The Settler Fantasies Woven Into the Prairie Dresses
Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic novels, based on her childhood in the late 1860s and 1870s in Minnesota’s Big Woods and…
The McCall Pattern Company Is Very Much Alive and Loves Instagram, FYI
You might associate the McCall Pattern Company and its products with your pre-digital childhood (if you had a crafty…
Vintage Sewing Patterns With Funny Captions Will Make You Crack Up
Vintage sewing patterns, like so much of fashion, often feature very strangely posed models engaged in inexplicable…
How To Turn Your Dress Ideas Into Reality By Making A Custom Pattern
Or: Quick and Dirty Pattern-Draping for Fun and Profit! If you're even a neophyte home sewer, you've probably dreamed…
How to Keep Any Strapless Dress From Falling Down
Strapless dresses: is there any other garment that promises so much, but at such high risk? If you've owned or worn a…
Hip Republican Credits Daughters With Teaching Him Cooking, Cleaning Skills
Scott Brown of Massachusetts is pretty much the GOP's greatest remaining hope for hip, modern ideas in a party…
How To Ditch Your Boring Throw Pillows For Something Cooler
One of the easiest things you can do to spruce up your living environment is re-covering a throw pillow or three. It's…
This Awesome Purse Is Incredibly Easy To Make (Here's How!)
If you've never made a purse before, this just might be the purse for you. My last bag, the envelope clutch, was a…
How To Winterize A Coat
I was raised in a temperate climate — New Zealand, to be precise — but it didn't take me long to grasp the absolute,…
How To Turn A T-Shirt Into A Pillow
You know what I have too many of? T-shirts. There are t-shirts in my closet that I've had for years and never worn.…
Living Like A Pioneer Now Cutting Edge
Did you hear about the newest trend? It was invented in prehistoric times, and we've spent thousands of years…
How To Alter A Thrift Store Dress
I feel like this happens to me all the time: I'm browsing the racks at the SalvA, skipping past unfortunate…
How To Make A Pair Of White Short-Shorts
Okay, so your shorts don't have to be white. You could make them blue, red, yellow, teal, cerulean, seafoam, hyacinth,…
How To Make A Quick Beach Cover-Up
It's summer, and while we're all sweltering in the 98° heat, our thoughts turn naturally to cooling, natural,…
How To Make A Custom Dress Form: Part Two
Having a custom dress form that matches your body shape is a boon to any home sewer. Especially any home sewer who'd…
How To Make A Custom Dress Form: Part One
To any home sewer and pattern-drafter, the appeal of a custom dress form is obvious. Commercial forms don't resemble…
Ten Reasons To Love On The Road With Austin And Santino
Okay, so it doesn't have the gravitas of Mad Men. But nothing can else on TV can fill me with such unmitigated delight…
French Bliss
[Vienna, September 10. Image via Getty]
XXX: When Patchwork Is "Pornographic"
Quilter's Home has rocked the needlework world to its foundation with its exploration of adult themes in quilting.…
Made to Measure: Or, Broken Dreams And A Wool Jersey Dress
I've always wanted to be the kind of woman who could sew her own clothes. It's a skill that combines practicality and…