Making the clothes you love last
Have you ever accidentally put a loved wool or cashmere sweater through the washer and dryer? Other than gifting it to your child because it’s so small, this shrunken garment might be destined for the compost bin unless you can find a way to upcycle it. For this very reason, I have designed a beautiful way to upcycle a sweater into a scarf. Here’s the tutorial
With the holidays approaching, I’m thinking I want to offer gifts that are personalized and hand made. I thought I’d share with you one of my favourite ways to make a home made gift that is easy, quick and very affordable. I’m going to teach you how to hand embroider a t-shirt using this free moon & stars design.
A few seasons ago, I found this cute pair of Citizen of Humanity jeans in my local second hand shop, however I wasn’t a fan of the giant holes at the knees. I figured they would be the ideal jeans to test out a new patch design that I have developed with the intention that they could work on loose fitting jeans. In the following blog post, I will show you a step by step tutorial on how to sew a knee patch by hand over a large hole by using this floral patch.
It’s wonderful to see visible mending gaining so much popularity as an option to make our loved clothes last longer. There are situations however, when mending holes with only a needle and threat is not enough. My husband’s sweater is the perfect example where just at the bottom of his sleeve, the knit was so threadbare in one area that it required the intervention of a patch. Here is the steb-by-step tutorial on how to fix a hole or a large worn area in a sweater by adding a home made patch.
I’ve been dreaming of owning an oversized sweater to throw over my bikini after a swim in the ocean. I love the easy going look and also how flattering it looks, regardless of your body type. Unfortunately, most of theses beautiful sweaters are always quite expensive as they require, among other things, much more material than the classic fitted top. As I love to up-cycle and re-purpose, I decided this dream could become a reality by refashioning 2 sweaters into one fabulous piece.
Since I’m into mending lace these days, I’ve been thinking about one of my very first mending projects where I used lace appliqués to fix a sweater that had holes at the collar. Here’s a little show and tell of the piece, which 10 years later is still has a special place in my wardrobe.
As a designer and maker, it won’t come as a huge surprise to you that I have let my kids play with a needle and thread from a young age. Starting at 3 years old, they had a hoop, needle & thread in hand. My job mainly consisted of reminding them to not wrap the thread around the hoop, but up and down through the fabric. I could easily write a book about teaching kids to sew and mend at every age, but today, I want to share with you my favorite tips on how to teach older kids to fix their own clothes with a simple stitching technique and some visible mending.
I think it’s a fact that stretch jeans are here to stay for a while. Although they are very comfortable to wear, a common problem I have found is that the waist is often too loose. Here’s a tutorial to show you the quickest way I have found to take in the waist of jeans.
I’m so excited to introduce you to my latest patch pattern design. It’s inspiration comes from the technical protective knee padding found in motorcycle gear. Over the past few years, the biker patch look has made it’s way into the mainstream as a stylish detail on jeans and casual pants. The Biker Knee Patch is the perfect addition to not only repair an old pair of jeans, but to give it additional style. In this tutorial I will show you how easy it is to repurpose old jeans or pants cutoffs into the Biker Knee Patch.
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Now that summer is, sigh, slowly coming to an end, I’m sure many parents have begun the annual task of looking through the fall kids clothes to see what needs to be replaced or added. Before you KonMari the heck out of their wardrobe and pass anything on, I would like to share with you 10 ways you can re-purpose and fix kids clothes so they have a longer life in your home.
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