Ann Normandy Maxi Dress
This is a really cool dress! I recommend this for intermediate sewists. It is a dress with many wonderful details that make it a joy to sew, but, there are a few tricky spots. Let’s break it down: This is…
paradise
I'm Ann. I've been sewing since I was 9. My first project was a denim wrap skirt. Thrifting is a way of life for me - both eco-chic and financially savvy.
Hot Patterns Fast & Fabulous Palazzo Pants
I set out to make a pair of linen palazzo pants. This linen has been in my stash and waiting to be made into palazzo pants for at least 5 years. I really love the look of the Hot Patterns…
DIY easy to sew bandeau jumpsuit with wide legs
This fun jumpsuit is an easy to sew garment from a wide leg pants pattern from Christine Jonson Patterns, with an attached tube top that is a self-drafted rectangle. The simplicity of the Wide Leg Pants pattern (just an inseam…
Sewing a knit boyfriend blazer
I have wanted to sew a new boyfriend blazer for some time. I wore them back in the 1980s and early 1990s and decided when the trend returned, I’d sew another. A boyfriend jacket is a slightly oversized blazer that…
Creating a Handy Pocket in an Unlined Jacket
This handy technique will enable you to insert an interior pocket in an unlined blazer or jacket that can hold a smart phone, ID, credit card or lipstick. I love blazers. My lined blazers (being of a woman’s cut) rarely have…
Nursing and babywearing clothes and jacket
Custom sewn babywearing coat in cream fleece has a nursing opening hidden under front facing, two deep pockets and a zip out babywearing or maternity panel. The babywearing coat works over any type of baby carrier – ring sling users…
Minimalist packing for conference – travel with one backpack
I have a 30 minute layover in one of the largest and busiest airports in the world tonight: From commuter terminal to the main terminal. I figure I’ll have to break my sub-10-minute-mile personal record to make this connector flight.…
What to wear: Beach getaway weekend
SewParadise is going on vacation! I’m leaving the kids and hubby behind and going to visit a good friend who happens to live in the lovely seaside town of Delray Beach, Florida. Snuggled in between tony West Palm Beach and…
What to wear with white jeans: cobalt blue and gray heather.
Cobalt blue georgette top, cobalt bag from a few years back, white jeans, and oweing to the season, wool flannel jacket. A bronze skinny belt finishes it off. First decent day this week that is not raining, this is the…
Chanel jacket progress
I am just about up to quilting the pieces. This is a process, let me tell you, and it’s the very thing that at first I’m quick to say “oh, what have I gotten myself into.” It involves first, pinning…