#SimplicitySewingChallenge · jersey · Liberty · Sewing · Simplicity 1365

#SimplicitySewingChallenge – Simplicity 1365 – View C by the sea

August 8, 2016May 8, 2017 pennylibrarian14 Comments

Simplicity 1365 is a sassy seventies sew. Think Barbara Bach modelling Bus Stop, think Farrah Fawcett in Charlie’s Angels , think Linda Carter in Wonder Woman. Think middle-aged lass arsing about in America. #Holiday #ByTheSea #SaltMarsh #MultipleInsectBites It’s mostly rendered in a liberty print called Beth’s Flowers and it’s jersey. Rendering this is jersey meant that I could… Continue reading #SimplicitySewingChallenge – Simplicity 1365 – View C by the sea

#vintagepledge · Butterick 3581 · Sewing · Sewsan · Vintage

Weird Crush

July 5, 2016May 8, 2017 pennylibrarian5 Comments

Dear Sewsan, What’s a ‘weird crush’? I get the crush thing, several years as a teenage Duranie taught me that, but what makes a crush weird? I mean, surely all crushes are a little bit weird? I’m not asking for me. It’s for a friend. She’s got this pattern and ever since she made her… Continue reading Weird Crush

#vintagepledge · New Look 6111 · Sewing

Operation Orange #VintagePledge

June 11, 2016May 8, 2017 pennylibrarian22 Comments

Would you intervene if you thought that my obsession with all things orange was out of control? I’ve banged on before about my passion for pumpkin, my craze for carrot, my tangerine tomfoolery. It’s ongoing. Orange with everything! That’s me shamelessly using something botanical to legitimise my colour choice. Perhaps I need to add another reason to pick… Continue reading Operation Orange #VintagePledge

New Look 6483 · Sewing

New Look 6483 – I saw this and thought of you

May 10, 2016May 8, 2017 pennylibrarian8 Comments

Browsing in the magazine aisle of my local superstore I saw someone that I recognised but couldn’t quite place. They were well out of context you see. You know the feeling. You’re at frozen foods before you realise that the person that you have just waved cheerily to was in fact the nurse who conducted… Continue reading New Look 6483 – I saw this and thought of you

Advance American Pattern A106 · New Look 6111 · Sewing · Simplicity 9192

Pattern and Pieces

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016 pennylibrarian6 Comments

Growing up, time spent with my grandparents, my Nanny*, my Great Aunt and her mother, my Nan, always meant games. Mostly these games required pen and paper, packs of cards or empty paper cake cases. However, if my Great Aunt was involved, the games would always be elaborate affairs. There were rules, explanations and very… Continue reading Pattern and Pieces

#vintagepledge · Advance American Pattern A106 · Sewing

Advance American Pattern A106 #VintagePledge

March 24, 2016March 30, 2016 pennylibrarian12 Comments

Tick, tock, another equinox and in the needlepoint of the native British hedgerow spring has started with the bright white stars of the blackthorn blossom. Misleadingly there’s still a fair nip in the air so I’ve been working on a long-sleeved thing. A long-sleeved, vintage thing. How much work in a long-sleeved shirt? A lot. A… Continue reading Advance American Pattern A106 #VintagePledge

#vintagepledge · Butterick 3581 · Sewing

Purple Ponte Pants of Pride #VintagePledge 2016

February 23, 2016 pennylibrarian18 Comments

These pants got me thinking about pride. Well, these pants and this set of morality plays. You see, when I tiddled about in the rockery in what I imagined was an era-appropriate pair of pigtails, I did not get a set of photos that made me feel proud of the pants that I had just… Continue reading Purple Ponte Pants of Pride #VintagePledge 2016

#vintagepledge

My #VintagePledge 2016

February 9, 2016 pennylibrarian9 Comments

Do you do vintage? If yes, you have my full permission to skip this paragraph. If no… What if I tell you that patterns from the 90s can be included in your #VintagePledge? Or that workers of yarn, needle and hook are also welcome, would that sway you? Shall I tell you a little… Continue reading My #VintagePledge 2016

Burda · Burdastyle · Jungle January IV · Sewing

My jungle also has raccoons

January 30, 2016February 9, 2016 pennylibrarian12 Comments

Raccoons, raccoons, raccoons. Raccoons everywhere! I love them. To my mind, they are slightly sassy lady raccoons. Out for a good time. In a forest of maracas. Have you ever sewn with fabric that has faces? Lots of faces? I don’t have a lot of experience in this particular field, there were the lilo ladies but they didn’t… Continue reading My jungle also has raccoons

Jungle January IV · scuba · Sewing · Vintage · Vogue 7433

Jungle January IV – my jungle has a zebra

January 4, 2016 pennylibrarian19 Comments

Zebra Facts Weighing up to 350 kilos… Vogue 7433 in a dense polyester and elastane scuba-style knit. Zebra Habitat The vast plains and semi-arid grasslands of… While most at home foraging for information along vast rows of shelving or through the labyrinthine corridors of the Internet, in the winter this creature is a frequent visitor to… Continue reading Jungle January IV – my jungle has a zebra