Weekend Review: Handmade Home

 

The Handmade Home / Arounna Khounnoraj
London: Quadrille, c2025
144 p.

This is another book by Canadian artist Arounna Khounnoraj - I've read a number of her books, and she has a very specific aesthetic. It's always gentle, homey, and approachable. The golden light and muted colours on the cover of this book really capture what I think of as her work. 

This book is focused on home decor and varied accessories for comfort. It is exactly what the subtitle says: "21 simple sewing projects for your home". The book begins with a brief section on tools and fabric, followed by a short chapter on techniques & stitches, and then dives right into the projects. The projects cover a range of rooms in the home - from kitchen ones like aprons, bowl covers, lunch bags or utensil holders,  to living room ones like pillows, lap blankets or a pouf, to dining room tablecloths, coasters or napkins - to a few unique ones, like a laundry bag, a hot water bottle cover, or a rag rug. The final project is a patchwork curtain, which is made bojagi style and is quite lovely. 

There is quite a range of projects that cover many areas of the home, which could appeal to different needs and skill levels. There is an overall consistency to the style of the samples shown, with muted tones and handstitched additions. There are many photos of all the projects which make them look very appealing, alongside the instructions and technical drawings. Some of the projects would take a larger investment of time, while others could be a one-afternoon kind of project. I think I might try making some of the patchwork coasters, which are quick and pretty.  A great thing to tuck into a gift! 

I enjoyed this book and while there is nothing startlingly new about it, it is put together beautifully and feels very welcoming to entry level sewists. 

Weekend Review: The Hand-Sewn Wardrobe

 

The Handsewn Wardrobe / Louisa Owen Sonstroem
North Adams, MA: Storey, c2025.
344 p.

Anyone interested in hand sewing has likely heard of Louisa Owen Sonstroem by now. She's a patternmaker and hand sewing enthusiast who has appeared on a number of sewing podcasts (Threads, Check Your Thread, and Craft Industry Alliance for example) and has a website, Louisa Merry. 

This book is a large, glossy one covering her interests in making by hand. It begins with a shorter section on basic patternmaking, to get you sorted for the projects that follows. There are 9 projects, the easier ones you might expect like a boxy top, gathered skirt or t-shirt, but there's also a jean jacket and jeans. - maybe not what you might think of when considering sewing by hand. 

Each section has instructions for first drafting a pattern, then construction, including tips that are specific to hand sewing. Buttonholes are interesting, that's for sure. She discusses materials, notions and so forth that work best with the fabric you're working with, and any special considerations you should be aware of. 

The steps are logical, with some photos, many line drawings, and examples, including variations at the end of each project. There are also a variety of people modelling the makes, from toddlers to those much older. There are ten 'featured artists' sprinkled throughout, one page with some Q&A with these fellow hand-sewing enthusiasts. Their books are then also listed in the bibliography and further reading section at the end. 

I found it interesting, although my own interest in hand sewing an entire garment is low. But the way the book is laid out, and the drafting information, is all fascinating. I'd recommend this for a more advanced sewist, or one who is looking to really challenge their skills and learn something new. 

December Sewing Plans

And once again it is already December! I feel like this was a very quick moving year. I did get some of my yearly goals done, or at least worked on, but some just went by the wayside. So my December plans are pretty simple - tie up those loose ends.

I have a couple of projects that are cut out & waiting, and I just want to get them done and off my sewing table. Plus I have a few things to mend and hem, and really want to get those done before year's end. Of course being the end of the year I'm feeling the need to do a bit of a clean of the sewing space as well! 

If I can get all of those things done I may try to make a new dress for Christmas - I have two options using stash fabric. One is a burnout velvet with a slight stretch, and the other is a beautiful though muted rose print in red and navy in cotton lawn. They'd give much different effects but I think either would be quite festive. So I'm thinking about those, but not pushing myself to make them as I do have other festive options already. It would just be a fun project if I can fit it in! 

And of course lots of end-of-year wrap up to do here on the blog as well. Watch for some posts about the year's sewing later on! 

Weekend Review: Crafting an Alibi

 

Crafting an Alibi / Barbara Emodi
Lafayette, CA: C&T, c2025
224 p.

This is Book 5 in the entertaining Gasper's Cove mystery series. We meet many of the same characters we've seen over the last few books, but see them from new angles. And there are some new characters added too, perhaps ones we will see again. 

As this story begins, Valerie is invited into a big secret held by a group of senior ladies, now resident at the Seaview Manor. She is asked to find some valuable fabric hidden decades ago, but before she can do it, the hiding place is burned to the ground. Unfortunately for Valerie, it was her family cottage and there was a renter in it. 

This set-up leads to some dramatic events -- insurance investigations, attempted murders, further fires -- all while Valerie is trying to puzzle out the clues (missing important steps as usual). She is also in the midst of helping to plan her cousin/best friend's wedding, dealing with her emotions over being an empty nester, and of course losing a family property. 

There is a lot going on here, but it's rooted in the same small town atmosphere as the previous books in the series. It has the hallmarks of a Gasper's Cove story - some Nova Scotia history, some cozy relationships which involve food and tea, and Valerie's crafting knowledge, which always plays a part. I really enjoyed the cabal of old ladies at Seaview Manor in this novel and hope to see their cleverness highlighted again.  

If you've enjoyed this series so far, this is a good addition, with some lovely scenes as well as some heart-pounding ones. Beware, you may be left craving butter tarts after this one!

Literary Sewing Circle: A Project Roundup

 
This round of the Literary Sewing Circle brought lots of fantastical, fun projects. The elements of the book inspired a lot of different ideas from a range of readers. Here are the ones that were shared for the roundup! 

Over on Instagram, longtime participant @conlon.jan decided to take the green slime that Howl creates in a temper as her inspiration and made a Seamwork Cosmo blouse! 

New reader @dolorousrattus used the colours of Howl's suit as her beginning and made a grey and scarlet sweater echoing his style, using the Kajo pattern from Named. 

Over on Threadloop, Sara has shared her Magic Pants, a pattern by Anne Tilley -- inspired by the atmosphere of magic in the book in general. 

And on PatternReview, a few members shared their projects too. SewLSC made McCalls 7975, referencing both Sophie's 'fine gray dress' and the twists of fate she faces throughout the book!

VivianZ made a flamboyant vest with a pattern from Cutting Line Designs, to reflect some of the wild flashes of colour from Howl's spells 

Litapita took her lead from Sophie's cutting up and restitching of Howl's suit, and cut up a shirt she'd made for her husband to make a new pair of pjs! 

Silverdell also thought about Sophie's habit of cutting up Howl's suits (particularly the blue and silver one) and made a colour-blocked top from a Japanese pattern book. 

And of course, my own - a Celeste Dress inspired by Calcifer. This perfect fabric has all the swirly colours of Calcifer's flames, a perfect match. 

This was a fun round of reading and sewing! Thanks to everyone for participating. (And if I've missed your project somehow, please let me know, I will add it) . 

Look for the next round of the Literary Sewing Circle in Spring 2026. 

Altering a thrifted skirt suit

Last week I shared how I shortened the sleeves of two thrifted blazers to make them fit right and look like they were made for me. And one of the blazers was part of a skirt suit. The skirt needed a bit more work than just shortening in order for me to be able to wear it, but the suit together made it worth going to the effort to get this just right. 

When I tried on the skirt, I found it a good fit across my hips and posterior, but the waist was too large. The waist is finished with a bias binding, essentially, so it's pretty easy to unpick. The zip is at the centre back so I could easily adjust the side seams without too much extra fuss required. I unpicked the binding for about 4 inches, pinched in the side seam and the lining seam by 1/2" and stitched it down in a wedge about 4 inches long, trimming both and the binding (including the interfacing under the binding). Then I folded everything back down, stitched the binding back on to the outer skirt, and then basted, pinned and hand stitched the lining back onto the inside of the waist binding, as it had been originally. 

I forgot to get a pic of the skirt all unpicked but here it is
 ready to have the lining stitched back on

After this the skirt both fits and is much more functional. After about an hour of work or so, I have a great suit that fits and that I can mix and match with things already in my wardrobe. I think that's worth it! I may still shorten it at the hem by another 1/2" but I'll try it all together to see if I really need to. 

Skirt all done! And the hanging loops sewn back onto the side seam area

Now that it fits properly at the waist, I may still add in some side seam pockets. The seam allowances are pretty wide (at least 1/2" each) so it would be easy to stitch on some pocket bags. But I do wonder if that might throw the fit off. The matching jacket does not have pockets because of its design (pleats from shoulder to hem) so I might have to try it if I actually want to wear this as a complete outfit.  I will think on that idea a bit longer!

Weekend Review: Fabric Leftovers

 

Fabric Leftovers / D'Arcy-Jean Milne
Lafayette, CA: C&T, c2006.
96 p.

This is a fun little book I picked up at a thrift shop recently. I'm always looking for new ideas for scrap busting and this looked like there might be some unique projects to try out. 

I liked it, even if some of the 2006 projects are now out of date (ie: cd cover). It's an interesting combination of techniques and projects, and you might be able to adapt some of the techniques to projects of your own that you want to create. 

It starts out with a brief look at organizing and storing scraps for ease of use, some recommended threads and stitches, and a really useful 'processing' overview on how to best cut up ties, sleeves and jeans to get the optimal fabric use out of them. 

She then moves on to techniques: there are 6 covered, two kinds of fabric creation (patchwork and weaving), cording, couching, ruching, stuffed tubes she calls 'beads', and a way to make buttons into decorative blooms. I've seen some of these kinds of things before, but the weaving (into rug hook canvas) in particular was a new idea for me. I can see how these techniques could be adapted into personal projects.

The book then shares 15 projects. There are sculptural things like boxes or folios, some journal and cd covers, bags, wallets, frames, fabric flowers, and little things like stuffed 'candies' and tassels. Some of these I liked and some I had no interest in, but there was a nice variety so readers should be able to find at least one they might like to try. 

I liked the set-up of the book. It was well organized, with lots of large, colourful images of everything discussed. Some of the content may be a little dated now, but the overall techniques and concepts are still valid and useful. I can see how many of them could easily be updated to something contemporary, especially with the renewed interest in patchwork and garment making. A fun discovery!