I am a writer, thinker, gardener. I share my home in Austin, Texas with an artist husband and our seven “kids”: Freda, Pearl and Jacob the crazy border collies, and Leo, Snow, Sasha and Henry the rescue kittens. I learned to sew as a young teen in the 80s but abandoned it after college, except for a few ambitious projects (like tackling a maid-of-honor gown after not sewing for seven years, a gown that made it only 10 minutes into the reception before I spilled salad dressing down the front!).
A couple years ago, I had this grand idea to sew a costume for a photography project. Out from the attic came the dusty serger (an ebay find that had only been used twice–shame!), my box of old and wrinkled and hilariously 80s patterns, and I was in love again. Never mind that included hours of angsty swearing at the machine and ripping seams. I’m addicted to problem-solving. Since then, I’ve been pattern- and fabric-hunting in the remotest corners of the interwebs. Vintage 40s patterns! Japanese pattern books! Bra patterns! Oh, the places you will go!
Cloth Habit was started as an excuse to document my projects, with an emphasis on sewing my way through classic fashion pieces. Read my first entry to learn more. I also write about fashion and other arts at my blog Textural.
