Welcome to the September Newsletter, and a warm welcome to new readers.
Spring has sprung in our part of the world, although it’s a bit too early to bring out the sundresses and sandals just yet! The warmer air is sure easier to breathe.
It feels like I’ve spent winter hibernating after getting covid 3 months ago, but I’m still improving gradually. I hope to try a short bike ride in the coming weeks. Mr H, who took over the dinner/dishes duties while I was sick, has stealthily transferred the duties back to me.
Over the past month, I’ve done two exciting collaborations, which you might be interested in…
Zero and Zen
Kate Ward of ZenStitching and I are offering you a course on making your own modular jacket and embellishing it with sashiko.
All the lessons are pre-recorded so you can follow along with them at a time that works for you. There are also three zoom meetings included:
The jacket: ask me any questions about the construction of the jacket
The stitching: ask Kate any questions you may have about how to apply the sashiko to your garment
Show and tell: lets get together to share our amazing creations
The jacket pattern is the modular jacket from the March zine, and I’ve filmed a sew-a-long with lots of extra tips and ideas. If you’ve been wanting to make this jacket but needed a hand to hold, or want to sew together in a community, here’s the opportunity.
Kate will guide you through a variety of stitches to add to your jacket, and show you some techniques to get started.
Kate and I have been working on a couple of jackets each. I cut up an old army blanket to make a jacket, and Kate made one from old thrift shop jeans.
I’ve since added red stitching to mine.
Zero Waste Lecture
It's my pleasure to present a lecture on zero waste patterns and sewing, hosted by Create + Sustain and Creative Spark.
In the talk, I share how I got started with zero waste, the design process and some approaches to making zero waste patterns. I also discuss some of the challenges and benefits of zero waste patterns.
As I'm here in Australia, the lecture is pre-recorded. It goes for about 35 minutes.
The opportunity to ask any questions on zero waste has now closed and I’m working on some replies at the moment. The questions were all really great!
Upcoming: Clare Show
Clare Valley locals, get ready for the Clare Show on Saturday 15th October. Have you thought about entering anything? The schedules are here.
Some things you might enjoy
Amazing dresses inspired by butterfly wings.
Halston's spiral cut demonstrated in a very short video. (Instagram)
Ever bought fabric and waited for the right pattern? Terri Gardner made the zero waste Xanthea top in a beautiful piece of silk.
Which worn out clothes make the best cleaning rags? Match the best cloth to chore. (I hadn't considered using flannelette as a tea towel.)
Imminent book alert: The Sewing Guide to Cancer - 25 useful craft projects for patients and caregivers is being published in November.
A textile shredding start-up in Adelaide, South Australia. Following with interest!
1 dress, 8 weddings. Brides in the same family wore the dress over a 72 year period.
Making fringing from spools of thread. (YouTube, 17mins - she goes on to make a dress from the fringing.)
A forgotten fashion designer: Emilie Flöge, Gustav Klimt's partner and muse. Her clothes were a bit “wow!” and could easily be worn now.
Compostable clothes have been on my radar since writing this blog post about them. Some compostable menswear is here.
On the blog lately
The next installments of my current book project, A Year of Zero Waste Sewing: April and May.
A tutorial on curving bias binding with an iron.
Making the Jones trousers, a new pattern from Goldfinch Textile Studio. I happen to be wearing them as I write this newsletter :)
The last Book Week (sob!) with a recap of every costume from previous Book Weeks.
Episode 3 of the oven mitts saga. Have you been following? There have been some hilarious failures! The final post (Episode 4) is here with free pattern.
From the blog archive
Thoughts on the perfect knitted dishcloth, and a free pattern for one. Btw 3 years on, I never fully converted my family to these, but I still use them. Being thickly knitted, they take a long time to wear out.
Cheers!
Liz x
Please visit my website, www.lizhaywood.com.au for weekly blog posts on all things sewing, fashion and zero waste patterncutting.