Lyndsey's Dress

Made from 100% silk with a silk lining this dress will turn head's for Lyndsey where ever she goes!

Muskoka Chair Cushions

Muskoka Chair Cushions

Made for a client in the shop, these cushions were a new experience for me. As I mentioned before it seems I'm branching out into upholstery and lots and lots of cushion making and recovering!! I think these turned out pretty well.

January Through March

January and February were quieter months in the shop but I managed to take on some bigger jobs like an 11 ft valance and drape! Yikes! Looks like we are branching off into drapery now! Pics will follow!

Aside from all the hemming and fixing and stitching I managed to squeeze in a design! Amanda Downey's custom bridesmaid dress was finally finished too! Thanks for the pics Amanda!

The Sewing Bible

Ok this isn't really a tutorial, it's more like a guide...no it is the guide. Every sewer or aspiring sewer should have the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing. The book is full of step-by-step instructions and explanations on everything sewing from how to sew a button, different types of interfacing and fitting your own pants.

 

 This edition is from 1976. It belonged to my Grandmother and I love it! There are several editions of the guide to purchase. I believe the latest was published in 2002.

Upcycled Coffee Cozies

Now available in the shop, at 124 Main St. Picton, just in time for the holidays! These coffee cozies are made from upcycled wool sweaters and they are the perfect stocking stuffer. They easily fit in your purse or  pocket.

The Recycled Gingham Jumpsuit

One of the fashions I have noticed the ladies about town are wearing this summer is the one piece jumpsuit and I love this look.

So when a friend of mine dropped off some cast offs, a two piece, gingham summer suit inspired me to create this...

from this...

So, what I did was..... I attached the top and bottom (obviously), reinserted the drawstring in the waist and added an elastic casing. I cut the top down across the underarm added elastic to the top of the shirt and shortened the legs to a walking shorts length. Voila, a summer jumpsuit.

The One that Started It All

There are a couple of circumstances that led to my love of turning old fashions into new. Once upon a time I worked a short stint as a contract cutter at Preloved in Toronto and got to see first hand how they could take someone else's cast offs and create a wearable piece of art....amazing! But the job that started it all for me personally was the day Cathy called with the awesome idea of wanting to wear her mother's 1960's wedding dress for her big day....only tweak it a little to make it a little more modern looking.
Here's the result!

The before dress....I didn't get to see the back of the dress before all of the original lace was removed.

So I removed the lace and the sleeves above the bust, adding facings and interfacing to reinforce the shape of the now strapless dress! Easy peasy! I used some of the lace from the back of the dress to create panels to cover the obvious spots where the lace was missing and added some to the hem as well to make it a tad longer.

              Cathy in her dress on wedding day.                       Cathy showing mom the dress!