Use the form on the right to contact us.
You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right.
123 Street Avenue, City Town, 99999
(123) 555-6789
email@address.com
You can set your address, phone number, email and site description in the settings tab.
Link to read me page with more information.
Sewing Tidbits is the sewing blog written since 2013 by Delphine, the co-founder of Just Patterns.
Filtering by Category: Made by Me
Today’s hack is inspired by the beautiful Fond sweatshirt of Rachel Comey. It involves very few changes to the pattern (using a sweater knit, lengthening the sleeves, adding a sleeve cuff, and leaving the hem raw). The final garment is a fun and unique sweatshirt!
Read MoreToday, I’m sharing a long-delayed post for a hack I saw in New York City shop window back in 2017! I think it’s a relatively simple hack for a high-impact. Although the draped effect seems intricate, it is achieved by simply adding panels to the front of your shirt that can be buttoned at the back.
Read MoreThere is something pleasant about blogging "the old way" about finished garments and the thoughts that went into making them. Even though most of the comments/conversations happen on Instagram now, I'm happy to have this space to document things more slowly. When I look at pattern releases that many Indie designers are releasing these days, I see an increased number of elasticated pants. I guess that telecommuting and spending more time at home had an impact in that regard. But personally, the confinement period made me want to sew all the fancy things, just like this silk dress that I am sharing with you today.
Read MoreThe dress I'm showing to you today is the second project I had started in Congo. I threw all my cut pieces with the pattern still pinned on and finished it once I had unpacked my sewing supplies in France. I sewed my first version of this heavily hacked Named Clothing Reeta last year for a Vince inspired shirt dress in cotton poplin.
Read MoreIf you follow me on Instagram, you already know that due to COVID-19, I had to relocate from Kinshasa to my parents' home in France. Although it's a global dynamic this time, it strangely echoed our last-minute exit out of Haiti last year. When I was talking about leaving Congo, a colleague mentioned that I sounded like I had "unplanned-move-PTSD." As a result, I didn't want to repeat last year's mistake of leaving my sewing room behind, so I packed most of my belongings (and my little human 😉) overnight, including 2 of my 3 machines, all my notions, fabric stash and my 2 projects in progress.
Read MoreAs mentioned in my last post, I had an unusual amount of sewing time last year. So when I saw the call for testers issued by Pauline Alice patterns, I thought it would be a fun and valuable experience. I manage the tester group for Just Patterns, and I thought I could learn from being on the other side. Pauline Alice is also a brand I was interested in trying out.
Read MoreI thought I might interrupt the Stephanie Skirt programming around here to show you the latest garment I made: a gatherless version of the Burnside Bibs by Sew House 7 and to share my changes in case you want to try it out for yourself. I usually have 2 ways of planning my sewing projects: 1/ I find an inspiration garment in RTW and look for a suitable pattern (or draft it if I have to) or 2/ I like a pattern and decide to make it as is or with minimal changes. This time was different…
Read MoreI am not a particularly meticulous sewist. I do take my time but there is usually a moment when I start rushing. The context is almost always the same: I am in the "sewing zone", everything is going well and I suddenly decide that I want to wear what I'm working on, THAT night! And instantly, things start going all wrong... I make mistakes I would normally never make, the machines act out, the little human wakes up, you name it... Of course, I never get to wear the garment that night and my next sewing session will be dedicated to fixing mistakes. Sounds familiar?
Read MoreCompared to previous years, 2018 was relatively calm for me. I didn't move across any ocean and I didn't birth any human! But I did experience significant changes, some that were to be expected and some that were completely unexpected. On the expected side, my quiet and smiling baby turned into a determined, not to say very stubborn, toddler committed to climbing onto everything (especially me). On the unexpected side, two major changes of responsibilities in my day job have have considerably increased my workload.
Read MoreOne of the issues of blogging only sporadically is to remember to give some contexts to whatever I'm about to say. Over the last few months, I have mentally wrote several posts so I feel like you are up to date with my train of thoughts when in fact, not at all! So let's recap a little.
Read MoreI'm slowly climbing out of the overwhelmed single working mom hole although I have to acknowledge that I may fall right back into it at any time. Life has a thing for intently proving me wrong every time I start feeling like things are under control. But before that happens, I'm trying to get as much sewing and photographing done! The skirt I am showing you today has been on my mind since November.
Read More
Dear readers,
It has only been a week since I last posted here, so this should give you an idea of how much I am boiling inside, waiting for my sewing machines! This year I sewed 23 items, which is a pretty good output for me:
17 garments for myself. I'm happy with that number. I try to keep my wardrobe a manageable size and it wouldn't make sense for me to aim for more. The big lesson here is that I probably shouldn't buy sewing patterns anymore... This year, 9 garments were from patterns we released under Just Patterns, 4 were self-drafted, 1 was Burda, 2 from Indie designers (both free) and 1 is an mash-up of indie/Big4/self-drafting.
[gallery ids="3727,3725,3726" type="columns"]
3 items for the little human: a spring coat, a white special occasion dress and a summer hat. I'm terrible at documenting baby sewing outside of Instagram. Actually, let me rephrase: I'm terrible at baby sewing. I find it really difficult to find clothes that would be 1/comfortable for Little Tidbits, 2/ are interesting to make and 3/ not too time-consuming because she outgrows them so fast. Or maybe I'm just a Selfish Seamstress (TM) and that even motherhood could not change that!
1 Just Patterns sample in our fit model size (to be released next month).
1 fabric basket to gather toys from Sanae's lovely book: Sew Happiness. I very rarely do home sewing, but this was quick and it looks pretty!
1 unusual item, I made a sample for a friend who runs a gender queer underwear business. She showed me a picture of a lapel to accessorize her line and I made the first sample. You can see it on the Play-Out website!
For the sake of accountability, here are the garments I included in my #2017MakeNine post. I sewed 4 out of the 9 garments below:
I did finish the white Blazer (it's the pattern mash-up mentioned above). I haven't managed to blog about it but I have a few pictures I used for Instagram. The Balmain blazer on the other hand saw no progress. It's in a box and well advanced. I hope to complete it in 2018.
I made 2 out of 3. The white pencil skirt was my submission for the first round of the Pattern Review Sewing Bee Contest. I also finally got around sewing a Stella Jean inspired skirt from one of the pieces of African wax I have in stash since leaving in Zambia. This one is un-blogged, but you may have seen it on Instagram. I sewed 3 more skirts but not the one included in the Makenine.[gallery ids="3723,3610" type="columns"]
I did sew my own sample of the Linda wrap dress. Actually I sewed 2 more variations. One sleeveless I posted on Instagram and one for Sew News that I will show you next year. I wasn't sure about the Capital Chic sheath when I made my plan and I didn't get even close to sewing it.[gallery ids="3724,3259" type="columns"]
I sewed 4 tops and 2 Tshirts this year, but nothing I had mentioned in the 2017Makenine. Oops...
In my last post, I did mention that my realization that I wouldn't be able to document all my sewing in blog posts but when I counted how many garments I blogged vs sewed, I realized that out of the 17 handmade garments for myself, I only blogged 5. That's really low in my opinion. Even if 5 of the 12 un-blogged items are samples for Sew News that I cannot blog them before the issue they are featured gets published, that still leaves 7 garments that could have made it to the blog. I will try to post some of them in 2018 and I hope it won't bother you. Let's just pretend that I'm super professional and I plan my content in advance!
I will not be making a #2018Makenine plan for several reasons. First, i don't think that the #2017Makenine helped me focus my sewing. I sewed what I already knew I would make and, unsurprisingly, didn't sew the ones I wasn't sure about. Just for the sake of making a plan, I tend to include clothes that I'm not 200% excited about. There is no value in doing that. Secondly, in my experience, when moving to a different country, it takes some time to reevaluate what you need and want to wear. So I'm going to take some time thinking and maybe doing some planning. Just like everyone else in the sewing world, I've been reading the Curated Closet, and I also did a round of the 10x10 Challenge (you can read about it here and I'll post more in details about it later). I want explore the intersection personal style and a handmade wardrobe and I will try to document the process.
In order to plan be more mindful of what I sew and what I wear, I need to be realistic about my average sewing productivity. For 2018, my assumption is that I'll sew between 15 and 20 garments for myself. 6 technically already decided on since I have a commitment with Sew News for 3 samples and we have already made plans for 3 pattern releases with Just Patterns. Ideally, everything I make this year will bring cohesion to my closet and contribute to a decrease in my fabric stash!
I'll be back soon with my thoughts on a year of selling PDF sewing patterns but in the mean time I would love to hear your thoughts about wardrobe planning and sewing plans! Did you manage to follow-up on your 2017 plans? Are you taking part in the #2018MakeNine? Happy new year!
Dear readers,
Greetings from France! Today's post is my definition of an achievement. I'm showing you the blouse I made for round 2 of the Pattern Review Sewing Bee Contest. I'm calling this an achievement because not only am I terrible at sewing on a deadline, I'm even worse at taking pictures and posting them in a timely manner. And with this blouse I managed to make both happen! (smug face).It's not the first time that I pass round 1 in the Pattern Review Sewing Bee, but it's the first time that I managed to complete the project on time for round 2. When I saw that the theme was sleeves I wasn't terribly inspired. I'm not one to add frills or follow #sleevefest. But I did had a picture of this Chloe Blouse hanging in my sewing space and I figured I could make something wearable/I had exactly 2 days to buy fabric, prepare a pattern and finish my garment before flying out to France but it all worked out.
Pattern – self-drafted
I drafted the pattern using my TNT shirt as a starting point. My TNT pattern started initially as a Grainline Studio Archer shirt but I'm not sure that any pattern piece would be recognizable by now. To create this pattern, I joined the shoulder yoke to the back and omitted all waist darts. I created a simple front by removing all pockets, plackets, etc. and lowered the neckline by 2" at Center Front, widening 1" at the shoulder tapering to nothing at Center Back.The sleeves are cut to reach the middle of my forearm. The flounce detail is very simple. I created it by using this technique, but it ends up being a half circle, so with a little bit of math you could draft it directly.
Fabric – Grey Silk Crepe de Chine from Mood NY, contrast ivory crepe de chine from stash.
Notions – Lingerie hook from stash
The construction is very straightfoward, but because the fabric is silk crepe de chine it takes a bit of time to complete each step with care. The fabric is cut on the open (I just learned that this was the proper wording, as opposing to "on the fold"), between 2 layers of paper. All seams are french, the neckline is bound using a strip of bias self fabric. The hem and the back opening are finished with a baby hem using ban-rol. I cannot repeat enough how much i love ban rol for those hems. It produces perfect tiny hems without any wrinkle or stretching.
To follow the Chloe blouse, I used a remnant from this slip dress to bind the inside of the sleeve flounce, but omitted the tying bow. To bind the inner corner neatly, I used something similar to this technique, doing a little bit of origami. When it comes to binding, quilters are the best! Cutting, sewing, folding, they have all the tricks!
I like my finished blouse and I have no doubt that I will wear it because I love the color and the comfortable fit. After checking out the other entries on Pattern Review, I realize that my little sleeves are WAY too understated for the challenge... But even with the sleeve detail being so small, it still somewhat feels outside of my comfort zone.
What do you think readers? Are you pro or anti #sleevefest?
Dear readers,
I have tendency of making radical statements, about the smallest things, even when I'm not that convinced myself. It's a French thing and it's embarrassing. As a result, I often end up in the awkwardly looking at my shoes because I just did what I said I would never ever do. A few weeks ago I heard myself proclaiming that I was officially sick of seeing exposed metal zippers. And here we are with this pencil skirt, which most interesting feature is an exposed gold metal double zipper…
I had initially no plan to participate in this year Sewing Bee contest organized by Pattern Review, but when the pencil skirt theme was announced, I knew I had to. I wear a lot of pencil skirts, I have my own pattern and I can make one relatively quickly. But the twist is that the skirt has to be inspired by music or a musician... I've more of an analytical mind than a creative one. So asking me to think of skirt when I listen to song or look at a bridge leaves me completely blank.
I decided to look at celebrities wearing pencil skirts, and Victoria Beckham is a big proponent of them. I know it's a stretch to call her a musician, since she publicly acknowledged that she actually never sang while part of the Spice Girls. But I was a HUGE Spice Girls fan in my early teens (walls covered in posters type of fan!) so it's actually a pretty good match for me. I also very much like the way she handles her fashion labels. Pencil skirts are a basic piece of Victoria Beckham's main label and she has at least one per season. Since I live a few blocks away from Saks Fifth Avenue, I decided to have a quick look at her skirts. Just like Roland Mouret, she uses a type of thick knit material, something between scuba and Herve Leger Bandage dresses, and leaves the garments unlined. I'm not a fan of the knits, and that exact material is quite hard to come by, so I decided to do a classic lined wool skirt with that distinctive metal double zipper at the center back.
Pattern Link – My own free pencil skirt pattern
Size – 00
I removed the waistband and did a faced high waist instead. I extended the waist line straight up by 1"1/4, including the darts, and I drafted a facing.I used my lining pieces (unfortunately I haven't been able to make it available as part of the download yet) and remove the CB seam allowance on both the self and the lining to allow for the exposed zipper. In effect, that eliminates the back vent too.
Fabric – Wool suiting from Mood Fabric, I believe it was The Row, lining is a lightweight silk twill from my stash.
Notions – Custom made double zip from Botani in the NY Garment District.
The wool, the silk I used for lining and the interfacing were all from my stash so it was basically a "free" project. Until I decided to splurge big time on the zipper. I know you can get a double zip shortened at Pacific Trimming in NYC, but the day I went their technician was not there. I couldn't come back any other day and I was on a deadline for the PR challenge, so I went to Botani instead. Their service is great, you can customize any element of a zipper, the tape, the metal color, the size of the teeth, the pull, separating, etc. 20 minutes (and 20 dollars) later you have your perfectly matched zipper!I've made quite a few pencil skirts by now so the construction was very straightforward. I bagged the lining, enclosed the zip between the self layer and the lining and left an opening in one of the lining side seams to turn the skirt over. It's quick and it looks very clean.
The hardest element of this project was managing to take pictures of it before the deadline of the contest. I only managed to get a few decent ones and a little person decided that she needed to be part of the photoshoot. I really like my final skirt, and I'm super happy that it was part of the pieces I had on my #2017MakeNine plan! I hope to do a post soon on how I'm doing with that plan, let's see if I carve out the time.
What about you? Are you following up on your sewing resolutions for 2017?
First, let me thank you for your reactions to my last post. I received lovely messages in the comments, on Instagram, and by email. In addition to people volunteering to become part of the Just Patterns Development Group, I had some great discussions about sewing, patterns, and fashion!
Read MoreDear readers,For the third edition of Things I made, I am showing you what ended up being a final sample for Just Patterns (you know, that project I keep promising to write more about and never do...). So far I only saw the version of Leisa at A Challenging Sew popping up on social media but I'm expecting more soon. Her bold floral version looked so great that we instantly had more sales after she published her post!Full midi skirts is a look I've tried before, but I am falling in love with it all over again. I've been experimenting with this skirt quite a bit these days and I'm surprised that I keep coming up with different combinations with other items in my closet and many of my shoes. A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable for me to pair it with flat shoes or with a loose sweater but this time it was a success. This is how much I love this skirt! I'm even thinking of a very casual look with white Adidas sneakers [insert gasp emoji]...
I don't have a lot to say about the construction, when you drafted the pattern yourself, sewing is very straight forward. My main time waster was trying to use horsehair braid. Since reading Gertie's blog years ago, I've had it in my stash. So yes, for 6 years I've been carrying horsehair braid around the world and I never found a use for it. I thought this would be the perfect occasion but I was completely wrong. I couldn't get to my seam ripper fast enough! Which means that I didn't take a picture of the mess first and you will have to take my word for it. I'm not sure if it's because of the flared hem but it made it wave in a super weird and unflattering way... So I removed it, and hand sewed the hem while watching Netflix. Horsehair Braid is back in the stash for the next 6 years unless one of you come up with a recommendation of what to do with it.The plaid scarf is also an obsession from last winter. You can blame it on nesting instinct but I was smitten with the idea of wearing a plaid blanket around my neck. So that'st what I did. I went to mood, found some plaid wool, cut it so that it would be a square and frayed the edges. It also doubled as a couch blanket when the weather was chilly...
I love the final skirt. It's extremely versatile and I keep thinking that I need at least a white and a navy version. I'm obsessed with navy. We are finally approaching summer in New York City, millennial pink and other sorbet colors are trending. And all I can think about is navy. Something is wrong with me...Over to you readers, let me know what you think about the full midi skirts, horsehair braid or about your latest color obsession!!
Dear readers, Welcome back for the second edition of Things I made! In my mind, the dress I'm showing you today is closely associated with finding out I was pregnant. I cut it before I knew, sewed it anyway right after I took the test, put it to hang and left it there without a hem because I wasn't even sure I would ever be able to wear it (insert sad face). So I was thrilled this November when I realized I would be able to wear it for Christmas!
I love these 2 pieces (and the 2 in my previous post). And I particularly like that they all work together as well as with many other items in my wardrobe. Sewing garments without frills, in nice fabric and in a core "color" of your closet can be very rewarding. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can wear the slip with a chunky sweater as in the picture above!As you may have realized, I'm experimenting with a new format. My sewing blogroll counts around 300 blogs and I can divide them roughly into two categories. The ones that I read for the sewing and the words (like Sanae Ishida, Sunnygal Studio, Sewing on the edge and many more) and the ones where I admire the pictures and try to skim through to find pattern/fabric information. Surprisingly, it's often not that easy to find. Even more surprisingly (to me, and probably not to you) I looked at my own blogposts and realized I was completely guilty. I kept burying the most useful pieces of information in the middle of my ramblings (and typos...). So here it is, let me know what you think in the comments.
So first on the list is very classic pencil skirt made in black wool twill from Moods in New York City. I always mean to invest more time (and nice fabric) in wardrobe workhorses and this time I did it! I didn't get distracted by a cute print or a pattern release! I used my own pattern, available for free here if you sign up for the mailing list. Don't worry, there is no risk of receiving too many emails from me. I'm even worse at newsletters than I am at blogging...
I drafted a lining for this version, which I keep hoping to also make available but time has been flying. Basically everything is ready but I should really proof it (ie. sew another skirt from it) before I spend time laying it out in Illustrator. If you are a risk taker, know how to bag a lining and want to help, email me!I'm very happy with this garment and I've been wearing it several time already since I went back to work. I'm afraid there is not that much to say about this skirt, except that trying to show the vent leads to pretty awkward poses... So let's move on to the next item!
This one is a bias silk tank top. It's unlined and I finished the edges with a narrow bias binding (about 1/8" finished width). It was my first time using a bias tape maker and I did a bad job. Hopefully no one will come close enough to notice... The fabric is a lovely silk that Eira from The Pattern Line bought for me at Moods when she came to Haiti for a sew-cation. Sewing friends are the best friends!!
Dear readers,It looks like the new blog format is working for me so far, I hope it is for you too. However it's too soon to tell if I will be able to keep it up. It wouldn't be the first time that I manage to maintain decent activity levels on the blog, only to let it completely go a month later... One thing I forgot to mention though is that I don't currently plan on posting on other platforms than here and Instagram. No more PR, Kollabora (which never seemed to foster interactions or traffic anyway), Burdastyle or Thread and Needle. Traffic was never high on this blog and will certainly drop now but I kind of like the idea of a narrower little corner of the Internet, mostly with regular readers.
Squareshirt SewingTidbits-2
But let's talk about today's topic, another big square white shirt. Whenever I
a
, I kick myself for not making more. It's so easy to be seduced by colors and prints in pretty fabric, but there are not many garments as versatile as white tops and blouses.When I made the Ralph Pink pattern
, I already had in mind a crisp poplin version. Probably because of
(coincidentally
, and it's reminding me that it would probably fit my current needs) and this
number :
I really love the final garment. It fits my current needs perfectly and has been through several wash and wear cycles. I hope not to outgrow it too fast because it's a very office friendly option in my shrinking wardrobe. I don't have a definite word on
Ralph Pink's Sahara Shirt Pattern
, like most patterns it did require a certain level modifications to match the idea that I had in mind. I did appreciate that the pattern pieces were relatively simple and went together easily.As you can see in the inspiration pictures, a crucial aspect to modeling a square shirt is to pretend you're about to casually perform a set of crunches. I will comply as long as I'm not required to do the actual crunches!
Squareshirt SewingTidbits-4
That's it for today! Hopefully I will be back soon with more pictures of recent makes. This post is proof that I CAN take pictures inside my apartment, even if they are on the boring side... Oooh tropical background of Haiti, how I miss you!!
Any tips for indoor pictures you would like to share?
Dear readers,From the reactions to my last post, I gather that you are still around and ready to engage and that's pretty good news! So first I would like to thank all the commenters, I think there was a great conversations going on!One of the reasons for my lack of posting is the fact that I sewed several items I ended up disliking. In my opinion, that's the most discouraging thing that can happen to a seamstress. You have an idea, get excited, find the fabric, the pattern, spend hours making it, try it on and..... Meh. How anti climatic is that? It doesn't help that once I reach construction stage, I don't like to interrupt myself.I finish all the seams and stop to try on items only just before hemming/adding closures. I usually can get away with it because I know what shapes work on me and I spend time adjusting patterns before cutting fabric. Except these days, I have no idea of how to fit myself because....
I'm growing a little human!! That's another reason the blog hiatus, I really really didn't feel like being in front of a camera and all my clothes feel weird.I used to wear fairly fitted clothes, most of the time in the smallest size available, with a defined waist. Obviously all that is gone already and I'm not sure of what's left... I don't really feel like wearing a lot of those tight jersey dresses that seem to be screaming "LOOK AT MY BELLY" but I'm also not use to see myself hidden in voluminous shapes. Tricky time! So I thought about big shirts:
After seeing the version made by Paprika Patterns, I decided to try Ralph Pink's Sahara Shirt pattern. I've been tempted several times by his patterns, on the basis that they look "different" from most other Indies, but the sizing seemed too big for me and I struggled finding a pattern I really liked. It probably doesn't help that not a lot of other bloggers have made his garments (with notable exception by Inna and Oona) so I wasn't sure what to expect.https://www.instagram.com/p/BFFrqlrGrPF/I printed the pattern, found suitable cotton-silk in the stash (same as a Vogue 1247 skirt sewn in 2014), cut the smallest size (US 0), sewed and sewed and sewed. It's a relatively quick make, without many seams (although I used french seams everywhere), and they matched well enough. I would recommend checking the length of the front button plackets (I think they were too long) and the side seams but there was nothing truly catastrophic... Until I tried on the shirt. I could not picture myself going around the city is what looked like A GIGANTIC TENT!!
I put it away my sewing friend from the Pattern Line came over and convinced me that all it needed was taking in the sides a little. By a little, I mean 3" on each side seams... The total reduction is 12" (!!) tapered to nothing at the underarm. I also removed some of the extra length at the back to soften the curved hem effect. But you know what? Now, I actually really like it!
As you can see, I didn't lie when I previously said that blog posts would have less pretty pictures... Next time I will tell you about my iteration in white poplin (in the first picture).In the mean time, I would love to hear your thoughts on those pattern companies that seem less popular among sewing bloggers, does it stop you from trying them out?