I started sewing when I was pretty young, long before I had any kind of idea of what body image meant to me, before I even knew things were being ingrained into my subconscious about what I thought about myself and my body. Even when I was pregnant with my first child and making crib…
Sewing Stories: Sewing My Way Back to Myself
The French intimist painter Edouard Vuillard made a career out of observing the quietest and most intimate moments of his life, which he painted with soft, warm hues like Mocha Mousse, a subtle beige tinged with hints of dusty rose. Sometimes he highlighted these hues with vivid accents of bright colour, creating a dazzling visual…
Contemporary British artist Lucy Sparrow makes vast, immersive installations featuring hand-made felt objects that range from grocery store goods to full-scale replica works of art. Known colloquially as ‘the felt lady’, Sparrow has earned a widespread, global following in the past 10 years, because her exquisitely-crafted soft sculptures are as much a celebration of artisanal…
While her name is synonymous with daring, abstract flower paintings, the great American 20th century painter Georgia O’Keeffe spent the later years of her life painting the dry, barren and wide-open landscape of New Mexico, a place she came to call home after escaping from the bustling metropolis of New York. The pale, parched pink…
In the last six years since we first collaborated there has been an explosion of newcomers to the indie pattern industry. How has this affected Paper Theory? It’s amazing how much the sewing scene has changed in such a short time! I could never have guessed it. Competition in the market has grown hugely, which…
As always, the FS premium Printed Pattern arrived at my house neatly in a tube with a separate box of fresh folded linen full of potential. No matter if you’re a beginner or a pro, this delivery is a super exciting moment for any sewist. The Charlie Pattern comes with 6 items 2 top styles,…
If you want to conceal a zipper, or you’re looking for an alternative to an invisible zipper in pants, shorts, dresses, or skirts, consider using a lapped zipper technique. A lapped zipper can give an even more tailored look to your project. Installing a zipper this way might sound intimidating, but I want to share…
Put simply, drape refers to how a fabric falls and behaves when worn. It can range from stiff and structured to soft and flowing. Drape plays a really important role in shaping the look and feel of a garment. You could sew the same pattern twice using two different fabrics, and depending on the level…
During the artist’s so-called Berkeley years, from 1953-1966, American painter Richard Diebenkorn captured the fresh, invigorating air of California with his own inimitable brand of intuitive brushstrokes and playfully vibrant colour schemes. Throughout these years the oceanic blue of Blue Bonnet Linen was a recurring feature in his art, whether depicting ocean views seen from…
I’ve been wanting to experiment with hand-painted fabric for a while now, and once I decided to try it out, the next step was finding the perfect base pattern. Enter: the Bruna Shirt. I tried out this pattern collection a couple years ago and was immediately impressed. It’s simple, yet thoughtful details make the finished…
Ease is the difference between your body measurements and the finished garment measurements. It’s calculated using a simple formula: Finished garment measurement — Body measurement = Ease Ease plays a crucial role in how clothes fit, feel, and function. It determines whether a garment feels comfortable and moves naturally with the body, or feels too…
Could you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into sewing? Hi! I’m Shreya, and I’m based in Austin, Texas with my husband and two enormous cats, Juno and Plato. My background is in economics/consulting, and I now work in people strategy and development. I’ve always loved working with my hands! Growing up,…
Renowned Australian Aboriginal artist Emily Kam Kngwarray (1910-1996) was one of the 20th century’s most remarkable artists, and a current large-scale retrospective at London’s Tate Modern pays homage to the depth and breadth of her legacy. She worked with predominantly with batik, and later acrylic painting on canvas, producing fantastically intricate and brilliantly colourful marks…
Grading is the process of creating different sizes from a single base pattern or block. It doesn’t alter the design itself but instead scales the base pattern up or down to accommodate a range of body sizes, such as going from a size XXS to a size 4XL. This allows a single design to fit…
In the eerily quiet world of Andrew Wyeth, warm, rustic shades of brown like Chocolate Linen play a pivotal role, colouring broken tree stumps, shadowy interiors, or mounds of dry, crumbling earth. His barren, haunting paintings captured the raw and honest simplicity of his home town in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and his summer home in…
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