Debbie pops in every now and then to fine tune this and that and use the space a little. This time it was for a laser-cut organize evening gown with a plunging neckline and contrasting belt:Read More →
Ada wanted something special for her second class and had just bought a few meters of gilded cut cotton velvet. We already had a basic straight skirt and a couple of tunics, so we drafted this flared skirt from the sloper. With the extra yardage, we sewed it together and she made this matching gele! It can be hard to get the flare positioned properly on these skirts – you want to start the flare just below the knee and then bring it out from there based on how full you want it to be. We’ll be putting together a brief tutorial onRead More →
Susan was working on her beaded silk evening gown and thought she’d sed a picture to her kids. She snapped the pic, sent it off, and then happily chatted about them and how great they are while she couchstiched this and backstitched that. Then her phone went off. She picked it up and read: “I don’t know, Mom. It’s A LOT” Picking up the scraps of beading, rhinestones and opals (with an assist and a wig form from Tchad) she said: “Jerks. I’ll show them A LOT” She then sent them this: “Well, here’s the matching hat”Read More →
When we get beginner folks up here who want to start off with something other than a basic pattern for themselves, we give a couple of caveats about technique and fabric. Sometimes the things you will learn from a project that is slightly outside of the main will be SO specific that you don’t ultimately get what you need. Duree came to us wanting to work up a smocked pattern from a children’s pattern book and, with the caveats that we always give, we went ahead. She was working from the Girl’s Style Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori. We reviewed it over here. Japanese sewing booksRead More →
McCall’s #3830 makes a great first project.Read More →
We’ve written before about how much we enjoy the Uniquely You forms. They are really the best way to get the most use out of an adjustable dress form while maintaining flexibility. When you are getting into the initial stages, you may find that the form is too big so that even when you get the shaped cover on, it still bulges because of the pressure. Not to fear! If you use an electric knife or bread knife to pre-cut it, you can trim the shape down a bit so that it doesn’t give you an undefined bulge. This is especially good to keep inRead More →
We recently had a student use Girls Style Book by: Yoshiko Tsukiori in class and thought we’d offer up a review. Amazon says of it: Sew cute and original clothes for your little girl with this stylish sewing book. Popular Japanese author and designer Yoshiko Tsukiori brings unique new designs and style to the do-it-yourself sewist that make it easy to create the kind of clothes little girls adore. Japanese Sewing book Girls Style Book (in English) offers 24 full-sized patterns in five sizes for some of the cutest dresses, tops, outfits and accessories for girls from ages 4-10. Already loved by aficionados of JapaneseRead More →
If you have a pattern you make a lot and you already know the ins-and-outs of the general sewing but always drag your feet when it comes to making the final marks for buttonholes and other finishing details, make a template to keep with the pattern. Also be sure to note any of the regular measurements you use. We find that a 3.5″ buttonhole spacing is perfect for dress shirts, so that is the spacing we use on ALL dress shirts or garments that are in the dress-shirt-adjacent family. Just make a template and a note about details and off you go. We use aRead More →
Keep colored highlighters handy to make pattern alteration/variation distinctions.Read More →
Our whiteboards at the end of the sessions look like a crazy conspiracy theorist for sewing is trying to work out the grand plans of the sartorial illuminati. Read More →
We get a lot of folks who’ve found Tchad online or have walked by the workroom and wondered what the space looked like… We are going through what seems like a ton of pictures retrofitting the blog and getting things shipshape, so we thought you guys would like a little show. The rooms are always changing and with each new group of people comes a new sense of what the spaces are and can be:Read More →
Currently enrolling for the Spring/Summer 2018 Session! Get your spot today!Read More →
A short video of the Saturday classes winding down…Read More →
We’ve been using The Secrets of Sewing Lingerie: Make Your Own Divine Knickers, Bras & Camisoles by Katherine Sheers for lingerie work in class since it came out a couple of years ago. It is a really great little book and the patterns are trued up well and well marked. The instructions would be a little rough for the early beginner, but anyone who has a couple of patterns under their belts should be fine. The language and vocabulary isn’t in standard American English, so there are words here and there that aren’t what you would expect if you are from the US, but the world isRead More →
Penny showed up to class on one of the rare days that no one else came. We are fine with our own company, but some people like a crowd. Penny didn’t want to sew alone, so: We found the perfect solution. Because that is just what we do.Read More →
I was writing about fabric exchanges at the workroom and what I see for this place as a creative environment and started thinking about inclusion. When I was a kid in Southern Indiana, my Grandma used to talk about workers they would hire on the farm and property and how the family would interact with them. She’d describe these big meals prepared outside where everyone would sit down to long tables: workers, farm owners, wives, kids – everyone. She’d say: “If you are good enough to work for me, you are good enough to sit at my table”. This really resonated with me and hasRead More →
When you have younger folks around who are still in school you are going to learn all kind of things. (20 year old reading book while waiting for class) “Do you know what ‘kairos‘ means?” Tchad: “I’d like to tell you I do, but that wouldn’t be true; where did you hear it?” Student: “It’s Greek and just seems like something you’d know.” So Nathan spelled it and I wrote it up on the board. Then we hit up wikipedia as we do for a lot of things that aren’t related to sewing. “The propitious moment for a decision or action. A right orRead More →
What makes this picture so “Advanced” that is is categorized with advanced projects? After all, it just looks like a regular old shoulder and sleeve conjunction… Baby, those seams are ENTIRELY backstitched by hand. She is doing a GREAT job with this. It is incredibly difficult to keep this quality of sewing consistent.Read More →
We’re glad Marc’s commute from Tulsa to Chicago for sewing classes was worth it!Read More →
We get questions about tools all the time. At the workrooms we use old tailor’s irons that have no steam function. We like them better for a few reasons: 1. They are heavy – somewhere in the range of 10-20 pounds. This lets the iron do the pressing work rather than your arm. 2. They have flat plates with no steam holes. This means that when you are pressing delicate or textured fabrics you don’t have to worry as much about damaging the texture by pressing the steam holes into the face of the fabric. We supplement the steam and moisture that aRead More →
Usually there is this battle going on between the workroom’s landlord and the taggers and graffiti artists, but we can totally get behind this bit of pasted paper:Read More →
We’ve recently had a ton of students telling us that A. We don’t update the blog enough (and seeing as how we have 72 stored drafts in the draft folder, we’d be inclined to agree). and B. They want to know how to do specific stuff and want tutorials. So, to keep the revolutionaries in check and anarchy at bay, here is our first update in a while to walk you through turning a straight skirt pattern into a flared pattern. A little shout-out to Sophia here (Thanks Sophia!) for making the classes worthwhile for us and off we go!Read More →
All of the regular folks up here know that there is so much more than sewing going on on any given day. There is such a mix of people from all over that you never know what you are going to be exposed to. Recently, Hillary (not that one) was showing us the effect of water pressure on styrofoam. The head on the left was taken down 300 feet. Huh.Read More →
Some time ago, I was reading Threads Magazine and came across an essay on levels of projects and the thoughts behind choosing projects and techniques to make them. The writer was comparing sewing to cooking. Look, they were saying: When you cook you don’t always cook the biggest, most expensive meals in the cookbook. Sometimes you don’t even need the cookbook. Sometimes you just make a hamburger. Or, if you need a really quick bite, you open the freezer and throw one of those sad hot pockets you’ve had since 1998 (don’t lie) in the microwave. One of the things that I say over andRead More →
