As you have probably noticed if you’ve been following for a while, I love pockets and I love to include ALL the bonus options in my patterns. So of course when it came to the Opal pattern, I had to include a bonus pocket option ;) I have been absolutely obsessed with the idea of making a pair of extended pocket Opal Pants and I am thrilled to tell you the reality of wearing them is as wonderful as my dream. Giant pockets are SO convenient! When I walk to school to pick up my kids in these I don’t need to bring anything else, I just throw my phone and keys in my ridiculous pockets and I’m off!
Cream tie Jarrah + Straight leg Dawn jeans
My friends I think I might need an intervention with regards to light coloured clothing. I have always been one of those people who despite my best intentions ends up spilling things down my shirt – and yet I am constantly drawn to white/cream tops! It’s madness!
But regardless of how careful i have to be whilst eating in this sweater – i honestly adore it. I fabric is called fuzz buster fleece and it’s from KnitWit – the colour is not white though, it’s a cream, so i’m really glad I bought the matching ribbing because as soon as I compared it to white ribbing at home it looked really wrong. I finished the hem on this one with my twin needle, and didn’t bother doing mitred corners, i just turned everything in as I was sewing and kept going.
I find that this Jarrah is the one that I tend to wear with dresses and skirts the most. The colour is so neutral and softening that it tends to be the most common sweater I grab to go with those garments. Unfortunately those times also tend to be times we are going out for dinner… which means the probability of spills down the front increases exponentially hehe.
Shockingly I haven’t managed to stain this sweater irrevocably yet! I spilled chocolate down the front once which sent me into a blind panic, but some great advice from other sewers on IG helped me get that our right away. I swear I am so thankful that we live in a time when we can draw from such a huge pool of knowledge. We really are blessed! Or perhaps this is just enabling me to make more white garments ;)
Here I’m wearing it with my straight leg Dawn jeans which I haven’t had a chance to blog yet! These are my most worn, yet least favourite Dawn jeans. Don’t get me wrong – i really love them, just not as much as my wide leg or tapered pairs. I made them during the testing process from some very cheap very lightweight spotlight denim and this fabric is a bit weird. It has faded in a really odd way and sometimes just looks a bit dirty or a bit off? I think that’s my main problem – the fabric just looks a little off to me.
This pair is made with a zip fly, and I don’t enjoy that as much as my button fly jeans. I think a lot of the enjoyment of rigid jeans is that authentic button fly experience. I can’t quite explain it – but the zip fly just doesn’t feel quite right in a rigid pair to me.
As they were a test pair I couldn’t be bothered hemming, and left the hem raw. It hasn’t frayed as well as my Ash jeans with raw hem – but I’m still enjoying it and I like that it gives a different look than my other jeans. I think i’m on a real light denim kick recently! I couldn’t find light denim for ages, and suddenly found a lot of it and I think I just went nuts make light denim jeans. I think that’s probably a good thing though as the majority of my Ash jeans are dark indigo – so I like the difference.
This was the first sample I made of the straight leg jeans and it’s the pair that taught me the importance of breaking your rigid jeans in. The first time I tried them on I hated them. They felt too tight in the wrong places, and I was upset by tightness combined with the light colour. But as is always my process during testing, I just kept wearing them to see how they felt in practice – and the more I wore them, the more the fabric relaxed and broke in – and the more I liked them! Then I couldn’t stop wearing them allllll the time.
So if you’ve had the same experience with your rigid jeans I definitely recommend giving them a chance to really break in – be they handmade or otherwise!
photography by Bronnie Joel
2019 Workroom Tour + Office Decor Sources!
The beginning of a new year always makes me want to organise things. Having my workspace set up properly really helps me get my head in gear, so I’m really careful to keep it as efficient and organised as possible.
With all three of my kids in full time school this year I’ll be working in the office full time with Anita my Operations Manager. My workroom as it stood last year was fantastic for me on my own, but wasn’t really set up for two people to work in it, and I knew I needed to make some changes so that we could both work comfortably.
2018 tour of my workroom
Before our last photoshoot lovely Jessica Wyld took a few photos of the current state of my workroom. I’m wearing the Eucalypt tank top I made from my screen printed fabric, and a pair of Tania culottes with pockets (I promise we’ll be releasing it soon!).
It’s become one of my favourite things over the last few years to document my changing workroom. This isn’t a huge space and it also doubles as our spare room (the couch is a fold out) so I am constantly trying to optimise my space and work as efficiently as possible and it’s so fun for me to look back and see how things have changed over time!
I think this is my favourite setup so far! I’ve really been enjoying the separation of sewing and working space. Last year I moved my computer onto a separate desk from my machines, and i’ve found that it’s made me so much more efficient in both areas. I have more room to spread out everything i’m working on when i’m at the computer, and it’s been fantastic having my sewing machine, overlocker and coverstitch sitting in row as i can basically just jump between them as needed. Chris doesn’t work from home much any more which has freed me up to completely take over the room, and i’m definitely enjoying the additional space (sorry darling haha!).
If you think everything is entirely too neat, don’t worry it does get messy when i’m sewing! Also a key thing for me have been the big white cupboards (not pictured) that i installed a few years ago. Honestly the key to a tidy workspace is having a giant cupboard you can shove the messy things into!
I really hope you’ve enjoyed this little peek at my workspace!
If you want to have a look at how i organised this space in the past here is my workroom in 2016, and back in 2015.
How to make storage baskets and bowls from fabric scraps!
Remember a few months ago when i showed you how I used my fabric scraps to make a rug for my little Birdie’s bedroom? Well today I’m going to show you my absolute favourite way to use up fabric scraps: braided storage bowls & baskets!
I started making storage bowls and baskets a few years ago when Birdie was a baby. Not only is it a great project to use up scraps and worn out old clothing, but I found it a really fun task to do whilst hanging out with a baby. I have so SO many good memories of sitting on the floor next to Birdie, having a little chat and braiding my scraps while she played. I really like that something I created while she was playing, now holds the toys she plays with!
I have to admit, i actually like this project more than a rug as I only have the desire to make one fabric scrap rug – but I never get tired of making these baskets and bowls, and my kids are always asking me to make them more to organise all their stuff. Win win!
You can watch the video below, or if you’d like to see it larger and subscribe to my channel so you get future videos, click through to Youtube!
I hope you enjoy this tutorial as much as I enjoyed making it! Let me know if you make your own storage bowls and baskets, I would love to see what you create!
Do you want me to share more ways that I use up all my scraps? Let me know! xo