We originally released our Kimono Sweat pattern back in 2015 and it’s been a fan favourite ever since its release. It’s got two distinct views – one’s a short sleeved post-workout coverup that still manages to look current and edgy four years later.
Fall back in love with our Sweat Luxe pattern!
A double gauze day dress
A while back I’d heard of a fabric called “double gauze” that was supposedly perfect for hot weather, but at the time it was really only available imported from Japanese shops and really expensive at that! Fast forward a few years and it’s now much more readily available locally, so when I was in Brighton last August I bought some of their muted teal double gauze fabric (also available in a bunch of other colours), keen to try it out. Double gauze is two layers of cotton gauze/muslin fabric joined together with stitches in a grid pattern which creates a sort of seeersucker or quilted texture. It also means the two layers may not be 100% on grain to each other, and it really likes to shrink in the wash so be sure to pre-wash it.
I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it though until I saw the perfect day dress in the May 2019 edition of KnipMode magazine (#11, though #12 is a longer version with longer sleeves). The pattern is available to buy online, too, though be aware the instructions are in Dutch.
Sewing fun in Virginia and Baltimore
We’ve just come back from 10 days in America visiting my family spread across three states. My parents moved down from where I grew up in Pennsylvania to be closer to my brother and his family in Norfolk, Virginia a few years ago, so our first stop was down there to visit my immediate family.
I absolutely took the opportunity to order a few fabrics online to be shipped to their house before we arrived, since I knew the in-person fabric opportunities weren’t great down there. I have a limited space for my fabric stash (on purpose!) and that space is pretty full so I made a conscious effort to only buy a few fabrics that I had specific projects tied to.
Another set of sofa slipcovers
After wrestling with the sticky velvet upholstery fabric last summer to make a set of slipcovers for our sofa, I swore it’d be a long, long time before I voluntarily sewed home dec again. But that was before we moved back into the tiny Captain’s Cabin on our boat (while renovations are still ongoing in the much larger, main living portion), and I had to stare at the hideous sofa fabric every single day.
London Marathon Active Shorts
On Sunday I ran London marathon for the 4th time, but it was my 7th marathon in total, all since my bone marrow transplant in 2009. As is my tradition, I sewed myself something new to run it in! Yes, I’ve run all 7 of my marathons in self-sewn gear!
This time around I chose a shortened version of the Active Leggings from my “Sew Your Own Activewear” book. If you recall, this is actually the same pattern I used when I ran London marathon in 2017, the day before my book deadline! Both of the fabrics I used were from Funkifabrics, and actually both were leftover from the Steeplechase Leggings made for my Craftsy/Bluprint class. I just love this print and colour combo too much not to have it in both shorts and leggings form in my running wardrobe!