Clothes Making Mavens is a sewing podcast about handmade fashion. In this Sew Small Talk episode, hosts Helena and Lori chat with guest Dawn of Two On Two Off (http://twoontwooff.blogspot.ca)all about sewing athletic wear. Show notes are posted here: http://www.clothesmakingmavens.com/?p=317

Lori had a chat with one of the most daring and innovative sewing bloggers out there; Michelle from www.ThatBlackChic.com. She designs, sews and photographs her garments with such an artistic vision that we can’t help but admire her work. Michelle dives into the how and why of her amazing creations during this interview, as well as her exciting plans for a future sewing magazine that includes diverse perspectives on sewing, but with an emphasis on fashion sewing while learning and trying new things.

Show notes are posted here: http://www.clothesmakingmavens.com/?p=313

Here is another Sew Small Talk between Helena and Lori – but neither has been sewing much! Does your sewing output sometimes slump? They wanted to overcome this lack of SewJo (sewing motivation) and gathered some tips and tricks to try themselves and hope maybe these ideas could help you overcome your lack of sewjo, too.

Lori fills us in on her exciting trip to Africa and the moving reason for her trip. Warning: this episode gets a little graphic as we discuss the horrifying details of Female Genital Circumcision that is currently practiced in many parts of Africa. It may raise some questions with younger listeners. Lori’s awesome students are helping to educate us all on what is happening and, more importantly, how AMREF Canada (African Medical Research and Education Foundation) is changing the practice. And Lori unexpectedly found some sewing joy in Kenya, too!

Show notes are posted here: http://www.clothesmakingmavens.com/?p=254

Lori chats with Tif of MadameTifaine.wordpress.com about her year-long ready-to-wear fast, why she did it, and what she learned along the way.

Helena and Lori chat about sewing contests and sewalongs; listeners give us their take on what makes something look handmade and whether that's a good or bad thing; and Maven Maris gives her tips on hand-sewing.

Show notes are posted here: http://www.clothesmakingmavens.com/?p=237

Clothes Making Mavens is a sewing podcast about handmade fashion. In this episode, Lori interviews Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow (http://craftingarainbow.wordpress.com/). We chat about finding your personal style, taking better pictures of your sewing makes, and Gillian's fun "Sewing Dares" that have us all fearlessly asking her to peer into our deepest sewing hearts and dare us to sew something outside of our comfort zone.

Show notes are posted here: http://www.clothesmakingmavens.com/?p=230

It seems that neither Helena nor Lori suffer from being uninspired - they both say the world provides more inspiration than they can handle! In this episode they chat about all the ways their lists of sewing projects grow long, longer and longest.

We also hear from several listeners about their proudest sewing moments. We loved the contributions!

Maris Olson, our resident sewing teacher, gets passionate about trying all those different sewing feet your machine probably came with. They can really elevate your sewing!

Show notes are posted here: http://www.clothesmakingmavens.com/?p=221

Clothes Making Mavens is a sewing podcast about handmade fashion. Helena interviews the prolific sewing blogger Lori VanManaan, who sews beautiful garments and bags for herself, her daughters and now her little grandson. She contributes to the Mood Sewing Network and IndieSew.com, so she has access to beautiful fabrics and the latest indie patterns. We talk about her wonderful podcast Sew Forth Now, which was one of the first podcasts specific to garment sewing. We talked about the amazing guests she had on and what helpful information they offered so generously. I hope this interview inspires you to check out her old episodes as well as Lori’s current creations on her blog.

Show notes are posted here: http://www.clothesmakingmavens.com/?p=215

Fabric Zeal - What do sewists talk about when they get together? Fabric! Helena and Lori find so much inspiration in fabric and they bet you do, too. This month they talk about their favorite fabrics to sew with, where they buy their treasures, the exciting possibility of designing their own, and challenges they've encountered. They also introduce a new regular contributor to the discussion, Maris Olsen from SewMaris.com.

Show notes are posted here: http://www.clothesmakingmavens.com/?p=200

Clothes Making Mavens is a sewing podcast about handmade fashion. In Episode 2, Helena interviews one of the online sewing community's most popular bloggers: Lauren Taylor of Lladybird.com. Lauren talks about how she got turned onto sewing, how she's able to make a supplemental income from doing what she loves, and what makes her so mad that she could talk about it for hours. Lauren also wants to know if you think she has an accent!

Show notes are posted here: http://www.clothesmakingmavens.com/?p=186