25/03/2022
After getting busy writing during the lockdown, Holly Swinyard returns to talk all things cosplay. We get into the history of cosplay and how while the name is recent, it has much older origins, how humans have maybe always been into dressing up, the potential benefits of taking on a character, the work that goes into costumes, how things changed…
05/04/2020
I’m not sure I’ve ever felt the need to start an article with a disclaimer, but I do today. Pandemics and viral infections are deadly serious, and I lay no claim to being any sort of expert in how to protect myself (or you) from airborne, or otherwise, virus. I do know enough to know when it’s time to seek…
28/03/2020
I know, the moment you saw the rainproof smock and sewing as the title of this article, you thought one of three things: Hang on, I’m sure Nick announced that on Instagram ages ago Right, yes, another project started with lots of gusto and never heard of again Ooh, nice one, that will be interesting to read about! And yes,…
21/03/2020
A couple of years back I gave my wife two pairs of beautiful Heschung split-tie leather shoes and a pair of Gingko boots. The boots are burgundy leather with a lighter colour canvas shank, the shoes a rather spiffy if vivid, deep pink. Over time I noticed that the boots were seeing a lot of use, but the shoes were…
24/01/2018
Sewing is not something I’m doing all the time, it’s a passion that can flail up, burn strong and then go back into dormancy. Really I’m more about the ideas than actually the actual cutting, assembling and sewing. Not to say I don’t enjoy it, there is a huge amount of satisfaction in seeing a project through from idea to…
07/10/2016
After a long and basically threadless Spring and Summer (bare the occasional button that needed sewing, naturally) it’s time to see about firing up the sewing machine again. Yes, I know, the blue corduroy waistcoat is still unfinished, and every time someone asks I think that it must surely be time to finish it. And it will happen, I promise! In…
13/03/2016
It’s been a while now since I last got down to some serious sewing. I did the tweed jacket upcycle in the Autumn, but that was only a little hand-stitching. Since then I bought a new sewing machine, and to be honest it’s been sitting there, silent, taunting me, willing me to just get down to it. So, with a…
17/10/2015
Last week I posted part four of my Harris Tweed jacket upcycling project. If you’re only just coming to find it, you’ll want to read back to the original idea outlined here, and part one here , part two here and part three here. I’ll wait patiently until you’re up to speed on what is going on here at the Laboratory of Total Tweedism. The previous part saw…
24/02/2015
If there is one task that our robotic helpers have never quite mastered it is the seemingly simple task of sewing buttons on garments. You can always tell when this has been done using machines, as … well, the buttons fall off. Sometimes it will take a while, other times almost before you have started using them. It starts with…
17/01/2015
Braces and suspenders, a belting alternative: Braces, or suspenders if you like, are a mainstay of a gentleman’s attire. Sometimes you may be in luck and find the lucky pair of trousers that will sit on you without falling down, and hopefully without acting like a tourniquet round your vital parts. Mostly though, you will be in need of some aid…