Category: Sewing

Posted on

November & some…

How is November already over? Anyway, here’s some stuff I’ve been making.

Another Yellow Lakes

I started the Lakes Cardigan a couple weeks ago and it’s knitting up pretty quickly. I’m making a size M (the size I always make for Ozetta patterns) and using Noro Madera yarn in the color Shogi #30. Here’s the yellow Lakes Pullover I made in 2023.

Initially I planned to use leftover mohair from this sweater, which created an interesting marled effect, but it really muddied the yellow. I then thought about not using mohair at all, but ultimately decided to since my last Noro Madera project didn’t.

So I ordered two skeins of Knitting For Olive soft silk mohair – one in ‘dusty honey’ and my wildcard color ‘quince’. I ended up going with quince, even though the swatches looked almost identical. I made so many swatches, yet didn’t block a single one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I planned to use these ceramic buttons on another cardigan, but they look so good with this yarn! They’re made by my studio buddy, Animated Earth. Also my travel mugs made it through the glaze firing! I’m keeping this ‘pumpkin’ one, gifting the ‘blue jeans’ one, and trashing the one I accidentally glazed with a non-food safe glaze. I’m excited to make more.

I am using US 9 needles for the body, US 8 for the ribbing, and did include the short rows on the back hem. I purchased 6 skeins of Noro and 6 skeins of mohair – I think I will have a decent amount leftover… Hoping I can finish it in December!

Big Plate

It has been a challenge to make big nerikomi plates. One so far has made it through all the stages and one has a sizeable crack. I made this checkerboard plate a few weeks ago, but it’s been too wet outside to sand, so it’s sitting on the shelf at the studio. Wishing for a break in the rain so I can have two big plates at home.

Stretchy Pants and a Knit Tee

I have been trying to work through my fabric stash and finally sewed up this lovely linen I bought ages ago from Stonemountain. I have no idea if they carry it anymore, or what it is, but it’s very nice!

I made the Elizabeth Suzann Clyde Work Pants in size 10. I just love how the waistband looks. After one wash, it was already perfectly worn in.

And I finished my summer knitting project last month. It’s totally fine, I think it’ll be much too warm to wear in the summer anyway.

Posted on

Ornella + Blomma + Honeygirl

Rickrack Ornella

I love that Sadie was inspired by those trashy bikini t-shirts when designing this top. The style lines add so much interest to an otherwise simple sleeveless top.

This version confirmed I’d chosen the right size, so I’m definitely planning to make a classic striped version next out of more precious fabric. For this one, I used crinkle cotton and applied rickrack to show off the style lines.

Basting the rickrack stretched out the fabric a bit, so the opposite curves of the shirt needed to be eased together than what’s instructed. I found the armhole and neckline bias pieces to be a little too wide for this fabric and trimmed them down about ⅜”.

Blomma + Honeygirl

The Honeygirl is my favorite shirt pattern. The neckline finish, the overall fit, and its recommended fabric are all the best. So when Paradise Patterns released the Honeygirl Cardigan, I knew I’d be making at least one.

This Lyrical pointelle was perfect for this pattern. It’s substantial enough for the button placket and is the perfect weight for a lighter layer. I also had perfectly matching buttons in my stash.

The hem and neckband were attached by coverstitch and I am curious to see how the stitches at center front will hold up over time. I knotted the threads and added a dab of FrayCheck just in case.

The top buttonhole isn’t cut open – for some reason I thought centering the buttonhole on the neckband would look better than what was instructed and it does not. It warped the neckband and is so close to the edge I was worried cutting it open would cause more issues.

And I really don’t know why I’ve waited so long to make the Blomma. It’s the tank equivalent of my favorite t-shirt. I had just enough leftover pointelle from the cardigan to make it.

I wasn’t sure if these would work as a set because the necklines are so similar, but I’ve worn them together a few times and I like it!

And finally, here’s my contribution to an upcoming fabric swap. I’ve had some of these in my stash for years and it feels great to set them free.

Posted on

Quilt Plans

1 Comment

I recently decided to make a quilt inspired by this pillow. I found a tutorial that makes two blocks from two different colors of 14” x 14” squares that look like this:

I played around with some color combos before settling on Kona cotton “wasabi” and “pickle”.

While waiting for fabric to arrive, I pulled out the only solid scraps in my stash to test it out.

I haven’t calculated how many blocks I’ll need, but I’m excited to start a new quilt project.

Posted on

August Makes

1 Comment

Baggu Dupe

I’d been wanting to knock off my Baggu visor for a while because I thought it would be a fun project and because they stopped producing them. I liked its line of hats, so it was inevitable that they’d disappear.

Inspiration finally struck when I found some Kokka canvas that reminded me of my grandparents’ bathroom paneling. The colors go great with most of my wardrobe!

Overall, I’m quite happy with it! It was fun to puzzle out the construction and what inner workings were needed to emulate the Baggu version.

For my memory, here are the construction steps:

  1. Right sides together, stitch brim pieces together along the long, curved edge.
  2. Fuse foam to one wrong side of one brim piece and turn unit right side out.
  3. Mark 10 lines spaced at ¼” intervals along the brim and topstitch.
  4. Fuse interfacing to both band pieces.
  5. Right sides together, align band pieces along one long edge and stitch. Press seam allowance open.
  6. Align one unstitched long edge to wrong side of brim and stitch in place. Press remaining band edges in at ¼”.
  7. Stitch velcro pieces to band.
  8. Fold band to right side of brim. Hand baste band in place. Topstitch and remove basting stitches.

More Sewing

These Pomonas have never quite been right. For one, the khaki leg became about an inch longer than the other. The canvas weight is also too heavy for a wide leg cut, so the fix was to turn them into shorts.

And I tested Klum House’s soon to be released Alberta bag. It’s smaller than the Fremont I just finished, making it a great everyday bag.

Ceramics

Finally hung this piece and even though I totally bonked the french cleat epoxying it at an angle, it’s level on the wall! I love it and I want to make more.

I’ve been making lots of plates too!

Knitting

And finally, I started the Ozetta Air Tee. It’ll probably be done by the end of summer…

Posted on

July Makes So Far

4 Comments

Sewing | Klum House Fremont

I made another Fremont bag, this time using all Klum House waxed canvas. I made this set in 2020 using accent fabric I’d sourced on my own and boy has it stretched out. I also added that little initial tag between the handles, which made the zipper catch and the bag collapse in a weird way. The light colors of the set were risky and they definitely showed a lot of wear immediately. Ah, learning.

The only change I made to the exterior was to hem the pockets to the right side, taking inspiration from the hems on the Naito bucket bag. I like how the pocket contents don’t get caught on the hem ridge when I grab things.

This bag is quite roomy, so I wanted at least one more interior pocket to organize things. I added one to the front lining of the bag, totally forgetting that the one little rivet on the exterior would go through it. It worked out though, perfectly aligning with the stitch line. However, I may have punched right through these stitches, so there’s some risk it’ll come undone with wear.

The interior pockets were stitched on with two lines, the first at ⅛” and the second at ¼”. The instructions only include the ⅛” line, but on my first Fremont, I didn’t like how the raw edges of the pockets were just flapping around inside the pocket.

The only other modification I made was to add this very simple water bottle loop. Again, this bag is very roomy, so I wanted a way to keep things in place. It’s just a strip of fabric with two double fold hems, inserted into one side of the lining. To get the approximate size, I hemmed a long strip of fabric, wrapped it around the bottle adding a little bit of wiggle room, and finally seam allowance. I totally guessed the placement and ended up moving it a little lower after turning the bag right side out.

I love Klum House bags and kits, but they’ve made a significant change recently – kits no longer come with pre-cut fabric. I understand this change, but was pretty shocked and bummed to not be able to jump right to sewing after unpacking the kit. When I purchased this kit, I also bought the Slabtown in the same colorway (I want to replace the bag set mentioned above) but I have to build up motivation to cut out all the pieces out.

Ceramics | More Nerikomi

I wet sanded and glazed so many pieces last week. It’ll be a while before they’re fired, but I’m so excited to see how they turn out!

I also had a big fail after spending so much time making this flower log. The goal was to turn this slab into a plate, but the white clay was too dry to properly adhere to itself causing bubbles. At least I sort of improved my coil making technique in the process!

I was able to use some of the flowers to make a mug, so it wasn’t a total fail.

Posted on

Coping With Crafts | June-ish 2025

2 Comments

Sewing | Summer Outfit

I have been wearing this combo a lot lately. It’s perfect for gardening, dog walks, potting at the studio, and everywhere else.

I had a pair of thirfted shorteralls (I refuse to use the word shortalls) that I outgrew a few years ago and have been missing ever since. Then I saw True Bias’s Riley pattern and knew the white Carhartt denim in my stash would be a perfect combo. I’m also wearing a hacked Seamwork Orlando.

A hummingbird took a shower.

They came together pretty quickly and I excitedly used some vintage feed sack cotton for the pockets and tags. I especially love the back pocket detail.

I ordered some vintage French laundry initial tags a while ago and have slowly been adding them to my makes. They are a lot smaller than I thought they’d be, so I used some of the feed sack cotton again. I machine stitched this one on, but will hand sew all future tags because the P got a little obscured.

I LOVE this shirt. After making this version, I knew I needed another one. The denim is light weight, maybe 5 oz, and it’s the perfect layering piece. I changed the construction on the bottom placket edge a bit to reduce bulk.

I took a Procreate workshop a while back and decided my iPad needed a better travel case. This quilted fabric was originally going to be a wall hanging that sat unfinished in my stash for a few years.

Wildcraft workshop | Weave a Sunhat

Textile Indie teaches really fun and rewarding basketry classes at Wildcraft and this sunhat was my third workshop with her. I managed to take only a few process shots, all of which include me trying it on. The construction was way more complex than I thought it would be, but it was so much fun to try a more involved basketry project.

While this hat fits my giant melon and was woven pretty neatly, the shape is not quite right. It’s too square at the top and really accentuates my big head. I’m pondering ordering supplies and trying to make a more rounded one at home.

Glaze Fun

The pottery studio I have a membership at only has paint on glazes available, so I decided to turn these pots into “test tiles,” which made the process of glazing way more enjoyable. Three nerikomi pieces have made it through glaze firing. I’m waiting to share them once more are finished.

Knitting | Port Jacket by Ozetta, plus an oldie refashioned.

I started this jacket in January and have been slowly working on it, trying to manage hand and wrist pain. Most of it was knit using the Portugese knitting style where the yarn is held around your neck. I think my flat knitting tension is a lot more consistent with this technique. I want to focus on adding a few more cardigans to my wardrobe and now feel pretty confident they won’t have obvious knit and purl rows.

The way the button band is knit is straight up magic – how does this even work?! I really waffled on my button choice. I planned to use the vintage buttons on the left, but didn’t like the combo of dark brown yarn and yellowy wood. I bought these too big toggles (right) in New Zealand, which if they’d been like a 1/4″ smaller would have worked pretty well. Then I found these vintage dark brown buttons in my stash and loved the way they looked.

I just wove in the last end this morning and now the whole thing is drying. I’m hoping I’ll get to wear on chilly mornings this summer.

In other knitting news, I’m still working on this duplicate stitch project. I also redid the collar since I hated my first attempt. Here’s what it used to look like. A really kind fellow knitter fixed the shoulder I accidentally unpicked while trying to redo it. I could not make sense of the stitches, but she fixed it in a couple of minutes!

Posted on

Updated Sewing Machine Covers

2 Comments

I decided to remake my sewing machine covers (here and here) for a couple of reasons. First, my serger didn’t have its own cover. Second, the current covers don’t fit well when the tables are on, meaning they either look silly or the tables are off and in the way. Third, I wanted them to all kind of coodinate, so I planned on using the same leftover bias tape for the piping for a through-line. And fourth, I had so much leftover canvas in my stash that needed to be used.

Serger Cover

Screen printing
Constructing

The first cover I made was for my serger since the plastic one it came with was just sad. I hadn’t played with surface design in years but inspiration hit and I pulled out this old screen and just went for it. I used the free Closet Core patterns so I wouldn’t need to draft anything. I like how they have rounded edges, piping for some structure, and the sewing machine pattern has pockets, which would solve the issue of where to store the tables. I followed the instructions for the first cover, but the piping running all the way down the hem makes it really bulky so on all the others I ended the piping right before the hem line. I also added a pocket to the back since my serger has a detachable table.

B 530 Cover

Old cover

After the successful serger cover, I decided to work on the one for my secondary sewing machine. Since the images in the CC tutorial showed the same machine as mine, I wrongly assumed I wouldn’t need to make any pattern adjustments. So without testing, I block printed the same design as the original cover and started assembling. I omitted the second pocket thinking that the free arm and table could just fit in the front pocket.

It came together quickly but the table did not fit in the pocket. Thankfully, it’s stretched out over the past couple weeks and now is just a very snug fit. But this didn’t happen before I made three frustrating mock-ups trying to find the right size before re-printing new fabric. A second pocket was added to balance out the weight of stored items.

Coverstitch Cover

After making the serger cover, I was able to check the fit of it on my coverstitch machine. The L-220 is a little smaller than the L-460, but the cover seemed to fit just fine. At this point, assembly was super fast, even with block printing, and there was no need for a pocket on this one.

Old cover.

This design is one of my favorites. It’s made up of four blocks and is really fun to print.

B 770 Cover

Then I hit a wall. I had used all the surface designs I’d already made into blocks (or screens), plus I’d need to adjust the pattern to fit the 770’s honker size. I made a few mockups and then decided that it would be easy enough to just shave off some length and re-attach a side if necessary. After flipping through an old sketchbook, I decided on a very simple square design. I opted to not print the main pattern piece since there wasn’t an easy way to ensure the surface design would line up neatly.

Old cover.

This one isn’t fully finished yet. The canvas seems like it’s growing, so I’m going to wait to finish the seam allowances and hem.

I’m really happy I decided to tackle this project. The covers look great, they coordinate well with the room, and I used up a lot of materials.

Posted on

February Update

5 Comments

Things feel dark as fuck, but I’m still making shit. I hope you are too.

A very stained shirt.

After years of flawless use, my go-to washable marker let me down. On a white shirt, no less. I also used the shittiest interfacing I have in my stash and it has not held up to the numerous stain remover and bleach baths this shirt has been subjected to.

It’s the Closet Core Jenna. It was worked on over a few months and I plan to make a light-ish weight denim version soon. I learned how to do the burrito method on cuffs and waistbands when I was taking patternmaking classes in Oakland, CA but had never tried it on a collar before. IT WORKS SO WELL!

My one pain point in the construction was hem gusset. There’s no way to stitch it down neatly. The white fabric is a little sheer, so there was no hiding that it doesn’t quite line up with the shirt hem. I took them off and I’m kinda mad about it.

A very big bag.

I’ve been toting a lot of things back and forth from the office. Several paper bags have ripped on me, so I made this huge tote out of this really fun Japanese fabric my husband bought me a few years ago. I added a lining too.

A very lumpy mug.

Who doesn’t want to press their lips against ceramic lumps? I’m not sure why I went with this texture, but I did. It kinda reminds me of a corn cob.

And another brown sweater.

I like what I like. Finally joined the fronts and back together – there’s only 7″ inches before I can start the ribbing.

Posted on

Last week in making.

5 Comments

In an attempt to be productive while dissociating, I am prioritizing daily creative acts. And I’m going to try to document some of it too. Last week felt especially creative, so here’s what I did.

Fine Things Community Pottery Studio

I joined a brand new studio and successfully threw two pots! I feel really nervous not having the traditional support of a class, but I’m excited to explore some ideas outside of the scope of local classes. Here are the things I’m planning to work on:

  • Nerikomi patterned pieces (this technique excites me so much)
  • Tiles for my fireplace renovation
  • Chess set for my husband
  • Hand-built plates using MDF forms I eventually make
  • A tabletop lamp?

Painting Workshop

I attended a really lovely painting workshop taught by Allie Yacina at Happy Anyway. I am obsessed with sketchbook artwork and Allie has an incredible practice, some of which is currently on display at the shop. The morning consisted of creating color swatches using a primary palette, thumbnail sketches of a still life, and then a final painting. I left so inspired, I spent way too much money at the art store. Acrylic gouache is a fun medium and I learned just how creamy Caran d’Ache pencils are.

Cast on a New Sweater

Portuguese practice.

In additional to just starting the Port Jacket, I learned the Portuguese knitting style. I wanted to try this method out because I read it can reduce hand pain and give you better purling tension. I’m not getting amazing results doing German short rows with this knitting style, but I’m hopeful it’ll get better with practice.

Shirt Sewing + A Weird New Shelf

And lastly, I made a lot of progress on this button up. All that’s left are the cuffs and buttonholes. I also bought and installed this so-hideous-it’s-kinda-cute towel rack that I’ve had my eyes on for months. I wanted something on the wall here where I could hang works in progress and in-use patterns. I also moved my small “design board” over to this wall too. It’s way easier to access now that it’s not behind a table. You can see I have quite a few outerwear projects planned!

Posted on

Feeling ALIVE!

1 Comment

I had no idea how much health issues had slowed down my desire to play around with materials and make stuff. But now that my thyroid medication seems to be at the right dose and I no longer have a uterus (thanks to fibroids), I’m BACK BABY.

It’s really exciting to feel like I’m actually awake during the day now. And I want to celebrate my newfound productivity by cataloging my recent makes. First up, I just added the binding to this wall hanging I made years ago.

I refinished this “gentleman’s cabinet” which you can read more about here and here.

This thrifted stool got a much comfier seat. The rope basket turned cushion cover was already made, but I added the fabric and drawstring bit to keep everything in place. There’s now 2″ of foam too since the plywood was much too hard of a seat. I finished this project by splattering some acrylic paint on it because why not?

I’ve actually been finishing some sewing projects outside of work! I made a dress out of fabric that’s been in my stash for YEARS, a quilt coat with fun yarn ties, several new machine covers (also using old stash fabric), these amazing mellow yellow Cloud Sweatpants, some basic tees, and I batch cut out like ten more projects. I’m planning to share more about some of these makes in upcoming posts.

I finished two sweaters in December and started playing around with duplicate stitch.

I got out my tufting gun and was a total beginner again. This process is so challenging and I hate not being in control, but I’m willing to keep going! The ultimate goal is to make little rugs for all the steps leading upstairs for Otis.

And I’m trying super hard to reestablish my logbook practice. In 2018, I captured a trip in one of these sketchbooks and I’ve missed so many travel adventures since. This practice is one of my proudest accomplishments and I’m determined to pick it back up.