Now in her 93rd year, Colombian contemporary fibre artist Olga de Amaral makes woven textile art that is reliant on a slow, structured approach, one that results in striking, monumental woven wall hangings and installations that are deeply embedded with exquisite craftsmanship. Yet she also relies on spontaneity and intuition, choosing to forgo pre-planned ideas…
Taking the Slow Road: Olga de Amaral
As someone who mostly sews garments for herself, I have for years now been in dire need of making myself a robe. The Capucine bathrobe not only fills this need for me, but it also offers the perfect combination of comfort and style, making it a versatile addition to my loungewear collection. I’m a big…
Could you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into sewing? I have a background in fine arts and consider myself an artist and maker. For work, I’m a full-time project manager for a remote team of educators. I live with my husband and two cats, and we’re all in the process…
Could you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into sewing? I have a strong family history with sewing–my mom, grandmother, and aunt are incredibly skilled–but I didn’t learn how to sew until after I turned 30. I was in school studying to be a Speech Language Pathologist, and sort of struggling…
The airy, breezy shade of LIGHT BLUE fabric made its way into many of Claude Monet’s most celebrated paintings, describing the soaring, luminescent skies of spring and summer in his native France. In particular, the colour came to play a key role in Monet’s famed ‘Poplars’ series, made from spring to autumn 1891. In total…
Innovation was at the heart of Ruth Adler Schnee’s design practice, which encompassed radical, modernist building interiors and woven textiles throughout the mid-century modernist era. After fleeing to the United States in 1938 to escape the Nazi regime, she went on to forge a monumentally successful career at a time when opportunities for women and…
Could you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into sewing? Hey! My name is Krissie, I’m 31, and I live in Oklahoma with my husband, and our two little girls. Before I became full time as a stay at home parent, I was photographing weddings. I’ve always had my hands in…
Dart manipulation is a pattern making technique used to reposition a dart on a garment without altering or adjusting its overall fit. Essentially, it’s a way to move the shaping in your pattern to a new location. Dart manipulation lets you customise a sewing pattern to suit your design preferences. Whether you want to move…
American contemporary artist Janet Echelman makes vast, diaphanous sculptures that mimic the flowing patterns of nature, resembling air, water, wind and light. Made from colossal nets and strands of rope, her awe-inspiring aerial constructions merge aspects of fibre art with architecture, landscaping, and engineering, a fusion that has allowed her to entirely transform a vast…
A little over two years ago when I was only a few months postpartum with my second daughter, I had decided I wanted to make a jacket for my husband for our anniversary. We had two daughters close together and felt like we were just trying to make it through the day, so making him…
Self-taught Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave had an uncanny ability to transform humble sheets of paper into the texture and pattern of fabric, from the soft silk of satin to the raw texture of linen. She brought them together into the most ornate costumes and dresses which pay homage to the history of fashion and…
Button up shirts are one of my favourite items to sew (and to wear!) and I especially have a soft spot for white linen shirts. Over the years I found them to be the most versatile piece in my wardrobe: They can easily transition from being a beach coverup to a winter layering piece, and…
In Part 1 of this tutorial, I covered the fundamentals of truing—aligning seam lines, smoothing curves, and refining edges—to create polished, professional patterns. Now, in Part 2, I will dive a bit deeper into more specialised examples of truing—hems, darts, and seam allowances. These details require a little more attention to ensure they blend smoothly…
Frances Featherstone’s indulgent and richly decorative paintings convey individuals caught in quiet moments of domestic bliss, gazing out of the window, lounging on the sofa, or (most commonly) curled up in bed under layer upon layer of plush, vividly patterned fabric. Looking down on these duvet dwellers from above, she captures them seemingly unaware, lost…
A fun new twist on the Paola Workwear Jacket is exactly what we wanted! I adore this pattern and I’m starting to lose count on how many of them I have made. The pattern is so versatile of a shape and so easy to switch up the look in interesting ways with various fabrics, patterns,…
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