official piper ewan
official piper ewan posts about new designs, shows, commissions and anything else made under the piper ewan label
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goodbye piper cat
How do you eulogize a small cat who has accompanied you for over 2 decades? For anyone who knows me, she was my company’s namesake, and supervised my life and all the things I made, took great care of me and was an integral part of my life since before I officially started my company 20 years ago. This year has been difficult; I won’t go into the particulars, but a lot of things have been happening behind the scenes that have taken time away from my professional life. Self care and cat care have been the focus of the last couple of years. I don’t regret any of…
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Garters Are Back
If you’ve been following me on Instagram you know that this is garter no. 1725 and the first garter I’ve made since October 2014. I suppose I thought I was done forever, but forever is a long time, and the giant box of ribbons that has lived under my bed for over the last decade has been calling my name. I don’t want to return to what I was doing between 2008 – 2014 that led me to burn out on ribbonwork. This will be a try and see. I will mostly be stocking my (very happy) stockists some of whom have been with me since my first garters in 1998.…
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Same Old Same Old
These are interesting times. I don’t really like to discuss my personal life online AT ALL. Here will be no exception. Need to know basis. I’m secretive to a fault. Except for some things. I’ve been sharing my creative process with you for years. No trade secrets jealously guarded, because why bother? The internet allows you to look up just about anything; no mysteries there. I always like to show my work, because one thing that drives me absolutely crazy is when people say: “Oh, you’re so talented.” Like the hours upon hours I spend honing my craft of perfect stitches, and tiny lines, shaving off bits of curves to…
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A Cape for the Revolution.
On a whim, I decided that I needed a cape to go with my bandit mask. Given the terrifying way the country is going, a girl must be prepared. I bought this kermit green wool a month or so ago thinking I would be making a skirt or a jumper. Let’s just say I am really good at fitting pattern layouts. I almost always have .25 to .5 yards left using commercial sewing patterns; it’s one of my superpowers. It is funny to me doing a couture project with minky fur, but it is cozy and super soft. I wanted something that I could wear in slightly warmer temperatures than my…
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I’ve Seen too Much Underwear Through Skirts or Wear a Slip
It isn’t me being prudish or slut-shaming. If you deliberately want the world to see your bright blue thong through your skirt when you are having lunch your dad, fine. But it should be a conscious choice. You are a modern woman, and you are free to do whatever you want. However, if you are unaware that when you leave your dark house without looking at your back in the mirror, and it’s really bright outside, well.. I want to advocate for slips. they used to be a staple of the women’s wardrobes; coming in many lengths, colours and fullnesses. Sometimes completely hidden, and there to add coverage for a…
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Up in the Air
January. There is something discomforting about the up-in-the-air-ness of January. I could say that this January is different due to decisions I made official in December, but that would be a lie. The fact of the matter is that January is a lot of pressure. We are expected to make promises to ourselves and the rest of the world about the year. Diet and exercise, creative projects, maps, lists. Dreams, pipe dreams, peer pressure and unrealistic expectations. All the swirling things that this arbitrary new beginning brings. I’m not much for new year’s resolutions. I don’t even count January first as my new year. But it involves a brand new…
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Hiatus
Hiatus, sabbatical, something; I need a break. I packed up my sewing machine, and put the boxes of half-finished corsets and garter belts in storage. I carefully labeled my in progress designs, and put them in envelopes with their notes, so I can tell where I ended my design process, and put them in the master pattern box. All the flowers and finished pieces are labelled and ready for Crafty Wonderland. Whatever is left afterwards will be boxed up and put into storage. I haven’t posted here much, because I haven’t had anything new I felt excited about. This has been true for quite some time now, but I kept…
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Cold Hummingbirds and Procrastination
With only a few days left before my biggest show of the year, I woke up and looked out my kitchen window to see my hummingbird feeder was frozen solid. And just as I thought to myself, “oh well, I rarely get a visitor” a hummingbird arrives. OH NO! Never mind the giant pile of things that are still not done, this problem needed to be addressed immediately. Of course I had to drop everything, and thaw out the feeder. I also determined that the feeder needed some insulation to slow down the freezing, so of course I had to mine my yarn stash for some yarn to knit a…
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You Probably Forgot That I Actually Sew
So most of my writing lately has been about art. Art is that thing that I rebelled against for so so long, but have been doing an awful lot of this year. From my daily drawings calendar drawings to my collaborations with Brent Wear, that has been my public daily face on instagram for the last while. But secretly, I have actually been sewing. There are a lot of projects going on behind the scenes. I’ve been banging away slowly at new designs, some personal projects, and some secret projects as well. All and all keeping my head down and working on my holiday collection. Here is the first draft…
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Drawing and Painting: Bird Collaborations with Brent Wear
Not too long ago my friend, painter Brent Wear approached me about doing some collaborations with my bird drawings. He has been encouraging me forever to do more visual artwork, and has been my go to art mentor whenever I am in some sort of existential art crisis. I have resisted making purely visual art for a long time in order to keep myself on a steady track of sewing, but it has always been difficult for me to focus on one thing single-mindedly. Usually, I am satisfied to make a stray thing here and there to feed my curious soul’s need to try new things. Brent is well known…
