This printing machine is the size of several cars placed end-to-end. It’s massive! The paper goes through the whole machine, from end to end, and the different colours are layered on the paper. If you look very closely at the envelope, through a magnifying glass, you can see that the background colours aren’t a solid colour but made up of tiny dots in magenta, yellow, and cyan. (Turquoise blue, hot pink and yellow if you aren’t sure what those colours look like.)

(here’s how big the printer is – those steps are the size of normal steps!)

There are four envelopes printed on one sheet of paper, which is then cut apart and assembled into envelopes at the printer. (This is why it makes sense to print two different patterns at once, 2+2, or four different patterns at once, 1+1+1+1, but not three or five.)

Instruction sheets are also printed at the same printer, on huge machines like this. I’m very happy that they arrive at my door pre-folded, so all I have to do is slip the tissue into the folded instructions, slide the instructions into the envelope and then fold the top tab in.

Which is what I’ll be doing all weekend! Busy stuffing envelopes for Monday’s big launch. Stay tuned for the new pattern announcement on Monday!

This isn’t the most interesting thing (not like a love letter or something juicy!) but pinned in between the ‘lengthen and shorten here’ lines was a newspaper from 1964. So I imagine the original owner bought the pattern and sewed it up right away! And then it’s likely been stored since then, because the newspaper is pinned very unevenly and I can’t imagine a second person sewing it up without fixing it.

How cute are the illustrations?

And this ad, with a sketch of the building. I quite like the slogan in this ad “Real Quality is the Only True Economy” – still relevant today, I’d say! Choose quality over disposable cheap goods, and you’ll save money in the long run.

The rest of the ad:

A sofa for only $198! When you think about it, that’s not a whole lot different than a new sofa from IKEA. (Though that one in the link doesn’t look comfortable and barely qualifies as a sofa bed, so there’s that. I bet the 1964 one is a much better choice, solid wood instead of particle board.)

The most interesting old newspaper I ever found was when I renovated the bathroom of my old apartment. After taking out the sink, stuffed into the holes around the pipes was old newspaper from about 1985. The best part of the paper? The ad for a brand-new, 52 KB computer! Fifty-two kilobytes, that’s what, a one-page word document? Half an iTune? I have no idea. Want to know the price of a 52 KB computer? Only $3000! (And you could add a dot-matrix printer for only an additional $2000.) We’ve come a long way in the technology world. (I tried to find an example online and found this  funny ad: ‘What kind of man owns his own computer? Ha! It was closer to this kind of thing, prices starting at $2999.)

Interestingly, sewing patterns still remain the same, paper and tissue, the same as the last hundred years. We’ve invented PDF patterns but the printed pattern is relatively unchanged.

This is the pattern I found it in – Simplicity 4931. I haven’t done anything with it yet, but I wanted to look at the instructions and pattern pieces. (Do you do that too, when you get a new pattern? I enjoy reading the instructions to find out how it goes together before starting. With vintage patterns it’s an especially good idea to find out what shape the pieces are in and if they’re all there.)

Do you enjoy finding little snippets of the past like this when you least expect them? What’s the most interesting ‘bonus’ you’ve found in a vintage sewing pattern envelope?

Back to the dress!

It was really sunny out so all of my photos turned out very pale. In some the dress looks almost white! (And my shoes completely blend in with my legs. It’s a bit weird but we can’t complain about sunshine after all the rain we’ve had!) To be honest, I’m not thrilled with the photos, I feel like they don’t do the dress justice. Light colours in bright sunlight are hard to photograph!

Here is the first version of the dress here, now faded and pulling apart at the seams, too worn out to wear. Goodbye, old dress! (Many of you suggested that I keep the fabric and try to do something with it, and I will. Or I plan to, anyways, it’s in my scrap box waiting for me to learn to quilt.)

The fabric is a Nani Iro double gauze that I bought at Spool of Thread. The last time I was there, they still had some in stock! It’s lined with a cream cotton voile from Télio. 

Double-gauze fabric seems like it would be sheer, but with a lining of cotton voile it’s quite opaque. I’m wearing a black bra and you can hardly tell!

The bra I’m wearing has a slightly vintage shape to it, so it fits the dart placement of this 1965 pattern well and has less of a rounded effect. I’d tried this dress on a few times with a modern padded push-up bra and you can really tell the difference. This bra makes my chest look smaller, but more suited to the bodice of this dress. It’s really true what they say in fitting books, wear the bra you plan to wear with the finished garment when fitting a dress! You can see the different bra shape in the side view photo here.

I changed the neckline, raising the back to cover the back bra strap and lowering the front so it would sit more comfortably. I also lengthened the bodice a little, but with the change in bra it now looks like there’s a little too much space in there, especially if I’m not standing or sitting up perfectly straight. (No slouching in this dress!) Probably if I were to make it again, and plan to wear the same bra, I’d go back to the shorter bodice, or alter it again so the length is in between the two.

I made the belt! It’s a bit over-the-top sweet but I like to have the option to wear it. I think for a daytime summer wedding it would be pretty with the bow belt. (Who are we kidding, I’ll probably always wear the bow belt, it’s adorable!) The bow pattern piece was missing but I faked it with a piece cut the same width as the belt, and 18″ long.

The belt is secured with heavy-duty snaps. (Or poppers, or press studs.) These are the type of snaps that are hard to open again, so they’re great for a snug belt. I sewed them very securely, going around the holes several times. I wore this dress to walk outside, take the photos, and wore it while I typed up these notes. The snap didn’t budge at all! (Very reassuring for wearing the dress for longer periods of time.)

The skirt did not actually end up longer than my first version, because I followed the pattern instructions for hemming the skirt with a wide hem. (Because I’d already trimmed the lining to the finished length, which gets tucked in the fold of the skirt, and I didn’t mind it being shorter.) I kind of forgot what I had planned, as I worked on this dress in stolen moments of time, a couple minutes here and there.

The instructions call for you to trim the lining to the finished length of the skirt, so the hem of the skirt fabric folds up and over the raw edge of the lining. Then you sew the hem to the lining, so the hemming stitches are completely invisible on the right side. It’s nice because the lining doesn’t separate from the skirt and there’s no possibility of it hanging down longer than the skirt, but it doesn’t allow for any changes to the hem length after cutting.

Next time, especially as I’m thinking of making a solid-colour version, I will add to the length. It’s cuter when it’s short, but a couple of inches would help bring it from cute to elegant.

The other thing about lining cotton fabric with cotton lining is that the layers stick together a bit, so the skirt can look wrinkled when in fact it’s the two layers of fabric gripping to each other. It’s soft and very comfortable, and it will be breathable in the summer heat, but it requires a little smoothing out now and then! (Something to think about for your upcoming summer sewing projects.)

I hand-picked the zipper. (Tutorial here!)

I did a bound buttonhole at the back opening, but sewed the button on top of the buttonhole through both layers so it’s not functional.

And on the inside, I whipstitched the loose edge because I remember safety-pinning the first version of the dress in place.

Hm, what else? I really like how this turned out. The shape of the dress is simple so that the pretty, girly fabric doesn’t look too cutesy. (Something with gathers or ruffles would probably be too much cute.) I loved the original dress so much that I literally wore it out, so it’s nice to have a new version.

Here’s the back view – not a great photo of the dress as I’m twisted around, but you get the general idea! (I have better photos of the back from the first version.)

This is the beauty of sewing – no dress is ever irreplaceable! You can use the same pattern, look for similar fabric, and re-make a dress you love as many times as you want. Even if you’ve lost the pattern and have to buy it again, it’s still worthwhile to get the dress of your dreams back.

More posts about this dress:

• McCalls 7743: Revisiting a Favourite Vintage Dress
• Surprising Things about McCalls 7743
• A Different Kind of Waist Stay

I did a quick search to see if this pattern is for sale anywhere, but sadly no! It appears that there are at least two other patterns called McCalls 7743 and neither is this dress. It’s a good one though, pick it up if you see it!

What do you think of version #2? (What would you pick for version #3?)

It’s really quite smart, you sew seam binding into the skirt’s waistline seam, edge-stitching the top and bottom so it’s nice and strong, and then when the bodice and skirt are sewn together, there’s a stable, thick waistline seam in there to accentuate the waistline and strengthen that area of the garment. This is what I love about vintage sewing patterns, there’s always a few little gems in there, construction methods that we don’t see that often in simple modern sewing patterns.

If you have a dress with a waistline seam, you could add this to your project too!

Here’s how it’s done. First cut a length of seam binding according to the guide. The guide is basically the measurement of the skirt’s waistline, if you are adding this to a different pattern. Or, if you think the waistline needs to be a little tighter, cut it the length you want the waistline to be, plus seam allowance on each side.

Sew the skirt pieces together, and pin the seam binding to the top edge of the waistline. Baste in place. (I think I skipped basting and went right to sewing it permanently.)

Now, edgestitch both the upper and lower edges of the seam binding. These two rows of stitching help to strengthen the waistline, as adding topstitching adds stiffness. Sewing it to both sides makes it strong and keeps one side from stretching out. This seam allowance doesn’t get trimmed, we’ve sewn the binding to the seam allowance and it’s going to stay that wide.

Now, sew the bodice to the skirt, along the seamline. The seamline is going to be right where the seam binding ends. Here’s what it will look like when it’s sewn. I’m glad I have contrast stitching to show you!

Here is what it looks like as we sew up the lining:

It’s going to be hidden between the layers, nothing more fancy than a strong, untrimmed allowance reinforced with binding. Our waistline will never stretch out but it won’t be too restrictive either.

A step back, looking at the same thing as the last photo:

And that’s it! It’s completely hidden in the inner workings of the dress.

What do you think of this method? Does it count as a ‘waist stay’ in your opinion? Have you ever seen this type of construction in a sewing pattern before?

For one, you make a bound buttonhole at the top of the back opening. Seems like a lot of work, doesn’t it? In all the years I wore the first version of this dress, I never once had to unbutton the button on the tab. This time, I’m going to make the bound buttonhole for looks but sew the button flat on top of both layers.

I didn’t notice this the first time, but the instructions suggest you line the skirt with sew-in interfacing! I’m guessing that it would create even more of an A-line silhouette, a bell-like structured skirt. Perhaps for a very thin fabric that would be a good idea!

Either way, it’s quite unusual. Have you ever seen that before in a pattern, an interfaced skirt? It’s surprising because there’s no interfacing used anywhere else in the garment besides the belt.

Speaking of the belt, how cute is this bow?

The made-up pattern piece worked great so I’m glad I’ve noted it down for next time. So cute! (Now you’ve seen the fabric choice too, I love it! Great minds think alike – Karen from Didyoumakethat just made a skirt in this exact same fabric!)

I didn’t remember this from the first time around, probably because I skipped it, but there’s a waist stay built into the dress. It’s done in a neat way and I think I’ll show it off in a separate post, because it looks like a good method to build stability into the waistline without too much work or bulk.

More to come! It’s nice to sew something just for fun, and finally make a second version of a dress I loved.

The pattern is McCalls 7743, a vintage dress pattern from 1965. I’ve worn the first version of this dress (the one in the picture above) so many times that it’s worn right out. The neckline has developed holes, the fabric is fading and the underarms are worn down.

This is one of the amazing benefits to sewing. If your favourite handmade dress starts to wear out, you can make it again! There’s no worry of not being able to find a similar style or fit in stores. (Unless you love shopping. To me, the thought of searching the mall for a new dress as good as the old one is not a fun idea!) When you sew, you can make the same style, with the same fit, all over again.

So I dug out the pattern,

and found that I’d left myself some clues!

I’d traced off the bodice front and back pieces after making it the first time, I know it must be after the first version because I didn’t make any changes the first time around. (Did I make changes on the traced pieces? Let’s see! I don’t remember tracing these off…)

Comparing the new pieces to the originals shows me that I’d lowered the neckline on the front, and raised the V in the back.

Raising the back was one of the changes I wanted to make for round two, as I knew that my bra was sometimes showing. I’d wear a dark bra so it wasn’t bright red showing, and pull it as far down my back as I could, but I could feel it creeping up throughout the day, and who wants to be constantly fiddling with their underwear? Not me.

I also wanted to add to the bodice length, as it was just a little bit too high for my natural waistline. Fine for wearing on its own, but a belt would naturally slip into my real waist, just a hint lower than the dress’s waist seam.

Want to know more about lengthening a bodice? Check out this older post here. (I just noticed that in this photo I hadn’t finished redrawing the sideseams, don’t worry I did fix up that pointed edge!)

I’d also pinned up the hemline of the skirt pieces three years ago. Compared to the first dress, the pieces are about 2″ longer, which seems perfect. I like the short hemline but I agree with my previous self that it could use just a touch more length.

The only problem I found is that the belt’s ‘Bow’ piece is missing. It looks to be about the same width as the belt piece, and about half the length, so I’m going to start there and adjust if needed. (I cut my bow piece 18″ long, using the belt pattern piece to measure off the width.)

I sewed the first version of this dress when I was still employed – that’s how long ago it was! (I only remember because I would sew it before work, at 6 in the morning, and still managed to sew it fairly quickly. It’ll be even faster this time around, I’m sure!)

As I fixed up the pattern, I thought about what kind of fabric to use. I love the multicoloured cotton print of the original but also thought the pattern would make an amazing solid-coloured dress to wear with everything. This is a wonderfully bike-able dress because the A-line skirt allows room to pedal, but is not so full to expose anything. (Totally safe if a gust of wind comes my way! Or if I pedal really fast…)

Wondering what fabric I decided to use for version 2? Come back soon to find out!

Isn’t it gorgeous? Take a look at her blog post here to see more photos of the beautiful finished coat. She’s also detailed the process here and here so you can check at the construction process.

She’s shortened the coat, which is very easy to do if you feel like the original coat is a bit long, or if you’re on the petite side.

The fabric is amazing, and I really like the buckle on the belt just as much as tying a knot, if not a little more! It looks crisp and polished, perfect if you are using a dressier fabric, or just prefer a more tailored look. (If you do add a buckle, you could still tie the ends in a knot and have the best of both worlds.)

I love that so many people have taken this trench coat pattern, a garment that is usually seen in classic khaki or beige, and picked bright, exciting colours and elegant fabrics. It’s why I chose bright blue for my sample coat, I wanted to show how great a classic style can look in a surprising colour. You guys have taken it to a whole new level though, with lace overlays and covered buckles!

Want to see more versions of the Robson Coat? (Get the pattern here.)

• My original blue cotton-nylon Robson Trench Coat
• Three Robson Coats by pattern testers
• A Robson Coat with Underlining! (Melissa’s version)
• Sasha’s Robson Coat
• Molly’s Animal-Print Robson Trench Coat

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! I’ll be working but the weather is supposed to be sunny and beautiful, so my bike rides to and from the office will be enjoyable. (Any day I get to arrive at work without getting rained on is a good day in my books.) I’m working on a little sewing project that’s just for fun, so it isn’t all work, it’s a little bit of play too.

On that note, thanks for all the encouraging comments on my Behind the Scenes post about growing the business. It’s been an interesting ride ever since I started the company (only two short years ago!) and the challenges never stop. I’m constantly having to make decisions on what to do and how to solve issues that come up. Some I’ve handled well, some not as well, but I’ve learned from all of them. Anyways, what I am trying to say in a lot of extra words is thank you for reading here and being virtual cheerleaders of this little business!

(And also thanks for letting me know I don’t look alarming in red lipstick. I’ve been wearing this week and really enjoying it. It’s never too late to change up your look, if there’s something you’ve always wanted to try, give it a go!)

Hello again! I have been experimenting with bright lipstick. When I walk around I feel like everyone is looking at my face but anyone who mentions it says it looks good. Are they lying? You can tell me, but be kind…

What happened in April 2013

A new pattern is out to print! Everything is now at the printers and will start arriving here in the coming weeks. It always feels good to have everything out for printing. My work is done for the moment, until the tissues and envelopes and instructions arrive and I have hundreds of envelopes to stuff.

(giving you the same sneak peek photo as last month! don’t want to spoil the surprise…)

I am really looking forward to launching this new pattern in May. It’s a great addition to the pattern collection, and it’s totally different from all the others! (Be sure to sign up for the Sewaholic Patterns mailing list, it’s a different list from the blog post emails, and it will ensure you’re the first to see the newest design!)

I was a guest judge at the Garbage Fashion Show, a show featuring outfits made from recycled materials, put on by high school students. (Check out the first post here, and some of the runway shots here.)

A quick trip to Vegas! Mr Sewaholic had a conference in Las Vegas and I tagged along. Did I need to go? Nope! Should I probably have worked instead? Probably! But hey, what is the point of being self-employed if you can’t close the office and run off to Vegas now and then?

While he worked, I did a little thrift and vintage shopping, and came home with two very pretty vintage dresses. I’ll post about them next month for a little look at the sewing details! (Here is a peek at one of them. I don’t buy a lot of clothing but these were very special and affordably priced!)

Knitting slowed down. I’ve been working on the Princess Twinset Jumper from Coronation Knits, and it’s slow going. It’s now almost done, just needs to be seamed together and buttons attached. I think this is going to be the perfect go-with-everything sweater!

Knitting full-size garments in very thin yarn is probably a good way to save money, since it takes so long to finish anything! (As long as you don’t end up buying yarn for your next three projects in the meantime.)

I knit mittens to match my coral rainboots! Just in time for the weather to improve. Ah well. If it does rain, I won’t mind as I’ll have a reason to wear my cute new rainboots and matching mitts! I also talked about overcoming my fear of colourwork and how silly it was to be afraid of something so much that you would avoid it. You guys shared some of your fears – including buttonholes and sewing trousers – and hopefully, we can all try some of the things that scare us to lessen the fear a little.

We talked about the different sewing terms (and clothing names) in this post – I say muslin, you say toile… Snaps are poppers, press studs or domes as well as snaps. A stitch ripper is a seam ripper is a quick unpick – love that one! A Peter Pan collar is a ‘col Claudine’ in France. Muslin fabric is calico in the UK and stout in Denmark. I learned that in many countries the word for yarn is the same as wool which sounds confusing when you want to buy yarn made of other fibres. Take a read-through the comments section to learn all about sewing terms around the world!

Top selling pattern of April 2013:

The Cambie Dress! It’s that time of year when we can shed our winter layers and start wearing summer dresses. (Also, perhaps it was because we saw Gemini’s gorgeous Cambie Wedding Dress!) Second place goes to the Renfrew Top and third to the Robson Coat. (Same three as last month, but in a different order, and again that Renfrew Top is always in the top three!)

Challenges

To grow or not to grow? How big should this little business of mine be?

I don’t know the right answer to this one. Before starting my own business, I worked at a clothing company that hired me as their fourth employee in a small but growing company. I watched as the company grew to over 30 people, and when I was let go I believe there were twelve employees remaining. That’s a lot of change to experience over an eight-year period. So as you can imagine, I’m hesitant to grow too fast. There are a lot of costs to running a business besides the obvious costs of printing patterns and hosting a website. (Taxes were an eye-opener this year! You work all year to make money and then the government takes quite a large amount of it for itself, just because.)

Then again, I don’t want to let fear stop me from growing. Growth is a good thing! Right now I can’t do everything that I want to do or I’d never sleep. I’m just one person with added (and very appreciated) support from Caroline. Could I find things for a full-time person to do? You bet! How much better could the business be if I were to double the amount of people working on it? What other cool things could we do? It’s just such a big leap to go from being responsible for only myself, to being responsible for someone else’s job.

I’m mostly just thinking out loud here,  but it’s nice to have a record of the state of the business at this point in time. It’s a personal decision, deciding how and when to grow my business, but it’s something to consider if any of you are starting your own business, or dream of being self-employed. What kind of business does it look like in your wildest dreams? How big is it, how many people work there (in its ideal state) and what range of services do you provide? What happens when sales are good, how do you keep up? What are you going to do during the slow periods?

And probably the most honest question you’ll have to address regarding a new business: is this really a full-time venture? If so, are you prepared to make it your life, day in and day out? Would it take away the joy of your hobby? How will you keep balanced through it all? (Karen makes some great points here.) And if your idea isn’t destined to be a full-time pursuit, are you OK with it always being a side business? Maybe the market isn’t as big as you thought. What would it take to make it the business you want it to be?

It’s been a challenging month here. I know that it seems pretty calm and relaxed, maybe even slow because there aren’t that many blog posts and it doesn’t look like I’m doing a lot of sewing. That’s the funny thing about blogging. More posts make it seem like I’m busy but really if I have time to post often then the rest of my business is slow. Good problems to have though, right?

Here’s to a gorgeous and warm month of May! Look for a new pattern launching next month. I can’t wait to finally share it with you!

Like this? Read more Behind the Scenes posts!

• Behind the Scenes, January 2013
• Behind the Scenes, February 2013
• Behind the Scenes, March 2013

These are pretty blurry photos but it will give you an idea of the creativity of each entry, and the variety of recycled materials used!

a dress made with playing cards

a suit made from recycled Coke cans – see the pop-tops detail on the cuff!

this dress was inspired by the legend of the Thousand Paper Cranes- the little cranes on wires behind her head bobbed as she walked!

a dress made from used coffee sleeves, which are a rather wasteful product!

 We made up our own category ‘Judges’ Choice’ so that we could give this one a special mention. I got to make an egg joke on stage and say ‘egg-ceptional’ or ‘egg-citing’ – can’t remember now which egg-word I went with! (I think egg-ceptional and I emphasized the egg, so that the audience started cheering because they knew which entry it was.)

The dress is made of egg cartons discarded by a local restaurant, and the reason we were so impressed with this one is because there’s no glue or tape used in the construction. (Because glue and tape isn’t eco-friendly.) She’s tied it together with old telephone cables from the telephone company. Talk about commitment to the concept!

This next one we named runner-up, because it was so striking on the runway! The colours, the innovation, the movement! It’s hard to put into words and the photos certainly don’t do it justice but this was a really beautiful piece. (If I can find better photos after this post goes up I’ll share them too!)

and a blurry shot of the back…

And the winner? This amazing creation by student Mack Stewart. It’s a samurai suit, made from old filmstrip film of an old samurai movie. The judges and I loved the originality and stage presence  of his creation! Here’s a crooked and blurry shot from the catwalk:

And here’s a much clearer shot from the summary sheet we were provided as judges.

All of the proceeds from the show are donated to a local charity chosen by the students. This year they chose a charity that helps the homeless in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. (I wish I’d noted down the name! The representative from the charity gave a talk about how they involve students in helping feed the homeless, and work with youth to help them stay off the streets, so it’s a relevant group for a high school to support.)

Amazing, right? I’m honoured to be a part of this event for a second year. Whoever says that young people aren’t motivated needs to check out events like this. These students are smart, talented and committed to creating a better world through green initiatives. If this is the future, we’re in good hands.

Thanks to the Coquitlam School District and Heritage Woods Secondary for inviting me to judge this year’s show, and congratulations to all of the participants on a job well done!

Well, that was me. I was afraid of colourwork knitting. Knitting with more than one colour in the same line, knitting motifs and patterns in various colours. I even took a colourwork class, but I was sort of expecting there to be a secret to colourwork, and when there wasn’t I went back to avoiding it. Beautiful fairisle sweaters, I thought I would never own them. I was resigned to knitting only solid things, telling myself that solid things were way more practical anyways.

And then – I did it! I knit colourwork. And it really wasn’t so hard, not at all painful, and actually quite fast. (It’s fast because there’s a mini-goal, get to the next colour! And the next colour, and the next…)

The pattern is Chevron Love Mittens, also available as a kit with yarn and pattern included, which is what I did so that I didn’t have a ton of leftover yarn. And also because I really liked the colour schemes. (If I’d bought full skeins of yarn for each colour that would be a ton of yarn leftover at the end!) Buy mitten kits and the pattern here. Ravelry link to my project here.

I picked these colours to match my coral rubber boots, which I bought on my birthday because it rains all the time here. Why not give yourself a reason to be excited about rain? (I realize that this is very much what children do, get excited about rain so they can wear rain boots and splash in puddles, and I don’t care!)

But in my case, I’ll be putting on my awesome blue Robson Trench, my coral rubber boots and my toasty-warm Chevron Love Mittens. Bring on the rain, rainy Vancouver! I’ll be facing it in style.

I liked these mittens so much, I wore them before they were finished! With colourwork, there are strands of yarn going across the back of your work, so whatever you’re knitting ends up twice as warm because it’s twice as thick.

Although, you do end up with a lot of loose ends that need to be woven in at the end! (I think I counted 124 ends.)

So yeah. Colourwork, not actually that scary. I didn’t even master the fancy way of doing it, holding one colour in the left hand and the other in the right. I picked up the colour, knit what I had to knit, let it drop, picked up the second colour and knit with it, let that one drop and pick up the first colour. Sure, there are other ways, probably faster and better ones, but you can see that we all end up at the same result – mittens!

I’ve been sewing for over twenty years (probably closer to 25 at this point!) and knitting for nearly two, and I still find myself fearing certain techniques. I know deep down that nothing in the knitting or sewing world is life or death, and yet still I avoided knitting with two colours! How silly. Now a whole new world of knitting in colours and fair-isle patterns has opened up to me!

So if there’s something that you’re afraid of, think of me and my silly fear of knitting with two colours of yarn. That sort of mental block can happen to anyone, no matter how confident they are in other areas of their craft! Don’t let fear stop you from making stuff!

(And now, I’m off to pick out my next colourwork project. Have a great day!)