Author: Susan Goodwin

Since I was three, I wanted to be a fashion designer. I filled sketchbooks with drawings and ideas and picked all my school subjects based on what I needed to get into fashion college. After three years of college, I got my start in the industry and have been working ever since. Full time, freelance, part time or a combination of them all. I have had dream jobs, terrible jobs and jobs you do to pay the bills. Through it all I have continued to sew. I make most of my own clothes, am partial to a bit of hand stitching in the form of embroidery. Here I share my tales of my sewing.

Posted on 08/05/201419/06/2019 by Susan Goodwin — 2 Comments

Designer Inspiration

There is a wonderful Stella McCartney quote that I read years ago and has always stuck with me. In an interview Stella was asked what other designers does she wear. Her response was if I’m wearing other designers pieces it means I’m not doing my job right.

I love that. Because if as a designer you are spending all your time wanting someone else’s designs then you aren’t working hard enough.

As a sewer though, I love seeing others ideas. How they translate different fabrics and trims into garments. Not to copy them but to get ideas on going the extra mile to make garments really interesting.

For the next few weeks I’ll be sharing one designer a week who has had an influence on me. I’ll talk about why I like their style and what they taught me. As a designer I feel like it is all interconnected in the establishment of my own personal style. Many places I have worked I design to a specific brief or client so it’s not what I would wear or want but about the ability to see what the customer would want. Which is a great ability to have, to see what others want. When I flip it around though, I want to see what exactly it is that I want and how to translate that into the styles that I sew.

I hope you will enjoy the series of posts I have planned and perhaps even find something that inspires you too?

Image credit left to right: Motti – Tokyo, Marc Jacobs Photo by Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images) found via YellowPaperDress

Posted on 07/05/201419/06/2019 by Susan Goodwin — Leave a comment

Technical drawings of garments

Many of you have asked about the technical drawings included within the pdf patterns. Where did I get them, how are they done etc etc

They are all my drawings done using Adobe Illustrator.

I have a number of blocks I’ve developed over many years for swimwear, jeans, jackets, dresses or pretty much any style of clothing. I use these over and over to create all the various styles of technical drawings I need to produce. When necessary I just draw new ones to suit my needs.

These are all drawn proportionally so they look like what the actual garment will look like. And they include all the correct stitch lines, types of stitching, dart placements etc. If it is on the final garment it will appear on the drawing.

Very occasionally I will be asked to do fashion drawings, which I will do using either hand drawing or a combination of hand and computer illustration. These drawings are not technical, they can have distorted proportions and instead of being an aid to construction are seen as a way to capture the feeling of a collection or individual garment.

While they are beautiful and often very fun to do, the standard within the industry is a flat technical drawing that is easy to interpret and shows the details of the garments.

Using Illustrator I draw using either my mouse or a pen and tablet combination. I like using the tablet with the pen as it feels more like natural drawing and helps me to get curves to run smoothly.

When drawing instructions I use the actual pattern pieces shrunk down so it looks just like what you are looking at when you are sewing. Sometimes I need to distort the drawing to make it look more like the fabric, especially when showing seams that have been joined. As this is when the garment goes from flat panels to taking on a dimension so the drawings need to relate that to you.

I hope that helps explain the drawings, if you have any more questions please do not hesitate to ask. Oh and I am available to hire should you need any drawings done?

Posted on 05/05/201401/05/2014 by Susan Goodwin — Leave a comment

Sewing Adventures – Japanese inspired menswear

Exciting day as today I’m featuring some menswear sewing.

On our last trip to Japan we stayed at a pod/capsule hotel. But not just any pod hotel, this one looks like something from Space Odyssey and is possibly one of the coolest places I have ever slept.

You book in and pack all your belongings into lockers. From there you can go in and have showers, in the lockers at the showers there are pyjamas for you to put on, then lounge about in the common room, before heading off to your pod to sleep (pods and showers are also on separate floors for men and women).

I got a modified version of a tracksuit to wear with long pants elastic waist pants and a long sleeve round neck top. It was fine, until I saw that The Englishman had been provided with a traditional Jinbei or Japanese lounge wear. It consists of a pair of drawstring shorts and a jacket/top with elbow length sleeves, a band style collar and crosses over and ties at the side. Not only did it look Boss As, it was also super comfortable. Despite being highly tempted to pack it in his bag and take it home with him, he didn’t steal it but instead we found a store selling traditional clothes where he bought himself one. That poor Jinbei has been worn to shreds. It was in high rotation as after long bicycle rides or running it was the perfect lounge around the house and recover type outfit.

So the mission has been on to re create a Jinbei. I had picked up a pattern from my favourite Japanese fabric store while we in Japan and made it up once before. I obviously wasn’t thinking as I cut it out on the largest size. It swam on The Englishman who while tall is incredibly fit and so very lean.

On the last Sydney Spoolettes visit to Cabramatta I picked up some fabrics to start the Jinbei production line. A brown stripe cotton linen with a slub in the weave and a blue and white cotton chambray. I tested the shorts of the pattern out in the brown stripe first. This time I’ve cut them out to the smallest size.

They are very simple pull on style shorts with a drawstring waist. To make them more comfortable I’ve made three quarters of the waistband a super soft elastic and then stitched cotton tape to the ends of the elastic to create the drawcord. All of that is hidden inside the waist casing but it just adds to the comfort.

These photos make his feet look weird. He is a cyclist and usually has shaved legs, but here the tan line on his ankle is making his feet look freakishly pale.

The cotton/linen was beautiful to sew with and I’m kicking myself I didn’t buy enough to make a matching Jinbei jacket to go with the shorts. So for now The Englishman is accessorising with Dinosaur t-shirts.

Posted on 03/05/201419/06/2019 by Susan Goodwin — 10 Comments

Tonight I run

I will preface this by saying, I am not a natural runner. In fact I wouldn’t even call myself a runner. I go forward as fast as I can and I don’t give up. That’s a better description of what I do.

For months now I haven’t even done that. Since early December I have been battling Whooping cough. Of course I didn’t know that’s what it was until almost the end of March. It had been thought I just had a really bad cold, the kind of cold where you cough so much that at least three times a day you are gasping for air, unable to breathe because you can’t stop coughing. Where you can barely sleep as your body is so starved of oxygen that you are jolted awake to continue coughing in an effort to get even a little bit into your lungs. Suffice to say it has not been fun.

But tonight is the Nike She Runs the Night 10km*. In fact as you read this I’ll be running (or possibly walking). Now in its third year it is my favourite motivational tool. I work all year to get to this race and then use the memory of just how fun it is to push me harder for the remainder of the year.

Last year I worked hard and beat my goal time. I had a goal for this year. In November I logged 85km of running and was on track to do 100km in December and the plan had been by January to start working on my speed, drop some weight and smash a new goal.

Instead since December I have barely done anything, walking down the street tires me out, I struggle to walk up an incline as I can’t breathe and I’ve gained weight. Not ideal circumstances.

For the past 2 weeks I’ve been feeling slightly better. I cough less and I’m sleeping more solidly. So I have been doing some small runs. Three km where I run a little, walk, run, walk and struggle to make it to the end. I even managed a four km version. This is my usual training view, which helps when your struggling along.

Last Saturday I headed out to attempt the race route. The Englishman ran with me, even though he could easily cover the distance in less than half my time. Using my run, walk method I made the full 10km, which was a surprise and a delight. I spent the next few days in pain, but in a good I’ve used my body type of way.

Even though it’s all been a struggle and I’m massively under prepared and going to be nowhere near my goal time I’m looking forward to it.

One the reasons I don’t give up with attempting to run is the mental workout. Once I push through my brain telling me to stop, when I’m not mentally swearing at myself to get the lead out and just go! I’m thinking up new designs, solving construction methods and making plans. That combined with a crazy sound track gets me through.

So wherever you are on this Saturday night, have a little bit of a cheer for me and the 6000 women I will be running with tonight.

*This is not a sponsored post, it’s just my favourite event

Posted on 02/05/201419/06/2019 by Susan Goodwin — Leave a comment

Yellow

The colour of sunshine, lemons, The Tour de France and summer.

Yellow is such a fun and friendly colour and always brings a smile to my face when worn in big bold statement clothing. Sadly it looks utterly dreadful on me and I can never find a way to wear it that looks in any way good.

So until I can find a way to make it work, I will continue to admire it from afar.

1 – textured yellow via ModeMajeure 2- yellow cat via GaryPepperGirl 3- yellow skirt Via Vanessa Jackman 4 – yellow coat via Grazia

To see more Yellow, take a look at our Pinterest Board. This is part of my ongoing series where I am looking at individual colours each Friday . Mostly it is an exercise for me in not always choosing the patterned fabric to make from.

Posted on 01/05/201419/01/2016 by Susan Goodwin — 16 Comments

Elastic Suppliers for Knicker making

UPDATE: Knicker elastic and bra kits are now available in our webstore! Pop on over to take a look.

I’ve been scouring the web for elastic suppliers for the upcoming Everyone deserves Pretty Knickers week.

Now unless I’ve noted it, I have not personally tried all these suppliers. If anyone has had any interaction with any of them it would be great if you added in the comments so everyone can know who is reliable and offers good service. If anyone knows of anymore please share them, I’ll update the lists as we go along.

Ok here we go

In Sydney and Australia

I have found underwear elastic in white, black and nude at Spotlight stores. They occasionally have other colours but make sure you are buying an elastic, not a trim. They have a trim nearly identical to lingerie elastic except it has almost no stretch? very odd.

EM Greenfields (aka Greenfields or Greenies) in Sydney has a variety of elastics, it is open to the public but you will need to purchase an entire roll as they don’t cut trims. Also only open weekdays.

My super coloured lingerie elastic as seen here was found out at Cabramatta for the bargain price of 20c to 50c a metre! Don’t be afraid to buy the bright stuff as only a tiny sliver shows on the outside of the garment. Plus it’s knickers, have some fun!

Around the web

Minerva Crafts – wide selection of elastic, on the site is a soft backed narrow elastic, no fancy scallops along the top but would still be nice. Plenty of the regular 6mm elastic and stretch laces

eBay – I found a whole bunch of places on eBay selling elastic. Some are small stores which use eBay as their webstore, others look direct from China. Some have some really great looking stuff so it would be a good place to take a look at.

Etsy

Peak Bloom – suppliers of mostly fold over elastic, some stretch lace. I follow these guys on instagram but am yet to order from them, mostly because I can’t make up my mind on which of their amazing patterns to get!

Elastic by the Yard – plenty of fold over elastics here as well as some skinny elastic in fun colours.

Fabric Depo – decent range of lingerie elastic (the scalloped top style), also have a physical store for those in California

Swoon Party Shop – vintage lingerie elastic and metallic ric rac (hey I know it’s not knicker specific but it’s metallic ric rac!)

YYCraft – plenty of fold over elastic and some lingerie elastic

Mrs DePew – vintage lingerie patterns and supplies

DIY supplies and kits – fold over elastic and even some double edge frill elastic!

If anyone knows of anymore places either online or across the world, let me know, I can add them in so everyone can source what they need.

Posted on 30/04/201418/01/2016 by Susan Goodwin — 4 Comments

What you need to make some Knickers

I am so happy with the response to our “Everyone deserves Pretty Knickers” challenge. It’s so exciting to think that everyone will soon have pretty knickers that they made themselves.

To help you get ready for the big week, here is a run down of all the Measure Twice Cut Once patterns and what you need for each one. This way you can raid your stash for your supplies or head on out to buy what you need, am sure you can all stand the drudgery of more fabric shopping, lol.

The Charlotte Knickers

The Georgiana Knickers

Fabric: Cotton wovens such as voile, cambric, lawn, quilting cottons. Also silks and satins.
Gusset: Cotton Jersey
Unsuitable for fabrics with bulk or stiffness such as denim or cord.
Trim: Thread, 6mm width elastic (does not need to be lingerie elastic). This is photographed with a rolled hem, it can be made like that or it can be turned under and top stitched like The Charlotte Knickers. So even without an overlocker/serger you can create this style.

The Jane Knickers

Fabric: Cotton wovens such as voile, cambric, lawn, quilting cottons. Also silks and satins.
Unsuitable for fabrics with bulk or stiffness such as denim or cord.
Trim: Thread, 6mm width elastic (does not need to be lingerie elastic). The top edge does not need to be lingerie elastic, but it looks really cute if you can use it. This is a great one to practice or learn using how to stretch the lingerie elastic while top stitching and still keep the decorative edge peaking up above the top of the fold.

The Mary Knickers

Fabric: Knits such as jerseys, cotton lycra/spandex, super lightweight double knits. Highly recommended to have a high cotton content and lycra/spandex content is nice but not essential.
Gusset: Cotton Jersey
Unsuitable for fabrics woven fabrics.
Trims: 6mm width elastic (does not need to be lingerie elastic), thread

The Lizzie Knickers

Fabric: Cotton wovens such as voile, cambric, lawn, quilting cottons, silks and satins.
Gusset: Cotton Jersey
Unsuitable for fabrics with high degree of stretch, bulk or stiffness such as swim lycra, denim or cord.
Trims: Thread, 6mm width elastic (does not need to be lingerie elastic). Due to the elastic side “strings” on this style a nice soft elastic or a proper lingerie elastic certainly makes it a lot more comfortable. See if you can source some if this is your preferred style?

The Lydia Knickers

Tomorrow we will be covering suppliers of elastic and we have plenty more posts coming up on how you can create knickers to suit your style. Start gathering up your supplies and don’t forget to pop your name down on the announcement post, and grab a sidebar button so we can keep an eye out for your beautiful makes.

Posted on 29/04/201418/01/2016 by Susan Goodwin — 23 Comments

Everyone deserves Pretty Knickers

Everywhere I look I’m seeing sewers from all over the world making knickers and bras and all kinds of lovely underthings. In the comments on all these lovely creations are so many sewists who say they want to try but they think it’s too hard or that they don’t have the right machinery or fabrics or trims or a myriad of other problems.

Knickers are not hard and they don’t take any fancy kind of machinery. You can make them using a regular machine with a straight stitch and a zig zag using normal elastic. So in the spirit of encouragement, I’m announcing Everyone deserves Pretty Knickers Week

Throughout the whole week we will be encouraging sewers to take the plunge and just try making one pair of knickers. Any style, any fabric any pattern that you like. Make what will suit you and what you want. It’s a few weeks away so you have some time to look around, choose a style and a pattern and find some fabric.

So if you’d like to take the challenge, add your name to the comments here and grab a button for your blog. Follow us on instagram to see as many makes as we can find to regram, tag your makes with #everyonedeservesprettyknickers.

I cannot wait to see what you all create.

Cut and paste the code below to add the pretty knicker lady to the sidebar of your blog

<a href="http://www.measuretwicecutonce.com.au/2014/04/everyone-deserves-pretty-knickers/"><img src="http://www.measuretwicecutonce.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/knickers-website-button-190.jpg"/></a>

We will be featuring round ups of supplies over the next few weeks to help you find everything you need for the week, so keep checking back for more information.

Posted on 28/04/201419/01/2016 by Susan Goodwin — 1 Comment

Sewing Adventures – The Jane Knickers

I decided to add something a little cuter to my sleepwear so whipped up these three versions of The Jane Knickers.

The green checked looked ok but was a little flat so I added a decorative topstitch to the yoke in a magenta thread to match the magenta lingerie elastic I was using for the waistband. You’ll see on all three versions I have created pleats in the front panels where it joins to the yoke. On the pattern it says to gather these pieces but I wanted to show that you can vary them up by pleating as well.

The pale check is super sweet vintage fabric that I actually made a top in (that is waiting to be blogged). I used the remainder to cut out The Jane Knickers. I find it a little pale so I like to add a touch of colour on the waist elastic. This elastic is a folded elastic that has a decorative bobble edge. It’s one of those trims that I keep hanging on to and yet never get around to actually using. So I bit the bullet and used it here. The folded elastic works fine instead of the lingerie elastic. Just be careful to check the stretch. You’ll notice these ones look a little bigger than the others? they are the same size I just had to ensure not to stretch it too tight as I was topstitching it in as it doesn’t have the same stretch properties as the other elastic I was using.

I dropped by Spotlight on the Easter long weekend with the idea of buying a zip, I came home without the zip (didn’t have the colour and size I needed) but with more fabric! This one is a Japanese Lawn which I adore and it was on special. They are so soft and yet not see through and make up beautifully. I cut a dress out of this fabric and then used up the leftovers for these knickers. On the front yoke I have added in a centre front seam and topstitched down the seam allowance. I couldn’t quite fit the yoke in the scraps so I managed to maneuver it in by adding a seam. Then added the bright green elastic because it is such a fun colour.

The mix and match of elastics helps tie the colours and fabrics together and you’d never know they were made out of leftovers!

Posted on 25/04/201419/06/2019 by Susan Goodwin — 2 Comments

Pink

From pastel to vibrant, fluro to matte, I love pink. In every shade and variation I will wear it, buy it, sew with it and more than once I have gone literally head to toe in it. Pink hair, pink dress, pink shoes. I just love it.

Not only do I find it massively cheering and fun to wear but it suits me! With pale complexion of pink tones I can overdose on pink and instead of looking washed out it makes me look more vibrant.

The odd thing is I barely wore it as a child, I certainly didn’t have a pink barbie princess room and the entire love affair with pink didn’t start until well into my twenties. Now I have so much of it I often have to make a conscious decision to not keep getting more.

Despite having a lot of pink it tends to make things easy as so much of my wardrobe co ordinates together, so if you find a colour that suits you, go for it!

To see more Pink, take a look at my Pinterest board dedicated to the colour.

1- pink dress via coolgirlstyle on flickr 2 – pink jacket via Stockholm Streetstyle 3- my own photo using the Waterlogue App