PoldaPop Designs

Last year I published a post on gifts for young sewists to help out the parents of my tween students. You can find that post here . This year, I thought I would focus on what to get folks who are...

http://www.poldapop.com/2017/12/gifts-for-new-and-not-so-new-sewists.html

Back in late January/February, I went on a jeans-making spree and made four pairs in one month. I had a lot of fun trying out different techniques and hacking patterns to create my perfect pair. ...

http://www.poldapop.com/2017/10/sewing-jeans-review-of-ginger-angel.html

The mother of one of my young students contacted me over the weekend for advice on sewing related gifts. She specifically wanted to know if a dressform (which her daughter wants) would make a go...

http://www.poldapop.com/2016/12/gifts-for-young-sewists.html

Photo: Robert Gaona In September of 2015, K contacted me about making her wedding dress. She had found a picture online of a dress that she loved but couldn't find anything like it in the sh...

http://www.poldapop.com/2016/11/fall-wedding.html

Hey! How are you all? It's been awhile since I posted here (not apologizing, just observing). I post a little more frequently over on Instagram, but I'm a bit downpour or drought when it comes to...

http://www.poldapop.com/2016/06/my-latest.html

It's here, a New Year. I'm getting back into routine after a lazy, lounge-y holiday with the family. I enjoy the break from regular routine and then I'm hungry to get back to it again, too. I m...

http://www.poldapop.com/2016/01/goodbye-2015-hello-2016.html

Whew. Now this was a Project, capital P and all. This was one of those projects that feels a bit like climbing a mountain or running a marathon. For a long time, you can't quite see where the f...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/12/wedding-dress-to-biker-jacket-refashion.html

My husband and I started using those pumpkin stencil booklets that you can buy at the grocery store a few years ago, and we got hooked. At first we just did fancy carvings for our own pumpki...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/10/happy-halloween.html

I hate to start anything with an apology, but I must say that these photos are not my best work. But if I wait until I can find another 15 minutes to re-take the photos (you know, when light/weat...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/10/pattern-review-stylearc-antoinette-pant.html

Greetings! How are things in your part of the world? Fall is creeping in here, although the cicadas are still chirping so summer doesn't quite feel over yet. I love this time of the year, when ch...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/09/embracing-mistakes.html

Yep, that's the sound of my Bombshell bathing suit, or at least it's the sound I made out of excitement when I was all finished! So this is officially my second adventure in swimsuit sewing, bu...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/09/boom.html

So wikipedia just informed me that rickrack's popularity peaked in the 1970's. I'm sure my mom stitched it onto the clothes that she sewed me, although I have no physical evidence of this. Our li...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/07/old-school-rickrack.html

Hey folks! February sometimes does bring good news along with all it's never-ending snow and cold (and more and more cold with all the staying indoors with bouncy children that it brings. Mama's ...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/02/activewear-for-win-mccalls-7026.html

I did some reading in color theory last fall, and I was surprised to see red + green mentioned as complementary colors for creating color combos. This combination is associated so strongly with a...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/02/reclaiming-red-green.html

You know when you sew something that you've been thinking about for a long time and you really hope it lives up to your expectations? And sometimes it doesn't? This dream turned out to be everyth...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/02/doubleknit-starburst-heaven.html

Sometime back in the fall Rhonda Buss from Rhonda's Creative Life invited me to participate in Janet Prey's (of Islander Sewing ) Get Your Motors Running contest. Ten bloggers would participate...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/01/get-your-motors-running-va-vvrrooooom.html

I have a few refashioning projects to showcase this month. One of the things I like about refashioning garments, is that there is usually a story involved. The projects come with a shot of nostal...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/01/refashion-wedding-dress-1970-something.html

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen some of these gifts already. I didn't sew as many small gifts this year, but I did make a few bigger ones. I had to cut down on my sewing for teac...

http://www.poldapop.com/2015/01/a-little-holiday-giving.html

I enjoy hearing the voices of bloggers I follow, like Karen with her annual holiday message at Did You Make That? Sometimes the actual voice matches the one I've been hearing in my head. Sometime...

http://www.poldapop.com/2014/12/a-little-holiday-singing.html

Back in November I participated in Pattern Review's Surprise Sewing Bee. I didn't make it past the second round (ah well) but I got a lot out of the projects I completed. The first one was my har...

http://www.poldapop.com/2014/12/refashion-mens-button-down-shirt-to.html

This project started as a blanket, a wool cape, a silk suit, and various scraps from various projects. My client, Alice, brought me the blanket back in August along with a copy of Vogu...

http://www.poldapop.com/2014/11/vogue-1377-unexpected-joy.html

I have been wanting to learn to sew with leather for some time now, and purchased and watched Kenneth King's Leather 101 video from PatternReview.com in anticipation of finding a project. I th...

http://www.poldapop.com/2014/11/new-bag-for-stitch-winter-2014.html

I decided to enter the Pattern Review Surprise Sewing Bee even though this is an entirely impractical thing for me to try to engage in right now. But sometimes leaping into the impractical (and ...

http://www.poldapop.com/2014/11/hardware-and-hammers.html

So one of the things that has kept me busy this fall is the work I've done for musician Michele McGovern . Photo by Roland Lim Photography, used with Michele's permission Isn't she lovely?? I ...

http://www.poldapop.com/2014/10/new-client.html

I've just gone to Instagram. Greetings to any Readers who have stuck around during my absence. I've had a busy six weeks, mostly good, with lots of sewing projects. But something had to give an...

http://www.poldapop.com/2014/10/ive-not-died.html