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Closet core frank jeans + birks + a dive into papercraft
I just finished the Closet Core Frank Jeans! My sweet, thoughtful friend Heather sent me the pattern last week after reading about the Helene Jeans I made, which came out great but are more fitted than I actually wanted (I tend to keep sewing the equivalent of a Peg Bundy skin tight high rise non stretch jean when in actuality I want to wear something loose, classic and comfortable that still looks chic). Even though I literally just made the Helene’s, I didn’t hesitate to start sewing the Franks up right after, with only one quick batch sewing project in… Continue >
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the comic-a-day challenge
I’m finally getting around to posting more of my illustrative art here on my blog and I am starting with this series of comics I did at the beginning of the year! Hallie Bateman who is very good frifends with my very good friends but who I never actually hung out with when she lived here in LA, is an artist. Her substack came across my feed recently and since I recognized her name, I checked out her page. She was inspiring folks to join her in something she is calling Journuary, prompting them to draw a journal comic a day… Continue >
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a DesMond backpack for moi + some goodies
Years ago a company gifted me a “knitters’ backpack” that I absolutely adored and used frequently. It was made of a cool gray faux leather, and it had all these smart pockets and neat needleworking accoutrements designed into the pack, like a keychain hook attached to a piece of leather with 1” measurement markings painted on it, a metal yarn threader that would feed your skein from the pocket and through a hole so the yarn wouldn’t get knotted, and holders for a variety of hooks and needles. The gray wasn’t in my color palette but I didn’t care because… Continue >
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burnt soap & Parisian silk
Years ago I used to make all my own soap. I’m not exactly sure why- it wasn’t cheaper than store bought. I think I might have just gotten sucked into some kind of almond mom blog rabbitthole that convinced me that homemade soap was “better” than what CVS had to offer. At the time, I was also making my own natural deodorant, my own shea butter lotions and face creams, and my own sunscreen (zinc-heavy mineral sunscreen was the only kind available in the US market back then, leaving me with an awful ghostly white cast; the recipe I used,… Continue >
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artful things
I have abandoned my beautiful website in the process of piecing my life back together after some big personal shifts, but I haven’t stopped writing! In fact, I have been writing (and illustrating!) more than ever over on substack. The only reason I’m on substack is because people can follow/subscribe to my posts so easily over there, since I never started a newsletter for my website here. Maybe I should do that. I actually don’t love that the only option substack has to support their writers on that platform is a yearly subscription. It would be nice to have a… Continue >
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Dolly pardon in vancouver
When Blackbird Fabrics had their annual holiday sale at the end of last year, I didn’t hesitate to snag some staples as I was desperate for some retail therapy since I generally don’t spend much money outside of grocery, thrift and fabric stores. Having received norovirus at Thanksgiving, Covid for the first time a week later, and news of a friend’s cancer diagnosis soon after, all while navigating the bottomless grief of a separation from my beloved partner of 18 years, the sale was timely for my accompanying holiday blues; nothing can take the sadness away, but even sadness needs… Continue >
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burning books
On New Year’s Eve of 2024 I decided to go to my favorite local yarn store, The Little Knittery, to splurge on some yarn for a fun knitting project I had recently found on ravelry. My knit-jo had been all but demolished over the past couple years, and though I kept starting new projects with…
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Knit romper
I almost titled this post “Shit Romper” as it is both brown and composed of a silhouette that, from the back, makes me look like I pooped my pants (all this in addition to being a shitty pattern), but I decided to take the high road lest I deter any sensitive readers from actually reading…
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old chair new clothes
I first learned to reupholster about 10 years ago when we first moved to LA. After living in a pre-furnished home in Vancouver for years and finding myself unable to quench the DIY bug that had taken a firm hold on me, I hit the SoCal ground running and tackled every single project I had…
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hacked terrycloth jumpsuit
I’ve donned the term *spiritual hacking* (see also spiritual grading) to signify any hacking or sewing adjusting I do that is not based on math or tested techniques. It’s a method of using your eyes, your accumulated knowledge, and your gut instincts to turn a standard sewing pattern into something more new and more you!…
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addie masters’ vintage jumpsuit dupe
I went into a deep dive of the work of Addie Masters in this post so if you want to read more about the original designer this jumpsuit is a dupe for, please check it out! First things first, I think this make has total WOW factor and I am so pleased with how it…
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Sippin’ on some sewing tea
Those who have been reading my blog posts for a while know that my primary resource for making inspiration of all kinds (clothes, shoes, ceramics, nail art!) is pinterest. It’s probably not anyone’s favorite, nor most efficient, platform to manage ideas and images, especially with ads placed every 4 or 5 pins (and lots of…
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Beaut J’adore for know me patterns
I am really loving the new line of patterns that Mimi G + Simplicity have released over the past year. If you are unfamiliar, the line is called Know Me patterns and the designs are all inspired by a variety of sewing influencers in the online sewing community who also model the patterns on the…
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2-toned summer dress in liberty print
The original idea I was dreaming up for my first The Fabric Store make of 2023 was a relaxed pant + robe combo. I kept seeing these colorful matching outfits on pinterest with really fun fabric placement and I was excited to try my own take. I wanted either a bold print or a bold…
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The Cris Woods Envelope Dress
I love that my first sewing post on this blog in about a year and a half is one that really encapsulates what I’ve been focusing on in my time away. I won’t bore you with a dissertation on why I have been away for so long, but in short, it was a mixture of…
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My friend, Lance
I have a complicated relationship with public displays of grief. There are times when it can feel real and visceral and healing, and there are times when it can feel performative, especially when dealing with the loss of a well known public figure. While taking a couple of days to process my own sorrow about…
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Faux Fur, Real Opulence
This coat was inspired by a woman named Ariana who worked on the wardrobe truck of my last job. She is one of those people who immediately comes across as VERY COOL. Tattoos, dyed hair, piercings, incredible style. She also happened to be a maker, and every time she came into my trailer we would…
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Projectors for Sewing
I read about this phenomenon over a year ago in one of the Closet Core Patterns monthly inspo emails- there was a blog post included by a woman who was sharing her experience working with projectors in her sewing room. Essentially she (and what seemed like a growing community of others) had figured out a…
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Sherlock Holmie
I was so intrigued when I came across Vogue 9288 a couple years ago that I feverishly hunted it down online (I *think* this was a pattern I couldn’t find in my size on etsy or ebay so I ended up buying it from an IG follower who had it in their stash), and…
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Crazing and Shivering
Welp, this has officially been the worst couple of weeks I can recall having in quite a long time, and it’s probably not a coincidence that the downward spiral began exactly when Mars went into retrograde, lol. I don’t follow astrology much at all, other than the monthly Chani Nicholas horoscope that shows up in…
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Theirs and Hers: Plieades Dress and Gosling Shirt with Fabric Godmother Fabric
When Fabric Godmother reached out to me about collaborating on a blog post featuring their new line of vintage inspired fabric, I was prepared to say no because I was busy with ceramics and hadn’t felt very inspired to sew of late. But as soon as I clicked on the link showing all the fabrics…
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Color Blocked Blanca Flightsuit
Yall know I love a jumpsuit. LOVE! A! JUMPSUIT! But my favorites have been ones that I’ve tweaked and hacked between as many as 4 different patterns, so when Closet Core came out with the Blanca Jumpsuit pattern, I was over the moon! I knew the chances of it fitting me pretty closely right out…
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Eggs/Animal Highlands Wrap Dress
Making this dress has been on my mind for over a year, and, par for the course for some of my most favorite makes, I was inspired by a dress I found on pinterest! It’s by designer Mara Hoffman (who has a really lovely eye for modern prints, color and style and knows exactly how…
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Arden Pants
Funny enough, I made several versions of the Arden shorts hack from Helen’s blog, Helen’s Closet, before I ever made the pants. Maybe because Los Angeles is in the depths of summer heat right now and shorts seemed smarter, or maybe because I wasn’t sure if the pants version would fit into my wardrobe, but…
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Flowery and Romantic; A Departure
Lol, this blog title. I was struggling so I just went over the top. There is little in life these days that allows for spontaneity, and I’m a rule follower by nature- I’m an avid mask wearer when in public or in spaces shared with others, I rarely leave the house except to go to…
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Life these days…
It just occurred to me while I was writing another post that I have been pretty bad at updating this blog with anything else I do aside from sewing, which is a terrible misstep for me- this blog is about being TryCurious and trying all kinds of different things in the realm of making, which…