Neuroscientist + Curious Mind + Passionate Maker
My mission on "handmadephd" has been to explore and share my daily creativity with the hope that I can spark creativity in others. I've tried to keep my blog genuine, supportive, and about community. To that end, I have been open about my methods, process, fit issues, size, etc. so everyone can have access to... Continue Reading →
Here are the details about how I went from my pattern pieces to a digital, printable pattern. Many stores that offer printing services will also offer large format scanning of documents up to 36". It's not always easy to find on their webpages, but here are a couple of links for people living in the... Continue Reading →
New year. New challenges. I have a lot of scrap yarn that I needs to be used. I decided to try basic brioche knitting. The pattern uses ~30 g of two different colors of yarn and the result is a 100% reversible hat. Perfect for getting rid of those small bits of left over yarn.... Continue Reading →
One of my first sewing projects years ago was to make a rub-off pattern of a beloved Nau wool sweatshirt that was beyond mending. The sweatshirt was basic, as are most of the Nau designs, but with really interesting, asymmetrical details. My sweatshirt had a dropped shoulder, funnel neck, and high-low hem. I wanted my... Continue Reading →
Back in May of this year, we moved from a single story apartment to a 3-story townhouse. I also spent the summer getting back into shape, healing a foot/ankle injury, and in general, making health and fitness my main focus. In that time, my body has dramatically changed shape. Climbing significantly more stairs each day... Continue Reading →
Everything about this sweater makes me so happy. This sweater was my first attempt at stranded knitting and I'm still shocked at how easily I was able to pick up the technique. In the end, I held one yarn in my left hand and knitted continental style and I held the second yarn in my... Continue Reading →
I needed a simple pattern to get over my jean fitting frustrations. I've been interested in the patterns from The Assembly Line. I really love the silhouettes. They're just my style. I choose the High Cuff sweater for my "easy" project. My only word of caution is that the patterns are very expensive and the... Continue Reading →
I finally knitted something amazing! I have envied anyone who has made the So Faded sweater. Self-doubt has held me back for a long time. Would my knitting skills be good enough? I didn't want even to attempt this sweater because I didn't want to spend that kind of money on yarn. In the end,... Continue Reading →
I'm not even sure how I should start this post. What seemed like a small idea in my head quickly snowballed into a large project. I dove into this project, thinking I could easily alter the pattern using my pant block, but after one test pair, I realized I needed to step back and start... Continue Reading →
We finally have warm weather, and that means I'm living in my short-sleeve t-shirts. Unfortunately, all of my favorite t-shirts have changed shape and size all of a sudden. Even though I'm super aggressive when I prewash my fabric, the shirts didn't take kindly to drying during one of my business trips this year. I... Continue Reading →
I'm finally getting back to sewing and blogging after a crazy few months. It's now spring and I desperately need some warm weather pieces. I've never sewn a pattern from Papercut Patterns but I've seen a lot of other sewers make the Palisade shorts / pants and I wanted to give it a try. Sizing... Continue Reading →
I only had to make one adjustment to the Willamette shirt from Hey June Handmade, and that was a forward shoulder alteration, an extremely common alteration. I thought it would be helpful to provide a tutorial on how to do that since the Willamette shirt does not have a standard set-in sleeve. SHOULDER WIDTH I... Continue Reading →
