern out for me within 5 minutes... I did like that I had to do less taping because the paper was larger than the usual A4 format. The pattern came together easily and although I normally trace my patterns so that I can save the actual pattern for future projects (i.e. other size). I ended up cutting this one out straight out of taped pattern since it is only one size anyways. I must say it was nice to have sturdy pattern pieces for a change! I decided to take my chances and skip the muslin. Gasp... I know, but I measured all the pattern pieces and they all came up with right numbers! Proper width and length and everything. So I gave it a try. I must say I was very impressed with the first fitting! I didn't have to do any changes! The shoulder width was great, the bust width was awesome and it closed nicely with lots of room for a sweater without being too bulky. Forgive the red sweatpants and choppy picture, I don't look my best when I am sewing, but hey, at least I didn't forget to snap a picture! Now that's what I call progress. I still have to attach the collar, sleeves, line and hem the coat, but overall I am very happy with the progress so far. I will try to finish it off this weekend and hopefully the final post and thoughts will go up next week! Love, Anya

As we all are nearing the end of the year I can't help but think about my sewing over the past year, what I've learned, and where I would like to see my projects go in the next year. In 2015 I have really pushed myself and I think my sewing skills have progressed nicely. I've learned some new techniques and even new functions on my machine. I know... I should have really read the manual 6 years ago... I've transformed my sewing space into a space that really works for me and feels good. I've tried to stay on track and keep my fabric stash under control. That's didn't work out well, but intention was there. Off topic, the top in the picture is a Lane Raglan sweater I made using two kinds of sweater knit. It turned out beautifully, but alas, I won't talk about it here. I needed a picture for the post, so I used what I had on my phone. I'll do a separate post about all of the Lane Raglans I made. Yes, it's a plural because I've made a lot of them! I have started trying to plan my wardrobe for the season in Fall, and so far I have really enjoyed it. Most of my sewing has been revolved around filling in holes in my wardrobe. I must say it is refreshing to sew things that are useful and can be combined together right away. I plan to continue doing it. I have planned my winter wardrobe but it is not finalized yet, I still need to really go through all my stuff and figure out what is staying and what is going. Once I do that, I will transition my closet into my winter wear which will involve more sweaters, cardigans and long sleeve dresses. This coming year I am really wanting to push myself in sewing and try making things I haven't made before. I have a few projects that I am very excited about . I have a couple coats I want to make. I already cut out this Lekala 4333 coat, and I have downloaded Cascade Coat Pattern. I have made coats before, but this is my first time using Lekala patterns and I am very eager to try them. The pattern is customized to the measurements you input, and then is sent to you as a PDF file. Ideally it should fit really well right off the bat, so I am very excited to see how it goes. As for Cascade Coat, it doesn't seem too hard, but I am planning to line it in extra warm plush lining so it withstands Calgary winter. The sewalong on Grainline Studio website seems amazing. I already read through it a few times. Such a nerd... I am planning to make jeans, using Ginger Jeans pattern. I've never made jeans before and although I am very terrified , I am excited at the same time. The sewalong for Ginger Jeans also seems very thorough. Yes, I've read through it as well. What? I'm preparing myself! I've already bought my denim, on sale at FabricLand. The content of fabric was pretty good (97% cotton, 3% spandex) so I couldn't pass. I've also bought Jeans & Pants Essentials kit from Thread Theory, so I feel like I am prepared. Now I am just waiting on the mailman to drop off my Thread Theory package! And of course working on the coat in the meantime. I've never made lingerie before but this year I am planning to give Watson Bra a go. I've been following a few lingerie making blogs and have been impressed with the quality of product the ladies put out. I was very inspired and I finally decided to give it a go. All I am waiting for is for Blackbird Fabrics to stock up their Bra Kits and then I will give it a go! Finally, another thing I am planning to push myself to sew is active wear. Ever since Tasia from Sewaholic released her Vancouver Collection I was intrigued. I work out a lot and I tend to spend a lot of money on Lululemon, so why not give making your own workout clothes a try? My only concern was finding quality fabric for active wear, but then I stumbled upon Peak Fabrics (located in Calgary!!) and they seem to have a solid selection of active wear fabrics. So I will be giving Pacific Leggings a try this coming year. Then who knows, I may even try making a sports bra using Dunbar Top pattern! Overall I think I have some grand plans, but I think they are doable. I am very excited to expand my horizons and of course share the progress and my makes on the blog. Love, Anya P.S. As I was writing about active wear, I couldn't help but sing this song. Yep, now you are hooked too. You are welcome!

I have been missing from the blog, and I have no excuse. Well, I can come up with a lot of excuses! But none of them really are good enough. I guess the main one being is that I just can’t seem to think of an acceptable spot to take pictures and I really think I need a tripod, but I am just too lazy to go get one. Yet, this doesn’t mean I have been slacking off on the sewing front. Oh no, quite the opposite, I have so many awesome projects on the go, and I’ve tried so many patterns and have come up with a few TNT’s (Tried and True patterns). Exciting! Now only if I could photograph them… Anyways, in the absence of tripod, space and motivation, I will share the project that I have finished this weekend for someone else. And to make up for the absence I will make it into a super long, maths filled but easy(ish) tutorial. Yay! First one! I find it funny how I assume that there are actually people reading my blog except for my mom. Hi Mom! Who am I kidding, my mother doesn't want to read English... Boyfriend? Ha, he wouldn't want to know how to make a cushion cover, he'd make me do it while he plays Fallout on the couch next to me... Anyways, may be someone some day will read this blog. Here is to being optimistic! I was asked to do a bench cushion cover for a space with specific measurements. Here is the picture of what I imagined it to be like. There was no previous cushion cover, so I was given foam and fabric, and off I went figuring out how to put it all together. Fun! Actually, it was. I figured that for the bench seat to slide into the space, which has walls on three sides, the cushion needs to be slightly smaller than the space. But how much smaller?... I was puzzled with that for a bit, until I decided that ~ 0.7mm on each side is what I need. Yes, I prefer metric measurements. Here are the maths for the finished cushion measurements: Cushion Measurements. Let’s say the space measures 141cm long by 60cm wide. Since there are walls on three sides, I want the cushion to slide in easily, so I would like there to be around 0.5cm on each side. The width should be okay with 60cm. Then we have the foam height, my foam was 7cm high. But I wanted to add some batting to it so that it would be a little rounder and at the same time I want my cover to be nice and taught, so I think 7 cm is good. Hence the final finished measurements of my cushion will be: 140cm long x 60cm wide x 7cm high Seam Allowances and Final Measurements I personally like using 1cm seam allowance. I know some pattern companies use 1.5cm, but I find it is too bulky in the end and I tend to trim it all off. So with my 1cm preference my measurements for my pattern pieces would be: 142cm long, 62 cm wide and 9cm high Pattern Pieces Here is where it may get confusing. We are essentially making a cube, and I always find it easier to draw it out on paper before I begin drafting and cutting. This is what my diagram looked like: 2 Large Pieces 142cm wide x 62 cm high – these would be the top and bottom of my cushion 2 Short Side Pieces 9 cm wide x 62 cm high 1 Front Side Piece 142 cm wide x 9 cm high The tickly back long side piece, where the zipper goes, it's the one pictured on top: 2 Zipper Pieces 126 cm wide by 5.5 cm high – these are the pieces where I would attach my long zipper. 2 Side Zipper Pieces 10 cm wide by 9 cm high – these are my two small side pieces that I will sandwich my piece with the zipper in between In the end these last 4 pieces would equal to the front long side measurements (142cm x 9cm). Piping (optional) I was planning to use piping all around the top and bottom of the cushion. So I would need the total of: (142cm+62cm)x4 = 816cm piping Make it 8.3m just to be on the safe side. Yikes!!! That’s A LOT of piping. So you'll need enough of bias cut fabric and piping cord. Cutting Cut it all out! I am not going to go into specifics of fabric requirements, but it should be easy to figure that out based on what your particular cushion measurements are and how you are going to end up laying it all out. Don’t forget that you will need about 0.5m extra if you are planning to do piping and even more extra fabric if you need to match the pattern. I recommend cutting the Large Pieces out first, then working in the rest of the pieces. In the end use the left over scraps to cut your bias fabric for the piping. I do recommend cutting the fabric for piping on bias since it molds around the curves a lot nicer. But if you are really strapped for fabric and there is no way you can cut on bias, you can cut with the grainline. It won’t look as nice, but it is still okay. I’ve done it before and it worked. I also saved a little scrap of fabric (~10cm x 5 cm) to use as my zipper cover pocket thing (technical name, I know). It’s a little cover that hides the zipper pull. It’s not necessary, but it’s super easy to do. ~ At this stage I used medium weight fusible interfacing to interface all my fabric pieces, except for the bias cut pieces for piping. You do not need to do this if your fabric is nice and heavy. The fabric I was using was rather light and thin and I was worried it would wear out quickly. Interfacing fabric will help to add weight and durability to it. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Zipper You can either work on piping or zipper first, but I figured zipper it a better place to start since it is more complicated and you are still fresh and not super tired. You are going to install the zipper along the long side of Zipper Pieces, so that the zipper is in between them. I am going to assume that everyone knows how to install a regular zipper, but if anyone has questions, I can easily do a tutorial on it. I ended up having to shorten my zipper. I just cut it off and it works okay, since there is a seam right at the end of it. At the zipper opening, I installed a zipper pocket. I folded my scrap piece of fabric in half, overlapped the zipper by about 2.5 cm on top of it, and stitched the fabric to the zipper within the 1cm seam allowance. Trimmed it and voila, zipper pocket is done. Next, attach the Side Zipper Pieces to the Zipper Pieces you've just put together with the zipper. You will attach these at the zipper opening and closing, so that the piece with zipper is in between the side pieces. Don’t forget to press every seam as you go. Pressing makes a lot of difference! Attach Sides Together Since we are working on the side piece, might as well attach them all together now. We will be attaching piece with zipper, Short Side Pieces and Front Side Piece at the short, 9 cm, edge. Make sure you attach them as long-short-long-short sequence. Otherwise they will not wrap around your Large Pieces as needed. At this point you will have one big loop of side pieces. Make sure it is not twisted anywhere and all the outsides are facing the same side. Piping This is where fun is… (I am being sarcastic). I assume you know how to attach your bias pieces together at a slant. So do that, press and trim the seams open. I prefer to press first and then trim, I find it easier this way since I don’t have to deal with pressing tiny seam allowances open. Then start on pinning your piping cord in between your piping fabric. Oh fun! Yep, pin the whole 8.3 meters, I hope there are enough pins! You can try and do it all without pinning but I find it a bit more challenging. If you can do it, you are my hero. Stitch the piping together using zipper foot. Attach Piping Now we are going to take the piping and pin it to the Large Pieces. Your piping should be facing to the inside of the piece, with your seam allowances matching the edges of the piece. Pin it all around. I clip my piping at the corners and slightly curve it around the corners. This is where it helps that the fabric for the piping was cut on bias. When the two cords meet, I like to undo the stitching on the piping, push it back, clip the piping cords so that they meet, clip fabric on one of the cords, fold fabric over on the other cord, and tuck the clipped fabric into the folded so that it is nice and clean on the outside. A lot of words, but again, I can do a separate tutorial if needed. Stitch the piping to each piece! You are getting good at stitching that piping! Attach Sides to Large Pieces We are going to take our big loop of side pieces, and pin the side seams to each corner of the Large Piece. You will be pinning and stitching them to the seam allowance side of piping, so that piping is facing inside the cushion. Once you pinned the side pieces to all corners, go ahead and pin the pieces together all around, stretching and fitting the pieces together as you go. Stitch! You will not be seeing the piping, yeah it gets harder. But you can feel it with your fingers and your zipper foot. Stitch as close to the piping as possible, it will result in nicer finish. Take your time here if you need to. Make sure you leave the zipper open a little, otherwise you will have trouble turning the piece out. Repeat by attaching the other Large Piece in exactly the same way. Slow and steady, feeling the piping in between two layers of fabric. Final(ish) touches! Trim the corners and turn it out! Check your corners, sometimes if you didn’t stitch close to the piping they will not look as nice. It’s an easy fix, just go back and stitch over in the corners. Admire your work! Do a little happy dance! Oh wait, we still need to fit that foam in it… Foam… Cut the foam to the size you first calculated, mine was 140cm x 60cm (see how nice I am, you didn't need to scroll back up!). I heard bread knife works well, but I didn’t have one . Correction, I was too lazy to go upstairs and get one. So I used a serrated steak knife and it worked well! This is the optional part, but I had some extra batting, so I used a large batting piece to wrap it around my foam so that the edges of the foam are less square. This is not necessary, but I think it looks a little nicer when it is less squared. It's totally a personal preference though. Now we have to put the foam into the cushion cover… I would recommend doing some warm up stretches. Take a deep breath, short side of the foam and stuff it into your cushion cover. As far as you can go. You may start sweating, but don’t give up. Take a break, have a snack (or gulp of wine) to replenish your energies and try again. Eventually you have your foam inside the cushion cover. It won’t look pretty yet. You will have to stretch the fabric, compress and move the foam, move the fabric around until you are satisfied with the positioning of the foam and the way your corners look. Then you will gather all you final energy to close that zipper. It may be challenging but you are almost there. Once you pulled that zipper shut, you can take a step back and finally admire your work. Yep, you just made a covered foam bench seat. Look at you go! Now, do you have what it takes to make a couple cushions out of those scraps?... Love, Anya P.S. Since the bench cushion was not made for me, I do not have final pictures of it in the space it was made for. May be one day I will...

Bumblebee is really making this chair look so much better! But in all seriousness, why do all my animals insist on testing out the finished chairs before I even get to sit in them? I just put the chair in the corner, left for a couple seconds to grab my phone and came back to this. Oh Bumblebee... This chair did not look anything like that when I first saw it. Someone was giving it away for free and I was just starting to toy around with the idea of re-upholstery. I really wanted to try my hand in something slightly more challenging and this chair was free, so... why not? Before I finally gathered the courage to tackle the chair, it was very sad looking - old, oily and torn. I pulled it all apart, every single piece of fabric, right down to the bones. It was dusty! And dirty! And there were a lot of staples! And I even found $1.25! I love it when I find money in random places. I carefully labeled all the pieces of upholstery as I was taking them off and wrote down the sequence of how I took it all apart. This way when I would be putting it back together I would just need to use the old pieces as pattern and work up my list from the bottom! I have to say, once the chair was all bare bones I definitely had "oh shit what have I done!?" moment... I knew that once the chair was taken apart I couldn't take a few days break. I needed to start on putting it together right away before my fear would get to me and convince me that I couldn't do it. So I tackled the very first step - the "under the cushion part" right away. I am sure there is a technical term for it, but I am going with "under the cushion part". I used a piece of flowery cotton I had in my stash for the "under the cushion part". The colors matched the fabric I picked for the chair beautifully and brought a bit of a fun factor into otherwise very elegant and proper chair. I have to say that the choice of the cotton was not the best but for my first project it will do. I would prefer a thicker canvas type cloth that can handle lots of weight, but I do think that this cotton works in the end. I'm just not sure if I trust it if someone removes the pillow and steps right onto the chair... but no one would do that, right?... Once the bottom part was done I knew I can tackle the rest of the chair. I worked slowly on it over the next few days. I took it a stage at a time and it's amazing how quickly it came together. I sanded down the legs and painted them using high gloss gray paint I had in my stash and they turned out beautifully and matched the rest of the chair. The fabric for the chair came from my local FabricLand. I was looking for something without a pattern as I didn't want to deal with pattern matching on my first big project. One thing I didn't realize is how much fabric you need for a chair! I ended up buying 5.5 meters and using them all! One would need even more fabric if it has pattern and pattern matching is involved. Such fabric requirements definitely limit choices to bolts that still have a lot of fabric on them, that unfortunately leaves out many sale and clearance options. It's not fun when you spend an hour looking for the perfect fabric only to find out that there are only 4 meters of it left when you need 5.5... I went for thick and durable upholstery fabric since I wanted to make sure my chair can withstand all wear and tear me or another owner will put it through.The fabric itself is very soft and has a nice texture and feel to it. It almost feels like suede but it is not. In the end the chair turned out very nicely and I am extremely happy with it. I made a pillow for the chair out of random upholstery zebra print fabric I picked up for no reason (cause... pretty...) and I think it looks very good with it. Originally I planned to make this chair and then try to sell it, but I decided to keep it in my sewing room for now. It fit perfectly in the space in between my bookcase and next to my table and I was just not ready to let it go yet. I wanted to enjoy the hard work and see the beauty of the chair. I do all my hand sewing in the chair and when I am not using it one of my animals is likely taking a nap in it! Love, Anya

It has been really busy around here! My sewing came to a complete stop as I was moving, settling into a new space and working on getting my old place cleaned and rented out. It was a lot of work, but it is all behind me now and I couldn't be happier about it. I am putting finishing touches on my new sewing space and I can't wait to show it to you but in the meantime, I am going to share my old sewing space. I put a lot of thought and love into it and I felt like my sewing room in my old apartment was perfect for me. First off, I would like to say that I think I am really lucky to have the whole room for my hobby. A lot of sewists only get access to dinner table or a small corner. I cherish having so much space dedicated purely to my hobby, and I consider myself very lucky. True to my nature, I repurposed pretty much all my furniture in my sewing room. The table that holds my sewing machine and serger was picked up off Kijiji for close to nothing and repainted. The oval-back chairs were also picked up off someone for free, since the previous owner’s cat got to them and pretty much shredded the back to pieces. I’ve repainted the legs from black to white and re-upholstered them. The back of the chairs was tufted, but I ended up omitting it since I didn’t think it looked that good. They turned out amazingly comfortable! Here is my dog Skye testing out the chairs right after they were finished: A couple years ago I invested into wooden thread holder racks that you hang on a wall. I used to keep my thread in plastic containers but with the purchase of my serger my thread stash quadrupled and I could not keep it in a container anymore. I spray painted the thread racks so that they look a little nicer than just raw wood. I keep my collection of Burda Magazines (2009-current!) in magazine holders in my red bookcase. I’ve also picked up the bookcase for barely anything off someone and painted it red. My only complaint with it is that it is not wood and the paint doesn’t stick to it as well as it does to wood. Even with light sanding, 3 layers of primer and a couple layers of top coat. So I am thinking of eventually switching my bookcase to something else that’s wood. I also keep all my sewing books and reference material and other patterns in the bookcase. I am still trying to figure out a place for my rolled printed patterns though. As for the gray wingback chair, it is going to have it's own post ;) My main issue was my cutting table. I really wanted to create a softer, antique, very feminine feel in my sewing room. But it was impossible to find a table that was tall and big enough to be a cutting table in the style I was looking for. After hunting for a while and coming up with nothing, I decided I would try and build it. Yep. Build it. As in from wood and with carpentry tools. I drew out a picture and figured out what I need. After all, it’s almost like sewing – you see a technical drawing and you figure out the details from there, right?… I was smart enough to call my big brother in to help though. I don’t think I could have done it all by myself. So I picked up all the supplies I needed, I even found those beautiful legs already pre-cut in 36” height! I glued my tabletop together from two pieces of wood that were 76” long and 36" wide, and held them together with clasps for a bit until they stuck. Then one Saturday my brother came over and we got to working. I showed him my design and together we figured out what we need to do. A few hours later I had an amazing all wood cutting table, that was big enough and tall enough, and had removable legs for ease of moving!!! I painted it over a few days and then it was ready. I am absolutely in love with my cutting table. It’s tall, long, wide, just like I need it, and beautiful just like I wanted! I painted both tables in the exact same colors so that they kind of match. To protect the table tops from pins, scissors and other stuff I ordered glass to the size of the table top. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but I am definitely liking it now! It protects my tables and it’s so easy to work with and keep it clean! In front of my cutting table I have one of Ikea Ribba frame holders. I got the longest one. I use it to hold all the little tools, like pins, chalk, notepads, etc. Things that I find myself always reaching for. My scissors are hanging on the wall in front of my cutting table. Each one has its own hook. There are also hooks for seamstress tape and all my rulers. In the middle of the wall in front of my sewing table I always keep a clear magazine holder. That’s where I put all my instructions when I sew, be it printed patterns or Burda Magazines. This way they are right in front of me and I don’t have to go looking for them under all the fabric. Under my cutting table I keep a filing cabinet and a metal filing cart from Ikea. Filing cabinet is not used for its intended purpose… I just keep stationary (LOTS of scotch tape) and unassembled printed patters there. In my filing cart from Ikea I keep all my sewing notions and little things I use for sewing. I try to keep it tidy, but it always gets out of hand. I will not be showing my fabric stash in this post as I just forgot to take a picture of it before I packed it all up. I pretty much kept it all folded in my closet. I promise more detailed pictures with a post of my new sewing space! I plainly forgot to snap all the details prior to the move. Moving and packing is such a hassle… But that's okay, because then this post would be way too long! Anyways, I am hoping I will be back to blogging about my makes very soon! Especially since I already have a few new items I can’t wait to share! But in the meantime here is a tiny preview of what corner of it is going to look like: Love, Anya

I have been MIA for a while! Life has been pretty crazy busy lately and although it hasn't stopped me from sewing, it apparently has stopped me from updating my blog. I anticipate the craziness for the next little bit, and hopefully then I will be back to something that resembles a routine, more or less. I am in the process of moving and the next month will be filled with unpacking and cleaning my old place for my new tenants. Ahhh... moving.... I hate it but it is for the better! Even through this moving adventure I managed to sign myself up to be a pattern tester for Charlotte Kan. I was so worried that I would not have time to test the pattern, but I loved the Pocket-T so much that I had to do it. I ran it by my BF (or my live-in partner, that's how I refer to him now) and he thought I should absolutely test it if I love it that much. See, that's why I am moving in with this man, he understands my passion/obsession. Well, and for many other reasons too. Everything about this pattern was great. It came together easily. The A4 format used the paper efficiently and was very easy to put together. I traced the pattern, cut it and made my first shirt in one night! Over a course of 3 hours. Talk about an easy project! My first t-shirt was made out of cotton gauze that kind of resembles very light denim in colour, but a lot lighter in weight. I really wanted some kind of denim top for a while and this shirt was just begging for it. It came together very easily. The pocket design is something amazing. It is actually a double pocket! I can't imagine myself using it, but it definitely looks uber cool. I'd say the pocket is probably the hardest thing out of the whole shirt construction. Everything else came together pretty easily. The shirt has a curved hem at the front and a square hem at the back. Those were also a little bit challenging, but nothing you can't figure out. Especially since the instructions are very good. My second try involved a silky polyester blend. I also wanted a red t-shirt since the beginning of summer and seeing that I may have very limited access to my sewing machine for the rest of the summer (moving sucks) I just had to make it. The second try was a little bit harder but only due to my fabric choice. The silkiness of polyester can be challenging. Still, in the end I am very happy with how the t-shirt turned out. Same cool pocket and sweet hem. For some reason these pocket-t's just didn't want to photograph! Well, I think it is me just not being able to pose at all tonight and all my pictures turning out absolutely horrendous. An hour of posing and picture taking and I barely had 3 to show... Oh well! I will figure it out, eventually. I don't know how models do it. I am still trying to figure out how to wear these two, but I am absolutely in love with both of them. I see many more pocket-t's in my future. Colour blocking, lace insets, funky pattern... Oh the possibilities!! Love, Anya

A couple weeks ago my mom brought home a shirt dress. It was very pretty - a light blue linen, button placket closure, a collar and fake slashed pockets at the front. Mom looked a little guilty when she was showing it to me, it was almost as if she was looking for justification. The dress indeed was very pretty. But as it turned out it was outrageously expensive! $200! Well, as far as I remember $180 on sale. I don't know if it is me being able to sew or just being cheap, I thought it was too expensive. So I told her what I thought, but she really wanted it... It was exactly what she liked! What is a girl to do? Of course I told my mom she needs to return the dress and I will make her one instead (brownie points for being a good daughter :) ). I committed to making a dress very grudgingly I must say. I do have a lot of ideas and projects on the go and I do not like to be steered away from them. But... it's my mom, how often do I make things for her?? Rarely is the right answer. Of course I didn't pout for long and as soon as I stopped, I remembered that Blackbird fabrics carried an absolutely gorgeous linen selection! So off we went to the nearest computer to find the fabric for the next dress. My mom chose this beautiful blue linen with white pinstripe and we proceeded to place an order. The next step was the muslin. I always prefer to make a muslin, especially if I am sewing for someone else. I don't know their body and I can't make an educated guess on how a pattern would look on them. I ended up making 2 muslins. The first one didn't turn out. It was too tight and I chose a dress that had a button closure all the way down. Something was off. The sleeves didn't seem right, the darts were in the wrong spot and the back didn't look like it fit. So rather than making adjustments to the muslin I decided to start from scratch again. I used my tried and true Burda pattern that I modified to look like what my mom envisioned. I redrafted the sleeve to make it an actual sleeve. I made the front placket longer and added slash pockets at the front. I curved the placket at the front into a V-neck and shortened the collar. I modified the back darts into panels and added a back yoke. Whew... I think I listed everything! Oh! I added fake cuffs at the bottom of the sleeves. Now I think I've listed everything. This was my first time working with placket closure and I have to say if you go slowly, it is not as hard as I thought it would be. I even managed to align the stripes! The slash pockets turned out to be the hardest. Only because I didn't think through how they would look like when the placket on top of the pocket (mouthful?) is cut on bias. my lines on the plackets ended up pointing in different directions after my first attempt and I had to re-do them. Which was super scary since the pockets were already slashed and in place... But I managed! Originally we thought of playing with the pinstripe in the fabric and cutting most of the details on bias, but in the end I decided against it. I thought it would make the dress look more costume-y and I was going for simple elegant. So in the end only the cuffs and the plackets on the pockets are cut on bias. Even though the dress has a placket closure, I decided to add an invisible zipper in the side seam. My idea is that it would ease putting the dress on and taking it off. Even if my mom ends up not using it, it's invisible, so there. My mom was very happy with how the dress turned out! It is exactly what she wanted, it fits her just like she wants to and the pockets are real, which apparently was a concern with a store bought dress. I hope she gets a lot of compliments on it, because I truly think it really suits my mom and her style. In the end, I have a more or less basic sloper pattern I can use to make my mom more dresses. Another good part about this dress is that my mom bought enough fabric for me to make a similar dress... but those are stories for a different posts! Love, Anya

I love wearing skirts in summer! It's easy, light and super breathable. I don't have to worry about tights or boots. It doesn't get better! This skirt was my second and final version as part of pattern testing for Frances from Muffin Head Patterns. Frances asked us to make a muslin version and a final version. Even though I made my first muslin a full on lined wearable muslin with pockets (can you even call it a muslin at this point??), I decided to still go ahead and try this skirt a second time. I didn't do any adjustments to my first pattern. I found that it fit well and I didn't have any issues with it. So I used the same pattern again. I only changed the waistband and omitted the pockets. Since my first skirt was made out of faux linen-like fabric, and I didn't want a cotton skirt, I decided that I wanted to see what this skirt would look like out of light and flow-y fabric. It's summer after all, nothing like a light skirt to keep it cool! I used a see through black with white polka dots chiffon from my stash. I don't even know why and when I bought it... I was thinking of making a top out of it, but I completely forgot that black next to my face completely washes me out. So the fabric was lying in my stash for years until this skit came along. Since it was really see through, I used left over scraps to line the skirt. The scraps were mystery soft poly blend ivory fabric, that is a little heavier than chiffon. This made the skirt slightly less black which I really like. Because of the sheerness of chiffon and the need to have it lined, I had to forego the pockets. I mean I could have used the main fabric and lining fabric as one and still done the pockets, but I feared that because of the different fabric weight if I connected them at all the seams, the skirt would have pulled at the seams and chiffon wouldn't have hanged and moved nicely. Because of that I left the skirt layers unconnected at any seams except for the zipper. I find this way it flows and moves very nicely. Attaching the waistband using my favorite method proved a bit challenging for the exact same reason. I had to separately gather both the chiffon skirt piece and the lining skirt piece. And that is too much work and gathering if you ask me. But my need for tidy waistband outweighed my laziness and I did the extra work. Sigh. I hemmed the skirt using Colette's technique for baby hem. Except mine wasn't that much of a baby, more of a toddler. I did want my hem just a tad wider, at about 5-7mm. As for the lining, that's where my laziness took over and I just finished my hem using the serger. I know... In the end, I absolutely love how this skirt tuned out! It is flowy, easy, feminine and just so summery, all of it without being too poufy. I decided I prefer fabric with some drape for Frankie skirt. I think it just looks so much better with tiny little pleats at the top and hangs so much nicer. I am done with Frankie skirts for summer, but I am sure I will be making at least one more for this coming Fall/Winter! So stay tuned. Love, Anya