Literary Sewing Circle: Fall 2026!

 

Our Fall 2026 session of the Literary Sewing Circle begins today! 

I'm pleased to announce that our group read this time around is:

The Excitements by CJ Wray

Summary: 

A brilliant and witty drama about two elderly female World War II veterans with a secret past who embark on one last adventure to right some historic wrongs.

Meet the Williamson sisters, Britain’s most beloved World War II veterans. Now in their late nineties, Josephine and Penny are in huge demand, beloved of journalists and producers, popping up on red carpets and at fundraisers and festivals all over the country. Despite their age, they’re still in great form—perfectly put together, sprightly and sparky, and always in search of their next “excitement.”

This time it’s a trip to Paris to receive the Légion d’Honneur for their part in liberating France. As always, they will be accompanied by their devoted gay nephew, Archie, who moved in with his aunts right after he came out. The press has always reported that these lady heroes worked for the Royal Navy and the nursing corps, but that’s their official cover. In reality, Josephine was an intelligence operative who drew maps used for the D-Day invasion while Penny was a spy and specialist at hand-to-combat, risking her teenage life in France. And this trip to Paris is not what it seems either. Scandal and crime have always quietly trailed the Williamson sisters, even in the decades after the war.

Now armed with new information about an old adversary, these much decorated (but admittedly ancient) veterans intend to settle scores, avenge lost friends, and pull off one last, daring heist before the curtain finally comes down on their illustrious careers.

A deliciously fast-paced and witty drama, The Excitements is the tale of two remarkably clever and brave women who helped save the world and survived the unthinkable, without ever losing their killer instinct... or their joie de vivre.

[from publisher]

About the Author: 

CJ Wray is the pseudonym of Christine Manby, a Sunday Times bestselling author with more than forty books to her name. Raised in the west of England, she studied psychology before embarking on an entertaining and wide-ranging career that has seen her selling kitchens, editing erotica, interviewing an armed robber, and impersonating a princess.

[from publisher]

This round we also have some sponsors! Two lovely pattern makers with a vintage vibe reflecting some of this book's themes have offerings for our readers. 

Victory Patterns from Toronto, Canada is offering a discount code to all participants (for this one, please 'officially' sign up in the comments here or on IG to let me know you are sewing along) and also a free pattern of choice to one winner in our final draw. 

How To Do Fashion from Denmark is offering a paper pattern of choice shipped to the winner in our final draw, worldwide. She also notes that if you sign up for her newsletter, you will have access to a free pattern and a discount code. 

This book is available for purchase in multiple formats.

You can find this title at all of these locations:

Indie Bookstores Canada

IndieBound

Chapters Indigo

Blackwell's Books 

Barnes and Noble

ABE Books

Amazon.ca

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com.au

Or, of course, check your local library!

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How does the Literary Sewing Circle work? We read a book together, discuss it, and then make something inspired by our reading. As long as you can point out what inspired you from your reading, even if just a sentence, you can share your makes in our final roundup!

Anyone can join, and you can sew, knit, crochet, quilt or embroider - any textile art that you like doing - to participate. This is a reading/sewing circle, very low-key. This round we are lucky to have some sponsors too! 

There is no official sign-up to worry about; just start reading along if you wish, and leave your thoughts on the book or your project on any of the Literary Sewing Circle posts. And you can follow along on Instagram too if you like: look for @sewmelwyk and the hashtag #LiterarySewingCircle (which may work intermittently!) and you'll find us.

And when the final post goes up on week 6, so does the project linkup -- you can leave a link to your finished project in the comments, whether it is on your blog, a pattern site, or even Instagram. It's easy :)

So, join in, and share!

Literary Sewing Circle Schedule

Sept 25 - Announcement & Introduction

Oct 2 - Inspiration post 1

Oct 9 -Book thoughts

Oct 16 - Author feature

Oct 23 -  Inspiration post 2

Oct 30 - Final Post: book discussion wrap up & project linkup

We will have our project linkup live for two weeks after the final post to allow you to finish up and post your projects, which takes us to Nov 13, when the window to share your projects will close if you want to enter for one of the prizes. 

PomPom practice!

Something else I found at the thrift store! There was a set of pompom making tools looking so new and shiny that even though I had no intention to try out pompoms before I saw this, I wanted to try it right away. Good thing that the thrift store also sells yarn because I really don't have any -- I picked up a ball of colourful acrylic yarn just to give this a go. 

This set has 3 sizes to choose from, and when I first looked at the tool I was a bit confused - there are a lot of moving parts. But a quick read-over of the very basic instructions reassured me. 

You wrap yarn around each arch -- 

carefully close it --

 cut the yarn between the arch pieces and then trim it up to a tidy finish. Basically. 

These are really cute. Not sure where or how I'd use them but it was a fun nostalgic thing to try. I used to make pompoms as a kid using two cardboard circles cut from old cereal boxes - remember that? These tools are a bit fancier but the end result is the same. 

Here's one of mine in use as a purse charm! 

Weekend Review: Stitched Mixed Media

Stitched Mixed Media / Jessica Grady 
Wiltshire: Crowood Press, c2023.
111 p.

This short book of stitching was a very interesting one -- definitely a mixed media style, making me think a little bit of junk journaling! The author has a very colourful, eclectic style, incorporating all kinds of things into her abstract stitched pieces. 

It's inspiring to read this and see all the ways that she uses a variety of materials. From 'sequins' punched out of waste plastics to beads made from hollow wire casings, beach glass or porcelain, to washers, wires, soft plastics, recycled foil packaging, and much more, there are so many unusual materials and ideas here. There are some instructional pages on how to create holes for beads in things like stones or porcelain, or how to paint and punch soft plastics to make interesting paillettes. And there are many images of everything - despite being a rather small book, there is so much visual inspiration. 

She talks about colour, composition, combining materials, how to finish and display things. She shares different substrates and how to stitch onto a variety of things beyond fabric in a hoop, and how to fasten items into a piece. Even if wild abstracts aren't your thing there are sure to be some ideas you could take from this book. I enjoyed looking through it and have ideas to try out for myself now. 

It's not really project based although there are a few samplers to try out some of the techniques and materials. It's more focused on her aesthetic and all the various materials and techniques she uses that you might be interested in learning more about. If you like abstract work and lots of colour, and lots of new ideas too, be sure to check this one out. 

 

A Cloud White Cielo Top

My last project that I cut out in August is done! I bought a soft cotton duvet with a nice woven grid design since I don't have much white in my stash. I was planning to just use it for some art quilt experiments but it was just so soft it called out to me to become a top! 😄

I wanted a boxy top in white, and decided to go with a pattern I have made a couple of times before, the Cielo by Closet Core. I really like the fit & details in this one & it went together quickly once I got going. 

I used the bias binding option for the neckline instead of facings this time as there was a bit of show-through with the white fabric so binding looked neater to me. I also lengthened it by 2" (and made a hem of only one inch). The only other thing I did differently from previous makes was to leave the sleeve cuffs flat instead of folding them back and topstitching. In this fabric I liked the slightly longer and more relaxed look. 

This is a great staple pattern & I love this project. The fabric is so soft to wear & now I have a nice white top -- hopefully I won't spill coffee on it the first time I wear it 🤪

Thrifted Potential

I had a little time off recently and so of course I visited my favourite thrift stores - among other activities as well. There are  few in my area that I don't get to very often so it was a bit of  treat to browse around. 

I always like looking for older patterns and I found some wonderful Stitch & Sew that I didn't already own. I like that brand so it was fun to get another bunch to add to my collection. The Midi Dress is most immediately tempting. I also found an 80s dress (I am not capable of passing those up!) and a 90s "Western style" blouse pattern with really interesting details. 

I also gathered a handful of buttons all quite different from one another. Some sets large enough to actually use for a project! 

And since my stash is getting a little unwieldy I have been careful not to add too much lately. But I found this print (a single duvet) and just couldn't resist it. It's a bit more muted than my usual colours but I like it a lot - hard to capture the colour well, it's a greenish grey/blue. Looks a bit too green in the picture but best I could do!

I have had a lot of fun at the thrift store this summer but my shelves suggest that maybe it's time to send some things in the opposite direction 😄

Weekend Review: Creative Stitches for Contemporary Embroidery, Vol. 2

 

Creative Stitches for Contemporary Embroidery, Vol. 2 /Sharon Boggon
Lafayette, CA: C&T Publishing, c2026.
192 p.

This book was recently published and I was lucky to be able to read it right away. It's just a gorgeous and useful as Volume 1 by the same author! 

And all the things I said about Volume 1 when I reviewed it in 2021 apply here as well -- this is a great resource, a clearly photographed guide to 114 stitches (in addition to the 120 in the original) with clear instruction on how to make them, use them, alter them, and so on. Lots of wonderful examples of projects using these stitches in combination, and ways to add to them with unusual threads or objects like beads or textile ephemera. 

I enjoyed the ideas shared here, and I also like the way that this book is published in exactly the same format as the last one - they make a great matched set. The book is a usable size, with easily read photos, and is bright and glossy but also flops open easily so that you can leave it open at a page that you're trying out stitches from and it won't constantly close itself. Thoughtful! 

Anyhow, not much to add to this except to say check it out if you can, it is a super resource for any stitcher. 

All Day Culottes: a free pattern from Matchy Matchy Sewing Club

In August, a sew-along focused on culottes was happening on PatternReview. At the same time, I noticed a new free pattern from MatchyMatchy Sewing Club, the All Day Culottes. Since I have been wanting to try making some more pants to try to find a pattern I can actually wear, I thought this was perfect! I did get them cut out in August, at least 😉

There are two views in this free beginner's pattern, and I liked the one with three rows of tucks at the bottom. It adds a nice touch, even if you can't see them really clearly in black unless the light is right. They are wide legged culottes with an elastic waist all the way around, and really great deep pockets. I really like them! 

 I chose to make the Large size, and used a mystery fabric I found at the thrift store a while ago. It is clearly some kind of poly blend, but it's actually fairly nice despite that. It has good body and a nice texture as well. I think it really worked for this pattern. These would look different in a drapier fabric for sure but I like the structure here. 

Even though it's a beginner friendly pattern there are great details and instructions. These are cut-on pockets, not side seam, are made in one piece, folded and French seamed along the bottom of the pocket bag before being inserted - I've never done that before but I really like it. I prefer this kind of pocket and these ones are the perfect depth and size. 

The waistband is just one row of wide elastic, mine was just marginally smaller than the waistband once sewn down and I had to struggle a bit to get it all threaded through. Should have taken a slightly smaller seam allowance at the waistband seam since I was just using the wide elastic that I had in my stash which was fractionally wider than called for. It worked in the end, though! 

I am really pleased with these. I wore them to work with my bright stripy Blaine blouse, which kind of picks up the pleats at the hem. But I think it also looks nice with a softer blouse, tucked in. This was a surprisingly fun pattern to sew, and I am happy with the results. Pants I will actually wear!