introductory Tag

09 Jan

Posted at 11:04h in Vintage Patterns by
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Since I've been online (6 years now) I've become aware of an enormous love for vintage style out there, and in particular vintage patterns. And in some strange way, these patterns are so familiar to me.  I must have used some of my grandmother's patterns when I was younger because the lack of instructions and complete absence of print on these vintage patterns doesn't confuse or put me off at all.  Somehow it appears to me as a secret code I have to solve to uncover the exact intentions of the designer/pattern maker.

08 Dec

Posted at 11:13h in Sewing, Sewing patterns by
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I recently had to come up with a crafty Christmas idea that I could demonstrate at the Wagga Wagga Spotlight store.  Once a year they have local makers demonstrate in the fabric department, and this year it was my chance.  So in a moment of inspiration, I came up with the Christmas Bow Tie as an alternative to the usual party hats.  I had the choice of all their Christmas prints and I selected four different prints in a red and white theme.

22 Sep

Posted at 11:38h in Off-the-Rails Sewing Patterns, Sewing patterns, Stretch Patterns, Womens Knit Block by
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This pattern is one of my 'Off-the-Rails' sewing patterns that I've worked with for many years.  The Boat Neck Tee is a wardrobe classic when cut in a plain cloth and seriously quirky when you mix your print and plain knit fabrics. Although the image below is of a half sleeve tee-shirt, the pattern comes with a three-quarter sleeve.  I'll be adding a post to the blog very soon showing the sleeve pattern alterations for short and long sleeves.

21 Jun

Posted at 13:56h in Garment Construction, Pattern Puzzles, Self-draft by
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Trawling through the samples on my rail I see so many garments that I haven't posted to follow on from the original pattern puzzle.  So to re-cap I cut this first sample based on a folk costume pattern for a Mantle Dress, Inner Garment referred to as a Eura Costume.  Like many folk costume designs it uses all the fabric and qualifies as zero-waste.  It's from a time when all textiles were considered of great value and no amount of cloth was ever wasted.

06 Feb

Posted at 12:38h in Fashion Industry, Pattern Making by
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The origins of my passion for creative pattern making start way back in 1980 when I first went to fashion college.  It was at this time that I was introduced to an amazing pattern making book that just lit up my brain.  Natalie Bray's technical diagrams leapt off the page and made immediate sense to me.  I could hardly contain my excitement at the potential of pattern making.  To this end I believe I was quite the pesky student in our pattern making classes.  The student with 20 questions every session, that drove the pattern making teacher crazy.  You'll find Natalie's books on all the usual book selling sites and the prices vary dramatically, so do your research.

21 Nov

Posted at 14:07h in Fashion Illustration, Garment Blocks, Pattern Making, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Self-draft, Vintage Patterns by
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In this post I hope to link up some of the illustration and patternmaking resources I have on the website so you can plan your pattern making creativity over the summer break.  These suggestions are a combination of free access blog posts, PDF worksheets with pattern making instructions and Digital Garment Blocks to begin all your pattern making projects.

12 Jul

Posted at 15:41h in Fitting Patterns, Garment Blocks, Womens Trouser Block by
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So often I'm asked how I make my fitting toile's for Trouser Blocks, so I'd thought I'd put together a short post with some detail.  Many of the points are small but essential for a good #FirstFitting. You can access a download of my Trouser Block here.  I've also uploaded a worksheet that covers the detail for the first stage of fitting the trouser block.  The PDF worksheet includes detail instructions and technical diagrams to take you through every step of the process.

04 May

Posted at 16:15h in Fashion Illustration by
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For the past decade I've been going into secondary schools and teaching fashion illustration and every time I learn something new about teaching. Each year I develop new materials and techniques to make learning fashion illustration fun.  This year I decided to create some up-to-date illustration templates to use as a ILLUSTRATION TASK in the classroom. After reviewing some recent designer shows I generated about a dozen new images like those below.  Mostly featuring latest catwalk fashion and they were so well received in the classroom I'm thinking of making them into a colouring book that everyone can access online.

04 Apr

Posted at 16:41h in Garment Blocks, Pattern Making, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Self-draft, Stretch Patterns, Womens Skirt Block by
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Following on from the Skirt Block and Design Options post I've separated skirt designs that use a stretch skirt block to start your pattern development.  You can use my skirt block to make a stretch skirt block to use with all these pattern puzzle posts.  Some of them have been sampled and those sample posts are also included here.
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