Organizing Pattern Pieces Shelving I've had several requests over the years to give a tour of my sewing space and I have finally come up with a way that for me feels appropriate. You will come to realize very quickly, I am organized and don't have a lot of extra stuff around. My sewing space... Continue Reading →
Update to Hey June Handmade Union St. Tee
This is an update to my original post. At the beginning of 2020, I decided to accept a friend's challenge and do 10,000 pushups by the end of the year. As I'm writing this, I'm 4,500 pushups into my challenge. Doing pushups at this rate was bound to have a positive effect on my body.... Continue Reading →
French Navy Calyer Pants
Download Pattern My muslin pieces are available through Gumroad.com. Please click the "Download Pattern" button above. The download only includes my front and back pieces and front waistband. I removed the pocket from the front piece as well. These pieces are sufficient for making a muslin. The download does not include guided information about the... Continue Reading →
Megan Nielsen Dawn Jeans
Download Pattern My muslin pieces are available through Gumroad.com. Please click the "Download Pattern" button above. The download only includes my front and back pieces, yoke, pocket facing, and waistband. These pieces are sufficient for making a muslin. The download does not include guided information about the construction or anything found in the instructions to... Continue Reading →
Positively Contributing to the Sewing Community
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 →
Digitizing Patterns
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 →
Harlow by Drea Renee Knits
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 →
Megan Nielsen Jarrah Sweater
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 →
Anna Allen Persephone Sailor Pants
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 →
Sipila Sweater by Caitlin Hunter
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 →
TAL High Cuff Sweater
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 →
So Faded Sweater by Drea Renee Knits
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 →