duck bucket sewing

Right! So I've been thinking lately about making three "uniform dresses" with pockets in Alabama Chanin cotton jersey that can be worn by themselves or over t-shirts and leggings, under cardigans, etc. And then I got this new "accessory" in May (which I'll explain in a sec) and couldn't get a red dress out of my head. To match, sort of—even though I hate it—but also, I love red and for some reason have none of it in my closet. So anyway, here's the first Factory Dress! It's single-layer medium-weight cotton jersey in Carmine, in a straight size medium, with hand-stitched seams (although I machine-stitched Eloflex within the SA afterward for extra stability). I used the punch cards from The Geometry of Hand-Sewing for the Cretan stitch around the neckline and armholes, which worked out great.  Bad closeup of neckline: This was a really enjoyable make—I had fun with the combination of machine and hand-stitching. I might k

I had the best time at MPB Day—as always! The weather was slightly terrifying (lightning in the morning, sudden showers throughout the day), but I powered through and was glad I did. Here's Peter's roundup , and here's his Instagram with more pictures, and here's mine . We met in the morning at the museum at FIT as usual. The exhibit was something along the lines of "deconstructed and unfinished," showing pieces in progress and upcycled and mended garments. I loved it. Especially Betsey Johnson's jumpsuit made out of John Cale's old rugby shirts. And this dress, made from a pair of pants with the lining as the sleeves: Then it was off to Panera for lunch and catching up and a whole lot of pattern-swapping. I've always wanted to go to Around the World books and prioritized it this time. It was AMAZING. They had back issues of Marfy (with patterns) for $29, and a ton of back issues of really nice fashion-industry magazines for j

My article on Maison Anna Heylen is in this month's issue of Vogue Patterns Magazine . It's not online anywhere, only print. Here's a preview: I'm totally stoked about this because I've been a fan of Anna's work for a long time, and I visit the atelier whenever I'm in Antwerp. ( Pics thisaway! ) And because I looove love love Vogue Patterns; I read every issue cover to cover and keep them all. So I'm really happy to have the opportunity to write for them. This took about a year to put together, between interviewing Anna (who is lovely), writing, editing, gathering photos and pattern-testing, because it also includes instructions for making one of her accordion-pleat puff sleeve. I'm dying to put one on a jacket at some point, after I practice some more. It's out! I can't believe it's out! Yay. In other news, we had a foster failure and wound up adopting this guy: His name is Jack-Jack and his hobbies are stealing foo

Confession: I like 'em. Still can't do any ruffles or maxis or cold shoulders or open backs. (Saw my dermatologist yesterday! She yelled at me—again!) But I really love some of them and am intrigued by some of the others. Such as! Tracy Reese, V1584 I love this very hard. You had me at asymmetrical neckline with pleats. And that fabric is amazing. Tracy Reese, V1586 There's a theme here, I know, but Tracy Reese always has really great patterns. Love the fabric in this one too. (Don't worry, dermatologist, I'll finagle some kind of solution for the shoulders.) Rachel Comey, V1585 I am...really intrigued by this, and might get it just to see how it makes up, even if the shape isn't  right for my petite apple-shaped self. I love that it's not the usual seersucker dress. Marcy Tilton, V9317 I like this but not sure if I can pull it off. Rebecca Vallance, V1591 I love this, but again with the open back. Cannot do. Vog

Way back, in, oh, 2012, or so, I picked up Alabama Studio Sewing + Design, fell in love with the eye candy, and fell hard for the dress on p. 153: I kept returning to that page, and looking at it, and looking some more, and eventually I went, okay, I need to learn how to do this. And I took a deep breath and went and made my first purchase -- AC fabric in black and blue slate. Eight years later, it is done. I finished it two days ago and debuted it today at a mini-Pattern Review meetup at the Peabody Essex Museum. (Hi Deepika!) (It didn't take eight years. I started in June 2017.) This time around, I raised the neckline, shortened the shoulders, and pulled in the bust area a bit at the center seam. I like the fit much better and might go unpick the first dress to make the same changes.  (Also, you know your second dress is better than the first when your husband says, "Looks good. The first one was a bit...chaotic.") Technique not

Hello from Massachusetts, where the cats are hunkered down on every heating vent and I'm living in sweatshirts and flannel pants and vats of moisturizer. I'm enjoying reading everyone's sewing recaps. I wasn't all that productive this year -- just a couple of Renfrews for the office and two mostly finished dresses that need some unpicking and fixing. And I'm on the last panel of the blue-and-black Alabama Chanin dress, yay. In work-life stuff, my contract ended in November (all good! the person I was covering for came back from maternity leave. I really liked them, actually, and I'm hoping something else opens up there), and a week after it did, I went to Paris! (But Duck! you're saying. You're unemployed. How can you possibly afford Paris?) (To which I say: Paris is dead cheap in December, and also I used airline miles and stayed in a hostel, which was fine except for the night someone projectile-vomited from the top bunk, which is a