Christmas sewing

I’m not done. Yes, it’s 11pm on December 23rd. But I have already told my brother and his girlfriend their gifts would be late. My daughter won’t know the difference, neither my infant son. So I figure I’ll go with…

beautiful coocoon coat

I will post my cocoon sweater soon (like tonight soon) but here’s some loveable craziness I found on Anthropologie.com tonight. I think this is just a long rectangle with the long tails folded up & back and then sewn, but…

A big box of love

Three years ago or so my friend Sue gave me a box of Japanese quilting cottons. I think this box came from a fellow American Sewing Guild member (my recollection is that the previous owner had passed away, sadly.) But…

Sewing for Christmas

I cut out three patterns (add to the four or so already waiting…and the mending…) this week for Christmas. A twirly dress in stretch poly velvet and brown floral cotton, a Twirly Shirt and Pants from a mixed blues-and-reds-creams cotton…

The handbags are live…

Yes, indeed. After five long years, the first two of five bags is online (for now, only friends are alerted, to download them free, for testing). I’ll see how the next bag goes, and work on the other patterns soon.…

I don’t sew enough

I know people who finish a project or two a week! So how does one carve out sewing time with two small children, a dog, a house, a full time business and some side businesses? I need some inspiration here!

the time is now

This is sort of a crossover post, but it has to do with sewing, that’s why it’s here and not my personal blog. I’ve had this handbag business, for, oh, five years. I have designed some great bags, including one…

thirty minute cocoon cardi jacket

I dug up an old, old article from Threads magazine, from April/May 2002. It was a rectangle cocoon cardigan I have been seeing a lot of these cocoon cardis all over the place, and thought this was a cool –…

The Laura bag and baby sling…

Mine for just a few short hours more, then they belong to another mama. And they’re just gorgeous! I love them both. I wish I could keep them, too. But alas, I don’t need a sling, and there is a…

a quiet moment

Both children are sleeping. I am just about to go downstairs to shorten the bag straps and fix a teensy bit of topstitching on the sling. Both came out gorgeous. The sling is reversible to navy, the muted japanese floral…

Fall trends

I’ve received at least a dozen newsletters advertising fall trends – from SewStylish magazine, to Simplicity patterns, to Vogue to She She Me and Style Bakery. So, let’s see. Boyfriend jacket. Check, have that one in a slim cut from…

Designing the Laura bag

I’ve been working on these patterns for  LONG time. Let me tell you, it seems easy to put out a pattern, but it is a lot more work than I anticipated. Even the marketing side (packaging, pricing, outbound marketing, website,…