Chasing a fashion trend, I decided to make myself a pair of wide leg, high waisted jeans. One of my pandemic obsessions has been scrolling through the Vogue Daily E-zine. This summer, every day, there was a feature with a model or actress sporting wide leg – high waist jeans.…
Category: Design
Fanciful Linen Hem
The uninterrupted hemline of the Carpe Diem opens up some fun hemline design opportunities. A new linen top, designed and made as spring became summer, is an excellent example of creative energy moving a Carpe Diem hemline to the next level. Plan the Project It started with a stash search…
Riffs on a Trusted Pattern – the TRJ
This year Threads Magazine is featuring Riffs on a Trusted Pattern by Becky Fulgoni as an online insider series. Becky chose the Tabula Rasa Jacket pattern as her trusted pattern for the series, so every month we’ve been enjoying Becky’s creative makes with the TRJ pattern. You may recall that…
Technique Magic – Sashing
In the search for creative inspiration, it occasionally happens that a technique or idea propels you in a variety of different productive directions. Such is the case with the quilting technique sashing. I came across it in a quilting book called Maverick Quilts by Alethea Ballard. The subtitle is why…
Elegant Scalloped Tee
On our trip to New York in May, I spotted this lovely peach knit with a classic Italian print, only understated. It is a very light cotton jersey and while it is rare that I make a Tabula Rasa Knit top in only one fabric, this one seemed like a…
Vintage Lace Ruched Top
Thanks to our friends at Classic Sewing Magazine, our wardrobes for summer have been replenished with some of the jacket/tops featured in the current issue. When I began planning the article, I ordered several pieces of cotton lawn from Farmhouse Fabrics and there was one remaining piece. The one remaining…
Trimming a Carpe Diem
The Carpe Diem Dress & Tunic is the perfect garment design for featuring fun trim. If you watched the Artistic Artifacts Facebook Live on Saturday morning, you saw a number of trimmed Carpe Diems that have become wardrobe favorites. We are going to look at the Indian Cotton Batik from…
Notched Carpe Diem Top
Carrie made this notched scoop neck top very early in the development of the Carpe Diem Dress & Tunic pattern. The notch opens the neckline up a bit, making it easier to pull a top or dress on over your head without a back closure. While the notch design didn’t…
Toile Spring Jacket – Details!
This week we are going to take a closer look at some of the construction details in my Toile Spring Jacket including the back pleat, inseam pockets, cuffs, hood, and lining. You can read more about the original fabric and design decisions in the previous post Toile Spring Jacket –…
Beautiful Carpe Diem Blouse
Sweet off- white blouses are a staple of many women’s wardrobes and for good reason. So, when my friend Sally brought me a 7 yard piece of vintage China silk, embroidered here and there with ivory flowers, a blouse was my first design idea. The embroidery was centered on the…