Sunday, September 30, 2012

Sewing clothes...

I love to sew.
I do.
I make a lot of bags.
I have even made clothes for myself: pajama pants I obviously only wear at home, Thai fisherman pants (ditto), and a lovely sleeveless dress from an Amy Butler pattern that is still on a hanger, waiting to be hemmed. OK, I make clothes for fun, just for me and I NEVER wear them in public- my family notwithstanding.
Well, this is about to change. I just discovered Natalie Chanin (www.alabamachanin.com). Our local public library carries her first two books: Alabama Stitch Book and Alabama Studio Style which I found by accident last week while looking for something else. The books include stitching, stenciling and sewing techniques to make cotton jersey clothing. I can't wait to start sewing :)

 


I also bought a book by Japanese designer Kyoko Sakauchi, with many simple cotton and linen designs. The only hiccup is that the book is in Japanese, so it will take a bit longer to figure out the explanations.
                                                 

The studio has been humming with activity, orders are coming in regularly- which I am SO thankful for. I finally figured out how to make the Juki work properly. For an industrial sewing machine, it is pretty fickle, and will misbehave if the stars are not perfectly aligned...
The Juki is perfect though for sewing many layers of fabric and leather too.

I would love to know if you have tried any of Chanin's techniques or Sakauchi's designs. Please leave a comment.


Wednesday, September 5, 2012

End of summer sale

I am having a 20% off sale on all in-stock bags in my Bag du Jour  shop on Etsy. Here are some of the bags available for sale (plenty more in the shop):
                                                   

                                                   







Please visit my shop on Etsy: Bagdujour.etsy.com