Blog

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

I had an absolute pleasure of being a pattern tester for Frances of Muffin Head Patterns. Frances came up with a easy versatile skirt pattern that is rather easy to put together. I believe the pattern is now available on her Etsy shop so feel free to head on over and give it a try! This was my first time being a pattern tester and let me tell ya, I loved it! It is a great opportunity to try out new patterns, learn techniques, share knowledge and meet new people. Frankie skirt is a very simple A-line skirt. Although the pattern is marked for intermediate sewer, I think a beginner can still tackle it. The skirt has pockets, which can be omitted, zipper and a waistband with a button closure. The skirt has no darts, it is gathered to fit the waistband and it can also be lined. Although the pattern is marked for intermediate sewer, I think a beginner can still tackle it if they chose the version without pockets. The instructions are geared for someone with sewing knowledge though, so that is the only part that may be challenging for a beginner. I did not have any issues with printing the PDF pattern and putting it together. It came together seamlessly. I do tend to get impatient with putting together PDF patterns and I absolutely hate cutting them... such a drag! But ever since I noticed a handy industrial paper cutter in our printing room at work, things got a lot easier! I stayed late one night and got all my stash of printed patterns cropped... bye-bye scissors! Now I just need to figure out an easy way to glue them together... This is the first Frankie skirt I've made and I completely followed instructions. Other than making the skirt shorter, and grading to fit the pattern to my body there are no modifications to it. My measurements put me into size 3 at the waist and size 5 at the hips. Even though the skirt is gathered and normally your hip measurement would not matter much with a gathered skirt, this particular skirt is not very full. If I would have stayed at size 3 throughout I feel like my hips may have been too tight. I am happy I graded my size 3 waist to size 5 at the hip. Grading this skirt was very easy! The PDF patter is layered, so you can print out only the sizes you need, to save ink, paper and just overall make it easier and less confusing for yourself. I printed both size 3 and 5 on the same page, and then connected the two lines from size 3 waist to size 5 hip with my French curve. Keep in mind that if you are doing this, you will also need to alter your pocket piece slightly to match a new side seam line as it will be more curved. I used size 5 pocket piece that I traced onto medical paper, laid on top of my new graded skirt piece, and traced a new side seam line onto it that way. I will do some minor modifications in the future though. I do not like having a button on my waistband. I prefer to attach my waistband to the skirt prior to sewing the seam with the zipper, be is center back seam or side seam. Essentially you have one long skirt piece that is not a circle yet at that point. I then attach the zipper to the skirt and the waistband at the same time, so the zipper continues on from the skirt to the waist band. This eliminates the need for button closure on the waistband. You do have to have your waistband in two pieces though, but I find it is minor inconvenience. I also think it looks a little bit cleaner and more professional. Although getting the seam on the waistband to align on both sides of the zipper may be tricky, but it is a good skill to practice anyways. Colette has a great tutorial on how to attach the waistband this way on her website. I am also thinking of may be trying to widen the skirt just a little bit at the hem, while keeping the waist the same. I like gathered skirts, but I hate how if you gather a rectangle it creates bulk at the waist. I am thinking of trying to spread out this pattern to play with the fullness of the skirt. If you like gathered skirts, if you are a beginner or just like easy skirts I definitely recommend this pattern. It is easy, it fits and it provides for ample opportunities for modifications which successfully moves it into tried and true patterns category. I will be trying it again!

I love the idea of this dress so much that this is the second time I am making it! In pretty much identical fabrics and finishes. Yep, that’s real love for a garment if you ask me. I made the first version of this dress back in summer of 2009. I didn’t have a serger and I was just getting back into sewing. I didn’t make any modifications to the pattern because back in those days I still expected the pattern to fit me straight out of the envelope. It’s custom made garment right? Doesn’t it fit awesome just by definition? Yep, that’s what I thought. Nonetheless, the dress fit well enough, I wore it to pieces and got a ton of compliments! One of my friends even said that the dress was her favorite garment I made ever. The pattern is from BurdaStyle magazine – February 2009, model number 105. The link is to the Russian version of the magazine since it's the only BurdaStyle that shows magazines from all the way back in 2005. Burda is very popular in Russia, I guess! Unfortunately the pattern is not available for download on BurdaStyle website, the magazine is too old. I believe they started making magazine patterns available in PDF versions in 2010. But I would suppose any version of a more or less fitted shirt dress would do! It does have pretty princess seams and front seams on the skirt, but other than that it is a usual shirt dress with a straight skirt. To be completely honest, after making this pattern twice, once with full on alterations to fit me, I am still not completely sold on it. It’s nice, I like the lines, but it is still very much off. I lengthened the bodice, took in at the waist, added a bit at the hips and lengthened the skirt. Even after all of that the pattern still needs work to fit well. It looks great with a belt though! But without the belt… you can see that it is still quite lose at the waist and is gaping a bit at the back. That’s alright though, I can’t see myself wearing this dress without a belt. It would look too much like a housecoat! In the magazine the dress was made out of patterned cotton and I was hooked! I loved the idea of using a more or less girly fabric print for a structured shirt dress so much that I absolutely had to have one. Both times I went with black and white scheme flowery pattern and this time there are some beige and yellow colors in the mix. I love the print! I love how it contradicts and compliments the structure of the dress at the same time. Both times I used cotton with a little bit of stretch. Second time around I made sure I pre-washed It, because I had to learn the hard way about the whole “pre-wash your fabrics” thing. The construction was easy and didn’t cause any issues. The only things that were slightly more challenging were pickets in the seams on the skirt front, just because the seams need to be pressed to the front and top stitched, so there is a little bit of fiddling around with top stitching. Also all the darts of the bodice need to align to the seams of the skirt, but that wasn’t a big deal either. Especially since the fabric of the dress camouflages all the seams and minor discrepancies. Because majority of the seams is top-stitched prior to final assembly it makes it hard to make alterations to the final garment, so in this case if you are unsure if you will need minor alterations I definitely recommend making a muslin first. I didn’t both times, but I am planning to wear the dress with the belt. Overall I am very happy with how it turned out! I don’t think it is a dress that you can throw on when you feel lazy. Because it is more fitted with the buttons down the front it does call for a bit of “attention” from the wearer to make sure the buttons stay closed and don’t open up too much at the bottom when you sit down. But other than that, it is definitely a dress that will draw attention and get you noticed, in a good way (I hope!). I really enjoyed a few seasons of my first dress and I can not wait to give this second version more wear. Who knows, I may be making one more after this and may be third time is a charm and that one will fit like a glove? Love, Anya

Who likes free patterns? I certainly do! Especially when they fit amazingly well! I recently discovered House of Pinheiro, run by gorgeous Rachelle. What a treat! I love following her makes and I find them really inspirational. She has drafted a beautiful Brasilia Dress that is available on her website for free. It is one size pattern though, so if your measurements do not match hers, it will need alterations. It also doesn't include seam allowances and neckline and armholes facing, but those are more or less easy to add. I was absolutely lucky to have all my measurements match hers almost down to a centimeter! We are even roughly the same height! It was almost like trying a free pattern that was drafted specifically for me. Amazing! I find that being a tall girl (5’10”) I always have to adjust the patterns for my height and with this one I didn’t have to. I decided to risk it and not to make a muslin first. Not because I was feeling adventurous but because I was being plain lazy. I figured I will use a patterned fabric and if I need to make alterations or make a mistake it will be more forgiving. Unfortunately the fabric choice also hides all the beautiful design details and very interesting Y shaped dart in the center front. The pattern has minimal ease and calls for a stretch fabric. I chose this summery blue and white print stretch cotton. The dress construction was surprisingly very easy! It looks intimidating at first, especially since I’ve never constructed anything with a Y dart and I was concerned I may mess it up. But it all worked out. Once the Y darts were sewn and pressed it was straight forward to see what the next steps should be. The side panels were also a bit intimidating, but they came together without any issues. The dress construction took under a couple hours and fit like a glove right off the bat. I didn’t have to do any alterations to it! Nothing at all!! I drafted my own facings to finish the neckline and armholes and I am pretty happy with how they turned out. I am definitely a fan of facing over bias binding on a dress, but that’s just my own opinion. May be it is also because it seems like it is less work, and as I stated above, I am lazy and I will always chose less work intensive method. I am extremely happy with how the dress turned out! It fits amazingly well, it is not too snug, yet looks very form fitting. I have issues with tight skirts because, as one of our summer students at work put it, I “walk with intent”. So when I am constricted by a tight skirt it is apparently a lot harder to walk like you mean it… This dress though looks like it is tight, but it is not and I can purposefully walk to the printer and back in the office. Makes me more productive, or something. I will absolutely make this dress again! I see it in myriad of versions – flowery cotton ones, pretty solid ones, heaver stretch suiting for winter. The side panels are just calling out to me to make them in contrasting fabric, or may be even layered with lace… Piping! See, variations are endless! I just have to pace myself so that I do not end up with 20 Brasilia Dresses in my wardrobe. Finally, can we address my lack of posing abilities? I swear these are the best pictures of the bunch I took. And if these are the best, believe me, the rest of them were pretty bad. It must have been too early in the morning or I wasn't just fully awake yet... But somehow especially in this one, I perfected a creepy stare and grin combo. It may seem like there was someone to the right of me distracting me, but no, I was alone starting and grinning creepily into space. I suppose I will get better at this. Love, Anya

I moved into my current place almost exactly two years ago and I was beyond happy to finally have my own place. No roommates, no man, no one to tell me what to do with my space! It was a tough year before that and it involved a LOT of moving. By a lot I mean really, a lot. I pretty much moved five times in one year. It was an interesting period of time for me. No wonder when I got my place, I really wanted to make it mine. My own, decorate it in the colors I liked, have pillows I want and flowers I want, the furniture I want... It took me over a year to finally take a plunge and do it. This lovely chair is one of the results of my redecorating journey. I really had an urge for a classy, old-school beautiful oval back chair with soft lines, fluffy cushions and of course the color scheme that was suited to my place. I had a vision that I would use the chair as an accent chair in my bedroom. I had no space for it, I couldn't imagine when I would sit in it either but I didn't care. I trusted it would all work out. My only issue was that I had a small budget and I could not afford what I saw at the stores. The price tag was just way too high! So after some thinking I decided that I know how to sew and work with fabric... how hard can this whole re-upholstering thing be?? I started the hunt for the "perfect" chair I would bring back to life. I was impatient and I wanted a perfect chair, now. I scoured kijiji almost hourly and thrift stores almost daily. I finally found this gem at a furniture consignment gallery. I was ecstatic! It was pretty much exactly what I needed, so without thinking I bought it. Looking back at the whole process I definitely want to say that I paid way too much for the old chair. It was in a great shape, don't get me wrong. But my impatience didn't allow me to sit back, relax and wait for a good chair come into my life for super cheap or even free. That's the thing I learned, when it comes to used things, instant gratification is rare. If you have a vision, you must have patience and with that you will get the piece you want for cheap. Set a budget and don't go over it, it is possible to get good things for little. So yes, I paid too much but I was happy. Brought it home and.... waited over a couple months to start working on it! See! Could have waited for a cheaper chair. By that time, just as I thought, I figured out a perfect space for it in my bedroom. My redecoration project ended up involving a new (to me and repainted) dresser which looked better in a different spot from where my old one used to be. That cleared up a cozy corner by the window of my bedroom... Ahhh... I love when things come together like that. I also decided that I want a footstool to go with the chair. My original plan was to build one myself but then I saw this sad little thing on kijiji for virtually nothing ($10?) so I picked it up. Then one beautiful day I decided I've waited enough and I started my work on the chair and the footstool. I took them completely apart. I took off all the fabric and everything you can unscrew. It's pretty straight forward once you turn the chair upside down to see how to take it apart. It's like layers on an onion, you take one thing off and then you see what you need to take off next. (Advise - take lots of pictures or notes) After everything was disassembled I took to my electrical sander and sanded all the wooden parts down. The stain on the chair was in good condition but sadly it didn't match the footstool. Also the style of the footstool was slightly off and rather than having a footstool that kind of ... almost matched the chair I decided to repaint them both the same color. So I gave them a light sanding to take the top layer of paint off, then I primed them and I painted them. They had to have a few coats of paint, especially the footstool because it was dark to begin with, so it took a bit of time. Once I was happy with the paint I started on the fabric. I don't have any pictures or many memories of the process other than my stapler being really non-cooperative. I had a manual stapler and if you are thinking that upholstery is something you may do down the road, even for a bit of fun, I definitely recommend a good pneumatic stapler with an air compressor. It makes all the difference in the world! After a few hours of working with the fabric, stapler, extra padding and glue gun I was done. I couldn't believe what I had in front of me! My chair! Exactly what I wanted! I couldn't believe I did it myself... I ended up making the seat cushion and the footstool quite a bit puffier and I think they look great like that. The chair turned out super comfortable and matches and compliments my bedroom perfectly. In the end this chair was an absolutely perfect addition to my bedroom. I had a head injury a few days after I finished the chair and I ended up starting to meditate because I was told it helped with headaches. (It really did!)This chair and the footstool turned out to be a very comfortable meditation space for me. They are in a perfect spot in my bedroom, their own cozy corner next to a window and I absolutely love spending time sitting there, meditating, petting my dog or cat and just looking out of the window. I am so glad I went with my gut feeling to get the chair, even though I paid too much and thought there was no space or use for it! See, trust yourself, the process and in the end it all works out. One more picture of my dog enjoying the new chair: Love, Anya