Neuroscientist + Curious Mind + Passionate Maker
Fabric Stash and Organization I have a closet in my sewing room that is vastly underused. My fabric stash and some other odds and ends are kept in bins in the closet. The SAMLA boxes (12 gallons) work great for holding fabric and are useful with the rest of my IVAR shelving around the house.... Continue Reading →
Digital Pattern Organization I'm not the type of sewer that collects patterns. I buy only when I need something, and chances are I will purchase digitally. I don't love taping together patterns, and waiting for a copy shop version isn't always ideal, but I really don't like tissue patterns. Tissue paper is just an extra... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
Ryan's favorite cake is carrot cake, and for his birthday in March, I found this recipe. We immediately adapted it to reduce sugar and boost flavor. The changes are minor (reduce sugar and salt, add orange zest), but I wanted to publish our version of Bon Appétite's Gluten-Free Carrot Cake. The best part of this cake... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
