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…
04/08/2016
Is it just me or has there been something of a deluge of denim-related books the past couple of years? And none of them really all that good? Like this really bad one or this slightly better one. At least from where I’m sitting there has been more enthusiasm than actual content, more styled and curated photography than actual words…
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…
11/10/2015
Last week I posted part three 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 and part two here. I’ll wait patiently until you’re up to speed on what is going on here at the Laboratory of Total Tweedism. At the end of…
04/10/2015
Last week I posted part two 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, ok? I’ll wait patiently until you’re up to speed on what is going on here at the Laboratory of Total Tweedism. So, the sun…
27/09/2015
Last week I posted the question: What can I do with an old vintage Harris Tweed jacket.After a surprising amount of input on which of the three projects I should select to put an old Harris Tweed jacket though, I have decided that the first project will be to go slouchy on this one. Or try to “unconstruct” it, in…
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…
03/09/2014
Another day of mid-week sleeveless wonderment is here, by way of this waistcoat, or vest if you like, from Levis. I have reviewed a Levis waistcoat before, and thought it pretty good. This one though is part of their Made & Crafted line, which is, as far as I can tell, a line Levis created to blend their history with…