It’s 5:30 in the morning. My alarm sounds as I pull back my linen sheets, slip on my leather slides, and walk to the other side of my tiny apartment to start the coffee. It’s summertime on my brother and sis-in-law’s Wisconsin farm, the place I call home, and projects are waiting to be checked…
Creating a Well-Loved Wardrobe
With her huge, dramatic collars, ghostly pallor and flaming curls of red hair, Queen Elizabeth I’s image is etched in royal history. Trained from a young age to see power and strength in public image, she cultivated a persona that was both pure and powerful. Unwed and without children, she portrayed herself as the chase,…
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do. My name is Bruna Masalin, I’m a home-educating, mom of three. I’m a branding photographer, based in Maryland USA. Currently learning how to sew! I feel like I won the lottery because I married into a family of very talented seamstresses and master tailors. Liz Masalin is my mother-in-law…
Blushing crimson reds like that of Tawny Port Linen pulsate across Dorothea Tanning’s fantastical paintings, lending them the passionate turbulence of erotic dreams and nightmares. One of only a handful of female Surrealists to find success in mid-20th century Europe and America, Tanning conjured up brilliantly bizarre scenarios where strange creatures inhabit curious realms beyond…
Once you start to build your practice and confidence with natural dyeing, it can be incredibly exciting to expand the palette of colours available to you. When I first discovered modifiers, it was as if a whole new world of colour possibilities opened up to me. This can be done in many ways, using what…
Mary Queen of Scots is one of the world’s best known and instantly recognisable icons, with her austere clothing and heart shaped headdress. Crowned Queen of Scotland when she was less than a year old, her tumultuous life was filled with uncertainty, but the way she dressed, from her early years in France, to her…
Have you ever walked by someone famous? When I was flying back from saying goodbye to my grandmother who was passing away, I saw a young man at the Denver International Airport. I didn’t know who he was. I still don’t, actually. But when I saw him, I did a double take. There was something…
NINE IRON linen’s steely, dramatic grey with just a hint of crimson became great swathes of deep shadow in the hands of the painter Thomas Cole, sweeping across America’s epic mountain ranges and forming wild, turbulent skies laden with thunderstorms. His momentous landscapes are a celebration of America’s sublime wilderness during the mid-19th century, before…
Another week, another home sewing project. With a majority of my summer plans being cancelled, I decided this was the year to tackle my long list of personal sewing projects. So out came my antique trunk full of found textiles. My mission? To make a custom tablecloth for my grandma’s mid-century modern kitchen table that…
“Early in history, it was important to impress your subjects with your wealth and your bling.” Lucy Worsley, Historian Grand, eccentric and flamboyant, Monarchs have embraced the wondrous power of fabric and clothing since medieval times. From dresses weighed down with jewels to suits covered in gold lace, theatricality and drama has defined the clothing…
Sewing a zipper fly when making pants or trousers can be quite an intimidating task for a lot of people. There are many different methods and techniques for installing zippers, some more confusing than the others but none are truly difficult. Once you learn all the right steps and practice a couple of times, you’ll…
Dark, brooding and dramatic, the intense blue of COBALT linen was ideal for Renaissance painter Jacopo Vignali’s heightened, operatic scenes. A leading painter in the Florentine seicento, Vignali’s Baroque paintings were defined by flowing swathes of jewel-toned fabric in midnight blues and crimson reds; set amidst theatrical, directional light, these richly toned colours amplify the…
I have been searching for a good jumpsuit pattern that not only fits my hips, but is somewhat easy to make with a simple design. It’s been hard to find! Jumpsuits are not made to fit a short curvy Woman’s body – but the GIA Jumpsuit really does check all the boxes. With the versatility…
“Quilts stimulate memories of warmth, security and home, yet their layers can also conceal hidden histories and untold stories.” Sue Prichard, Curator of Contemporary Textiles, the V&A, London Quilts hold a special place in today’s culture, adorning the walls of museums and galleries as totemic mementos of the past. From abstract patterns to personal or…
Have you ever wondered what to do with a hobby or skill that you love? One time when I was on a solo bicycle trip down the Mississippi, I stayed the night at the parents of one of my friends, who happened to live near my route. As we washed the dishes together after supper,…
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