August 2024
A fully zero waste hat pattern, some great books, zero waste news, and some links you'll enjoy
Hi Everyone!
Welcome to the August newsletter, and a special hello to new subscribers.
I’ve been holding off sending this newsletter because I have a new pattern to tell you about. I finished it yesterday! It’s a zero waste hat, and as far as I can tell, it’s the first sewn zero waste hat pattern…ever?
Introducing the ZW Warm Hat. It’s in my shop now - please enjoy 25% off for the next month. You can read more about this pattern here.
I know this is the last thing on you Northern Hemisphere people’s minds at the moment as we’ve been following your heatwave news, but cold days are coming!
In zero waste news….
Emma La Rocca has a zero waste ONLINE workshop coming up on August 12th New Zealand time or the 11th for the rest of the world. She’s getting up early to make it a convenient time for the rest of the world. It’s open to students, teachers, large/small businesses and individuals, and is a very reasonable NZ$40. These opportunities don’t come up often. Read more and register here.
If you’re in Wellington, NZ, an in-person zero waste sewing class is being run by Studio of Sewing on Saturday September 7th. You’ll be making a zw Xanthea top. Read more and register here.
Do you have the zero waste Optimatium dress pattern, either from me as a pdf, or from Tauko magazine issue #9 last year? A free update for converting it into a coat pattern is here. I made one in denim (and was excited to wear it on a rare excursion out of the house…to get my tax done) and Sue Stoney’s made one in wool and already worn it lots.
Recommended reading
You may know that I’m a prolific library book borrower, and some absolute beauties have arrived lately.
Top row, L-R: Gabrielle Chanel (V&A, 2023) This is a gorgeous book, from the Chanel retrospective exhibition in Paris last year. Beautiful photography. Ahead of the Curve by Jenny Rushmore (Quadrille, 2021) Full of fitting tips for large figures + 5 basic patterns to sew a wardrobe that fits. I’m the opposite of curvy (I’m a column!) but I can see this would be a great resource. My Life, My Look by Carla Zampatti (Harper Collins, 2015) The autobiography of an Australian fashion icon. I haven’t started this yet but looking forward to it.
Bottom row, L-R: The Bayeux Tapestry Embroiderers’ Story by Jan Messent (Search Press, 2010) Embroidery lovers will enjoy this beautifully designed book about the tapestry, discussing the history, stitches, cloth, dyes, mistakes and methods. The difficult-to-read celtic font text is thoughtfully printed at the end as a regular one. Grace, A Memoir by Grace Coddington (Knopf, 2012) Grace was born in Wales during WW2, and moved to London in the 1960s where she became a fashion model. She was the model for Vidal Sasson’s famous 5-point cut. After her modelling career, she became fashion editor for British Vogue and then American Vogue. Very readable. Fabric - The Hidden History of the Material World by Victoria Finlay (Profile Books, 2021) A history of cloth, so fascinating and readable. This book would make a great summer holiday read, or a present for a sewing friend.
Some things you might enjoy
Take a look at Iris Van Herpen’s world's first 3D printed wedding dress.
Turn through a button loop using a bobby pin with this neat trick.
Viv Westwood's personal collection was auctioned by Christie's in June. Read about it and view the large catalogue.
Make your own outdoor gear (MYOG) is a website to share ideas and help people make outdoor gear. It contains articles and guides, free sewing patterns, and a sewing pattern generator.
What if the clothes you bought had the same labels as food?
France's Olympic uniforms were almost all made in France. Bravo! On the subject of Olympic uniforms, did you see Mongolia's? Also, a round up of Aussie uniforms from past years is here - anyone remember the Wow! factor of those yellow Prue Acton blazers in the 1980s?
Simone Giertz tried making a hat that converts to a shopping bag. A longer video of the process is here (9:50mins)
For lovers of design: reader Barb alerted me to artist Andrea Zittel’s webpage, where Andrea delves into clothing, architecture, furniture and more. She has a personal uniform project with beautiful crochet dresses. Barb says there’s a good documentary/interview with her on (US) PBS series ART21, but for those outside the US, a quick search on YouTube brings up plenty to watch.
If you have access to Netflix, there's a documentary of Black Barbie dolls and three Black women who worked at Mattel. Watch the trailer here. (2mins) The comments on the trailer are an interesting read.
Aussies, did you watch MasterChef so you could see what the judges were wearing? This was my favourite episode, outfits-wise. Much as I love that show, they have yet to complete what I consider The Ultimate Pressure Test Challenge (Prepare a dinner for 6, to include your parents-in-law on a surprise visit from out of town. The menu must include something messy to prepare, such as crumbing schnitzels, shaping meatballs etc, and a dessert that will impress your guests. You have a 5 week old baby with reflux who screams if she's not being held. Your 2 year old, riding her plastic motorbike around the kitchen table, announces she's done a poo. You have had 2 hours sleep. You are required to do all the washing up. Your time starts...NOW!)
Can you help? Tracey Clement is doing research on temperature quilts. If you’ve made at least one temperature quilt, she has a 5-minute survey.
On the blog lately
A roundup of the past month’s blog posts from my website, lizhaywood.com.au.
Feel free to subscribe to my blog for weekly posts direct to your inbox, however, if you don’t need more emails in your life, I always do a roundup here.
Making the zw Optimatium dress as a denim coat, here and then here with the free update.
I dug out the pieces of a sheepskin vest that Mum gave me, and put them back together.
I sewed the Eccles Cardigan, a zw pattern by Empty Hanger Patterns. A great example of zero waste pattern cutting that “doesn’t look like zero waste pattern cutting”.
From the blog archives
Thoughts on Good Pajama Management, solutions to being cut in half by one’s pajama pants, and getting sucked in by Pinterest photos. Sorry to say, those striped pajama pants were never worn again, and ended up washed and back in the fabric stash.
Cheers!
Liz x
I adore the zw hat pattern. This would be perfect for a project that the outreach ministry of my church has done, which is to make fleece hats to give to a local group who serves the unhoused.