Finished smocking on Duree's final dress at tchad workrooms

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 →

Girls Style Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori

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 →

Verena wanted to work up some simple modern clothes for the baby she’s expecting but wanted something gender neutral and clean. She found a copy of Esprit Kimono pour les Petits and, as a palate cleanser between all of the high-end and beadwork she’s gotten herself into lately, ran out some ADORABLE baby kimono tops in cotton prints.  These will make even the grumpiest grump smile.Read More →

We found this post lingering in the drafts folder and couldn’t have felt worse.  Too cute os a project to be left in a server’s memory banks without showing it to everyone! Three types of knit and a LOT of handwork.  We get a lot of requests for knit up here, and with the caveat that sewing knit is different form woven in terms of the applied skillset, we are always down for some knit sewing!Read More →