February 11th, 2021
Noile
Paco Peralta has a reputation for beautifully drafted designs, and, even though this skirt is, in truth, simple to make, it’s no exception. This is Vogue 1619, and, if out-of-print, well-worth snagging for all three pieces. But that skirt! It has it all — including pockets.

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I made a bag (quite a while ago, actually):

It’s a copy of one I saw online. I didn’t buy the commercial one because, as designed, it didn’t have features I knew I’d want, but I loved the look of it, and, well, the adventure began.
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This one’s a frankenpattern involving a Jalie collar and the tunic body from Vogue 8854, which I’ve previously also mashed-up with the Talvikki top.

Just pretend it’s dancing! The angle’s all wrong,
but the tunic’s just fine, really!
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This is an unpublished post from a few years ago, so pre-Covid.
No museum-going, or any other travel, is happening here these days!
This is the perfect, throw-it-in-the-day-bag, off-to-the-too-cool-museum wrap. When it’s made of a lightweight knit, it’s just the thing for warding off a slight chill, but easy as pie to wear in a bunch of different ways: As a “cardigan”, a Grecian-style stole; as sleeves over a shell; as a snood or hood; as touch of color around the neck; as a conventional long scarf, and even as a wrap skirt. It’s also compact enough to toss in a bag or purse so that it’s available when needed.
Cardigan look:
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A dear relative uses a power chair (which she amusingly calls an “electric chair”, an accurate, if perhaps misleading, description) and, naturally, likes to have a “pocket” to hold small things when she ventures forth in her chariot.

A few years ago I made one for her, but over time it’s gotten a bit battered, so a new one was in order.
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It’s winter, it’s Covid, it’s time to huddle, and wearable blankets, otherwise known as “ponchos”, are everywhere, and mostly meh and so large as to be unmanageable. Like a lot of people now, I, too, want to hibernate until it’s all over — define “all” however you like — so obviously I needed a day wear blanket.

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Masks — so simple, so essential, so bothersome! In cold weather, it’s a pain juggling a hat, hair, maybe glasses, and maybe other behind-the-ear gadgets.

Canadian pattern maker Jalie has come up with a sleek, clever solution to the behind-the-ears problem.
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December 29th, 2020
Noile
Covid, and the need to consider risk where risk once seemed much less significant, has touched nearly every aspect of our lives here at Chez Noile.

Two small changes affect the way I sew every time I sit down to my machine.
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December 22nd, 2020
Noile
Tactile lap quilts can provide various types of stimulation for those who are in lower stimulation environments, or for others who are soothed, in care residences or not, by their weight and various textures. Or at least that’s the theory!

I made six for donation to a care home — they were a welcome donation, and not a bad antidote to all the depressing Nordic Noir I sometimes watched while making them! They aren’t my finest work — I don’t have any experience in working with quilted goods — but I’m hoping “sturdy” matters more than “finesse”.
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December 13th, 2020
Noile
My second Sew House Seven Toaster I looks as if it had been made out of teddy bear fur — if Teddy were made of upholstery material.

I wasn’t sure how that would work, but it’s actually turned out, well, Teddy-rific!
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