Episode 25 of the podcast is now live.

The podcasts will be available on iTunes, PlayerFM and other podcast catchers within 24 hours.

As always, you can find me on Instagram at Mrs_M_Curiosity_Cabinet for my general making antics. I have also produced a little video to accompany this episode, which you can find on YouTube.

My first steek

In episode 22 I talked about colour swatching for my first all-over colourwork garment, the Maggy Waistcoat from Susan Crawford’s latest book Evolution. Several months on and the waistcoat is now finished, but not before it involved me getting to grips with steeking.

As podcasters and bloggers often share their first experience of this process, I thought I would follow suit and talk about how it went. Not so much the cutting of the garment but my thoughts and observations on:

• everything that goes before to maximise the chance of a successful steeked garment;
• what the dynamics and process of reinforcing a steek and picking up stitches felt like to me; and
• the language and psychology we might use when sharing new-to-us craft techniques and experiences.

Although the project was not without a few moments of apprehension, this will definitely not be my only colourwork or steeked garment. I have Kate Davies’ Coinneach cardigan from The West Highland Way firmly in my sights now.

Notes from the undies drawer

I provide a brief update on my woolly vest, which I was working on in last episode, before moving on to tackling another part of my underwear drawers: the knickers.

The second instalment of sewing pants ended in a bit of a disaster as I discovered the smell of the fold over elastic was triggering headaches and nausea – a overhyped sense of smell can be one of the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

I’ve therefore been looking at another way to replenish my underwear drawer and decided to try the Sew Over It Knickers, which were designed for woven fabrics. I share how I developed the pattern through a number of working toiles, made from fabric from my reclaim and scrap box, to achieve a pattern that works for my body. I also question the origin of some of the constituent parts of a pair of undies and whether they are strictly necessary…

A quick repair

After an unexplained rip appeared in my favourite nightie, and with my other nightdress in the wash, I share a quick repair, complete with a fabric scrap, the lashing of cloth herringbone style, a handful of stab stitches and a passing reference to “The Princess & The Pea”.

A practical announcement

Issue 2 of my pamphlet, entitled Mending & Experiment is now complete. Today I should receive a print proof and after a final proofread, I will be organising the print run. To help gauge interest, I am opening pre-orders for the 40-page pamphlet. You can find it at in my shop under Written Work.

I give a brief overview of the content of this second issue as well as an estimated dispatch date. I also highlight some practical ordering issues due to Brexit.

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Music: As I figure by Kevin MacLeod on FreeMusicArchive and licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 3.0 License.