Happy Canada Day!

 

Hoping you have an enjoyable day off with sewing, reading, snacks, 

fireworks and whatever you may like!

Weekend Review: Stitches of Tradition

 

Stitches of Tradition / Marcie Rendon,
illus. by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley
NY: HarperCollins, c2024.

This Ojibwe story honours the ribbon skirt as a tradition that stitches together generations. A young girl gets her first ribbon skirt thanks to her grandmother's sewing prowess. They measure and cut and create a skirt for her to wear to a baby naming ceremony — and then as she grows older, new ribbon skirts to wear to a Fall Ceremony, a swearing in as her aunt becomes a district judge, and finally to her own coming of age ceremony. As she grows, she learns to help with the sewing and continue the traditions. The text features repeated paragraphs that both ground the story and move it forward, making it an engaging read aloud.

The text and illustrations are both by Ojibwe artists, one from Minnesota and one from Barrie. Together they've created a heart warming book about the connections between generations of women and the traditions that bind families. The text is sprinkled with Ojibwe terms, with a glossary and an author's note at the back, explaining the importance of ribbon skirts. The topic and the colour saturated illustrations make this a visually appealing book for young readers and their elders. It's a gentle story full of love, connection, and sewing!

Quilt Canada 2025!

Last week I was fortunate enough to take in Quilt Canada for a day, seeing as how it was held only a couple of hours away! I had fun going down as part of a bus trip with a local quilt guild, which made it much easier - no driving the 401, just hanging out on a bus and relaxing with a bunch of other quilt people :) 

It was a great show, lots of exhibits from different artists and guilds alongside the National Juried show. It took me over 2 hours just to go through the exhibits, before I could even think of visiting the vendors. I was pleased to see that there was an exhibit by Canadian SAQA members, a national show called Renewal. 

Here are just a few of my faves that I saw there! 

Best of Show: After the Fires by Wanda Lumsden

Winter Solstice by Susan Selby (loved this one!)

Of course I couldn't resist a little treat for myself as well -- I picked up some LDH Scalloped Pinking Shears. I had been eyeing them before going, and when I tried them out I decided to just go for it! They are so pretty. 

I don't usually get the chance to go to shows like this, so it was really fantastic. Enjoyed the show and the company!

Weekend Review: REDress

 

REDress / Jaime Black-Morsette, ed.
Winnipeg, MB: Portage & Main Press, c2025.
160 p.

Today's book is a feature for National Indigenous People's Day, June 21. I read this from my library, and it was a powerful read. It looks at art and how artistic projects have been used to draw attention to issues in the Indigenous community in Canada, particularly the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women campaign. (MMIW)

The title refers both to actual redress of wrongs, and to the Red Dress project, the best known project to draw attention to MMIW. This project uses red dresses, hung from trees, clotheslines, and in public spaces, to represent lives lost in this ongoing tragedy. It's a project that was begun by artist Jaime Black-Morsette, the editor of this collection. It's been installed in a variety of museums as well, and it is haunting. This book gives a bit of the history and purpose of this activist art installation.

There are also essays on other activist art projects, like beaded moccasin vamps also meant to draw attention to missing women. There are a number of ways that clothing has been used symbolically in the works included in this anthology, alongside other essays and statements from Indigenous women, Elders, grassroots community activists, artists, academics, and family members affected by the scourge of MMIW. 

There are many clear photos and imagery to support the essays, and the book is very well produced. While the theme makes it a hard read at times, it's so important, and I felt it was a great look at this topic as well as 15 years of the Red Dress Project. Definitely worth searching out. 

Paper Patterns no more?

By now I'm sure most sewists have heard the news that our beloved Big Four paper patterns have been sold to a liquidator. The idea that we might lose pattern patterns altogether, along with the only North American presses that can even print tissue, is very sad. (Full story here).

I have been sewing with paper patterns my whole life -- in fact I still have the first paper pattern I ever used! I love the ease of use, and the cover art, just the whole package. Good thing I have a large collection. 

But my local fabric store is selling off their paper patterns & then that's it. So I decided to take advantage of the sale, at least for the Butterick & McCalls patterns on my wishlist. (Vogue are still too expensive for me). 

These are the ones I picked up. 

I will look for a few more on my list but I am still hoping that some company somewhere will buy them & get them running again. 

Weekend Review: Dorothy Grant, an Endless Thread

 

Dorothy Grant: An Endless Thread / Dorothy Grant
Victoria, BC: Figure 1 Publishing, c2024.
176 p.

I came across this book in my library's online catalogue; until then I hadn't heard of Dorothy Grant. I'm so glad I found this! Grant is a West Coast Haida designer from what is now Alaska. She began designing in 1989 with her show called Feastwear, which launched her into a very successful career selling first in a boutique, and then via trunk shows and bespoke items.

This book is partly a memoir of her career and partly a look-book of her many pieces and designer lines. There are photos of many Indigenous celebrities and leaders wearing her work, as well as politicians -- one image of Governor General Mary Simon greeting Pope Francis during his visit to apologize for Residential School harms has her wearing a white Dorothy Grant capelet that echoes the Pope's robes, something I found fascinating.

Grant's work has also been collected by museums and galleries. Her designs incorporate traditional Haida motifs as well as garment types and kinds of embellishments like shellwork and embroidery, or traditional spruce root weaving. They play those elements off of modern design to create amazing pieces. 

This book was put together for a retrospective at Haida Gwaii Museum in 2024, so there are also essays by the curator, India Rael Young, and Haida repatriation specialist and museologist Sdahl Ḵ’awaas Lucy Bell, alongside some of Grant's own reflections and memories, and those of her longtime assistant, Haida curator and artist Kwiaahwah Jones. All this, plus the many large photos, make this book a wonderful read, with so much to examine. I really enjoyed it. If you can find a copy, I would recommend it to any fashion lover. 

You can find lots of fascinating information and fashion on Dorothy Grant's website, too,

(Flip through with more images, details and a short video interview with the author can be found on the publisher's website) 

Hinterland Bodice Tests: a beginning

I've begun working on fitting my Hinterland bodice in order to start on the design course I signed up for at the beginning of the year! I don't usually make muslins too often, but the bodice has to be well fitted in order for the following design changes throughout the course to really work.

I looked up the Hinterland online and found quite a number of people had varied issues with the bodice, so I was aware of some areas to look for. I first decided that I would cut a 12 according to my bust size, so I did, dropping the bust point by 1/4". And taking a small 1/4" dart in the front neckline as well. But it was way too close fitting across the shoulder/upper bust area -- except for the back, which was very, very gapey, I had to take a 1" dart on each side of the back bodice. 

But I realized that 12 was the wrong size. The Hinterland is designed for a C cup, so I had chosen the wrong size entirely. Looking at my upper bust measurements, I realized that a 16 would be a better choice, if I then also incorporated a small bust adjustment.

So I retraced it, and made the SBA (using Gina Renée Design's post as guidance). Then I trued the front and back side length, and made my other adjustments (back darts, small neckline dart) and tried again.

When I made the SBA it completely eliminated the bust dart so I didn't have to worry about that! I muslined it and this time it fit well except for one thing. The slope of the shoulder was off & making the back bodice gape weirdly. I took a 1/2" wedge, starting at the inner neckline & tapered back to nothing by the shoulder seam (so it remained the same). This fixed all the remaining fit issues with the back bodice.

I didn't have to make any changes to the sleeve and so now that this mostly seems to fit I am going to try a real version. Hope it works!