Oxytocin. The hormone responsible for the squishy feeling you get inside when you hug someone you love or stroke a fluffy dog. And, I found out while I was pregnant, the hormone pretty single-handedly responsible for a successful labour. Of course, there’s more going on, but from what I could tell, the more of it…
All posts by Leila d’Angelo
There are some joys we keep to ourselves, and some, once we break their secret code, we want everyone to know it too. To join us in the joy. In my twenties, it was salsa dancing and more than once I was the person at a dinner party counting steps and demonstrating the basics to…
I am impatient. It’s one of the few bad qualities I have that I don’t actually feel bad about. I’m a foot tapper, a lane changer and for my sins, the kind of sewist who would cut straight into the good fabric. And of course, if you’re the same, you’ll know the highs and lows…
I love linen. I’m not paid to say that, it’s just one of my all time favourite summer-time fabrics. And over the years I’ve collected a bunch of tried and true patterns which are perfect for linen and which make up the majority of my summer capsule collection. You might even recognise a few from…
I should start with a caveat. I think the idea of ‘flattering’ is so steeped in society’s obsession with controlling what women wear, that writing about picking patterns that suit my body type feels like walking a very tricky line. That being said, we cannot deny that certain silhouettes will make us feel wonderful, will…
Some of us edge into garment sewing from a quilting or crafting habit, or perhaps someone’s child needs a costume. I’ve seen people hang a piece of fabric on themselves and start cutting. I’ve had all of those starts, but none of it stuck until I picked up my first dress pattern. Years down the…
I’ve had many sewing machines over the years. A cheap, beginner Brother that I used when I lived in Paris. I didn’t have a table so it would sit with me on the floor, crouched over, a foot out to control the pedals. I didn’t know what a hem was really, I draped and sewed…
I proposed to my boyfriend. It wasn’t a leap year, he just deserved it. Nine months later, he proposed back with candles in my sewing room, kneeling next to my ironing board and pausing only when I leant to turn the iron off. But then we bought a house, we started drawing up plans for…
Exactly a year ago I posted my first Instagram video about anxiety. I was finishing a summer in Greece and I wanted to tell the truth behind the bright, happy pictures and my ‘super fun’ sewathon to get my capsule wardrobe ready. I hadn’t shown the sloppy insides of rushed makes or the struggle with…
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