Serena (she/her)

Three-quarters back view of a white woman with dark hair in a bun, wearing a white chemise and white back-laced stays.

Mirror picture of a white woman with dark hair, wearing a white chemise and white stays, with yellow ribbon at the front lacing and at the shoulder straps. She's holding her phone in front of her face.

My 18th century stays are done, they fit surprisingly well and comfortably (and they have a super cute yellow lining). Now onto fitting the jacket - I'm at the second toile and I have basically no idea of what I am doing.

My mending basket has been ignored and has filled up, so I'll try for a mend a day in June. First up is my 18th century chemise - made from an old sheet, it tore while trying on my new stays. I guess I learned to be cautious when using old textiles, and mind weak spots and worn areas.

I'm onto the tape of my #augustastays now - it's slow going, but the stays fit and I can start on the skirt and jacket!

Oh, for sure! But she's also growing into the women's size range, and I have *a few* women's patterns 😋

Yes! I think these were versions 4 and 5. Older daughter has reached the top of the size range and I'm kind of sad about it.

A girl wears wide trousers in irregular, horizontal stripes of purple, pale pink, light blue and navy and a light blue t-shirt. She's pictured from the shoulders down and is standing on a patio, with a table and chairs and a garden in the background. The pattern for the trousers is again the kids' Tula Pants by Papercut Patterns, in a size 13 with modified front. You cannot see it from the picture, but the inside is all finished with tiny French seams.

Second round of #kidstulapants, for my older daughter - this time it went faster and it's nicely finished. I was listening to the Haptic&Hue podcast episode about the Kantamanto market - if these trousers end there (and I hope not), at least they will be of acceptable quality and craftsmanship.

A girl wearing blue and white (horizontally) striped wide trousers and a peach tank top is standing in a living room. The girl is pictured from the shoulders down. A carpet, a chair and curtains are visible in the background. The sewing pattern used is the kid's version of the Tula Pants by Papercut Patterns, in a lightweight viscose. I modified the waistband to have a flat front.

We managed to find almost all the kids' summer wardrobe second hand (win!), so I let each girl choose fabric for a pair of mama-made lightweight trousers. Not the most stimulating sewing, especially with those pesky stripes, but the kids are appreciative enough. Pattern is #kidstulapants by Papercut

Hi, it seems you didn't cut the buttonhole yet, am I seeing this correctly? If so, unstitching the buttonhole should be fairly easy, if you carefully cut the end section you should be able to pull the top thread and "unstitch" it all. Or just carefully seam rip around. It's a beautiful shirt!

A piece of stays lays on my knees, with seam allowances half stitched down. You can see my legs dressed in jeans and a stretch of sunny grass below my feet.

Some more stitching in the sun - here stitching down the seam allowances.

Three strings of bunting hang across a window pane, spelling "Buon compleanno Elisa". The bunting is made of different colorful fabrics, with white letters. Below the bunting there is a wicker bench and some potted plants.

I finished this! I think it looks really cute, I'll add more bunting for future birthdays. Not much fabric goes into this, but it's a nice way to display and use scraps.

All 8 pieces of the Augusta 18th century stays laid out in order on a carpet. Pieces are made of white linen fabric, are slightly curled due to the boning and are pinned together in pairs.

The days of the traveling #augustastays are (almost) over. After stitching boning channels and eyelets on trains, on holiday and occasionally in the office, it's time to baste pieces together and do a first fitting. After that the whole thing will be too bulky and will have to stay home

Flat lay of fabric and notions for a convertible tote/backpack. The pattern booklet, by Sew Over It is visible in a corner. Main fabric is a camel color cotton/PU, leftover from my trenchcoat. Lining fabric is a remnant of Liberty tana lawn in blue and beige. Haberdashery is a bronze color, straps are navy.

I haven't been working on new sewing projects lately, too busy mending and altering and unf*ing my home for #winterofcareandrepair. But! It's spring now and a #totepack is incoming!

A triangular flag made of yellow cotton with an apple motif, with a white felt M placed on it. A thread reel and small scissors are next to it, on a brown table.

My younger daughter's birthday is coming up and I'm working on fabric bunting. Fabric comes from my scrap box, felt from the creative reuse center. Now a whole lot of applique before stitching all together.

Flat lay of a black boxy backpack with rainbow handles.The straps are also rainbow-y and peek out from underneath. The pattern is the Making Backpack by Noodlehead Patterns.

It's done! Overall an unfussy project, no choice swear words, no broken needles, sewing machine motor survived. Hope I reinforced the seams sufficiently, because I plan to use this backpack a lot.

Wonky flat lay of the main parts of a backpack on a wooden floor: top right there's the light green front lining, then clockwise the black front with a zippered pocket and a rainbow handle, the gusset with the main zipper, the back with rainbow straps and handle and finally the back lining, with an inserted zipper. A lot of zippers. The lining fabric is light green with a pattern of white clouds and raindrops. Up top you can see my feet in black clogs.

Started sewing for real my #makingbackpack by Noodlehead, after a lot of tetris cutting and rummaging for zippers. The black fabric is Eta Proof and my sewing machine is seriously suffering. The rainbow straps, though, they are a real joy.

Top view of a white pattern piece of stays, basted and with boning channels marked and partially sewn. It lays on my legs, clad in brown corduroy trousers and there's a golden thimble on it. Next to me there's an open pouch with sewing tools.

It's winter break and last week we were staying at a chalet built in 1750. It seemed very fitting to be stitching away at some 18th century stays. Pattern is the Augusta stays by Scroop, more details on Threadloop.

Internazionale Kids ce lo facciamo regalare dal parentame al posto di plasticume vario, per cui i (molto modesti) 4 euri non sono i miei. Però se hai altre riviste per bambini/ragazzi da raccomandare prendo nota con gratitudine, che ho compleanni minorenni all' orizzonte.

Two stockinged legs photographed from the top. Stockings are off-white and reach over the knee. The leftover yarn is still attached, with two small yarn cakes lying on a carpet.

I've embarked on my first costuming project - 1780 or so, and here's my stockings! I loved the mindless knitting (and the yarn, a bamboo/linen by @theathenianmaker.bsky.social, not historically accurate but hopefully cool in summer). Obviously they don't stay up, so garters are next!

A messy flat lay of eyelets, batting on a cutting mat and assorted sewing tools and notions. Everything is on a wood table.

Last week I tried out the jacket and found that the upper body is nice and toasty, but the cold gets in from below. So more batting and a drawstring go in - obviously it's 4x more work than adding them in the right order...

Not to add even more complexity to the process, but have you looked into #TopDownCenterOut fitting? Stacey at The Crooked Hem has a series of videos on fitting jeans, I followed them to fit the #BrooksJeans and it was a rather painless thing. That cord is gorgeous!

That's such a great suggestion, thanks!

I'm still trying to find my way around Bluesky and I find the short texts a challenge, but here's my "get it out of your system" project, Waffle Patterns' Mitsuba puffer jacket turned into almost a ski jacket. Four broken needles and countless hours later, I'm very happy with the result. #sewsky