About Cotton Noodle

Hi there! My name is Lisa and I like to make my own clothes. I blog about my sewing and knitting projects, and my foray into drafting my own sewing patterns. On this site I’m sharing my tips, tricks, tutorials, pattern reviews, and general thoughts about my progress as I develop my skills. I hope you enjoy reading about my crafty adventures!

I’m active on Instagram too – follow me at @cottonnoodle.

Tell me more!

I’m half-British and half-Filipino, in my thirties, and I go by she/her. I’m originally from the south of England but now I’m up north in the beautiful cobbled city of York. I live with my husband and our three cats, Rocket, Moon and Philip.

I have a Masters of Engineering in Computer Science, and I worked as a software engineering consultant for 13 years, building high-scale software for big companies. People are often surprised when they tell them my background, but to me there’s a very obvious connection between building software and crafting clothes. They’re both types of engineering – they both require technical knowledge and problem solving skills. One’s just a bit less abstract than the other.

Nowadays I’m a part time Fashion Design PgDip student and a part time entrepreneur. Watch this space!

How did you start sewing and knitting?

I’ve always been a creative person, but I’ve only been sewing since 2016 and knitting since 2012. I’m self-taught in both – by which I mean I learned from books and watched YouTube. (Which means you can do it too!)

I love sewing because I find it so exciting how 3D things can be created out of 2D fabric, or 1D yarn. It also feels very satisfying to wear things I imagined and made myself, to fit my own body and style. But my favourite thing about it is the actual process of constructing a garment. I really enjoy just getting into the zone and switching off the world. And that feeling of finishing a project and then actually getting to wear it never gets old.

What sewing machine do you use?

I have a Janome HD3000. It’s not computerised and it doesn’t have any fancy features, but it’s heavy duty, so it’s a tough cookie. I love it.

My overlocker (serger) is a Janome 6234XL. Also a great machine.

Will you sew a pretty dress for me? I have a hole in my jeans, will you fix it? Will you hem my trousers?

No, sorry!

As much as I love sewing, the joy really comes from the excitement of knowing I get to wear the thing myself when I’m done.

What else are you into?

I enjoy running – particularly when the weather is good! The longest distance I’ve run is a half marathon. Every now and then I like to get my boots on and go for a good old hike, too.

I’m also a bit of a gamer, and I love to read classic and literary fiction. The soundtrack to my life is Nine Inch Nails.

What does Cotton Noodle mean? Isn’t that a type of dog?

My surname is Cotton (yep, I have an aptronym) and I love noodles! I started my sewing journey while living in Singapore, so this is a nod to my borderline excessive noodle soup consumption during that time. I was eating hawker centre noodles nearly every day. SO GOOD.

When I set up the blog, cotton noodles were not a type of dog. And now they are. But if anyone’s gonna steal my username, I’m totally cool with it being cute dogs. Just, you know, I would have preferred cute cats.

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