-
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…
-
Spring Dress with Hearts Around the Hem
I exiled my sewing machine to the closet in mid-December intending to just take the holidays and January off from sewing. Before I knew it March was here, and my sewing machine was still put away. Of course what was meant to fill me with relief fills me with anxiety. Since moving my studio into my house, I have to live with the piles of unfinished things that seem to mock me: the plaid skirt cut out on the chair, the stack of garter belts I never finished before the holiday sales, the stack of corsets in various stages of not done. The story of my life. What inspired me…
-
A Cat Sized Quilt – Adventures in English Paper Piecing
Spring this year was a little rough for us at the House of Piper Ewan. My company’s namesake, and furry partner in crime turned seventeen at the end of April. She had been feeling under the weather, so for her birthday, she got to go to the vet. Not the best birthday present, I know, but since we celebrate birthdays not only for the accomplishment of years, we also wish for many returns of the day in the future. Suffice it to say her diagnosis and treatment are working and she is almost her old grumpy self, but the May and June were difficult months indeed. One thing for those…
-
Sewing Hearts Over the Holes
When I have posted this line periodically over the years, it has often been mistaken for metaphor; when in fact, I am actually sewing hearts over holes. I finished my bed quilt in 1997; it is a simple squares quilt made from 1930’s reproduction prints in bubblegum colours. The first holes appeared about six years ago. Seven hearts over seven holes. (Shown above when you could still see the squares.) Things wear out, and more holes kept appearing. Then the binding wore out, but instead of replacing it, I patched it. At first, I tried to stick to reproduction prints of the same era, but gave up on that, because…
-
and on to the next thing
If you have been following my Twitter feed lately or have visited me at Crafty Wonderland or talked to me in person recently, it is no secret that I am working on an exciting new project: CORSETS. And you may say to me, but Kirsten, you have already been making corsets for years. True, true, but these are different. These are steel boned traditional waist reducing corsets. Each has three layers of fabric, spring and spiral steel boning, and tons of handwork. My great-grandmother Bachan taught me how to sew when I was three. She hand basted everything with a needle and thread, and I thought that was totally crazy…
