Hi Everyone! and welcome to the October newsletter.
Lately, the Haywood household has been gripped by Rubik Cube fever. According to WHO, there is no cure or vaccine and it tends to affect young people more (Mr H and I have been mercifully unaffected). Apparently the wisest plan is to simply let it run its course. Symptoms include: fiddling with a cube while Mum is trying to talk to you, constantly asking adults to "mess up this cube please" and burning up bandwidth on YouTube cube channels.
However, "Every cloud..."
My youngest child, who has shown no interest in sewing, asked to make a Rubik cube cushion for her bed (had she seen one somewhere?). We had a design chat, and I suggested she use things we already had. She went through my offcut bin to find all the right colours, cut them out with a square template we made together, and cut lengths of black bias binding. I ended up doing the machine sewing, and she did the tedious job of stuffing it and handsewing the gap shut. We used an old pillow for the stuffing.
Her vision was realised! It came out better than I thought, and with a bit more work it could have been made as a messed-up cube.
Zero and Zen
Zero and Zen is a course I’m presenting in collaboration with Kate Ward of Zenstitching. The course takes you through making a jacket, then adding sashiko stitching to it.
It’s not too late to register for this course - this Thursday 29th Sept is the last day, ahead of the first Zoom get-together. Learn more and register here.
Visible mending
I’m doing my first in-person workshop in over 2 years! It’s at Burra library during the upcoming school holidays. If you’re in South Australia’s Clare Valley area, book in and bring along your jeans to mend. If the weather is OK, the library will host it outdoors.
Clare show
Clare locals, the annual show is coming up and it’s time to enter something.
All the schedules are here, and the dressmaking one is here - note that entry is free for all classes.
New Zero Waste Book
It’s a huge delight for me to introduce you to Stefanie Kroth’s book of zero waste sewing patterns. There are 25 garments to make, with some fabulously interesting styles and cutting layouts.
The book is titled Zero Waste Nähen and is all in German, but if you’re confident with sewing and using Google Translate, you won’t have a problem.
Some things you might enjoy
Yep, if I looked like Timothée Chalamet I would absolutely wear a red backless jumpsuit on the red carpet.
Do you struggle with trousers fitting, especially trying to do it on your own? Have you tried #TopDownCenterOut? Essentially, you make a toile of half a pair of trousers, pin a waistband to your waist, pin the 1/2 trousers to it, and fit from the top down and centre out. If you're familiar with Palmer/Pletsch's tissue fitting for pants, it has a bit in common. I’ve seen some beautifully fitting trousers. Details are on Ruth’s Instagram, and there’s a YouTube series here.
AG Nauta is a fashion sewing blog featuring history, nostalgia and new fashion.
There’s a wedding dress exhibition in Merrigum, Victoria. The exhibition includes one dress worn by 5 different brides, which you can read about in this article.
How to Weave Like Anni Albers. A video showing how a weaving loom works to weave cloth. (6mins)
The Sustainable Fashion Forum’s job board is here, with jobs and intern opportunities.
Is recycled plastic just a sustainability smokescreen?
Some rather amazing mending by Celia Pym. Click on each picture here to read more about each one. I confess that some of these garments I would have written off as “too much missing” to mend.
It’s almost time to frock up for Frocktober, in support of the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation. Surely Australia’s most fashionable fundraiser!
A uniform review at my children's school caused me to come across this article about schoolboys in Exeter, UK, who wore skirts to school to protest their school's "no shorts in summer" policy. We thought they looked great!
The Zero Waste Institute website is hosted by Paul Palmer, the man who coined the phrase Zero Waste back in the 1970s. The site has a eclectic and interesting bibliography of articles, books and videos related to zero waste.
On the blog lately
I finally nailed that minimal waste oven mitt! The free pattern is here.
A rather long blog post featuring three book reviews: Disney costumes, Fibershed and a biography of Francis Marshall the fashion illustrator.
Sashiko meets Jacket - stitching away for the Zero and Zen collaboration.
Finishing the sashiko stitching on the zw jacket I cut from an old army blanket.
From the blog archives
Thoughts on dystopian fashion, with lively conversation in the comments.
Cheers!
Liz x