Love to Sew

We share your most unexpected tips and tools in this community episode! From fun gadgets to expert guidance, be prepared to have your mind blown!

The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.

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Transcript:

Helen: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics. We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Helen: Join us for today’s topic: surprising gadgets and guidance.

Caroline: Good morning, Helen.

Helen: Good morning, Caroline. Are you saying good morning cause it’s so early for you?

Caroline: It’s so early. I’m not really a morning person.

Helen: It’s 9:15. Okay.

Caroline: It’s not that early. Nobody feel bad for me.

Helen: How are you?

Caroline: I’m good. I have my coffee. Get to see your lovely face. We get to talk about fun tips and gadgets and things. It’s gonna be great.

Helen: Yeah, we got so much good feedback from the community for this episode. We loved hearing all of your cool gadgets and gizmos and guidance that you have around your sewing room, tools you use, tips that you use. We’re gonna share all of those today, but first we have some feedback from listener Lindsie. Lindsie runs the Sew Busty Community and had some feedback for us on our Chest Fitting episode.

Caroline: “For folks who need larger cup sizing, I have a database at the link in my bio of designers who draft for or include cup options above a garment B cup.

As y’all mention, many designers go up to a standard garment D or DD. (I always like to note that Cashmerette and a couple of other designers use non-standard cup sizes; for example, Cashmerette’s H is a standard garment DD.) A few stars have cup options even larger like Porcelynne, Unleashed Patterns, and SEW by Pattern Pieces!”

We’ll link those up in the show notes.

“I’d love to see more resources for folks with chests that require bigger bust adjustments — I’m thinking folks with H, I, J, or K+ sewing cups! Even FBA guides don’t usually talk about adding this much chest space. I’m working on creating some FBA tutorials for folks who need this, but I’d love to see others join in this effort. When the average boob/projected chest-having person is something like a 36G bra, we need to be creating space in the sewing community for those with greater chest needs.”

Helen: Thank you so much for this feedback, Lindsie! We totally agree with you. We wish we had included some more coverage for sewists with very large busts in that episode, and we hope to cover it more in the future. And thank you so much for sharing these resources with us. We’ll have all the companies that Lindsie mentioned linked in our show notes.

We also totally recommend following the Sew Busty Community. They have great articles and resources, including that busty pattern database, pattern reviews, and a bra sewing guide. They also have a growing catalogue of full bust adjustment guides for larger busts.

We’d also like to mention a few great articles on the Curvy Sewing Collective website about dealing with large FBAs, and we’ll link everything that we mentioned, of course, in the show notes. Thank you again, Lindsie.

Caroline: Yeah. Thank you, Lindsie. Alright. It’s time to get to the show, Helen. Surprise! Today’s show is all about the surprising, mind-blowing, can’t-believe-I-didn’t-think-of-that tips and tools that will change your sewing practice! And we got so many ideas from our listeners. We can’t wait to share them with you. Thank you to everyone who shared their sewing secrets! It was so fun to read through them all.

Helen: Yes! Okay. Let’s get right into it with our listener tips. We’re gonna start with some surprising ideas for sewing spaces.

Nina wrote, “There are a few brands of yoghourt or pudding in the United States (one is called “Oui”) that come in glass jars. I have found that these jars make a great place to put my thread, snips, and needle when I’m tackling a hand sewing task like a long hem, or a bunch of buttons. It keeps my thread from rolling all over the place, and I can set it up on any stool or table, listening to a podcast, watching TV, hanging out with family. They’re wide enough to hold all the essentials, and short enough for easy access to the thread. You don’t even need to remove the thread to use it, just leave a small tail hanging out. I’ve even started using these jars near my machine to store some of my long and skinny type tools, like seam gauge, seam ripper, small plastic rulers, etc.”

Caroline: Ah, this is such a great idea. For some reason, I’ve never thought of corralling my hand tools in a little jar like this. I think a small bowl could work too, like maybe a little vintage sugar bowl. And Nina shared a picture of the little yoghourt jar with hand sewing stuff in it. And it’s not only practical, it’s super cute. We’re gonna have that in our show notes for you all to check out.

Helen: Yes! As if I needed another excuse to buy, like, thrift store jars and containers.

Caroline: A little like…

Helen: Yeah. Exactly. You know when you’re shopping and you’re like, this little bowl is so cute, but I have so many little bowls. What would I use it for?

Caroline: But you can never have enough little bowls. Really.

Helen: Really.

Caroline: Okay. Next up, Courtney wrote, “One of my tricks I’ve stumbled upon is for cutting knits, especially slippery ones. My husband and I got a chest freezer during the pandemic and I discovered it is about cutting height, so I used it for smaller sewing projects since it isn’t very big. Then one day I decided to see if magnets were still attracted to the freezer through my cutting mat, and they were! So I bought some heavy magnets from Harbor Freight (a cheap American hardware store) and now for knit projects I use my freezer and magnets and there is never any shifting at all and it is a breeze to cut!”

Wow.

Helen: Wow. This one is truly mind blowing. If you already have a chest freezer, I think this is an amazing idea for cutting out stretchy or slippery fabrics. Of course, be careful you don’t wanna be cutting into the top of your freezer. Um, but if you use precaution, I think this is an amazing cutting surface. It’s a good height. And this magnetic business is blowing my mind.

Caroline: Helen, I’m imagining you, like, toting, like, a little pile of knits, like, into your garage where your chest freezer is.

Helen: Right?

Caroline: Like, like, I’ll be back, babe.

Helen: Just going to the freezer. Alright. Sarah wrote, “If you use a chair with wheels, replace the standard wheels with roller blade style wheels! So much easier to clean and they glide along tiles and smooth floors.”

Caroline: Ooh, I didn’t even know roller blade style wheels were a thing. I can just see us zooming around our sewing rooms. I wonder if you go faster with roller blade wheels.

Helen: Oh, my gosh. I bet you do. And I could see them being so much easier to clean. Like, I get so much thread stuck in the wheels of my Ikea chair.

Caroline: Mhm. Oh, yeah.

Helen: It’s hard to get it out.

Caroline: Yeah. Claudia wrote, “I have pretty pencil tins at all my sewing spaces to use as rubbish bins for threads and little off cuts. Helps keep my space tidy and looks lovely!”

Helen: So these are basically, like, little trash cans, but they look a lot cuter. I love this idea. It takes a lot less space than multiple trash cans. Looks prettier. And every once in a while, you can just empty them all into your regular trash can or fabric recycling.

Also, if you have a pet that wants to get into your threads, you can just pop the lid on the tin.

Caroline: Such a great idea.

Helen: Trisha wrote, “I finally got a tray table for a small iron, pressing mat, small mat, cutter and ruler. What a game changer when doing small projects.”

Caroline: This is such a cute miniature cutting station. Trisha shared a picture with us, too. It’s probably more practical for quilting than sewing or making little things like stuffed animals. But I love the idea of taking this to the living room and doing small cuts while a fun TV show is on. Helen, with your quilting obsession, I feel like this is a tip for you because I could totally see you, like, watching a show and, like, cutting out blocks.

Helen: Oh, my gosh. It’s true. When you have to just trim all those half square triangles, this would be amazing.

Caroline: It’s so cute.

Helen: I used to have one of those, like, tray tables with the folding legs. So you can, like, eat breakfast in bed and it had, like, handles and a little edge.

Caroline: Yeah!

Helen: Dang. I should have kept that thing.

Caroline: Yeah. What? You don’t have breakfast in bed anymore?

Helen: I’m, like, such a slob. I cannot eat breakfast in bed. I will just immediately, like, cross my legs and the whole thing will be everywhere. I don’t know. Don’t you find, have you ever actually eaten with one of those things on top of you? It, like, feels very, like, you’re trapped.

Caroline: It, it does. Yes. I’ve only had breakfast in bed once, and it was, like, I wanna say it was last year. Shea made me, like, French toast. It was actually so good and really cute, but yeah, it’s super awkward.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Cause when you’re done, I had to be like, I’m done. He had to come over and, like, take it off of my lap cause, like, I couldn’t move.

Helen: Yeah, it’s not the most practical.

Caroline: But if it was quilting little squares that you were cutting out…

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: it would be a little bit easier. You wouldn’t have to worry about spilling your orange juice. Alright. Next up, Cindy wrote, “I love having this lazy Susan by my sewing machine. I can now easily reach all the things regularly.”

Helen: This is such a great idea. Cindy sent in a picture of the lazy Susan. It has a bunch of great stuff on it: sewing tools, pins, clips, pencils, thread cones, the Fray Stop. I mean, it’s got everything. If you’ve never seen one of these before, it’s, like, a circular, usually wooden, sometimes just made out of, like, melamine or plastic, thing that rotates and revolves around a centre disc. Um, so it’s super handy. You can just spin it and whatever you want or need is gonna come your way.

Caroline: Also, this is, like, a great setup in general. I’m seeing, like, a really cute, handmade little, storage thing where Cindy has some tools. I’m seeing this, like, cool contraption that’s, like, holding the thread in place, perhaps for hand sewing. I’m seeing some pill bottles that seem to be used for sharps. Like, yeah, creativity up the wazoo. I love it.

Helen: Also, like, a literal gallon of Fray Stop. Like, what are you using all this Fray Stop for?

Caroline: Who’s to know? Cindy, let us know.

Helen: Alright, Christine wrote, “My foldable, standing height, rolling, cutting table by Sew Ready. It was a total game changer in a small sewing room doubling as a spare room/office. It has a grid on it, small storage baskets and I bought a high grade clear cutting mat for the top. It is the bomb!”

Caroline: Ooh. Okay. This table is really cool. It’s on casters. The sides fold down when you’re not using it. And the height is adjustable. This is so good for sewists without a permanent sewing space. And I also love the hack of getting a clear cutting mat for the top. I know you and I have these around at our studios, and they’re so handy when, if you can afford to get, like a, you know, one that’s, like, cut to size or even that fits almost the size of your table. It works so well. And it’s so convenient to have just a cutting surface available all the time.

Helen: Yeah, this is really cool. I did not know that this existed, this folding out business.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: So great for small spaces. It looks like it’s retailing for about a couple hundred bucks Canadian. So, yeah, check it out. Or, actually, American. Oh, there you go.

Caroline: Ah, yes. Love it. Very cool. Okay. A bunch of listeners wrote in with tools they use for turning, poking and holding things down. Denise wrote, “I love my stiletto! It’s especially useful for sewing curved seams, as you can more easily feed the layers together under the presser foot. I use it when I start stitching, too. I hold the thread ends and give the fabric a little push with the stiletto so it doesn’t get stuck.”

Helen: Ooh, we’ve heard about this tool before. Sewing stiletto is like an awl, but it’s not sharp and pointy for poking holes in your fabric. It’s actually a bit rounded at the tip, and it’s, kind of, like having a third finger, but it’s even better. I love this. Wait, a third finger, like?

Caroline: I know.

Helen: You mean, like, an 11th finger.

Caroline: I know I was gonna say, but I have 10 fingers.

Helen: It’s like having an extra finger, but even better because it’s smaller, and if you hurt it, it’s not a big deal. And there are heat-proof stilettos that you can use to hold down folds or open seams while you press. Those can really save your fingers. And, like Denise mentioned, it’s great for getting near the needle when you’re working with the sewing machine. I believe it was Saremy Duffy who was talking to us about how she uses her awl when sewing to just, like, poke things under the foot, um, and keep everything in check.

Caroline: Yeah. Love this.

Helen: Heather wrote, “Cake prodder! It’s brilliant for poking out corners on belts and things!”

Caroline: Yes! A cake prodder is like a long toothpick made out of metal. You use it to test whether your cake is cooked through. I love a double use item like this. This is genius.

Helen: Yeah. But then don’t you find that these tools end up just living in your sewing room?

Caroline: Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

Helen: They just get taken.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: They never get returned.

Caroline: Okay. Tash wrote, “My favourite is a big chunky knitting needle (thrifted for 50 cents). The pointy end is great as a point turner (not too sharp to poke a hole but pointy enough to get a nice sharp edge) The chunky end is great for turning loops, straps etc. I just start turning with my finger and then poke the needle in with some encouragement. I turn my straps out in record time!”

Helen: Ooh, so many thrift stores have, like, a bucket of knitting needles, which may or may not be a complete set. This is a great way to use something that might not get used otherwise.

Caroline: Yeah, totally.

Helen: Mary wrote, “My favourite notion is a ‘3rd hand.’ Holds that fabric while I gather, unpick, or just need a little more stability in my fabric while I work with it.”

Caroline: Do you mean a third finger?

Helen: A third finger.

Caroline: So from what I know, a third hand is a tool that clips or clamps onto something to hold it for you. I’m not sure exactly how this setup works, though. Mary, if you have more info, reach out to us and let us know what kind of third hand you use and how to use it. It sounds like a great idea, maybe we’ll share it in a future episode.

Helen: Yes! And pictures, pictures, pictures.

Caroline: Yeah. Okay, Caroline wrote, “I have a tooth scaler tool sitting next to my machine! It has the perfect hook end to fish threads out of the machine – especially useful on the cover-stitch machine.”

Helen: Ooh, tooth scalers are those, kind of, scary-looking silver hooks that are often used to clean teeth, well, pretty much exclusively used to clean teeth, but not anymore. I can totally see how this would work. The hook is much more open than on a crochet hook or something. Um, and it’s super fine detail. So I think this would be really handy.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: @SewYourKidding wrote, “I have a Victorian button hook that I found in one of the drawers on the treadle sewing machine that was handed down to me last year. It’s so helpful at pushing through gathers.”

Caroline: Ooh, another useful hook. Victorian button hooks don’t seem super easy to find, but if you already have one, this is a fabulous way to use it. And now I’m gonna keep an eye out for them at antique stores.

Helen: Ooh. Yes.

Caroline: Okay. Our next group of tips doesn’t require any gadgetry.

Steph wrote, “I like using gold serger thread for any fabric I don’t have a matching colour for. It looks good against almost any colour or pattern! Plus, I save money and don’t have to change my thread as often!”

Helen: Ooh, I love this. It can be so annoying to have to buy multiple cones for new colours. It’s such a great tip to have a “go to” that goes with your fabric stash. I personally love an olive green and find it blends well with everything that I do, but I don’t do a lot of lighter colours, so…

Caroline: I could totally see that. Yeah. I think for me, like, a grey or a brown would do the similar…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Or, like, um, like, a taupe-y colour.

Helen: Yeah. Or you just go bold, and you’re like, I’m always using red or I’m always using rainbow.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: Deal with it.

Caroline: Love that. Deal with it.

Helen: Brie said her best sewing surprising tip was “definitely the ban-rol method for baby hems. It turns out perfect every. Single. Time. You can see the tutorial on ThePatternLine.com.”

Caroline: Nice. Okay. We had to check this method out. It’s an interesting way to get a neat baby hem. Ban-rol is a waistband interfacing that’s stiff and loosely woven.

So to do the ban-roll hem, you first pull out the lengthwise threads to make a fringe the width of your desired hem. You align the fringe side, the raw hem of your garment on the right side and stitch a line close to the first horizontal thread being careful not to catch them.

Then, you fold the ban-roll all the way around to lay flat on the wrong side of the garment and stitch close to the hem fold. The last step is to pull the ban-roll out. This seems, kind of, fiddly to master, but it does make a really beautiful hem. So thank you so much for sharing, Brie.

Helen: Yeah. In the photos this hem looks impeccable. It looks so good. Definitely gonna try this next time I do a baby hem.

Caroline: Yes. Alright. Ellen wrote, “Tack stitching instead of pinning. A golden oldie but it’s worth it, especially on lightweight fabrics. By tacking fabric in place you can sew straight over it and don’t have any risk of distortion or fabric moving around when you remove pins.”

Helen: Oh, yes! Tack stitching is so great. They’re also known as tailor’s tacks. We talked about this in our marking tools episode, even though it’s not quite a tool, but it’s such a great skill to learn.

The basic idea is that you sew a stitch or two with contrasting thread in the place where you want to mark or to pin, and then you just clip them. The threads are then your marker. You can even do a tailor’s tack through a paper pattern to do really accurate marks.

We’ll link a tutorial in the show notes for anyone interested in learning how to do this kind of stitching. I mean, just hand sewing things in place in general, before you go to the sewing machine can be…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …such a handy tool.

Caroline: Yeah. Especially with those tricky fabrics, basting instead of pinning works so well.

Helen: Sylvie wrote, “My little secret for success is documenting my makes! Write everything from adjustments, how much fabric used, what to do or not do for the next one! Helps a lot!”

Caroline: Ah! This is such a great strategy, especially for making garments. It’s so easy to forget and make the same mistake twice and doing this is gonna help you to learn from your makes and build on your knowledge. And it can also be so nice to look through your notes and be proud of what you’ve made.

I started a notebook a couple years ago, and I love looking back and I also just find it so handy to be able to flip through and see, okay, this is the size that I made, these are the adjustments that I made, especially when I have a work in progress that’s, kind of, been lingering that I’m coming back to. It’s so helpful to go back and look at what were my measurements when I started this project? Is it still gonna work? Anything and any little notes that I have to remember? They’re all in there. So it’s just so handy.

Helen: Yes! It’s such a good one. I think we have a whole episode about documenting your makes. And there’s so many templates online, too, that you can find to just print out multiple sheets that have little spots to fill in. So it’s like, here’s where you put your measurements and your adjustments and even a little swatch. So you can just create your own notebook, and it’s such a good journal to look back on.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: Okay. Next up we have some tips from tape fans. Renee’s surprising gadget is: “Painters tape! If the fabric is at all similar on both sides I place a piece of tape on the right side of the fabric. That usually works well, and I take it off when I hem it. Only once has this backfired! I sewed the Myrtle cowl neck shirt from Seamwork. Both the inside and outside are the right side of the fabric, you assign one side as the inside. Unfortunately, I picked the side with the tape, but I wear it anyway!”

Caroline: I’ve heard of sewists using painters tape before it’s low tack, so there’s less of a chance of it leaving a mark. But as always test, test, test on this watch of fabric, please. Or don’t and live on the edge, you rebel.

Helen: I mean, you can always just put the tape on the wrong side that way if there is any kind of mark it’s on the wrong side.

Caroline: Yeah, exactly. Okay. Tash wrote, “Regular cellotape for making sure buttons stay put while you machine sew them on.”

I totally do this. It works so well.

Helen: Yeah. This is a really brilliant way to keep buttons from shifting around when you sew them on. The needle can just pierce through the tape and you can pull the tape right off afterward. If you’ve ever tried to stick a button under that foot and, like, sew it on using the button setting or just the zigzag stitch, sometimes it just slips and pops right out and you break a needle and…

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Tape is your friend.

Caroline: Yeah, totally.

Helen: Next up are some paper-related ideas. Melissa gave us a couple of tips! “Tip 1: Quadruple your thread when sewing on buttons, and you’re done super quickly! Tip 2: Use a piece of paper when beginning to sew the first few stitches. I use silk paper used for packaging I have laying around! You will never have your thread loop up or your straps eaten up by the machine ever again.”

Caroline: Ooh, so smart. So it’s, kind of, avoiding those thread nests.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: This is a great tip for hungry machines, Melissa. Thank you. I think this works because the paper is less flexible than fabric and it’s wider than a thin strap and you can just pull it off when you’re done. It’s so true when you’re sewing straps sometimes if they get, like, eaten inside into the little, like, throat plate thing, it’s so stressful.

Helen: I know it really is. This is a great tip.

Caroline: Alright. Steph sent this tip: “Using rolls of exam table paper for tracing patterns. It’s practically endless!”

Helen: Yes. Exam table paper, meaning that crunchy, thin paper that you sit on at the doctor’s office. And Steph is right; a huge role of this is very affordable, and it’s the right thickness, and it has some transparency. I mean, it’s got it all.

Caroline: Mhm. Yeah, it really does.

Helen: Danielle wrote, “I use 8×8 grid paper as filler for any fitting adjustments where I’m increasing, so it’s easy to add the desired amount of 8ths of an inch – just gotta make sure it’s lined up with the slash line before placing the other piece along the adjustment line.” Whoa.

Caroline: Yeah, this one blew my mind. We always talk about how nice it is to have a grid on pattern paper but never thought of using such a tiny grid for adjustments. It would make it so easy to be exact. I love this tip. Thank you, Danielle.

Helen: Yes! I always just use, like, the off cuts of the copy shop paper when I add paper to my adjustments, but having the grid on there would make it so much easier. I’m gonna get me some.

Caroline: Yeah. Alright. Genevieve wrote, “I made a dress with satin for the first time. The most slippery, stressful 3 hours of my life. What made it better was to place the fabric on a piece of paper. I used parchment/tracing paper to stabilise it. Sewed like a breeze.”

Helen: Yes. Stabiliser makes sewing with delicate, shiny shifty fabrics so much easier. You can use parchment paper, tissue paper, wonder tape, spray starch. These things all help to keep the fabric from shifting and getting pulled into the machine like we were talking about earlier. And with paper, you can just pull it away afterward. Brilliant.

Caroline: Love it. I am getting ready to sew up a bias cut Sicily Slip Dress…

Helen: Ooh.

Caroline: …out of a very shifty satin fabric, and I’m really nervous. So I’m, like, eating up all these tips. I feel like I’m gonna have success with all these great tips we’re getting.

Helen: Yes! Cathie wrote, “Using the inner cardboard tube from a roll of fabric for easy pressing seams on sleeves but most importantly trousers.”

Caroline: Yes, this is a really handy substitute for a sleeve roll. Very cool. Those rolls are made of really sturdy cardboard. And I bet you could ask a local fabric store for one that would otherwise go to the garbage or recycling.

Helen: Yeah. Do you got any tubes lying around, Caroline?

Caroline: We definitely do, especially broken tubes. The ones that are intact, we keep and reuse for when we do inventory or whatever. But yeah, the broken ones just go into the recycling, so if anyone ever needs a broken tube, hit me up.

Helen: We got ‘em. Okay. We had to have a whole section for tips we got from former guest Rachael Gilbert-Burns, AKA Minimalist Machinist, and her followers on Instagram! Rachael has a whole story highlight of unconventional sewing tools, and we’ve collected some of our favourites. Definitely check out Rachael’s account for lots of fabulous sewing info and style inspiration, and check out our interview with her. That’s Episode 140: Toiles and Tribulations! Rachael also has a Patreon where she fosters a really great community and has extra guides and articles. Thank you, Rachael. We’re gonna go rapid fire with these. Here we go.

Caroline: “Mini binder clips instead of pinning or quilt clips – cheaper and I already had them!”

Helen: Nice. “I use old matchsticks from my grannie’s sewing kit to sew on buttons with more ease”

Caroline: Ooh. So cute. You would put the match stick in between the button and the fabric so that the button isn’t sewn too tightly to the fabric. Then, there’s enough room for the fabric on the button hole side after you button the garment up.

Helen: Yeah, it’s the perfect size.

Caroline: “Double sided tape! Great for stripe matching!”

Helen: Ooh. Good idea. If you have wonder tape, that would work well, too. Definitely wanna line up all of those stripes when you can because it’s so satisfying.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: “A dental floss threader to thread my serger!”

Caroline: Ooh. These look kind of like regular needle threaders, but made of plastic, and they’re usually used to floss around braces. Super cool.

Okay. “3M Magic Tape on the bottom of my presser foot to glide over tacky materials like vinyl”

Helen: Ooh. Yes. It sounds like a great substitute for a teflon foot. The only issue is that the presser foot might get, kind of, sticky, but you can use an acetone to remove any stickiness if that happens.

“A mini paper notebook I use as a hump jumper to sew smoothly over thick parts.”

Caroline: Ooh, this is great. A hump jumper helps the foot get over a thick part of fabric by levelling it out. So you would just slide the mini notebook under the back of the foot. Genius.

“Dental floss for gathering fabric”

Helen: Yes. This is one method for gathering fabric that some sewists just absolutely love. You zigzag over a piece of dental floss, and then you can adjust the gathers before you sew them in. And it just creates, like, a really nice flat surface to sew on, too.

Caroline: Ooh. Okay. I actually tried this cause I’ve been doing a lot of gathering for various summer-y dresses. And first of all, I used mint dental floss, so my garments smelled like mint after, which was, kind of, funny. But I also found, I found it difficult to, like, pull out the zigzag threads after I sewed that seam cause, like, part of the zigzag stuck out the bottom. So I’m curious if anyone has tips for that. Let me know.

Helen: Ooh.

Caroline: There’s any tricks that I’m missing because you would be, like, sewing your seam along where that dental floss is so the zigzag pokes out the bottom on the right side of the garment. So, yeah, it just took a while to take out those stitches, but still I saved a lot of time with the gathering. So maybe it evened out in the end.

Helen: Maybe. I was just thinking about unpicking zigzag stitches, one of my least favourite things to do.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. It’s not that fun. So I don’t know, but maybe there’s a trick that I’m missing.

Helen: Okay. The next tip is “a little soy sauce pourer that I use to refill my iron” Ah, this is so cute.

Caroline: I love collecting little vintage, like, cream pourers for my water, and I keep them around cause I use one in my diffuser and I use one in my iron, and they’re really cute little decor pieces. So I love this – the idea of using a soy sauce pourer is right up my alley.

Alright. “Rolled up hand towel – because I do not have a tailor’s ham”

Helen: Yes! This is also a good substitute for that cardboard tube. We were talking about you just roll up a towel, stick it in the sleeve, and you can iron all over it.

“My collection of beach stones as pattern weights and heatless seam pressers.”

Caroline: Ah, Helen, this is right up your alley. This is a cool way to use a rock collection. You know, all those rocks that you collect at the beach.

Helen: It’s true.

Caroline: Um, and you could keep them in a cool pottery bowl or a clear vase when you’re not using them. I love this – things that can double as beautiful decor and sewing tools.

Helen: I mean, we’ve talked about substitutes for pattern weights before on the show, and I don’t think rocks ever came up, but duh.

Caroline: Duh-doh.

Helen: Perfect pattern weights.

Caroline: Totally.

Helen: Okay. “[A] white plastic spoon to hold behind the machine needle to SEE the eye for easy threading!”

Caroline: Ooh, this is a great idea. Okay. Gotta try this.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: “Using clear nail polish as fray check.”

Helen: Ooh. Yes. Our assistant Lisa does this. She says it lasts through the wash, too. It’s great for sealing the ends of ribbons and drawstrings as well. I mean, test, test, test on your fabric because we don’t want a situation on the front of your lovely shirt that you just finished.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: But I could see this working really well, and I mean, it’s pretty secure, clear nail polish.

Caroline: Yeah, definitely.

Helen: Next one. “[I] never have the tiny screwdriver for my sewing machine so I use an American dime.” Oh, classic.

Caroline: Ooh, classic.

Helen: It’s just the right width for getting into those tiny screws, and yeah, I mean, who doesn’t lose that screwdriver, like, immediately.

Caroline: I know. Yeah. They’re so tiny.

“A suction cup handle or pop socket for rulers”

Okay. This one was from Rachael. If you have super short nails or otherwise have difficulty grabbing flat rulers, you can add a handle this way. I love the idea of using pop sockets. They come in so many cute designs. And side note, a handle is more ergonomic, so might be a good idea if you wanna save your wrists a little bit, especially if you’re using that ruler a lot.

Helen: Yes. I love my ruler handle – such a great tool. Okay. We also wanted to share a pattern assembly tip that Rachael has shared before on her Instagram. Instead of trimming the pattern, you just fold over the corners so that you can see where the lines are supposed to match up.

Then, you tape them together that way. It’s, kind of, hard to explain, but we’ll post Rachael’s video in our show notes. So you basically don’t have to trim at all. You’re just overlapping the pages and that’s good enough. You can, kind of, see through and see the lines in between.

So if this hasn’t convinced you to go follow her yet, I don’t know what will please go and do it. Her account is one of the best places on the internet. Thank you, Rachael.

Caroline: Yes! Thank you, Rachel. Okay. Our final group of tips is a miscellaneous group. Reiko wrote, “Crayola markers. I use them to do all of my marks and notches. It washes out of everything. They’re cheaper than fancy special marking tools and don’t rub away like chalk. I use them to draw in hems (especially for knits). I just fold to the line and sew.”

Helen: Ooh. Yes, we’ve had several sewists recommend these as their favourite marking tool. They’re definitely cheaper than specific fabric marking tools, so def, you know, get yourself a pack.

Caroline: Ooh, I’m gonna have to try this out cause when I did my shirred dress, I marked all of my lines with chalk and that chalk really, like, is just gone with the wind once you start working on the project. So I had to really squint to see my marked lines, and I kept thinking I really need some kind of pen situation that’s gonna work. So I’m gonna try this out and, obviously, test on my fabric first, but very great tip. Thank you.

Helen: Tilly wrote, “Snips… I only started using them a few months ago, and they are such a game changer. I use them to mark notches, trim threads, unpick seams, and so much more. I was lucky enough to receive some beautiful Cohana ones for my birthday this week, and they are gorgeous and soooo sharp!!!”

Caroline: We love our snips, too. I have maybe four or five different types of snips and definitely have my favourite ones.I don’t know about you, Helen, but I have the ones that I reach for, but it’s great to have options cause some of them are pointier or sharper. Some of them are good for trimming certain types of seams. So it’s great to have, great to have a snip, or several snips, in your sewing toolbox.

Helen: One of my favourites is actually one that a listener sent us a while back. They sent us a set of fishing tackle snips, and they’re red, and they are, like, the ones that reverse snip. So you have to push them down to snip and then they snap open when you’re not using them. Love them. I absolutely love them. They’re so great.

Caroline: Uh, yeah, these are also my favourite snips, and they’re the ones I always reach for first. They’re the ones that are always next to me, and I love them so much. So thank you to that listener who sent us those snips.

Helen: Yes. Okay. On a related note, Morgan wrote, “On the question of unusual sewing tools, I use a retractable badge holder to keep my snips close by when working and switching between machines.”

Caroline: I love that it’s retractable. I’ve heard of people wearing their snips on a string around their necks before, but it seems like if it’s long enough to use, it might be a little dangerous, like, maybe poking you in your lap or your belly when you’re working. So the fact that you can pull on it and use it and then it’ll retract is amazing.

Helen: So smart.

Caroline: Erin wrote, “One of my fave tricks is to use wrinkle release spray on yardage before cutting instead of ironing it all…it works well as long as fabric isn’t super wrinkled to start with!”

Helen: Ooh. Cool. I love that. If you have a small bathroom that gets steamy, when you shower, you can also hang your fabric up in the bathroom while you shower to help with the wrinkles. It really works.

Caroline: My bathroom’s too small for that.

Helen: I mean, you hang it outside the shower. You’re not like showering with the fabric. Just to be clear.

Caroline: Great tip. I love this. Okay. Kate wrote, “I keep a telescoping magnet at my sewing machine for hard to reach dropped pins, a spilled pin dish, etc. My grandmother turned me onto this one. Serious game changer.”

Helen: Yes! A telescoping magnet is basically a magnet at the end of an extending rod. I love that you don’t have to get down on your hands and knees to use it to pick up your pins. And it’s so fun when you drop your pin cushion or knock over your, like, magnetic pin cushion and everything goes everywhere. And you just, like, whip out the rod and you’re like, I got this.

Caroline: Yes. I think I’ve told this story on the show before, but I had a teacher in college who would always have one of those, like, telescoping magnets, just on her person. And if ever someone would drop their pins, she’d just, like, whip it out and go like, whew. And just, like, pick up all the, all of the pins, and it was so handy. I really need to get myself one of these cause I feel like I’m cursed. I think I drop my pin dish almost every time I’m in my sewing room. It’s a real pain.

Helen: Alright. Allison wrote, “Buttonhole chisel! So fast and clean and I never end up accidentally cutting my threads like I did with my seam ripper.”

Caroline: Yes, we love our buttonhole chisels. This is a sharp tool that you can press into your fabric to cut out a buttonhole. It’s so handy. Once I got one, I never looked back.

Helen: Yeah. And also you don’t have to get a buttonhole chisel. You can just go to the hardware store and get a chisel. It’s the same thing.

Caroline: Oh, really?

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Oh, great tip, Helen.

Alright. Mandy recommended the Clover Dome Threaded Needle Case! She sent us an Instagram story of her using it, saying that it’s great for storing thread scraps for later use. It’s a round needle case with an opening in it. You put a threaded needle in one of the slots with the thread lying in the opening. Then, you turn it to wind the thread into a case underneath the needle part. When you want to take a needle out, you hold the needle and thread and gently pull it. It’s pretty cool! Maybe a little hard to visualise. So we’re gonna link up that Instagram story, hopefully, in the show notes so you guys can see.

Helen: I love this idea of preserving thread scraps like that end of the bobbin roll. You’re like, I don’t know what to do with this.

Caroline: Yep.

Helen: Sophie recommended the Singer 20-inch Steam Press. She wrote, “Hi! I bought this fabric presser to fuse my interfacing, and it has been life changing! I don’t like fusing, and this tool made it soooo easy!”

Oh, my gosh. I’ve been wanting one of these.

Caroline: Yeah. If pressing interfacing is your most hated step, which isn’t it for everybody? This seems like it would help a lot. I love this. Very cool.

Okay. Former guest, Samantha of Purple Sewing Cloud wrote, “My favourite sewing tip for gadgets – if you have disabilities with your fingers and find small tools like seam rippers or point turners hard to use, get some Sugru or plasticine moulding clay and wrap it around your handle. Then, mould it into something more ergonomic for your fingers!”

This is such a cool way to customise the handles of your gadgets. Thank you, Sam.

Helen: Yes. Love this tip. Surprise! That was our last one.

Caroline: Ooh!

Helen: And thank you for listening. Let us know if your sewing life was changed by any of these tips, tools, and gadgets. If you’re in your garage, cutting on your freezer. If you’re out selecting rocks for pattern weights, we wanna hear about it. Tag us on Insta. We love hearing from you, and thanks for listening.

Caroline: Yeah, thank you.

Helen: That’s it for today’s episode of Love To Sew. You can find me Helen at HelensClosetPatterns.com and Caroline at BlackbirdFabrics.com. And we’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, send us an email at [email protected].

Helen: If you love Love To Sew and want more, you can sign up for our Patreon. For just $5 a month, you get a full-length bonus episode and weekly behind-the-scenes pics. For $10 a month, you get all that plus a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics. Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content. Go to patreon.com/LoveToSew for more info.

Caroline: And thanks again to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening and sending in your amazing tips and gadgets. We’ll see you next week.

Helen: Buh-bye.

Caroline: Bye.

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In this episode, we review components of design (volume, colour, texture, print, and more) so that you can pinpoint your ideal personal style. Then we offer suggestions to bring your ideal down to earth so that it’s wearable in your everyday life. Plus: how to have fun with fashion, a listener question about getting flat knit neck bands, and our favourite part: the phrases listeners use to describe their style!

The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.

From the listener question section:

Previous episodes mentioned:

Our personal styles:

Resources:

Helen’s Refashioners Makes:

Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: And I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Helen: Join us for today’s topic. What’s your Me-Made Style?

Caroline: Ooh, I am excited for this one. Hello, Helen.

Helen: Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: How are you?

Helen: I’m doing great. How are you?

Caroline: I am excellent.

Helen: I think we say this every year, but I love this time of year because I get all the back to school butterflies, even, you know, 15 years after school.

Caroline: I know. It’s like a new beginning. It’s like that feeling of, like, we’ve got three and a half months left in the year. Anything could happen. We’re going into, like, pumpkin season, all the very important…

Helen: Gourds!

Caroline: Scarves!

Helen: Yes!

Caroline: Can’t wait!

Helen: The scarves! And boots! I wanna wear boots again.

Caroline: Yes, and, actually, when this episode comes out, we’re gonna be about a year from my wedding, so…

Helen: Ooh! Countdown’s on.

Caroline: T-minus one year to make my dress.

Helen: Perfect. I love it.

Caroline: Cool. Yes. Okay. Well, before we get into today’s very fun topic. We have a question from Elli:

“Hi Caroline and Helen!

I’m an intrepid newbie sewist who could probably be categorised as an advanced beginner. I’ve made half a dozen or so woven garments and multiple muslins to support them, and I recently decided I was ready for knits. I was able to wrap my head around crappy neckline number one – although I knew my knit fabric needed to be handled with care to avoid stretching, I did stick a tailor’s ham in and out of it while pressing shoulder and arm seams. By the time I attempted it, the bodice had stretched by at least two inches resulting in a neckline that I absolutely could not attach the neckband to. So I ran to the internet for help; I found a great Jersey Neckband Tutorial from Tilly and the Buttons, and also purchased the new Dawson Top from Helen’s Closet which was filled with so many helpful knit tips that I decided to apply to tee number two. I cut out my pieces, stitched up the shoulders and then immediately jumped into attaching the neckband. I was as gentle with the fabric as I could possibly manage, stretched the neckband and not the bodice while sewing per the Tilly tutorial, and yet still ended up with numerous ugly folds and tucks around the seam line. I’m afraid to unpick it and try again since that seems like a surefire way to stretch out this stupid neckline even more.

What the heck am I doing wrong? I take it that stay stitching is not a thing I can apply to knit garments, so what else can I do to avoid overstretching the neckline apart from handling with extreme care and praying to the sewing gods? Any tips or tricks you could provide would be SO greatly appreciated!”

Helen: Hello, Elli. Thank you so much for writing to us. We can feel your frustration just radiating off of this email. And we have to say, don’t feel too bad. I know that’s easier said than done, but even sewists who have been successfully sewing woven garments for years have a learning curve when they start to sew with knits. It’s totally normal. Frustration and mistakes are all part of growth, so, actually, you are well on your way to a level up, but let’s talk nitty gritty with the neckband advice.

First of all, you actually can stay stitch a knit. You would just need to make sure to use a stretch stitch like a zigzag, but stay stitching’s not your only option. And, in some cases, stay stitching can even stretch out that neckband even more…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …so it’s a good thing to test before you attempt it. You could also use a thin strip of interfacing to stabilise a neckline. Make sure to use a knit interfacing, also called a tricot interfacing. You can cut it on the crosswise grain (that’s the one that’s perpendicular to the selvedge) in about a ⅜ of an inch strip. Fuse it to the edge of the neckline. And we’re gonna link a tutorial so you can see how this looks. There’s a great Threads article that we’ll put in the show notes, but, basically, just fuse that to the edge, and it will stabilise the area that you’re attaching the neckband to.

Also, you’re gonna wanna make sure to pay attention to the direction of greatest stretch on your knit, or the DoGS. When you’re cutting out both the shirt and the neckband, the DoGS should be along the long side of the nec band. In other words, you want the neckband to be as stretchy as possible. If your neckband is not perfectly flat after you sew it, but it doesn’t have any tucks or folds, often a good steam press will flatten that out for you.

Caroline: Yeah, and Elli, I’m also wondering about fabric here because you didn’t really talk about the type of fabric that you’re working with, but some knit fabrics are really prone to stretching out. And while I do believe anyone can sew anything, I wonder if a lightweight knit with, like, poor recovery is causing these issues.

So, for your next couple of projects, I wanna recommend trying a stable cotton jersey with spandex. This is gonna bounce back when you stretch it and feel really substantial, but not too heavy in your hands, but it’ll feel stable. Try that out. And I think you might have better luck just practising on a knit that’s a little bit easier to work with, and then you can, kind of, work your way up to those slinkier, stretchier knits or the ones that maybe have a little bit less recovery.

And I’m just gonna reiterate the tip that necklines, especially knit necklines, always look a million times better after a good steam press. So steam the crud out of that thing and see how you feel after.

Helen: Yes. And there’s no accounting for practice.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah.

Helen: Like, you really are going to end up with wonky neck lines on your first one, at least, maybe even four or five t-shirts. I’ve seen this happen with my mother-in-law Laurie, who’s just been learning to sew in her knit journey over the past year. She started off making a few t-shirts. The necklines are all wonky, still wearing them with pride, of course…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …because it’s still amazing that you completed the project, but she’s come so much further with them. And now they’re starting to look just perfect. It is just, kind of, a muscle memory thing I find with knit neckbands. You’ll get there.

Caroline: Mhm. Ooh, I actually have one more tip, if you’ll allow me, Helen.

Helen: Of course!

Caroline: Check the stretch percentage requirements for the pattern that you’re working with against the stretch percentage of your knit because neckbands are drafted based on the stretch percentage that the knit is supposed to have. So if your neckband feels like it’s too short and you’re having to stretch it too much which is creating that bunching look, you might just need to cut a longer neckband to account for the stretch of your fabric or work with a fabric that is within the recommended stretch percentage of the pattern. So that might be the issue here as well.

Helen: It’s so true. I do this sometimes, and it comes back to that muscle memory thing. You pin the neckband on, and you’re like, I can already tell that this is not long enough.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Or not short enough. And so you shorten it or you cut another one and that is something you will just learn with time. And you cannot draft a pattern that’s gonna work for every single stretch percentage of knits. So, like you said, Caroline, we have to choose one, and your knit just might not fit within that parameter.

Caroline: Yeah, exactly. Alright. Are we ready to get onto the show, Helen?

Helen: Yes! I’m so excited for this one. One of the reasons that sewing is so great is that we get to make a lot of choices about what we wear. We do not have to pick and choose from what’s available in the stores. We pick our own patterns, fabrics, fit, colours, details, finishing; the possibilities are truly endless. And we get to create the wardrobe that we really want.

Caroline: Yes! And in today’s episode, we wanna explore all the ways that sewing and personal style meet. So we’re gonna talk about how to define your me-made style. We’ll name a bunch of different style elements, so you can decide on your faves. And your personal combo of favourite style elements is your dream style.

Helen: After that we’ll share some style phrases. We asked you, our listeners, for short phrases to describe your me-made style, and you really delivered and gave such fun, specific answers, so we’re gonna share our faves as well as our own style phrases at the end.

Caroline: And then after that, we’ll discuss how to sew garments you’re actually gonna wanna wear. This is all about taking your dream style and bringing it down to earth.

Helen: And then we’ll talk about style evolutions. Almost everyone’s style changes over time, so we’re gonna talk through our journeys.

Caroline: And finally, we have a little pep talk about having fun with fashion and not taking style too seriously. Style is what you make of it. It doesn’t have to feel like homework or like the most important thing about you. It can be a space where you can experiment and play.

Helen: And if the whole idea of figuring out your personal style sounds a bit overwhelming. We recommend checking out Episode 108: Create your Dream Wardrobe. We made a free worksheet that you can get by signing up to our email list. We’ll link that up in the show notes. The episode follows us as we work through the worksheet and chat about all kinds of style possibilities. It’s a great companion to this episode if you’re listening right now and you want more.

Caroline: Yes! Okay, so let’s start by discussing how to define your me-made style. There are a bunch of style components that you can think about. So the first one would be silhouette. It’s a fancy word for the shape that your garment makes. So if you were to take a photo of a garment and trace the outline without filling in any details, you’ll find its silhouette.

Volume is a big part of it. Volume can go anywhere on a garment: sleeves, bodice, skirt, pants. For example, the 80’s power silhouette has big, broad shoulders, a fitted waist, and sleek pants or skirts.

Maxi dresses are usually shaped like a column. Swing dresses are, kind of, triangle-shaped or, like, trapezoid-shaped. You know what I mean. And figuring out which silhouettes you like will help you so much when looking for patterns.

Helen: Yes! Another component of style is, of course, colour. Some people like to make a palette for their wardrobe. Anuschka Rees, who’s the author of The Curated Closet, recommends choosing three main colours that represent the essence of your style concept, four accent shades to add variety, and two neutrals to support and balance out the rest.

If you keep running into the problem of making garments and figuring out afterwards that you don’t actually like wearing that colour, a colour palette can be a lifesaver. Think of it as like your tried and true colours, rather than a rule. The palette works for you – you don’t work for it.

Caroline: Yeah. And if you don’t want to create something super specific, like a palette, you could just think about how you feel about broad categories of colours. So some ideas to get you started would be pastels, jewel tones, earth tones, brights, metallics, warm colours, cool colours, neons, and grey scale.

Helen: Yes. Have a look in your closet and think, like, which of these things am I wearing most often and thi-, see if there’s colour consistencies.

Caroline: Yeah, totally.

Helen: You can also consider prints versus solids. Many of us like to wear a mix of both, but there are definitely sewists who prefer one over the other. So think about where you are on the scale from Print-Head to Solidly Solids. And if you do like prints, think about what kind of prints you like. Is it small-scale florals? Is it large-scale abstract prints? Soft watercolours? Tie-dye brights? I mean, there’s so much to choose from here.

Caroline: Yeah, and texture is an often overlooked component of style, but it actually is a big impact. You could wear an entire outfit in one colour, but give it dimension with different textures. For example, black twill pants and leather boots with a black bouclé sweater and a black boiled wool coat. Very cool look. So when you’re thinking about textures, don’t just choose one favourite. Think about what textures you like to see mixed together.

Helen: Ooh. I love texture in fabric. There’s so many great opportunities and I feel like I don’t play with it enough in my wardrobe. If I do, it’s, like, accidental.

Caroline: Yes!

Helen: Our next style element is details. Do you prefer super minimalist garments or do you like to pile on the ruffles, ribbons, pleats, button packets? Or maybe you’re somewhere in the middle? Here is a short list of details for you to think about wide cuffs, tiny buttons, appliquéd ribbons, pin tucks, pointy collars, pork chop pockets, fringed sleeves, embroidered accents, and hand-sewn buttonholes.

Caroline: I love the idea of pork chop pockets being, like, part of a style identity.

Helen: My favourite style of pocket is the pork chop pocket.

Caroline: Yeah. The next one, isn’t really a style component, but more a style inspiration. We’re gonna call it ~vibes~. These are more general terms that describe a mood, like “casual” or “fun” or “spooky” or “cute,” or maybe there are more specific terms that match up to your style, like “cottage core” or “vintage.”

Helen: Yes! And when you’re considering each of these style components, take note of your favourite. You can write a list if that helps. There’s no limit to how many you can choose for each category. This is for you.

Also, it’s okay if you have more than one style mode, maybe you have one style for work and one for home or one for hot weather and one for cool weather. You can make more than one list if you want. In the end, your list of style components will be a combination that is uniquely you and, hopefully, give you some guidance.

Caroline: Awesome. And what if you don’t even know what you like best? We’re gonna discuss some ways to figure out how to tell what you like. So the easiest way to figure out what you like is to consider what you already have.

What garments make you feel best when you wear them? Which ones make you feel the most like you? Look closely and think about the components of each garment you like. Maybe you love the way the colour lifts your mood. Maybe you love the way the silhouette feels. Maybe you like the drape of the fabric. Take note of all these things.

You can also work backwards from the garments you don’t like, think about why you don’t like them, and what you would change to make them better.

Helen: Yeah. Maybe you can even change them to make them better.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: A super fun way to discover what you love is to find your style inspirations! Think about the movies and TV shows you love, make opinions about how each character dresses. You can find Instagram accounts or style blogs and bookmark the best outfits. It can be super helpful to have a pantheon of style icons, people whose clothes you would love to have. You don’t have to copy their clothes exactly, but you can pull elements from each of them to make your personal style. I mean, of course, Pinterest is also great here.

Caroline: Yes, and window shop. Another cool thing about sewing is that we can make the kinds of high quality garments that many of us couldn’t normally afford. So don’t put a price limit on your browsing, check out everything from fast fashion to couture designers to find the components of style that you love.

Helen: And to keep track of all your style inspiration, consider making a mood board. This can be as simple as creating a new board on Pinterest or as complex as an art project. For digital boards, Caroline, I know you like using Canva, which is a free online tool that has a lot of mood board templates. It’s super easy, right?

Caroline: Yes! I love using Canva. I’ve talked about it on Patreon before, especially when I’m planning a special outfit, like something that I’m wearing to a wedding or a party. Um, something that’s gonna take me a little bit more time that I really wanna think through the concept. Um, I love to do a little mood board in Canva, and then, it’s so fun to see that come to life.

Helen: Yeah. You can even print it out and put it up in your sewing room for a little inspo.

Caroline: Yes. Okay now, uh, just for fun exercise, use all the info you’ve collected and make a short phrase that describes your style. Helen, could you name some of your fave style components and then reveal your style phrase?

Helen: Okay. I actually was feeling a little bit scared to do this because we got so many great style phrases from our community. And I couldn’t think of one that was nearly as good as the ones that people sent us. But, at any rate, my personal style: I love playful prints. I love high contrast black and white, linen, volume. I like things that show off my butt and my shoulders. I like rich colours, bold graphic elements, ease of movement, a touch of drama, and that swish of fabric. So when my personal style is on point, I’m like a Matisse Painting Come to Life, and on a slower day, I’m like a Pacific Northwest Hipster Caught in the Rain.

Caroline: I love it. I can totally see the Matisse Painting Come to Life. Like, it’s very accurate to me.

Helen: Oh, good!

Caroline: Good job.

Helen: Thank you. Okay. Tell me yours. I’m so excited.

Caroline: Okay. So I love bright colours. I also love autumnal shades. So I think it’s, like, a little bit in contrast there because I wouldn’t necessarily put those things together, but I like both of them. Love a good print, but generally, I gravitate towards smaller scale prints. Checks and stripes I like as well. I would say my favourite silhouettes are voluminous and billowy. I definitely like things that cinch at the waist and pants, skirts, dresses that fall to my mid-calf or ankle. I almost never wear short skirts, or shorts for that matter, but I am, kind of, working on that. And I would say my wardrobe is almost completely made up of linen and cotton.

So, definitely, like, comfortable, breathable. I don’t know. Okay. So, like, I, I came up with two cause I feel like my at-home style is quite different from my office style. So at home, I am a West Coast Gardener on Lunch Break.

Helen: Love it.

Caroline: So, like, not sweaty and, like, not necessarily wearing, like, full gardening attire, but, like, I’m outside. I’m in the garden. I’m comfortable.

Helen: There’s a billowy dress involved.

Caroline: There’s a billowy dress involved. There’s a sun hat.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Um, and I wouldn’t say this is the most descriptive, but the only thing I could come up with from my at-work style is Chic yet Approachable Fabric Mogul. What do you think?

Helen: You’re so chic yet, somehow, strangely approachable.

Caroline: Yeah. And I feel like I had to include fabric in there because, like, I do dress in all Blackbird fabrics most of the time. Um, so, yeah, you know, you gotta represent.

Helen: You gotta represent.

Caroline: Right?

Helen: Okay. Amazing. I love it.

Caroline: I have to say, like, the most hilarious part of this whole episode is gonna be right now when we share your style phrases because we have the most stylish listeners and y’all really delivered with these. We were on the floor laughing when we first read through all of these comments. So here are some of our faves.

Helen: Fräulein Maria Meets Lisa Frank.

Caroline: I love it. Powwow Picnic! This one is from former guest Kat Brown Akootchook.

Helen: Minimalist Maximalist. Minimal silhouettes with maximal prints and fabrics!

Caroline: Okay. This one is so funny. “Studio Ghibli Background Character” though “Town Witch” works, too!

Helen: Town Witch.

Caroline: Town Witch.

Helen: I love it. Neon Splatter Buttercream Cupcake.

Caroline: Yes! Okay. Earthy Hot Mom.

Helen: Vintage Star Wars.

Caroline: Art Museum Curator on Vacation in Santa Fe but also Coastal Queer Aunt Who’s an Art Teacher in the 70’s works.

Helen: I love when there’s two, but one of them is, like, preferable, and the other one is like, I’ll take it.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Goth Office Casual Victorian Yoga Flow Twirly. With pockets.

Caroline: With pockets. I love the “with pockets.” Okay. Inaccurate Time Traveller.

Helen: Kulturtant which is Swedish for “culture aunt.”Having had to dress conservatively for work for years, now that I’m retired I can make and wear whatever flamboyant fashion takes my fancy.”

Caroline: Love it. Couch Slouch.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Yeah. We’ve all got a little Couch Slouch in there.

Helen: We’ve all got a little Couch Slouch in there.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Curvy Business Pirate.

Caroline: Comfy Colour Blocked Cartoon Cottage Core Cutie.

Helen: Ooh, cutie! Camp Counsellor Couture. More c’s.

Caroline: Sensible Scandinavian Chic.

Helen: Oh, that’s, like, what I want my style to be, but it just isn’t.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: You know?

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Executive Motorcycle Babe. Yes!

Caroline: Winter: Corduroy Grandpa. Summer: Chic Magnifique.

Helen: It’s important to have seasonal looks. Caroline, is your gardener one still accurate in the wintertime?

Caroline: I was actually trying to think of, like, a winter style identity, and all I could think of was, like, Hibernating Bear. It’s like…

Helen: You do love a chunky sweater.

Caroline: Yeah, but then I was, like, trying to look up, like, is this, like, possible to use? Yeah. That was…

Helen:I mean, I wear my, like, flowy garden dresses around the house in the winter, too, so…

Caroline: Yeah. No, I’m mostly, like, a leggings, t-shirt, and a big sweater in the winter…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …around the house.

Helen: Yeah. Okay. Our next one is Secret Elastic.

Caroline: I love it. Don’t we all want a secret elastic? Okay, next up: Heiress to an Oat Farm.

Helen: This one’s my favourite, I think.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Cause I don’t, I do not know what that means.

Caroline: Yeah, like, please send us a follow-up, and let us know exactly what your style is.

Helen: We’re picturing you in a field somewhere. You’re wearing a gorgeous dress. There’s a little luxury to it, right?

Caroline: Yeah. Definitely.

Helen: You’re an heiress.

Caroline: If you’re an heiress. But I’m imagining, like, a prairie chic, kind of, vibe as well.

Helen: Yeah. Yeah.

Caroline: Totally.

Helen: Okay. Bold, Whimsical Garden Party Chic with a hint of Miss Frizzle mixed with DW from Arthur.

Caroline: Love it. Okay. Next one is Forest Gremlin.

Helen: I need pictures.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: 1940s Normcore / Space Peasant (bold shapes in rustic fabrics). You’re wearing a lot of rust and brown and tan.

Caroline: So the next few are, kind of, related. Elaine Benes style. And someone else said Selina Meyer in Veep, so Julia Louis-Dreyfus must be really inspiring!

Helen: I can relate to this. I love Elaine Benes’s style. I want to do my hair like that.

Caroline: Yes!

Helen: …with, like, a big scrunchy in the back and, like, a halo…

Caroline: Oh, my gosh.

Helen: … of hair in the front. And then Selena Meyer is, like, a very different look.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: Very put together and polished.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Um, office chic. I love it. Our next one is very relatable: Beginner Chic.

Caroline: Yes! Okay. Next up is Menopausal Coachella. Don’t know what that is, but I’m into it.

Helen: Next up: Dita on a Dime.

Caroline: 1980’s Sierra Nevada Backpacking Couch Potato. Love it.

Helen: Thrifty Frida Kahlo.

Caroline: 1920’s Lady Archeologist.

Helen: Oh, I love a good archeological vibe or, like, you know, safari kinda situation.

Caroline: Yes. Um, next up: Summer Witch. I mean you and the Town Witch really need to get together.

Caroline: Spaghetti Western Nonno Core! Note: “Nonno” means “grandpa” in Italian.

Helen: I love it. Fat Jackie O Forever.

Caroline: Love that one. Um, and this last one is, “Are Those Pyjamas, Mum?”-core.

Helen: Your children telling it like it is.

Caroline: Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Those were amazing. Thank you to all of you who wrote in with your style phrases. We loved reading them, and we wish we could share them all. You are all so creative and cool. Thank you so much.

Helen: Yes, and if you don’t have one yet, hopefully that gave you some inspo. It can literally be anything.

Caroline: Anything goes. Exactly.

Helen: So now that you’ve figured out your dream style, let’s bring it back down to earth for a minute. How can you make garments that you actually want to wear? And I think the first step here is you have to think about your lifestyle.

Caroline: Yeah, definitely. What do you spend most of your time doing? What sort of clothing will suit that well? If you’re caring for toddlers, you’re gonna need something that’s easy to wash. If you’re working from home, you might prefer loungewear over three piece suits, or maybe the suits would help you get in a working mindset. I don’t know your life.

Helen: There’s also climate. What is it like where you live? If you live in a warm climate, you’re probably gonna want breathable fabrics and lightweight garments. If you live in a colder climate, sun dresses will probably have a smaller role in your wardrobe, and you’re gonna wanna think wearable, warm layers.

Caroline: And then think about what level of comfort you want and need. Some people want their clothing to be roomy and soft at all times. Others don’t mind so much and prefer fitted styles in any fabric they think looks good. Where do you fall on the spectrum? What makes a garment comfortable to wear? And how important is that to you?

Helen: Think about the clothes that you reach for now. We’ve already mentioned this, but look at your closet and find what do you want to wear over and over and why. Maybe it’s about how soft it feels against your skin. Maybe it’s the way that it highlights your legs. Figuring out what you actually like versus what you like to see on other people will really help you to make things that you’re gonna love to wear.

Caroline: And is there something you feel is missing from your wardrobe? Have you ever thought to yourself multiple times I need a lightweight jacket or why do I only have one pair of jeans? These are important clues.

Helen: And there’s one more thing to keep in mind. Sometimes our dream style on paper or on Pinterest doesn’t exactly translate to what we love to wear in the real world. I remember as a new sewist getting so excited about all the pretty fabrics and not necessarily thinking about how they would transition into a cohesive wardrobe.

Even though I love a great print, I have learned that I like them in strategic doses. And now I get really excited about a solid fabric in a beautiful colour because I know I’m gonna love wearing it. And the goal here is to define your dream style and then blend it with the clothes that actually make you feel confident and that work for your lifestyle. And sometimes you’re just gonna have to buy the black linen, even though you want the hot pink linen.

Caroline: What do you have against my hot pink linen, Helen?

Helen: You can have both. You can have both. It’s fine.

Caroline: And remember, there’s not just one answer to all of the questions we just asked. We all have different modes: work mode, socialising mode, chill mode. Part of the fun of considering all these factors is figuring out how you can make your dream style work for all of your real life situations.

Helen: Alright, we’re gonna talk a bit about style evolutions now because it is totally normal for your style to change over time. This can be because of changing trends. I mean, styles cycle in and out, and you might get excited about a new trend or two and leave some others behind, but that’s not the only reason your style can change. It can change when you start a new phase of life, when you move to a different climate, or just for no reason at all. Sometimes it just happens.

Caroline: Yeah, I think this is part of the fun of sewing. We can keep trying out new styles, colours, and fabrics, and we can get surprised by what we love. Helen, tell us about your style evolution.

Helen: Well, when I was a kid, I was that kid in class who wore costumes to school and fully got dressed out of the dress-up bin. And I went through a lot of phases of style in elementary school and in high school, including some goth vibes and very short skirts and crop tops. I mean, it was the early 00’s, so midriffs were, like, the thing , but I had trouble nailing down my style.

And thankfully, my parents were very supportive of me wearing whatever I wanted, but in my late teens and early twenties, I was still struggling to find my style foothold. I really loved thrifting, and I loved clothes, so I had a lot of them. Sometimes I would dress like somebody in their mid-thirties with an office job, like floral blouses and trousers. Sometimes I dressed like an unemployed skateboarder. Sometimes I went full vintage 60’s dress, shoes, handbag.

I had a lot of fun with it, but I don’t remember ever feeling like I knew what I wanted to wear. It was, like, a day-to-day thing. I was, kind of, confused, and I would wear anything that I thought looked good regardless of the style. So, you know, I had a lot of fun with it, but I didn’t, I don’t think I had, like, a super clear vision…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: And then sewing really helped me to find my style in my later twenties and into my thirties to where I am now. And in my early sewing days, I definitely gravitated towards the fit and flare look. I mean, that was what was really popular at the time when I got into the sewing world, but I’ve tried looser silhouettes over the years, and I absolutely love them.

Now I think I have a much clearer vision of what I want to wear and how I wanna present myself and the colours and textures and patterns that I enjoy. I’ve gotten better at fabric shopping and picking out things I’m actually going to use, and that’s a really great feeling. But it definitely didn’t happen immediately. It’s been a process.

Caroline: Mhm. Do you think your style is still evolving? Cause I think that in a previous episode you mentioned that you’re getting more into, like, fitted styles again. So do you feel like you’re moving away from the volume or is that just, like, in addition. This is another mode is your fitted style.

Helen: I think it’s a, another mode. I enjoy both. I love wearing, like, a voluminous tent, but I also like wearing, like I said earlier, things that show off my butt.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: If I’m wearing something voluminous, I usually like to have my shoulders exposed. If I’m wearing something tight on the bottom, I like a boxier top. Um, so I like a balance, you know? I’m definitely not stuck in my ways.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: I really enjoy experimenting. And that’s one of the fun things about being a pattern designer is sometimes you think, I don’t know what I wanna do next. And then, you know, the next week you’ll just have this, like, onslaught of ideas and inspiration…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …because things are always evolving, and there are always new trends and new things and so fun to design and bring in different elements and try to create things that you think people are gonna wanna wear. So I’m definitely always evolving, of course.

Caroline: Awesome. Cool.

Helen: How about you? Tell me about your style journey.

Caroline: Okay. Well, I wore a lot of black and grey in college. I won’t go, like, before college cause I just wore a lot of, like, Gap and Banana Republic.

Helen: You weren’t getting dressed from the costume bin?

Caroline: No, I think my style was pretty boring. And even before that it was Northern Reflections, so I dunno. Um, but in college, like, I don’t know, I just, me and my friends just wore a lot of black, and it was, kind of, boring.

Um, and then when I started to explore more making my own clothes and, kind of, dressing myself in that way, I dressed in a lot of neutrals. I wore a lot of brown and rust, a lot of denim, like navy blue kind of garments which I still do love, but I’ve talked about this on the show before, in the last couple of years, I felt super inspired by all of the Birdie makes around the office and even the sewing community at large.

I feel like we have such a rich community with so many different styles, and I feel so inspired every time I go on Instagram and see what people are making. And the sewing community and the office style has made me feel more adventurous and wanna wear more colour. So I’ve definitely incorporated bright colours in my wardrobe, and they honestly make me so, so happy.

I also love a good, like, tonal look. Like, I love to layer all the same colour in an outfit, which is, I think originally inspired by Katie Courtman’s, like, “dress like a crayon” trend that she started a couple years ago. Um, but I just think it’s so fun to do, like, an all yellow look or an all orange or an all blue, like, and just really own that tonal, kind of, layered look.

Helen: Coordinated cutie.

Caroline: Yes! But honestly, like, when I think back, I think my style used to be, kind of, boring, like 15 years ago me, but now I feel like I am more adventurous. Maybe not as adventurous as you because I, kind of, think of you as, like, the most bold, adventurous dresser I know, but I love to experiment with new details and silhouettes and fabrics and colours and just have a lot more fun with my style and not, like, think too much about it anymore. I just like making things that seem fun to me.

Helen: Yeah. I love that. I’ve definitely noticed that you’ve been incorporating more print and colour into your wardrobe, and it really suits you. I think it does.

Caroline: Thank you.

Helen: [inaudible]… to witness. And, I mean, thank you for saying I’m an adventurous dresser. I think I’m far from the most adventurous dresser out there in the world. I do like to have fun, and I actually wish I would push myself more when I’m getting dressed to, you know, go to the grocery store or something.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Wear those bold pieces that I put so much work into, but I often will just default to, you know, the jeans and t-shirt cause I don’t want the attention. And I feel like now that I live in a small town, like, I wanna be that person. I wanna be that person that people, like, see, and they’re like, oh, I’ve seen her before, you know?

Caroline: Yes! Yeah. I think about The Refashioners and some of the garments you made there, like your, um, like, denim, sort of, pieced dress and that, like, amazing shirt dress that you made and that really bold print with the glasses and, like…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Often when I think about your bold style, I think about those photoshoots that you’ve done for your blog.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: It’s so inspiring. And even if that’s not how you dress on the day-to-day, it’s still, like, part of your style identity. I think it’s the part that you, like, present to the, to the sewing world, you know? So, yeah, it’s very, very cool to see your evolution as well, Helen.

Helen: Oh, thank you. Yeah. I mean, we’re gonna continue and we can continue to push ourselves.

Caroline: Yes, definitely, and share it with you all on the pod, of course. Okay, let’s wrap up this episode with a pep talk. We’re gonna call this one: how to have fun and not take style too seriously!

Helen: Yes! I mean, style is a funny thing. Like, as much as fashion writers love to drone on about what it means. You can’t really pin it down. People dress the way they do for all kinds of reasons, and you can decide those reasons for yourself. Maybe one day, you wanna grab attention with wearable art, like we were talking about and go to the grocery store in that eye-catching piece. And another day you wanna dress in a cosy black cocoon. It’s not like you’re a different person on those two days. You’re free to play around with your style and wear what you want when you want.

Caroline: Yeah. And I think it’s important to remember, too, that you don’t always know what you will love ahead of time. Your next style evolution could be just outside of your wardrobe comfort zone, so give yourself permission to take risks and don’t be hard on yourself if you make something that you don’t love. It’s all part of the journey. You can take that garment you don’t love and remake it into something better, or stuff it into your scrap pouffe or give it away. No one’s gonna know. Just take that time to experiment and play.

Helen: Yes! And lastly, throw away the style rule book. So many of us have memorised style rules about what we’re allowed to wear based on our body shape or other irrelevant factors. You don’t have to follow those at all. Many of our favourite style icons are rule breakers. So let’s join them and wear what we like best.

Caroline: Yes, let’s do it.

Helen: That’s it for today’s episode of Love To Sew. You can find me Helen at HelensClosetPatterns.com and Caroline at BlackbirdFabrics.com. We’re recording today in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, you can send us an email at [email protected].

Helen: If you love Love To Sew and want more, you can sign up for our Patreon. For $5 a month, you get a full-length bonus episode and weekly behind-the-scenes pictures. And for $10 a month, you get all that plus a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics. Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality content for you. Go to patreon.com/LoveToSew for more info.

Caroline: And thanks again to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening. We’ll see you next week.

Helen: Buh-bye.

Caroline: Bye.

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A-HEM! In this episode, we get to the bottom of hems: techniques, tools, and tips for wovens and knits. Plus: marking hems, adjusting hem depth, and fancy hems! The listener feedback is all about changing robes/ponchos.

The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.

From the Listener Feedback Section:

Previous Episodes Mentioned: 

Resources:

Sewing Patterns:

Tools and Notions:

Transcript:

Helen: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Caroline: Join us for today’s topic: hems.

Hello, Helen.

Helen: Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: How are you?

Helen: I’m good. How are you?

Caroline: Good. I just realised I should have said hello, Helen, are you ready to talk about hems? Triple H.

Helen: Hello, heming Helen. I’m excited to get to the bottom of this.

Caroline: I feel like we’re gonna be really pun-ny today. I hope everyone is ready.

Helen: Get ready.

Caroline: There’s some good gems in here.

Helen: Alright, nut before we get into it, as usual, we have some feedback from one of our listeners. After our sewing swimwear episode, we had some great feedback, especially about changing robes and ponchos.

Caroline: Yeah, we did. So first off, Rebecca said, “I looked for patterns and didn’t really find a great pattern so I am drafting one. I want to be able to change out of my suit under it. It has to have a pocket or pockets. I want a hood. I want an attached stuff sack for easy packing (that might also double as a pocket). I chose a waffle textured linen that is super delicious to snuggle in. My challenge now is to strike the right balance between function and style. I want it to look like a garment, not just a large towel, but lay flat enough to sun on. A surf poncho is the type of garment you don’t know you NEED until you have one. Changing out of your suit right on the beach is awesome!”

Helen: Oh, this totally sounds like it’s gonna have everything.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: You’re hitting the nail on the head. If I ever did a pattern, I definitely would want it to have all of these details. I love the idea of being able to lie out on it and use it as, like, a sunning towel and then use it to change later on. Also, the waffle textured linen sounds perfect for this. Great choice of fabric. I think I need one.

Caroline: Yeah. Check, check, check.

Helen: Well, Renee alerted us to the dryrobe, which is just that. It’s a long robe with a hood that is wide enough to pull your arms in and change under. It has a fleece lining, so it’s nice and warm, and a waterproof shell, so you can hop in the car and not get your seat wet.

That would be great. My seat has been, like, permanently wet all summer, I think. I really need to get some kind of cover for it. Um, so if you’re not in the mood to sew something like this, check out the dryrobe. We’ll link it in our show notes.

Caroline: Very cool. And then finally, Emily contacted us to let us know that she made her own version of the dryrobe! She wrote, “I had to get in touch after the swimwear episode, as you’d mentioned making a beach cover up robe. In the UK there are DryRobesTM and there’s a jokey FB page because folk wear them all over the place, in supermarkets, town centres, etc. – not just on the beach! I’ve seen them in the centre of London! They are expensive, upwards of £150 sterling. I’m an outdoor swimmer, usually at a lovely, spring-fed, unheated Lido near me. My genetically sewist twin cousin (!) Kate, Iives in Edinburgh, Scotland and outdoor swims at Portobello beach in the North Sea. Cold! We share our grandmother’s genes (the sewing, not the cold swimming!) I decided to challenge myself to make my own version of the robe. I hacked together the Folkwear Overcoat pattern with the hood from the Assembly Line Hoodie Dress. I made it double layered from fleece-lined coat fabric and bamboo towelling. I’m just finishing it with a zip placket and poppers and adding the hood. The Folkwear coat pattern is so generous that you can get your hands in to change out of swimwear. I tried it out last week at the pool and it’s super warm & cosy.”

And Emily sent us some great pictures of her not-Dryrobe in action. It looks amazing. It has a gorgeous sky blue colour, and it’s lined with grey. We’re gonna share these pictures in the show notes for this episode, so make sure to head over there to see Emily looking like a rock star on the beach.

Helen: Yeah. I mean, this legit looks like something you could wear, not just on the beach.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: It looks so cool. I can picture it made in black fabric. It would be like a very cool city coat as well, not just for the beach.

Caroline: Careful, Helen. You’re gonna end up on that Facebook page.

Helen: I totally would be that person.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Sometimes when I’m heading home from the beach and I’m just wearing my swimsuit and my towel, I’m like, what if I got in a car accident? I need to be wearing something.

Caroline: Oh, so true. Okay. Well, thank you to everyone who told us about their changing robes and to everyone who told us they’d love to see a pattern from Helen. Wink, wink. Um, but I think we should get onto the show.

Helen: Yes. Ahem. Ahem.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: Ahem.

Caroline: Yes. Helen, was there something you wanted to say?

Helen: I was just introducing the topic of the episode: hems.

Caroline: Oh, right. Of course.

Helen: Alright, as usual, we’re gonna start off by just defining our topic for the day. So a hem is the edge of a piece of cloth that has been turned under and sewn. It sounds simple, and sometimes it is, but not always, depending on the kind of fabric, the type of hem, and,of course, the shape of the pattern piece.

Caroline: You can have hems at the ends of sleeves at the bottom edges of skirts, pants, and shirts, at the edge of a ruffle, all around a scarf. They’re really everywhere.

Helen: Yes, not just around your ankles. In this episode, we’re going to talk about all the types of hems, when to use them, and all the tips and tricks that we can think of for sewing them.

Caroline: But first, a bit of etymology. The word “hem” is an old English word, meaning “the border of a cloth or garment.” The old English term comes from the older, proto-Germanic “hamjam” which means “to stop, or to restrain.” Sorry. We have no idea to how to pronounce ham jam. So we’re just saying it like it’s a ham and jam sandwich.

Helen: I love this. I feel like every time I sew a hem now I’m gonna be like, it’s ham jam time.

Caroline: Woo.

Helen: Time to get my ham jam on.

Caroline: I kinda love that.

Helen: So why do we hem? Why are hems so important, Caroline?

Caroline: Well, finishing edges is important for the longevity of a garment. Most fabrics need to be hemmed so that they don’t fray, and even fabrics that don’t fray can benefit from hems since a hem will strengthen the edge of the garment and prevent it from distorting or ripping.

Helen: Yes, and hems create a visual “end” to the garment. It makes a garment look finished. It also gives weight to the fabric so that it falls nicely on your body.

Caroline: And knowing how to sew a good hem is an undervalued sewing skill; a poorly sewn hem on an otherwise great garment can ruin the look. Take your time with hems! They’re often rushed because they’re the last step and you just wanna wear what you’ve made, but if you take your time and do it carefully, you’ll have a garment that you’ll want to wear again and again.

Helen: Yes! Okay. I’m excited to talk about hemming both woven and knit fabrics. Let’s start with wovens because they almost always need to be hemmed.

Caroline: Mhm, yeah. The most common hem type is the double fold hem. So this type of hem has a nice finish on both the right and the wrong sides. Basically, you fold the fabric over once, press it, then fold it over, press it, and stitch it down near the edge of the inner fold.

Helen: Yes, and there’s also the single fold hem. For this one, you finish the edge of the fabric, usually with a serger or a zigzag stitch, and then you fold it over just once before stitching along that inner edge to attach it. It doesn’t look as finished on the wrong side as the double fold hem does, but it can be good for bulkier fabrics or curved hems. If you do a single fold hem with a knit, you don’t even have to finish the edge before you fold it over. That’s usually what I do. I almost never double fold hem my knits.

Caroline: Yeah, totally. And even on wovens, I often do the single fold just cause I’m often trying to get as much length out of the garment as possible. Um, so I, like, to, kind of, like, hack it and just do a single fold, especially if I want it to be a little bit longer than maybe it is.

Helen: Yeah, and you can decide based on your fabric, too. Like if the hem’s gonna be at all visible, you might want…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …it to look really good on the inside, but if it’s gonna be completely hidden inside the garment, maybe you don’t care. Or if it’s a busy print, and you’re not gonna notice if it’s not double folded. I mean, so many things to consider.

Caroline: Mhm, and remember, you can always customise the depth of your hems. So I wanna know, Helen, if you have a preferred hem depth? This is a very niche question.

Helen: Such a niche question. I mean, I think if you look at my pattern collection, you will notice that I love a deep hem. You’ll find them on almost all of our patterns. I just love this look. I usually go for a one and a half- to a two-inch hem. Some people might find that a bit excessive, but I just think it looks so good. It gives it, like, a modern feel. Even on my knits, I like to hem deep. I usually go one to 1.5. How about you? You like to hem deep, right?

Caroline: I like to hem deep. I love a deep hem cause it is, it’s, like, luxurious and, kind of, like, unnecessary, but…

Helen: Yes!

Caroline: …because you can, why not? Especially if you have the fabric available. I am in agreement. I love a deep hem. I love that your patterns have deep hems. For me, it does depend on the garment. I also love a small double fold hem, especially on a really lightweight fabric.

And when I want to conserve length, like I said, I like to serge the edge and then just turn it up once for a tiny single fold hem. I do this a lot on dresses and, like, flowy, you know, kind of, cotton garments that I just, yeah, the inside won’t really be seen, so it doesn’t matter.

Helen: Mhm.

Caroline: Okay. So how do you customise a hem? Let’s talk about deepening hems first.

Helen: Well, let’s say that the pattern has, like, a half-inch hem built in and you’d like to have a deep three-inch hem. If the pattern is straight cut, meaning it’s not tapered or flared at the bottom, you can just lengthen the pattern by two and a half inches, and you can stick some paper on there, or you can go right to your, uh, fabric and just cut it a little bit longer, going a little bit more risky route, but that works, too.

But if you have a tapered pants pattern, you wanna have a little “wing” at the bottom of the pattern piece that flares back out. That is the hem. The wing is like a mirror image of the taper at the end of the pant leg. So if you fold it up at that smallest point, you’re gonna see how that wing works. If you want to widen a hem on this kind of pattern, you can extend the wing using the bottom of the pant leg as a template.

Caroline: Yeah. I will say one caveat of just, like, doing the lengthening just directly on your fabric is that it’s easy to forget from, like, one piece to another.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: And I’ve definitely been there where I’ve, like, added some length to a piece, and then, I go to cut the back, and I forget to do that. And then, it’s too late. So having that visual, you know, reminder, obviously, of a bigger pattern piece or a longer pattern piece helps.

One little hack I wanted to mention is that sometimes when I’m sewing a pattern, if I’m not o-, in the largest size. I’ll often use, like, the hemline of the largest size just to get that extra length. And the line is already there. I don’t really have to think about it. I just, like, trace the rest of the pattern, but use the hemline of a, of a larger size. If it’s nested in the right way. It doesn’t work for all patterns, but sometimes that grading is nested. And that’s also, if you’re not like printing and hiding all the other sizes except your own. So it doesn’t work always, but little hack to speed things up.

Helen: Yeah. Oh, I’ve totally done that. And that’s a good point, too, that if you’re gonna make adjustments like this, it can be handy to make them before you cut out your pattern, while you still have it all intact, and you have that extra paper already there. You can go ahead and make these changes a lot more easily.

Caroline: Yeah. Now, if you want your hems to be smaller, it’s a bit easier than deepening them. You can just decide how much you’d like to reduce and trim that off the edge of your pattern. And this is handy for when you’re doing pattern tetris on a stash piece of fabric. If you are just a little bit short on the fabric.

And do remember if you have, like, a taper or a flare, you still wanna conserve that little wing, so it’s not always as easy as just reducing and trimming off that edge, but sometimes it is.

Helen: I should really know this, but is there a technical term for the little wing?

Caroline: Oh, it’s the wing, Helen.

Helen: The wing. That’s what we call it.

Caroline: I have no idea.

Helen: I love a good wing. When I see a pattern with a wing on the bottom, I’m like, oh, this is, this pattern’s legit.

Caroline: Yeah, totally.

Helen: Another handy skill for squeezing a garment out of a smaller piece of fabric is drafting a hem facing. You can use a complimentary fabric for this instead of using your shell fabric if you really wanna stretch out that main fabric that you’re using. To draft a hem facing, first, you mark the hem edge on your pattern. That’s the place where the pattern has asked you to press up to make the hem.

Say a pattern asked for a double fold hem of a quarter inch for the first fold and an inch for the second fold, you’re gonna mark a line one and a quarter inches up from the pattern edge. Then, you can use tracing paper to trace off the hem edge of the pattern, up the side edges, and across at the depth that you want your hem to be. So you’re essentially tracing a little rectangle piece for the bottom.

Add your seam allowances to your facing piece and your pattern piece, and you’re ready to go. If you’re choosing a complimentary fabric for your hem facing, make sure to try to match the weight and drape of your shell fabric. And if you can’t match it, try to go lighter in weight, not heavier.

So, for example, quilting cottons and cotton lawns are great for facing denims and canvases, but using denim to face a cotton lawn would make the hem hang, kind of wonky, and, kind of, heavy. We’ll link a great tutorial on the In the Folds blog that shows you how to draft a hem facing. And there are lots of pictures that’s super easy to follow. I’m a big fan of a hem facing, personally.

Caroline: Oh yeah, it is, like, kind of a level up from just a regular hem, and I like that it gives you the opportunity to conserve some fabric and play some pattern Tetris.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Okay. Let’s talk about marking hems. You can always go with the hem that the pattern calls for, but the best way to get a garment that’s perfect for you is to mark your own hem length cause patterns are often drafted for specific height. And also, body height is distributed differently, so somebody who is the same height as you might have a shorter torso and longer legs or vice versa. So it is always good to try something on and see if the hem that is designed is something that works for you.

Helen: So in order to mark your own hem, you’re gonna need to either wear your garment and have a friend mark the hem, or you’re gonna wanna use a dress form. A third option is to put it on a friend who has similar proportions to you, but how many of us have someone like that just hanging around? I mean, I wish.

The reason it’s important to wear the garment when you’re marking the hem is because your body shape will influence how the hem lays. You can’t just lay out on the table because there’s no body underneath it, and you’re really not gonna get a sense for it. And as Caroline mentioned, everyone’s weight and height is distributed differently. So the same skirt can be short in the back on one person, short on the sides on another person, or short in the front on yet another person. So you want to mark the garment when it’s on you, and you’ll be sure to get a nice even hem.

It’s also a good idea to put on the shoes that you’d like to wear with the garment. So you can get an idea for what the garment will look like when you wear it. This is especially important for pants or long dresses since they hang closer to the floor.

And if anyone’s ever watched Project Runway or RuPaul’s Drag Race or any of those shows where they’re getting critiqued on their looks, hem depth and how close it is to the floor is, like, a main thing…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …and it throws off the whole look.

Caroline: Yeah, totally. It can really make a big difference visually.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Um, and you don’t really know until you try it on. So if you put on your garment and then the hem already looks even, you can just make a single mark where you’d like the hem to be. There are a couple ways to do this without a helper, you can rubber band a marking pen to a yard stick or another long stick you have laying around. I’m sure Pepper and Emma would understand if we just borrowed one of their sticks for a minute. And then, you get in front of a mirror, stand up straight, and mark your garment where you’d like the hem to be.

Another option is to get in front of a mirror, hold a yard stick, or metre stick with one end touching the ground and note the amount of inches from the ground you’d like your hem to be.

Helen: I think the second option makes more sense because you won’t be trying to, like, use a yard stick to, like, poke your garment to market. Just seems like that is not going to work.

Caroline: Yeah. I mean, I, I will say, like, if you happen to live with another person and you have someone who can just for one moment come over and just put a pin in the spot that you want it.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: That’s probably also the easier way to go.

Helen: Yes, totally. And if you put on your garment and your hem is hanging unevenly, you’ll want to mark your hem all the way around. So you can’t just put one pin in. You’re gonna need to do a few more because you wanna get that even hem. So decide where you’d like your hem to be and use the yardstick to find that measurement up from the ground. Use your yardstick to mark the hem at the same number all the way around and make small marks every two to four inches. Connect them into a line once you finish.

This is especially true with A-line cut garments or circle skirts, those kinds of things that are cut on the bias at portions. So those areas will stretch more, and you end up with a wonky hem at the bottom. So you’re gonna need to mark all the way around. And then, before you cut, you’ll want to add your desired hem depth. Make a line below the hemline by adding on your hem depth. And that’s gonna be your cut line. Don’t forget that important step.

Caroline: Mhm. Yeah, you don’t wanna just cut right where your pin is because then when you hem it, it’s gonna be shorter than you need it to be.

Helen: Dope.

Caroline: And there’s one more tool that can help you mark your own hems, and that’s the Dritz Deluxe Chalk Hem Marker. This device has a stand where you can adjust the height of a nozzle and you stand right next to the nozzle, hold the air bulb in your hand, and it shoots out chalk dust to mark your garment. It’s kind of magical. We’ve never used one before, but they’ve been around for many years, so someone out there is using one. If you have, let us know what you think of it and if you have any tips for using.

Helen: This is, yeah, such a luxurious tool to have in the sewing room. And I’m surprised I haven’t acquired one yet, but I’ve, I’ve got my eyes peeled.

Caroline: I actually have one more method I wanna throw in here, curve ball, because this is actually how I do my own hems. And it takes a bit longer than some of these methods, I think, but it works for me. I just pin up the hem where I think it’s gonna look good, try on the garment, and then gauge whether that works for me or not. And sometimes that involves taking it off again, re-pinning, putting it on again, but it doesn’t involve any, like, marking with chalk or rigging up sticks or, you know, trying to get a friend to come and help you.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: It’s very self-sufficient even though it takes a little longer and it, for me, is, I like to be able to really visualise what it’s gonna look like, so the actual, like, pinning up of the fabric helps for me.

Helen: Yeah. That’s so fair. And you can also compare to existing garments that you have…

Caroline: Oh, yeah.

Helen: …that you like to figure out that hem depth that works for you and also the hem length that works for you. All that good stuff.

Caroline: Yeah. That’s a really great point. Okay. We keep saying to mark your hem where you want it, but what if you’re not sure where you want it? We have a few things for you to consider here.

Helen: Yeah. So for skirts, the four basic types of skirts are mini, knee-length, midi, which I always think is such a weird descriptor for this length, and maxi. Mini skirts can go anywhere from micro-minis to just a couple inches above the knee. Knee-length skirts can be just above, at, or just below the knee. Midi skirts fall to about halfway between the knees and the ankles. And maxi skirts fall from the ankles to the floor.

Caroline: And suit pants actually have their own hem terminology based on how the fabric of the pants falls on top of the foot. So the longest is called a full break. This is when the fabric has a generous fold of fabric over the top of the shoe and may also reach down to the sole, over the back of the shoe. This is a vintage-y style that, kind of, looks best with wide or flared pants.

Helen: The next-longest suit pant length is a half break or a medium break. This one makes a half fold over the top of the shoe and falls to the middle of the shoe back. This is the most traditional length and is commonly found on most business suits.

Caroline: And the next one is called the quarter break. This one has a slight horizontal crease over the front, and the hem reaches the top of the shoe at the back.

Helen: And the shortest suit pant length is the no break. This one has no folding at all since the hem just reaches the top of the shoe. It can go up to crop length, which is an inch or two above the top of the shoe.

Caroline: What about, um, like, flood pants? What length is that? I feel like people say that a lot.

Helen: I don’t know. What is that? Is that, like, extra long?

Caroline: No, I always thought it was, like, cropped. Cause, like, if there’s a flood you need to, like, roll up your pant leg so that your pants don’t get wet right?

Helen: Yeah. I mean, that sounds like the length of pants that I wear all the time.

Caroline: Yeah. Right? Same.

Helen: Like, six inches above my shoes.

Caroline: Okay. And as with everything in fashion, hem lengths for skirts and pants go in and out of popularity. It’s up to you if you wanna follow the trends or go your own way. And if there’s a look you’d like to emulate, check out some photos of that type of garment being worn and see where the hemline falls on the person wearing it. If you’d like to see how it looks on you, stand in front of a full length mirror and lift your garment to different lengths to test out how it would look, and make sure you wear your shoes.

Helen: Yes. Okay. Let’s talk about pressing for a moment, because this is one of the main ways to make sure that you get a great hem. Caroline, why don’t you tell everyone about your favourite tool? The seam gauge.

Caroline: If you listen to our last episode, you’ll know, I think it’s the handiest tool. Um, you can use a seam gauge or a hem gauge to help you press to the correct depth all the way around. So a seam gauge is, like, a thin metal tool, sometimes they’re plastic, with a ruler on it. And you can press a small plastic pointer to the depth you’re using. So it, kind of, slides along the ruler, so that it’s almost like a stopper at the measurement that you need. And the idea is that you fold the fabric over the ruler, up to the pointer, and then press over it.

A hem gauge is like a seam gauge only wider and without a plastic pointer. So these tools come in, like, a few different versions and variations and might take you a minute to find the one that works best for you. Um, but I personally use mine all the time.

Helen: I do use them, and I think they’re super handy. And I also think they’re just really cute and fun. There are so many different styles. I have, like, a little metal one, and I have one of those Clover ones that’s like, um, foam almost, so you can press on top of it. You can also just use a ruler. I mean, that’s essentially what it is. It’s a ruler.

Caroline: Totally. Yeah. It’s just like, it, kind of, the, the slider almost catches on the edge of your fabric, so it’s really easy to fold the fabric exactly how deep it needs to be.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Um, and makes just the whole process, like, a little bit less involved, I guess, but…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …maybe it’s more involved cause you’re using a tool. That’s the way you’re looking at it.

Helen: Try eyeballing it like me. It’s super easy.

Caroline: Live on the edge.

Helen: Pre-pressing hems can be really nice, especially with pieces that would be tricky to press once they’re sewn, thinking about, like, sleeve hems, or basically any hem on baby clothes, pant hems, things like that that end up in a small loop. It’s hard to get your iron in there.

So to pre-press you just press the hem before the pieces are sewn together. Then, you unfold them when you’re sewing the seams up. After you sew the seams, you’ll only have to press a tiny bit to get the hems ready to go. It’s also just so much easier to get a nice straight hem on a flat piece of fabric. It’s really a nice tip to add to your sewing practice. We started adding this to all of our patterns…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …telling people when to pre-press cause it’s one of my absolute favourite little sewing hacks.

Caroline: Yeah, it really is. It’s, it feels like magic, kind of, once you sew it up, and you’re like, oh, I don’t have to, like, fiddle with this tiny tube. It’s great.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: And some sewists like to sew a line of stitching at the place that the hem will fold. This gives a really crisp edge, and you won’t need to use a gauge. I’ve done, definitely done this before with, like, a curved hem. Or, I don’t know. I, I find this very useful in certain applications.

Helen: Yeah. Curved hems, and also just small hems. Like, a quarter inch hem is, kind of, hard to do at the iron. It’s fiddly and you end up burning yourself, so that line of stitching makes all the difference.

Caroline: Yeah. Totally. Speaking of curved hems, these are infamous for giving sewists trouble, so we have a few methods to share and some great tips that are gonna help you out. So there are a few methods to sew curved hems. Since wide curved hems are tricky, most of these methods are for narrow hems.

Helen: By Hand London shares three narrow hem methods in a blog post that we’re gonna link up in our show notes. The first is a double fold hem. You sew a line of stitching, there it is, a quarter inch from the edge. Press the fabric in using that line as a guide. And then, you press the fabric in another quarter inch, this time using the cut edge as your guide. If your fabric can handle it, use lots of steam to help the fabric lie flat. And then you’re gonna go ahead and stitch it down.

Caroline: Yes. And the second method is to use a narrow tape or ribbon. So you pin the wrong side of the ribbon to the right side of the fabric and stitch along the top edge. Turn the ribbon under and press, and then stitch along the unsewn edge. It leaves it looking really pretty inside. And you can have, like, a little contrasting or printed ribbon. So it’s like a little secret surprise just for yourself.

Helen: Oh, I love this. Okay. The third method is a simple single fold hem, where you finish the edge with a serge or a zigzag, turn it up, and stitch it down.I like this method if it’s a really steep curve because you can even turn up the differential feed on your serger…

Caroline: Mhm.

Heln: …and get it to, kind of, gather that edge. And then it makes it even easier to turn it up before you stitch it.

Caroline: Ooh, nice trick, Helen. I love that. I’ll have to try that. Okay. So we said before that wide curved hems are tricky, but they’re not impossible. If you’re sewing a curved hem wider than a quarter inch, you’re gonna need to gather the fabric at the upper fold. We’ll use the example of a double fold hem that’s folded up first, a quarter inch, and then again, an inch.

So first, you press up that quarter, sew a line of gathering stitches close to the edge of the fold, then press up the hem again, an inch, but only press along the edge of the hem line, not all the way to the top fold. Then, gently pull on the bobbin thread of those gathering stitches to ease the fullness of the upper fold. And when you have the hem nice and even and lying flat, press it and pin it. If your fabric can take steam, now is a good time to use it, but protect those little fingers, so you don’t get burnt like me. And finally, stitch the hem down and take out the gathering stitches.

I have done this before. It is involved, but it works really well. And it’s so satisfying when you can just, like, gather up that edge so that it fits perfectly, and you’re not dealing with all this, like, wavy, foldy mess on the inside of, like, a deep curved hem.

Helen: Yes. It totally is worth it to put in the extra effort. But even if you get a few little tucks on the backside, on the inside of your hem, don’t worry about it. Just leave them be, I say. Move on. It’s fine. You’re probably gonna have a couple in there, and that’s totally natural. You’re adding a lot of extra fabric into a small space.

Caroline: Totally.

Helen: Okay. We also want to point out something that’s called roping. You’re gonna wanna watch out for roping when you’re sewing curved hems. “Roping” is when the hem folds over at a diagonal and it creates ripples that look like the twists in a rope. To avoid roping, you need two things. First, you carefully position and press your hem. And second, make sure your hem is feeding evenly into your machine.

I don’t know about you, Caroline, but sometimes when I get going on a curved hem, in particular, it’s like, everything starts to skew and you feel like you’re just on an unstoppable train, and there’s nothing you can do, and it’s, like, all starting to go diagonally, and that’s how you get roping.

Caroline: Yeah, sometimes I, I cheat a little bit, and I just stopped sewing. And just do, like, a little tuck…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …at the back to, like, correct the roping. And, I find, even though that’s probably not, like, the recommended method, it does work for me when I’m like, you know, that runaway train moment where you’re like, oh no, we have a roping situation.

Helen: It’s roping! It’s roping.

Caroline: If you’re sewing a curved or flared hem that’s wider than a quarter inch, you’re gonna need to ease it. And if you’re sewing a narrow curved, or flared hem, you’ll still need to pay attention as you’re pressing, make sure to press the fabric up perpendicularly. It might help to lift your iron and put it down when you press, rather than scooching it across cause sometimes you get that roping, even in that ironing stage.

Helen: Yes. And if you think it’s your machine that’s creating a roping problem, you could try a walking foot also known as an easy feed foot. And this foot adds a set of feed dogs on top of the fabric so the fabric can feed more evenly through instead of being pulled at different rates on the top and the bottom.

Caroline: I will say a lot of the time roping will happen for me when I’m a little bit lazy and I don’t prepress my hem. And I try to just, like, finger press and fold it on the spot as I’m sewing.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: It’s a lot easier for things to sort of get away from you when you’re doing that versus taking the time to prepress, especially if you’re doing that with steam. Sometimes that’ll sort of shrink everything up before you start sewing so that you’re not in that, sort of, roping situation.

Helen: Yeah, that happens to me, too, especially if I don’t pin my hems, which…

Caroline: Oh yeah.

Helen: …I do a lot actually. You don’t wanna have to unpick because of roping. It’s like a slap in the face.

Caroline: No, it’s so annoying. It’s so annoying. Yeah. Okay. We also need to talk about A-line garments. A-line garments like wide leg pants, culottes, circle skirts, and A-line skirts have some parts that hang on the bias. And if you’ve made one of these, you can put it on a hanger and keep it there for 24 hours before you mark your hem.

Because the bias of the fabric stretches more than the straight of grain, you may find that some parts of the hem hang lower than other parts after you’ve let it hang for a day. So if you account for this by letting your garment relax before you mark your hem, you won’t be surprised by a wonky hem the first time you wear it.

Helen: Yes, this is a great tip. And one that, I will say, I rarely follow. I often just go for it and hem the thing. And then, you know, a few days later I’m like this hem isn’t exactly straight, but I feel like most people are not noticing these things.

Caroline: Yeah, I think it depends a lot on the fabric that you’re using.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: Um, like, how light or heavy it is, on the length of the garment, like a longer garment with, like, a really drapey, heavy drape fabric is going to get wonky more than something that’s, like, light and bouncy.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: So I think you can get away with it, with not doing it, but I also think if you remember, especially if it’s like a really special garment. Like, for me, if I’m making something for, like, a fancy occasion, I will let it hang and make sure that I’m doing my hem properly so that I’m not in a situation where I have, like, photos of this wonky hem that I will have to look at forever.

Helen: You also get the added benefit of approaching the hem, you know, the next day or the next week when you’re fresher and you’re not gonna rush through it.

Caroline: Totally. Yeah. Alright, let’s move on to hemming knits, Helen. Tell me more.

Helen: One great thing about knits is that since they don’t really fray, you never really need to do a double fold hem. As we mentioned at the top of the episode, you can just do that single fold. It’s plenty. You don’t need to even finish the edge beforehand. You can just leave it raw. I mean, I love saving steps like this.

Caroline: This is why I love knits is they’re often so quick and dirty and you can just finish a project in one sewing session because you’re not having to fiddle with double fold hems and finishing edges and all that stuff.

Um, but let’s talk about the options that you have for how to sew your hem on a knit fabric. So the first option is that you can turn the hem up once and zigzag stitch it down. It’s as easy as that.

Helen: Yeah. You can also use a twin needle. There’s an article all about this on my blog, so we’ll make sure to link that in the show notes, But basically, this is a needle that you can put in a regular machine. You put two spools of thread on your thread spindle and feed one through each needle. The resulting stitch will look like a double line of straight stitches on the front and a zigzag on the back.

You’re gonna wanna test this out on your machine and some scrap fabric to find the right tension first. The most common problem with twin needles is something called tunnelling, which is a tension problem. If you can get the tension right, you get a super professional looking finish with a regular sewing machine, and we’ve got some tips about tunnelling in that blog post, too.

Caroline: Yeah. And make sure when you’re doing that test on your machine that you’re folding the fabric and doing two layers instead of just a single layer cause…

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: … it will definitely tunnel more on a single layer.

Helen: Yeah. Guaranteed.

Caroline: You can also use a cover stitch machine. So this is how most ready to wear knit garments are hemmed. And this is a special machine that’s separate from regular home sewing machines and sergers. We talk about them a bit in our Sergers and Overlockers 101 Episode. If you have one of these, congrats, it’s gonna be really easy for you to get a nice finish on your knit hems.

Helen: Yes. You can literally get it to look like you bought it at the store, which I know is not always the goal, but with knit garments, I feel like it kind of is.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Finally, you can leave your knit hems raw. This is great for casual garments. We use this method on our Luna Tank pattern, which is a freebie. It’s got a super curved hem, so we just left it raw. It gives the edge this really nice, lightweight, flowy vibe. It’s not bulky at all. And I’ve also seen some nice swim top overlays that are left raw or, like, a swim skirt. I mean, swim fabric doesn’t fray, like, at all, at all.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: So it’s a great place to use it.

Caroline: Yes. Yes. I made my mother-in-law. Swim tank. It was kind of like a bandeau with a gathered panel at the bottom. And I totally didn’t hem that gathered panel, and it looks so great. Not necessary…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …to hem all the time, right? Okay. And the biggest issue that most sewists have with sewing knit hems is waviness. This happens when the knit is stretched out as its sewn. And even if you’re not physically stretching out the fabric as you sew, you can get wavy hems. This can happen because stitch length and width are wrong, or it can happen because of how the fabric is feeding through your machine. So you want to test out the length and width of your stitches on scraps of fabric to find the least wavy option.

Helen: Yes, and even then you might just get some waves. Some fabrics are so stretchy, and it’s so hard to not get waves. It’s something that I struggle with all the time with knits, too, so you’re not alone. One thing you can do to help is to stabilise the hem in some way. Some options you have for stabilising are spray starch, wash away stabiliser tape, like Wonder Tape, or knit interfacing, which is interfacing that has some stretch to it. So that will actually add an extra layer that you’re sewing on so that things are not gonna get as wavy.

And which one you use depends on what your fabric can handle. So, again, you’re gonna wanna do lots of tests on scraps and whether you’d like the stabiliser to wash away or stick around. There’s a few things to consider, but if you struggle with wavy hems and you’ve never tried stabilisers, give them a try. It can really make a world of difference.

Caroline: Mhm. And remember pressing with steam…

Helen: …can cure all wounds.

Caroline: Exactly. I was gonna say, fix all manner of sins. Like, a wavy hem can often be, um, rectified with a good, steamy, hot iron. Just make sure it’s not too hot, and it doesn’t, like, burn your fabric.

Helen: Yeah, don’t go, don’t go too, too hot. You can also throw it in the wash. That often makes a difference. When I finish a knit garment, you know, the neckline’s a little stretched, the hem’s a little wavy, and you just throw that in the washer/dryer, and bam! It’s all good.

Caroline: Actually, I feel like that washer/dryer tip, I’m going off topic is, like, a good tip for any garment.

Helen: True.

Caroline: I think this is something that I learned from Jennifer from Workroom Social, but she had said once, like, I always throw an, like, a freshly made garment through the wash before I wear it cause it just gives it more of a ready to wear look, and it just makes it feel like more finished, almost, once it’s been washed. Like, less pristine and just sewn. And it gets out any of those wrinkles that you might have from, like, the folds of the fabric that often you’ll get in a freshly made garment that just go away once you wash it.

Helen: Yeah. It really does add a, like, depth of personality to a garment.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And some fabrics more than others, like denim, you wanna wash it, like, 20 times.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Ideally.

Caroline: Yeah, totally.

Helen: Okay. We’ve gone through all the hemming basics now. Let’s talk a little bit about fancy hemming.

Caroline: Ooh, fancy hemming. Okay, we’re gonna keep banging our hand sewing drum because hand sewing can give you such a lovely result. You can make a practically invisible hem by hand, which is difficult or impossible to do by machine. And you also have so much control over easing the hem when you hand sew it. Tell me about hand sewing, Helen. I know you love hand sewing.

Helen: I do. It really does make a huge difference. If you struggle with things like hems or setting in sleeves, hand sewing is your friend. Try it, try it, try it. Okay.

There are five main hand stitches used to sew hems. The catch stitch is the one that looks like lots of little x’s across the back. Across the front, there’s just tiny, far apart, little stitches where you just caught the fabric.

This stitch is strong and it has a bit of give, which makes it ideal for close fitting sleeve hems or tight pencil skirt hems. You’ll see this a lot if you go vintage clothes shopping and you peek at the hems, the catch stitch, those little x’s along the hem. Super common.

Next, the blind hem stitch hides most of the thread behind the top fold of the hem. And it’s barely visible from either side. You’re, kind of, like, tucking it in between the fold of the hem and the garment. Um, and it’s called the blind stitch cause you can’t see it.

The slip stitch is similar in that it’s almost invisible on both sides, but this time, most of the thread is hidden inside the fold of the hem. Love that! Finally, the fell stitch leaves tiny vertical stitches on the front of the hem and longer diagonal stitches on the backside.

And we’re gonna link to Seamwork’s article “Five Ways to Hand Stitch a Hem,” so you can learn all of these stitches and see them in action.

Caroline: And I have a couple of hand sewing tips for you all. So pressing is gonna help you get a really neat result. You also want to try to keep the needle above the fabric. You’re gonna go faster if you put the needle down and back up right away, rather than pulling it down and then searching for the right spot to bring it back up again. And you really only need to catch one or two threads from the outside fabric when you’re hemming. This is gonna leave you with a really tiny, almost-invisible stitch on the right side of your fabric.

Helen: Yes. If your machine has a blind hem stitch, you can also try that. You will need a blind hem foot as well. The blind hem foot looks like a regular foot with a vertical plate in the middle. You’ll turn up your hem twice, like normal, and then fold it back the other way so that there’s a little gap between the top fold of the hem and the outside of the pant or the skirt. You’re gonna pin that into place. You butt the new fold against the centre plate and stitch. And the stitch will just put a few straight stitches onto the top fold of the hem and then a tiny stitch onto the folded pant leg over and over. It kind of goes, like, one two over, one two over. And on the outside, it will look like an almost-invisible hem, tiny little stitches. You can check out the blind hem tutorial on the Seamwork website for a more visual representation. I have actually never used my blind hem stitch or foot.

Caroline: I was gonna say, have you ever done this before? I have definitely used it before, and I, it’s, kind of, magical. Like, it’s definitely hard to visualise from just a verbal description, but I encourage everyone to go check out the tutorial and try it even just on a scrap of fabric cause once you try it, it’s, sort of, I don’t know, demystifies the whole process, and it is a really handy little tool, especially if you’re making a pair of, like, trousers where you want, like, a really clean finish at the bottom.I think this is a great method if you have that option on your machine.

Helen: Totally.

Caroline: And you wanna avoid hand sewing.

Helen: Wow. I feel personally attacked.

Caroline: You can also do baby hems, I love a baby hem, also known as rolled hems by hand or on the machine. By hand, it’s, kind of, magical. You turn the fabric down once, a scant quarter inch, and then you sew tiny stitches in a, kind of, zigzag. And then every couple of inches you pull the string and it rolls up into a beautiful, tiny hem. We found a great Threads video demonstrating it that you’ll have to watch, so we’re gonna link that up. It’s so satisfying.

And by machine, you can use a rolled hem foot. This foot guides a single fold of fabric into a roll as you stitch it down. It can be tricky to get this one started. It helps to stabilise the first couple of inches with lightweight, interfacing and put tissue paper under it. But once you get it started, though, it’s a beautiful result for much less time than it takes to hand roll a hem.

I have to say Helen, when I used to sew on an industrial machine, like, ten years ago, um, or more actually, before I moved to Vancouver, I had one of these, like, rolled hem feet for my industrial, and it is so fun to use and so cool, and it gives such a professional looking finish. I, I don’t know. I haven’t seen this attachment for a domestic sewing machine or at least not for mine, maybe it exists. But if you’ve never tried this or seen it, you gotta look it up. It’s really cool.

Helen: It’s so cool. It looks, kind of, like a little, like, cone, right? Like, a little swirly…

Caroline: It’s, yeah, it’s like a little, it’s like a foot with a little swirl on the right side. And you, sort of, have to push the edge of the fabric into that swirl to get it going so that it does, like, the initial swirl. And then once you sew, it just, kind of, like, you just have to position your fabric the right way. And then it just goes, and it’s, like, magic. And you don’t have to prepress or anything. And it gives you this beautiful baby hem. It’s really nice on, like, a chiffon or an organza or a satin when you just want, like, a little teeny tiny hem, and you don’t wanna fiddle with pressing it and sewing it by hand.

Helen: So, so cool. You can also use bias binding to hem. In fact, this is a really good option for curved hems, since it has that natural stretch to it. You would want to use single fold bias tape, the kind where it’s just two edges pressed into the centre. You pin the right side of the tape to the right side of the hem. Sew it together along the bottom fold of the tape. And then you under stitch the seam allowance to the tape so the edge stays nice and neat. And then you press the whole thing under and stitch the top fold down.

I love a bias finish, and it’s such a fun place to use, like, a contrasting fabric, little pop of colour, a stripe so you get those diagonal lines. I mean, it’s such a fun way to customise your clothes.

Caroline: Yes. We already talked about using hem tape for circular hems, but you can also use hem tape or ribbon on bulky fabrics to avoid doing a double fold hem. So let’s say you’re making wool, tweed trousers. A double fold hem would be too bulky, but a single fold hem would look unfinished. So in this case, you can pin the wrong side of the tape to the right side of the trouser’s edge, making sure that the tape overlaps the edge, stitch the top edge down, fold up the hem, and stitch the other edge of the tape to the trouser leg. No bulk and a beautiful finish.

Helen: Ooh, I love this. Piping can also be a cool hem detail. You can stick the piping in between a hem facing or bias tape so that the piping is at the very edge, or you can create a folded piece that will extend beyond the piping like you would find on a pyjama bottom.

Caroline: Mhm, and if you have an embroidery machine, you can make delicate, cut work hems. You stabilise the fabric, do a thick satin stitch in the shape you want, and carefully cut away the fabric at the edges. I so wish I could do these. I don’t know. I don’t know if I have the patience for it, but it’s really cool.

Helen: It is so cool. I love the idea of making a hem, like, whatever shape you want. I saw a really cool shirt on Pinterest the other day. It was just, like, a classic white button up shirt, but the hem they’d cut all, like, curvy and just, like, this really abstract way and then finish with a neon bias tape. So cool.

Caroline: Wow. That is a fancy hem.

Helen: That is a fancy hem. You can also make shaped hems. Scallops are really popular right now. Sam from Purple Sewing Cloud has been doing a lot of them in the past year. And there’s a tutorial on Megan Nielsen’s blog about it.

Basically, you sew a single fold hem first, and then you fold the fabric up the opposite way and trace your scallop template onto the fold, sew along the line, trim and notch the excess away. Finally, you clip it, press it, top stitch, single fold hem down. I mean, it is an involved process. You have to do each scallop, but it’s such a great finish and such a cute look.

Caroline: I feel like this should be a song. Clip it, flip it, press it, top stitch it. Clip it, flip it.

Helen: Flip it, press it, top stitch it.

Caroline: Clip it, flip it, flip it, press it. Okay. Alright. Alright. Okay.

Finally, there are a couple extras you can add to your hem to give them body and weight. Horsehair braid gives your hem body. Basically, on a wide skirt, it’s gonna make the hem stick out and look nice and bouncy. And on a coat or a blazer, it’s gonna keep the hem from folding in on itself so that it looks flat and tailored. Horse hair braid is a stiff, but flexible web of polyester or nylon. And to sew it, you place it into the fold of your hem, stitch it down when you stitch the hem down.

Helen: Yes, it is made out of plastic these days, but I believe it was originally made out of horse hair, right?

Caroline: I think so. Yeah. And you can get horsehair braid. You can also get horsehair canvas, which we used to carry at Blackbird and definitely had, like, some horse hair in it, I believe. Still.

Helen: Oh, cool.

Caroline: To this day.

Helen: So, yeah, it really does give that amazing body. I mean, picture, like, an A-line skirt with a horsehair hem and how much, just, volume that would have. Definitely a look.

Caroline: A look.

Helen: A look. You can also put weights in your hem. This can make your clothes drape beautifully, not to mention protect you from embarrassing moments involving gusts of wind. I mean, personally, I’m always waiting for a Marilyn moment, but you do you.

Caroline: I was gonna say.

Helen: There is a tutorial on the Itch to Stitch blog, where they use pennies as hem weights. There’s something so adorable about that. It seems like something maybe, like, a hobbit would do. I dunno.

Caroline: Just sewing pennies into the hem.

Helen: Just make sure it’s not gonna, like, rust, and I guess, yeah, it’s probably fine.

Caroline: Yeah. It’ll depend on the fabric.

Helen: They used to put lead weights in the bottom of skirts.

Caroline: Ooh.

Helen: Alright, in my humble opinion, we got through a lot of information in this episode. Don’t you think?

Caroline: We definitely did. And listeners, your hem work is share your best hemming tips and tricks with us. We love to learn from you.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: Also, share your best hem puns, please.

Helen: Yeah, I’m sure we missed some.

Caroline: Yeah, absolutely.

That’s it for today’s episode of Love To Sew. You can find me Caroline at BlackbirdFabrics.com and Helen at HelensClosetPatterns.com. And we’re recording today in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Helen: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, you can send us an email at [email protected].

Caroline: And if you love Love To Sew and want more, you can sign up for our Patreon. For $5 a month, you get a full length bonus episode filled with puns, sometimes, and weekly behind the scenes pictures. And for $10 a month, you get all that plus a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics. Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality content for you. So go to patreon.com/LoveToSew for more info.

Helen: Thanks again to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening. We’ll talk to you next week.

Caroline: Bye.

Helen: Buh-bye.

Hem. Hems. Hams. Love ham.

Caroline: Wait. I’m gonna say that again.

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We celebrate five years of Love to Sew with a chatty catch-up, a bit of reflection, and a bunch of sewing-themed games! Thank you for five wonderful years!

The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.

Photos and video:

Sewing Patterns: 

Other Mentions: 

Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: And I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Helen: Join us for today’s very special episode. It’s our fifth anniversary special.

Caroline: Woo.

Helen: Woohoo.

Caroline: And we’re back.

Helen: We’re back, baby. Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: Hello, Helen.

Helen: How are you?

Caroline: I am so good. And so happy to be back behind this mic recording our newest season.

Helen: Me, too. I always feel a little rusty when we come back from these breaks, but also rested.

Caroline: Oh.

Helen: Rusty and rested.

Caroline: Rusty and rested. Should put that on a t-shirt. I like that.

Helen: We hope you all had a really great summer or winter, depending on where you are in the world. We had a fabulous summer. We’re gonna tell you all about it before we get into all of our fun things we have planned for today. But first we wanted to talk about how this season is gonna be a little different from other seasons.

Caroline: Yes! We are going back to basics this season. It’s just us two. We’re chatting. We’re gonna be sharing information about sewing techniques, diving deep into fabrics, and exploring patterns. The only difference is that we’re not gonna have any guests on this season, but we do have some exciting episodes planned featuring advice and stories from listeners. And, of course, we’ve loved interviewing guests, and we have no plans to stop having them on the podcast. We’re just taking a season-long break.

Helen: Yes, because this fall, both of us are working on some new and exciting projects at our respective businesses. And we’re so excited to share more about that with you, but that’s why we’re paring back on the show a little bit. The guest interviews just take that extra bit of coordination. So we are just gonna be the two of us for this season, but if you wanna follow along with us and hear more about what we’re up to and get in on all of these secret projects, you can join us over on Patreon. We catch up in our monthly bonus episode over there and share more details about our personal lives and businesses. So you can go to patreon.com/LoveToSew for more info.

Caroline: And we might give you some little tidbits on the regular show, too, about what we have…

Helen: Oh…

Caroline: …coming up, right?

Helen: I can’t wait.

Caroline: We’re so excited to share with you guys. And we have so many fun topics planned for this season. We hope you’re gonna love listening to these episodes as much as we’ve loved prepping for them and making them. So I think it’s time to get to our fifth anniversary special, Helen.

Helen: Yay. Let the games begin.

Caroline: Yes! Okay. First off, let’s just talk about the fact that Love To Sew has been airing for five years, I guess, plus a little bit, because our anniversary was actually last month, but in those five years, we’ve made over 200 episodes, we’ve interviewed 106 guests, and gained thousands of listeners. We’re so grateful to all of our listeners, whether you’ve started listening recently or you’ve been there since day one. You always brighten our lives with your stories, and you share the best tips with us. We love you guys so much.

Helen: Oh, we really do. And in this episode, we’re gonna do a little bit of reflection on our podcast journey. We’re gonna catch up about what we were up to this summer, and then we’re gonna play a bunch of sewing themed games. But before the raucous fun, let’s take a moment to reflect on making the show for the past five years.

Caroline: Yeah, let’s do it. Helen, I wanna know what your thoughts are on making Love To Sew for five years. I cannot believe it’s been five years.

Helen: I know. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. I’m like, really five years?

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: It’s hard to believe. And I, honestly, I do love thinking back on our journey because there’s so many things about it that, like, fill me with pride and joy and just general good feelings and optimism. I mean, first and foremost, our friendship, which never would’ve happened without sewing and sew-cialising online. We met through Instagram, just a random chance that we decided to get together and here we are, and it just goes to show that you never know what can happen, and it does pay to put yourself out there. So if that’s something that you’ve been thinking of doing, highly encourage it. Go try to make a new friend. You never know where it might take you.

And the other thing I think about when I think about the podcast in five years is the commitment that we made to each other and to the show. I mean, five years of consistent, quality podcasting. Like, that is a big accomplishment, and it definitely, wasn’t always easy to pull off, but we have both made sure that the show is a priority in our lives. And I think that shows because we’ve been so consistent with the show, and I know our listeners appreciate it because they’re always telling us, emailing us, messaging us, letting us know. So thank you so much for listening and for letting us know that you love the show.

And I think it’s also thanks to our listeners and our commitment to the show that we’ve managed to grow our businesses in the ways that we have. And that has been an incredible part of this as well, is being able to share that journey with the sewing community and share that journey with each other and document that journey. I mean, can you imagine, like, 25 years from now, I really wanna listen back, maybe not to every episode, but I think it’s gonna be such a cool time capsule of our lives.

Caroline: Oh, yeah.

Helen: And I think that’s something just so special.

Caroline: It really is. Yeah. I echo so much of what you just said, Helen. I mean, everything really. It’s, I’m proud of us, too. And definitely have all the feelings about this, all the good feelings.

Helen: Yes. Tell me. Tell me your feelings.

Caroline: Well, I’m so proud of us, too. I, I also definitely cherish the friendship that we’ve built over the years, both on and off the air. It’s so fun that we get to, like, catch up, you know, on the podcast, through Patreon, and on the regular show, but we’ve also formed a friendship outside of that, and that has been so special. And I think it’s thanks to, like, the consistency of podcasting that we’ve been able to keep in touch after you’ve moved away from Vancouver and just, like, be able to always be able to touch base all the time.

But I, I think back to those first few months. And I remember them so clearly and how excited we were about making the show and putting it out there. And I think that, for me, I had no idea at the time how much the podcast would shape my journey over the next five years. It’s been such a constant in my life, and we’ve met so many amazing, inspiring people throughout our time podcasting. And I’m so grateful that we can hold space for these great conversations with guests and our listeners, too. Those community episodes and all the emails that we get from listeners mean so much to us. And I’ve just learned so much from making the show and connecting with folks.

So I just feel like this podcast has enriched my life so much. So I get a little bit emotional when I really think about it because it’s just been an important part of my life over the last five years. And, you know, you’ve been there along the way. So I, I just feel like our friendship and this show has been so special to me. But, yeah, it’s also just wild to think back about where we were in our lives and businesses back when we started and where we are now, like, so much has changed, but I think what stayed the same is just our passion for sewing and connecting with this amazing community.

So I just wanna send out, like, a really heartfelt thank you to our listeners for being our cheerleaders and our biggest supporters, not just through the podcast, but also our businesses. Like, I see you leaving those notes when you place orders at Blackbird saying that you love the show, and I read those notes, and that means so much to me that you take the time to go and support our businesses outside of also just listening to the show.

Helen: Yeah. Oh my gosh. It’s so true. I get those emails too, from people who say they love this show and they’re following up about patterns and questions and things, and it just makes my day. I love the idea that people are listening and then supporting us, buying fabric and patterns, making their little Love To Sew babies.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: It makes me so happy. And I couldn’t agree more about having this, like, connection with you. I mean, it’s an interesting one because we work together so frequently.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: And we have a Slack channel that’s always open, so it’s like having another partner in your life. Like, you’re always there. Like, you are always just, like, one little finger click away.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And, and I know you’ll answer me right away, and it’s, like, that support is so valuable.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And working on the show has been, like, such a joy. I couldn’t have done it with anybody else.

Caroline: Aw, Helen. Okay, let me wipe my tears. No, it’s, it’s been so fun and, and, and, yeah, I’m just, I’m happy to be here and happy to keep making this show with you. And we have a really fun season planned, so I’m excited to get into that, too.

Helen: Yes, I’m so excited. And one little final thank you. I think we have to say thanks to everyone who’s worked with us on the show, as well, like…

Caroline: Oh, yes.

Helen: I mean, first of all, Sam, my partner who helped us edit the show back in the early days.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: And then we had Melanie, our assistant, who did an amazing job, helping us with the show. Now we have Lisa who does all of our prep and admin, and she’s incredible. We have Jordan who edits the show. We have Margaret who transcribes the show.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: And, of course, we have all the listeners. So thank you to everyone who’s helped make the show possible.

Caroline: Takes a village.

Helen: It sure does. Alright. let’s talk a little bit about our summer and how our break was because I love hearing what you’ve been up to, um, and that’s what we do over on Patreon, so if this is what you’re here for…

Caroline: Yes!

Helen: …please head over there.

Caroline: Yeah, let’s talk about it. I mean, okay, my summer has been really good. I’ve loved having a little bit of a break to have a bit more balance. I’ve had a lot of late time paddle boarding and swimming, lots of family time. My family’s come to visit a couple times this summer, and we’ve had the pleasure of hosting them. Um, that was lots of fun and lots of sewing.

I feel like I’ve had some sewjo this summer, and I’ve added some great pieces to my wardrobe. So I’m very excited about that, too. And Shea and I have been planning our wedding which is so exciting. We’ve been engaged since December, 2020, but we haven’t really been in a huge hurry to plan our wedding during a pandemic. Plus, we’ve been together for 11 years, so let’s be real, what’s the rush?

But we finally have set a date for September 2023. And, yes, I am making my dress, although, I reserve the right to change my mind. But right now I’m planning on making my dress, and I can’t wait to share that journey with you all. Um, so I promise I won’t be making it a week before the wedding. It will be a long process. And I’ll share it with you definitely over on Patreon, but probably also talk about a little bit on the main show, but I can’t wait to get into that. Um, and yeah, I’m not gonna do it last minute. Helen, hold me to that please.

Helen: I, I will. We need to do a wedding dress sewing episode or wedding outfit sewing episode.

Caroline: Oh, that would be so fun.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Also, I’ve been going to so many weddings, and I’ve made a lot of, like, wedding guest outfits. Um, so we should totally do an episode about, like, making…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …wedding attire.

Helen: Yeah. I’m curious. Do you have a favourite thing that you made this summer? Since you said you’ve added some great pieces, I wanna know.

Caroline: Oh, okay. Well, most worn, probably, would be my Orchard Dress which I just finished. So that’s saying a lot. I finished it, like, two weeks ago. Haven’t taken it off. I wear it all the time. Um, but I think my favourite piece, because it’s special to me is this, I made a Victory Pattern Sophia Dress with, like, a shirred bodice and these puff sleeves out of this really beautiful block printed cotton. And it’s just, like, so cute and special and fun. And I love it so much. Um, and I haven’t actually had the opportunity to wear it much, but I just, it makes me smile every time I see it.

Helen: Ooh.

Caroline: And it was, kind of, a challenging project with all the shirring. It was my first time shirring. So anyways, maybe we’ll post a picture…

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: …on, maybe, on Instagram, on the main feed or something so that you guys can see.

Helen: Yeah, we should.

Caroline: It’s so cute.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Um, so I wanna hear all about your sewing, too, but first I’ll tell everybody a little bit of an update on Blackbird. So it’s definitely been an interesting year at Blackbird. Like a lot of businesses, I think we’ve faced some challenges with our supply chain and inflation and just overall, our business has had to adjust a little bit to whatever this new normal is right now.

But through that, we’ve had some really amazing moments. And we’ve been able to get creative and try new things. And we are making some big plans for new and exciting projects in the future. Um, so hold tight for that cause we have some fun things that are happening in the next six months.

And I’ve also been working with a leadership coach for about a year now. I think we’re just coming up on our one year anniversary of working together, and I can’t tell you how much it has helped me to feel just more confident and able to take on all of the highs and lows that go along with running a business. And, yeah, I’m just thankful that I’ve given myself the space to work on that.

And switching to seasons has given me a lot of that time back and giving me that time to focus on, on the business and having more balance in my life and, yeah, coming, I’m probably feeling this way cause I’m just coming right off of a break, but…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …breaks are good for the soul, and I’m, I’m really happy that we, like, did that and made that decision for the podcast cause it’s given us time to do some really fun things with our businesses and also just, like, give ourselves a break personally. So yeah, it’s been a good summer.

Helen: Definitely. It has been a good summer. I do feel like this year I managed to achieve my goal of actually making summer a break and not planning a bunch of projects to do during summer. Especially, the last month here in August has just been, like, very chill and relaxing. And we’ve been doing a ton of swimming and paddle boarding. This is our third summer in our new home and our new city.

So we’ve really felt like we’ve settled in and we’re just, we have all of our favourite swimming spots and favourite places to go and friends and things like that. So it’s been a really, really great summer so far. And lots of times met with my family and Sam’s family and friends, and that’s been amazing. I actually got to try water skiing for the first time and I had an absolute blast. That’s still, like, the highlight of my summer.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh. As it should be, Helen. I just, I think about that video all the time.

Helen: It was so fun. I can’t believe I was able to get up on those skis and hang on for as long as I did. And it was just, like, yeah, such a, a cool experience, but yeah, great summer so far, honestly, just very relaxing, which has been great.

And on the business front, I released our first collection at the start of the summer, our STUDIO Collection, which has lots of great year round wardrobe staples in it. It was a little, maybe, poorly timed at the beginning of summer because I think the patterns are actually better for fall. So I’m very excited that fall is around the corner now, and I get to, kind of, remarket these patterns. It’s gonna be so fun.

And we also released a free pattern. You already mentioned it, Caroline, the Orchard Top and Dress that came out in August. Um, and this one has been a real hit with the community. So happy that everybody loves it. It’s been so fun to see people whipping it up. It’s such a quick sew, and it’s a perfect thing if you’re, like, too hot to wear clothes.

Caroline: Mhm. Yeah. Like, perfect timing on that one, Helen.

Helen: I thought it was too late, but I think I just hit that sweet spot of everyone’s, like, sweating.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: …at home being like, I wanna sew something, but I don’t want it to be, like, hard, and it, again.

Caroline: Exactly, it, like, helps that it’s such a quick sew. And it doesn’t take a lot of fabric, and…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: It’s just, like, all I wanna wear.

Helen: Oh, and I managed, I was so proud of myself, like, squeezing it all into one copy shop page.

Caroline: Yes. Amazing.

Helen: Oh, my gosh. That was really fun. And then coming up next, we’re doing our jeans pattern. We’re finally doing it. I’m so sorry it’s taken so long.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh. Don’t apologise.

Helen: We get questions about it on the daily now. It is coming. That’s gonna be our next pattern. I’m fully focused on that right now, so it is coming this fall. So stoked.

Caroline: Helen, perfection takes time.

Helen: Yes, this is true.

Caroline: I can’t wait to try out that pattern. And I also have to know, do you have a favourite sewing project that you did this summer?

Helen: Ooh. Oh my gosh. Good question. I mean, I’ve been making a lot of Sandpiper Swimsuits because, again, all of the swimming.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And I feel like I, personally, love just wearing a different swimsuit every day. I love variety is the spice of life. So, yeah, I just have so many in my collection now, and it’s, like, a two piece, so you can mix and match. So I think I sewed three more of them this summer, and that’s also a pretty quick sew, so that’s been really fun.

Caroline: Awesome.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Oh, okay. Helen. I’m, like, really excited to get into these games. So I feel like we should get into it. What do you think? Are you ready?

Helen: Yes! This was all of our assistant Lisa’s idea. She had so many great ideas for this episode and wanted us to play a bunch of fun games, and she’s arranged these all for us. So, the first one is called, “Who said it?” And in this game, we’re gonna read a quote that one of us has said in the past five years of the podcast, and then we have to guess which one of us said it. And I have to tell you, I have no memory of what I said on this show, so we’ll see how well I do on this one. And the answers are actually hidden here in our prep, so we actually, we do not know. It’s a true game, guys.

Caroline: Yeah. It’s a true game. We’re gonna reveal the answers after we’ve both guessed, right?

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: We’re each gonna guess. Oh, we’re gonna have to read back things that we said. My gosh. Okay, Helen, do you wanna take this first one?

Helen: Okay. “I’ll never forget that feeling. Like, just like, like, you know, when the world just, sort of, stops, and everything’s like, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. What did I do?” I do know the answer to this one.

Caroline: That was really good. Okay. Well, I wanna say you said that because your reenactment was so good. So that’s my guess.

Helen: Yeah, I’m pretty sure I said this. This was about when I, I was in high school home-ec, and we had gotten this fashion designer’s, like, load of offcuts and, like, old projects and things. And there was, like, this 99% finished gown in the bag.

Caroline: Oh, yes.

Helen: And I got it because I was the, you know, teacher’s pet, and it just needed to be, like, finished up along the edges. And I took it to the serger, and I, like, serged, I was trying to serge one of the seams and got, like, a piece of the dress caught underneath, and I cut a big hole in it.

Caroline: Yes! Oh, my gosh.

Helen: And literally, like, the world stopped because not only did I mess up, but it was also on this, like, really, like, important project that I felt like I just ruined this opportunity of a lifetime to own this designer dress. It was awful.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh. Anyways. It happens. I’m really glad you read that one cause I would’ve been like, “Everything’s, like, whoop, whoop, whoop,” which I don’t think has the dramatic effect of, like, what actually happened in the moment.

Helen: No, it was not whoop, whoop. It was not. It was whoop, whoop.

Caroline: Yeah, like a fan, like, in slow motion.

Helen: It’s, like, your heartbeat in your ears.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Okay, so, Helen. Yeah. You.

Helen: Yeah, the explanation’s there and everything.

Caroline: I love it. Okay. Our second quote is a simple one. “Isn’t it octopi, not octopuses?”

Helen: That was you.

Caroline: Was it?

Helen: Yeah, because I said that octo- that, uh, octopus was my favourite animal.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And then I was like, I love octopuses. And you were like, “Isn’t it octopi?”

Caroline: Okay. I believe that.

Helen: Oh, yeah.

Caroline: Caroline, talking to Helen about My Octopus Teacher. Love it.

Helen: Yeah. Great Netflix show.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh. Okay. “Let your fabrics talk to you.” Mm, I’d like to think that I said that, but I don’t know.

Helen: I’m gonna guess you, too, cause it’s fabric-themed.

Caroline: Okay. Let’s see who said it? Oh, yeah. Caroline on organising your fabric stash. It’s very on brand.

Helen: Amazing.

Caroline: Okay. The next one is, “I call it the rumpled realness.”

Helen: Oh, that’s you for sure, talking about linen.

Caroline: Oh, yeah? I would’ve guessed you. I feel like you say realness more than I do.

Helen: Oh, maybe. Okay. Maybe it was me talking about linen.

Caroline: Let’s see. Let’s see. Oh, it was! I was right.

Helen: I mean, you agree though about the rumpled realness? I absolutely agree that that is a term that we probably have both used.

Caroline: And I’m into the rumpled realness. Um, I love it.

Helen: Quote: “Now, when someone points out a stain, I’m going to be like, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m a stain positive person.”

Caroline: This is you. This is totally you.

Helen: Is it?

Caroline: Yeah. This is you.

Helen: I don’t know. I’m gonna guess you because I don’t remember saying this.

Caroline: Oh, it was me.

Helen: Caroline talking about zero waste sewing.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh. Okay, cool.

Helen: I don’t know what stains have to do with that, but…

Caroline: I am a stain-positive person, so that’s true. Alright, the next one is, “The pattern is only the roadmap, but you can take detours. You can stop to get gas. You can even change your mind halfway there and decide to go somewhere completely different.”

Helen: I really want this to be me because it’s so good.

Caroline: It’s you. It, I’m sure it’s you cause I remember being like, Ooh, Helen. I love that.

Helen: Yes. My pep talk.

Caroline: Yes!

Helen: Sweet. Okay.

Caroline: Um, this next one is just, “Picked a pupple peppers.”

Helen: I’m gonna say that’s you, and no shade, but you stumble over your words more often than I do.

Caroline: Is it? Oh, it was you!

Helen: Oh, no!

Caroline: But it’s cause you were making fun of me for saying “pup” instead of “couple.”

Helen: Oh, there you go.

“Little rules like this bother me a little bit because it’s, like, if you get there in the end, does it really matter? Whether you press beyond the dart point or not?”

Caroline: I don’t know. I feel like either of us could have said this, right? What do you think? I feel like it was maybe you. Cause you get hung up on these rules sometimes.

Helen: I’m like, what are all these rules for?

Caroline: You get personally offended by the rules at times.

Helen: I do. Okay, I’m gonna guess me also.

Caroline: Yeah, I’m gonna guess you.

Helen: Oh, it was Caroline.

Caroline: Okay. It was me. Our second to last quote is, “How many nudists do you think listen to the show?”

Helen: I think that was you because it was in response to me talking about how much I like going to nude beaches.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Which is kind of funny for, as a sewist who loves swimsuits, as I mentioned previously, but whenever I get the opportunity, I love a nude beach. So I think that might have been you in response.

Caroline: Oh!

Helen: Oh, that was me. Oh, in response to my own story no doubt.

Caroline: Yeah. Alright. You wanna read the last one?

Helen: “Definitely didn’t see that one coming. The butt.”

Caroline: What?

Helen: This is you, I think when we were talking about the different parts of, uh, sewing machine needle.

Caroline: Okay.

Helen: There’s, like, the scarf and the shank and the point and the butt.

Caroline: Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Was it me? Was it me? Oh yeah, it was. That was fun. Oh, my gosh. The things we say on the show, Helen. Why do we have a podcast?

Helen: I mean, I think Lisa only picked good ones, too, so…

Caroline: Mm. I’m really pumped about the second game. It is going to be Two Truths and a Lie! And this is just what it sounds like. If you’ve never heard of this game before, this is how it goes. One of us will say three statements. Two are true, and one is a lie, and the other person has to guess which one is the lie

Helen: Ah! I’m excited. Okay. Should I go first?

Caroline: Yes. Yes.

Helen: My first one is more sewing-related. One: when it comes to sewing hems, I don’t measure them. I just eyeball it. Two: I’ve never changed the needles in my serger. Three: when I’m designing patterns, I don’t sketch by hand. I go right to illustrating on the computer.

Caroline: Okay. I think I’m gonna say number one is a lie.

Helen: Nope. Number three is a lie.

Caroline: Oh, gosh. No. It was between those two. Cause I definitely know you’ve never changed the needles on your serger and I, for sure, shamed you for it. I’m sorry.

Helen: Look, it’s fine.

Caroline: It is fine.

Helen: The serger makes beautiful serging edges, so…

Caroline: Um, okay. Alright. Alright. Alright. Okay. Um, okay. So my first three. One: I only wore black and grey in college. Two: I still take some of the photos for our social media and website at Blackbird. Three: I clean and tidy my sewing room after every project.

Helen: Oh, I think three is a lie.

Caroline: No, it’s two.

Helen: You don’t take any photos for social or website anymore?

Caroline: No.

Helen: Oh, my gosh. Tell me your secrets.

Caroline: I have a whole team for that.

Helen: I know, I just thought maybe sometimes you’re, like, sneaking up on people, like…

Caroline: No.

Helen: …taking videos. No, you’re, like, never.

Caroline: I don’t even know how to use our cam-, we have, like, a new camera that we got, like, a year and a half ago, and I have no idea how to use it.

Helen: Well, that’s amazing. You really clean and tidy your swing room after every project? Like, every project?

Caroline: Yeah, you know I’m a procrasti-cleaner.

Helen: I know, but I thought that was more of a pre-sewing thing, you know? And you’re like, I wanna sew something, but first I’ll reorganise everything.

Caroline: No, pretty much, like, in between every project, I need to have a blank slate.

Helen: Oh, well, that’s a good habit to have.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And this only black and grey in college thing, I mean, you were missing out.

Caroline: I know, I know! And I think I’ve talked about that on the show, too. Like, I don’t know, I, just, me and all my friends, we only pretty much wore black and grey. It was a vibe.

Helen: Very cool. Yeah. Okay. Number one: I used to work for a skydiving company. Number two: the only food that I dislike is cantaloupe. Number three: after graduating from high school, I went on a month-long trip to Indonesia by myself.

Caroline: Okay. This is really hard, Helen, because I know you went on a trip after high school, but I thought that it was Thailand and not Indonesia. I’m gonna go with number three.

Helen: No, that one’s true.

Caroline: Ahhh!!! I’m so bad at this.

Helen: That would be sneaky if I just changed the location.

Caroline: I know. Okay. Wait, so what is it? What’s the lie?

Helen: Oh no, I like cantaloupe. Cantaloupe’s great.

Caroline: Oh, Helen. Okay. Okay, my next three. One: I really dislike stone fruit, especially peaches. Two: I learned to drive on a stick shift. Three: I used to be a synchronised swimmer.

Helen: Ooh. I know about the synchronised swimming. That one’s true. You’re allergic to stone fruit, but I don’t know if that means you dislike it, but, like, I guess so if you’re allergic. I’m gonna go with two, the stick shift.

Caroline: Wrong.

Helen: Which one is it?

Caroline: : I actually love peaches so much.

Helen: Oh, it’s so sad.

Caroline: It’s the saddest thing ever cause I’m allergic, and I just, like, sometimes, I just smell them. I just, like, take a peach and just, like, put it to my nose cause I love them so much, but I can’t eat them.

Helen: The smell, like, sticking your nose in the butt of a peach is, like…

Caroline: Oh, yes.

Helen: …heaven.

Caroline: I, I can only eat, like, cooked stone fruit, so I can still bake with them and stuff.

Helen: Aw.

Caroline: But anyway.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Well, that was fun. We failed at every turn.

Helen: We know each other so well.

Caroline: It’s a hard game.

Helen: It is a hard game. It’s true. Okay. For the next game, we recommend getting a beverage and playing along with us. It’s called Never Have I Ever. We’ll say “Never have I ever…” and then read a statement. And if we have ever done what the statement says, we will take a drink! Do you have your beverage ready, Caroline. I’ve got my ice coffee ready.

Caroline: Yeah, it’s the morning.

Helen: We’ll just heavily caffeinate more and more.

Caroline: How do we, like, tell people that we’re drinking? We’re just gonna have to say I’ve done it or not, right?

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Okay. I might have some clarifying questions, too.

Helen: We’re gonna have to take really aggressive gulps.

Caroline: Okay.

Helen: Put your throat next to the mic.

Caroline: Oh, perfect. People are gonna love that.

Helen: Mm, slurp it, slurp it.

Caroline: Okay. Okay. The first one is never have I ever finished sewing a garment on the way to an event. But I do have a clarifying question about this. My, my question is, like, what qualifies on the way to an event? Like, in the car on the way to an event? Or, like, I’ve travelled to the place where the event is, and it’s the night before, and I’m, like, sewing the hem of the dress.

Helen: Mm. I think that either could count. Up for interpretation.

Caroline: Okay. I’ve done it. Gulp.

Helen: You finished one, like, in a hotel room or something?

Caroline: Yeah, the dress I wore in my sister’s wedding, I, like, finished hand sewing the hem, like, like, in the days leading up to the wedding after I had arrived in Montreal.

Helen: Oh, my gosh. Yeah, that totally counts. I have not done this.

Caroline: No?!

Helen: I’ve done, like, night before, but not, like, on the way to, like, I was definitely picturing, like, in the taxi, like, hand stitching the zipper.

Caroline: Oh, man. That’s next level.

Helen: Okay. Okay. Never have I ever made a garment, hated it, and told nobody.

Caroline: Ooh.

Helen: I mean, I don’t think I can resist telling people whether I’ve succeeded or failed at sewing. As soon as I finish something, I immediately go tell somebody.

Caroline: Yeah, I wanna say I’m the same, like, I don’t think I’ve ever, like, hidden, like, a failed project, especially since we have a podcast.

Helen: Yeah, exactly. This maybe isn’t the right one for. But I’m sure there are folks out there drinking.

Caroline: Okay. Never have I ever talked to my fabric stash like it was a person. I’m gonna drink to that one.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Definitely done that.

Helen: I’m gonna need more coffee. I’m gonna have to drink a lot.

Caroline: Every time I walk into my sewing room, I’m like, hello, my pretties.

Helen: We’re supposed to say hello, my gorgeous beast, right?

Caroline: Oh, right. Like, beast of a stash.

Helen: Oh, okay. Never have I ever skipped pressing. I mean, come on.

Caroline: Okay. Everyone has, right? I’m gonna drink to that.

Helen: I mean, at the very least, you, like, skip it temporarily, and you’re like, I’ll press that, I’ll press that dart later.

Caroline: Yeah. I was gonna say, I don’t know that I’ve ever sewn an entire project without pressing, but I’ve definitely skipped pressing steps.

Helen: Oh, yeah.

Caroline: And if it’s a knit garment, then maybe I have, like, swimsuits and that kind of thing, but they don’t really need pressing.

Helen: Yeah, exactly.

Caroline: Okay. Never have I ever made a whole garment without looking at the instructions.

Helen: Oh, I have done that.

Caroline: Yeah. I’m gonna drink to that.

Helen: I don’t think it counts as much for me though cause, like, with my own patterns, I don’t pull out the instructions.

Caroline: You, kind of, don’t have to do that.

Helen: Yeah. Well, I just made them so many times, too, that I don’t need it anymore, but I don’t, if it’s a new project, I, I’m a pretty thorough instruction booklet reader.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Never have I ever permanently stained a precious me-made garment.

Caroline: Aw. I’ll drink to that.

Helen: I’m gonna drink to that.

Caroline: You don’t you remember I’m a stain-positive person which mean[s] I will positively stain every garment that I own.

Helen: Oh, my gosh. I stain things constantly. What gets me the most is, like, salad…

Caroline: Oh, yeah.

Helen: …greens. Like, I’m, I don’t know. I can’t, like, eat salad without dropping lettuce on myself.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And it’s all covered in olive oil, and it’s just, like…

Caroline: Yeah, you need a bib.

Helen: I need a bib.

Caroline: It’s a bib moment. Yeah, you need a bib.

Helen: Yeah, Sam and I have started wearing our Sam Aprons at the, at the table when we eat dinner. We, like, cook in them, and then we’re, like, leave ’em on. It’s, it’s perfect.

Caroline: Yeah, leave ‘em on. Yeah, I get that.

Okay. The next one is never have I ever injured myself while sewing.

Helen: Oh, yeah. I mean, it happens.

Caroline: Yeah, I have.

Helen: Thankfully, nothing too serious, but I’m, like, I am still, like, scared of my rotary cutter. Like, I’m, like, one day…

Caroline: Oh, yeah.

Helen: …I’m gonna forget to move my finger out of the way.

Caroline: I’ve had really bad burns from my iron.

Helen: Oh, yeah.

Caroline: Yeah. Mhm.

Helen: Yeah. Ugh.

Caroline: Okay.

Helen: Alright, our next game is called Sewing Superlatives! This is kind of like the superlatives from the high school yearbook, like best dressed and most likely to become a doctor, except with sewing stuff so we can all play. Okay. What is the most versatile fabric queen?

Caroline: What do you think, Helen? I’m sorry, I didn’t see your answer.

Helen: Maybe you should read it.

Caroline: Linen! I think we’re on the same page about this one. Linen life forever.

Helen: Yes. Linen is so versatile. I love it. I love it for pants, skirt[s], dresses, tops, hats, bags.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: You name it.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: You can make anything from linen.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. What fabric is most likely to cause a tantrum, Helen?

Helen: Mine is rayon crepe because I cannot cut it without it looking like a wobbly mess.

Caroline: Yeah. Mine is, sort of, like, a similar problem, but it’s gonna have to be silk satin.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: So slippery.

Caroline: So slippery. Hard to cut and hard to sew.

Helen: Alright, prettiest fabric in your stash?

Caroline: Ooh. Okay. Mine is, I have three cuts of our eco satin at Blackbird, which is a blend of EcoVero and recycled viscose, I believe. It has these really gorgeous, like, saturated prints. And I have three different ones in my stash, and I’m using them for upcoming projects, I’m obsessed.

Helen: It is so gorgeous. I just got a cut of it last week.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And I’ve been eyeing it in the shop for a while, but I wasn’t sure cause I hadn’t felt it.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: But it is like feeling a waterfall or something.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah.

Helen: It is so beautiful. I cannot wait. I’m gonna make a pyjama set.

Caroline: Ooh, it’s gonna be so nice.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Okay. What’s your Prettiest Fabric in your Stash?

Helen: I have a cotton silk blend voile from your shop from about four years ago. I believe it’s a mustard yellow base with a white and blue floral. And I don’t know if you remember it, but it is so beautiful, and I cannot cut into it because I like it so much.

Caroline: Aw.

Helen: I need to find the perfect project. Like, it will find its moment.

Caroline: Yeah, you’ll know, you’ll know the right challenge.

Helen: I’ll know. Exactly. And it’s see-through which makes it extra challenging to, like, pick something.

Caroline: Yeah, totally. Okay. Tool most likely to injure you, sewing tool that is.

Helen: Yes, I said pins because I, I stab myself with a pin every time I sew.

Caroline: Yeah, I do, too. I put iron because I pretty much burn myself, like, a little bit every time I sew. Like, my hands are just covered in burns, and it’s just hard to sew and iron with steam without burning your hands.

Helen: Yeah, the steam gets me for sure.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: You’re supposed to turn that off when your hands are gonna be really close to it.

Caroline: Yeah, but then you don’t get that nice crisp press.

Helen: It’s worth it, right?

Caroline: It’s worth the burns.

Helen: I’m gonna leave the steam on cause it’ll be worth it.

Caroline: Live on the edge.

Helen: Too bad for you, fingers. Okay. Most Handiest Tool.

Caroline: Okay. I put seam gauge cause I always have it on my ironing board when I’m sewing, and I always use it when I’m doing any, kind of, like, hem pressing or measuring of things. Like, I just find it super handy.

Helen: That’s, like, my least handiest tool.

Caroline: Is it really?

Helen: No, I do have one, and I use it sometimes, but as evidenced by our Two Truths and a Lie, I never measure my hems. I just eyeball them. I’m like, I know what an inchl looks like.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Um, I put seam ripper because it’s super handy, and there’s just nothing to replace it. Like, you can kind of get in there with a pair of scissors, but it’s not gonna do the job.

Caroline: Mm. Yeah, that’s true. I see that. Okay. Most Sewn Pattern, Helen.

Helen: Uh, right now it’s our Jackson Tee and Pullover. I think I have about 10 Jackson Tees in my closet, and I wear them all, especially in the fall and winter. I just wear Jackson, like, every day.

Caroline: Nice.

Helen: How about you?

Caroline: Mine is gonna have to be the Wiksten Top and Dress. I think I have, like, five or six that I currently have in my closet.

Helen: Nice.

Caroline: And yeah, it’s just a really great TnT and really hackable, too. So, yeah.

Helen: That’s the, like, shift one, right? The, kind of, boxy?

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. Simple, simple boxy, but it works so well with linen and cotton and yeah, it’s really easy to add, like, a little flounce, a little gathered panel, little length and shortened situation.

Helen: Yeah. Nice. Okay. Last one: Pattern Most Likely to Level Up your Sewing.

Caroline: Okay. I was trying to think of, like, something I want to sew in the next six months that’s gonna level up my sewing.

Helen: Smart.

Caroline: And I really wanna sew a coat for this winter, and I wanna make the Poppy Coat, and I wanna take my time with it. The Poppy Coat is a Fabric Store pattern. Um, it has this really beautiful oversized collar, and it’s long, and I have some beautiful coatings in my stash, and I really want to take my time and practice some tailoring techniques and really make it beautifully structured and beautifully finished. So I think that’s gonna level up my sewing game cause I haven’t done, like, a really tailored project, uh, in a very long time.

Helen: Ooh, I love this idea. This is gonna be gorgeous.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: I’m gonna check in with you monthly on how this is going.

Caroline: Yeah, I think we’re gonna have to schedule some sewing days.

Helen: Right? It’s good to start now on those bigger fall projects, so you actually get to wear them.

Caroline: Yeah, I know, in theory, that makes a lot of sense, but it’s, like, very hot outside today, so I’m like coats? No.

Helen: No.

Caroline: What about you? What’s your Pattern Most Likely to Level Up your Sewing?

Helen: I was thinking that this more generally, like, for sewists out there in the world and doing a shameless plug for our upcoming jeans pattern.

Caroline: Love it. Yes!

Helen: Yes! Which you can totally sew. Our instructions are going to be so detailed, so if you are looking to sew a pair of jeans in the next year, this one’s for you. Give it a try.

Caroline: I can’t wait. So excited for this one. Okay. Our next game we’re calling “Kiss, Marry, Kill!”

Helen: Nice.

Caroline: So, in this game, we’ll be given three choices. And for each set, we have to decide which one we would kiss (meaning we like it but it’s not like, true love); which one we would marry (meaning this one’s a keeper); and which one we would kill (meaning it just doesn’t meet the standard). I think we’re gonna rotate on this one, so…

Helen: Yes. Okay, Caroline, Kiss, Marry, Kill: seam ripper, rotary cutter, pin cushion.

Caroline: Okay, I’m going to kiss my rotary cutter. I’m gonna marry my seam ripper. And I’m gonna kill my pin cushion. I don’t even use a pin cushion.

Helen: You can put pins in anything.

Caroline: Yeah. You can put pins in anything. I love the little magnetic pin…

Helen: Yes!

Caroline: …thing, contraption thing.

Helen: I think they’re called, like, Gra-, well, the brand I know is called “Grab It.”

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: If anyone’s looking for it.

Caroline: Yeah. So I don’t need a pink cushion. Kill it.

Helen: I totally agree.

Caroline: Okay, Helen, I’m dying to know. Kiss, Marry, Kill: jeans, a boxy top, or elastic waist pants.

Helen: Oh, this one is hard.

Caroline: It is.

Helen: I just talked about how much I love our, our jeans pattern, but, but…

Caroline: Oh, no!

Helen: I’m gonna have to marry elastic waist pants. I mean, come on. Let’s be real.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Helen: Doesn’t get better than that. Marry the elastic waist pants. I will kiss the jeans, and I’m gonna have to kill that boxy top. I, I love boxy tops, but I, personally, I’m enjoying more fitted silhouettes these days. I li-, or more, like, you know, set in-sleeve.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: A more structured shirt, maybe something with, like, a voluminous sleeve. I mean, just a simple box top, I have actually, haven’t been wearing them that often, so…

Caroline: Mm, okay.

Helen: There you go. Okay. I can see that. I can see that. What would you do? Would you kill the jeans, Caroline?

Caroline: I think I would kill, I think I would kill the jeans. Not because I don’t love jeans. Just that they’re, they are decidedly the least comfortable of the three.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: So, I think I would, yeah, I would also marry elastic waist pants. I would kiss the boxy top. And I would kill the jeans. But I do love jeans, so this is a hard one.

Helen: What do you wear in the Pacific Northwest winter if you’re not wearing jeans?

Caroline: Elastic waist pants.

Helen: Fair. Okay. Kiss, Marry, Kill: thread nests, wiggly top stitching, or slippery fabric.

Caroline: This is tricky because I would kill them all, but… Okay, I’m going to, hm, okay, I’m gonna, I’m gonna kiss the slippery fabric. I have to make the kiss noise every time. Kiss the slippery fabric cause I love fabric, and I can handle it. I’m going to marry the wiggly top stitching because we’re gonna embrace our imperfections, and I’m gonna kill the thread nests because, like, they’re so annoying.

Helen: They’re so annoying.

Caroline: They’re so annoying.

Helen: Right when you get started, too.

Caroline: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Helen: Let’s get rid of those.

Caroline: Okay, Helen, Kiss, Marry, Kill: colourful printed wovens. This is a fabric theme. Muted, solid wovens or soft and comfy knits.

Helen: Ooh, I will marry colourful printed wovens.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: No surprises there.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: I will, oh, that’s hard.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: That’s too hard. I will, I will kiss the soft and comfy knits because I can’t live without them, and I’ll have to kill the muted solid wovens and just be dressing like a circus clown cause whatever.

Caroline: I support that. I think I would’ve made the same choice. Awesome.

Helen: Alright, Caroline, online fabric shopping. This is a tough one for you.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: In-person fabric shopping or shopping your stash.

Caroline: Ooh. Okay. Yeah. This is a hard one cause I think they’re all great. But I’m going to say I’m gonna kiss shopping your stash. I’m gonna marry online fabric shopping cause I am married to online fabric shopping.

Helen: Shocker.

Caroline: And I’m gonna kill the in-person fabric shopping. No offence to all of the amazing brick and mortar fabric stores out there. I just had to make a tough choice there.

Helen: Yeah, it is a super tough one. I think I would’ve had to go, go in the same direction. Maybe marry shopping your stash cause I love looking at my stash.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: But I still do buy fabric constantly, so…

Caroline: Yeah, totally. Okay, Helen: unexpectedly sheer fabric, fabric that frays easily, and fabric that shrinks a lot.

Helen: I mean, I will marry fabric that shrinks a lot. I don’t know that doesn’t seem like a bad thing to me, like, cause I always pre-wash, so…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …I feel like I nip that in the bud, get the shrinking over with.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And then I will kiss unexpectedly sheer fabric.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: Because it’s often gorgeous.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: And I will kill fabric that frays easily cause that is just so annoying.

Caroline: Yeah, it’s so annoying.

Helen: So annoying.

Caroline: it’s a nightmare.

Helen: When I am working with a fabric like that, I will just serge every edge of every piece because I do not wanna deal with it.

Caroline: Yeah, totally.

Helen: Okay. Cutting patterns, tracing patterns, self-drafting patterns.

Caroline: Okay. This is pretty easy. I’m going to, I’m definitely killing tracing patterns. I don’t trace patterns. I think I’m gonna marry cutting patterns. And I’m gonna kiss self-drafting patterns cause I do like, like, a self drafted hack or, like, a rubbing off a pattern situation, and yeah, it’s fun to do once in a while.

Helen: Yeah, totally.

Caroline: What would you do for this one? I’m curious.

Helen: Yeah, I think I would do the same.

Caroline: Cool. Okay. Last one, Helen. Kiss, Marry, Kill: podcasts while sewing, snacks while sewing, and drinks while sewing.

Helen: This one is easy. I would marry podcasts while sewing. I would kiss snacks while sewing, and I would get rid of drinks while sewing. I mean there’s risk of spilling, and also, I, I feel like I’m bad about staying hydrated when I’m sewing already.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: I forget to drink water. I don’t usually have, like, drinks in my sewing room. Occasionally, I’ll have, like, a beer or something, but snacks are way more important.

Caroline: Oh, yeah, totally. You need the sustenance.

Helen: Absolutely.

Caroline: Alright. We’re onto our final game. Do you wanna introduce it to everyone, Helen?

Helen: Yes, our final game is called Fortune Teller. In this game, we’ll choose a number between 4 and 356, based on the number of pages in this vintage sewing book that Caroline has. It’s called Better Homes and Gardens Sewing Book (published in 1961). We’re also gonna choose a number between 1 and 40, based on the number of lines on each page. And then the sentence on that line of the book will be our fortune!

So our fortune telling question for today is: how will our sixth year of Love To Sew go?

Caroline: Doot doo doo. Doot doo doo.

Helen: Okay. We have to choose a number.

Caroline: Okay. Um, What do you think? Do you wanna choose the first number?

Helen: No, you’re choosing the first number.

Caroline: Oh, I’m choosing. Oh, ok. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Okay. Uh, 225.

Helen: Okay. Okay. I’m gonna choose 17, my lucky number.

Caroline: Alright. Let’s see. 17. Okay. Hold on. I have to count the lines. Okay. Pale, pastel, iris sequins have a lovely iridescence and blend well.

Helen: Ooh, what does it mean?

Caroline: I mean, I think that means we’re gonna have an exciting, sparkly season

Helen: And a well-blended one.

Caroline: Yeah. It’s gonna be really great. It’s gonna have a good flow.

Helen: Yes! It’s gonna have a good flow, but it’s gonna be unique.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Pale. What was it? Pale, pastel iris.

Caroline: Yeah. Iris finish. It’s talking about different types of sequins. So an iris finish is an opalescent finish in many colours.

Helen: Ooh.

Caroline: Pale, pastel, iris sequins have a lovely iridescence and blend well.

Helen: Oh, we do have a lovely iridescence, and we do blend well.

Caroline: We do. It’s right.

Helen: Okay. Should we do a couple more questions?

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: Yeah. I love this. Okay. Okay. What about, um, tell us something about Caroline’s wedding day.

Caroline: Ooh. Okay. You have to pick the number for this one.

Helen: Okay. Um, 162, 162.

Caroline: Okay. And I’m gonna pick 30 as the line.

Helen: Uh-oh.

Caroline: Okay. It has a soft hand and drapes well.

Helen: Ooh, it has a soft hand. Maybe it’s talking about your dress fabric.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. I think, like, I’m gonna approach my wedding planning with a soft hand as in, it’s not gonna be stressful.

Helen: Right? Yeah. Gentleness.

Caroline: Gentleness. Yeah.

Helen: Calm.

Caroline: Drapes well. Actually, this is about my wedding day though. So, maybe, yeah, maybe it’s gonna be, my dress is gonna drape well.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Yeah. I kinda like that.

Helen: Soft hand. Yeah. I do love a soft hand.

Caroline: I definitely think I’m gonna wear a soft fabric. Like, I don’t wanna be itchy.

Helen: Like, a cotton jersey.

Caroline: Yeah. Perfect. Great.

Helen: This is a cotton modal blend in ecru.

Caroline: TBD. TBD. Okay. Uh, alright, let’s do one more. Uh, I think it should be Emma’s fortune.

Helen: Okay. What is my dog Emma’s fortune?

Caroline: Yes. Okay, so I’m gonna go with page 48.

Helen: Okay. And I’m gonna go with line six.

Caroline: What is in store for Emma this year? Okay. Uh, the direction of a stripe is determined by the varying widths or colours which are used in it and by the sequence in which these stripes are arranged on the fabric.

Helen: I’m struggling on this. Does Emma like stripes? I don’t know.

Caroline: Maybe you need to make Emma, like, a stripey bandana.

Helen: Oh, that would be cute.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Or it could be implying that she, that she would enjoy, like, some kind of agility game or something.

Caroline: Mhm, mhm.

Helen: Like, depends on the, the sequence and the variance. And she could be, like, dodging between them. She does like playing games.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. She’s great at jumping.

Helen: That’s true.

Caroline: And she’s very well-behaved. She’ll probably follow your directions if you play.

Helen: That’s true. Or I could just make her the stripey bandana. She does wear a bandana, so it’s a perfect opportunity. I have some fabric scraps. Just a few.

Caroline: Oh, my gosh. Okay. Well, these were, like, a bit of a reach, but I thought that was funny.

Helen: It was amazing. I can’t wait for the soft hand and drape of your wedding day.

Caroline: Yes, I’ll update everyone on how that goes.

Helen: I mean, cheers to an iridescent, blended season.

Caroline: Oh, I love that actually. Iridescent and well-blended.

Helen: Yes. Yes. We are so ready to move into the future. Um, thank you so much for five great years of Love To Sew. I mean, thank you, Caroline.

Caroline: Oh, thank you, Helen. It’s been such a blast.

Helen: Yes, and thank you to our listeners. Thank you so much for listening to this fun, goofy episode of Love To Sew. We’ll be back next week with our usual scheduled programming, and we can’t wait.

Caroline: Yes!

That’s it for today’s episode of Love To Sew. You can find me Caroline at BlackbirdFabrics.com and Helen at HelensClosetPatterns.com. And we’re recording today in beautiful sunny, British Columbia, Canada.

Helen: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with pictures and links from this episode. If you’d like to get in touch with us, you can send us an email at [email protected].

Caroline: And if you love Love To Sew and want more, remember, you can sign up for our Patreon. For $5 a month, you get a full length bonus episode and weekly behind the scenes pictures. For $10 a month, you get all that plus a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics. Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality content for you. Go to patreon.com/LoveToSew for more info.

Helen: Thanks again to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening. We will talk to you next week.

Caroline: Bye.

Helen: Buh-bye.

Okay. Talk to you next week.

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Get ready for the lovey-dovey-est episode ever! We share your touching, funny, creative love letters to sewing teachers, sewing tools, sewing machines, fabric, friends, family, and sewing itself.

The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.

From the listener feedback section:

Pics and mentions:

Patterns:

Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: And I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Helen: Join us for today’s topic: Sewing Love Letters.

Caroline: Aw.

Helen: Aw.

Caroline: Hello, Helen.

Helen: Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: How are you?

Helen: I’m doing well. I just had a margarita flavoured ice cream cone.

Caroline: Oh my gosh.

Helen: I know.

Caroline: That sounds amazing.

Helen: So good. I mean, it’s basically just, like, lime and salt flavoured, but it was incredible. It, kind of, blew my mind.

Caroline: Was it, like, salty sweet?

Helen: Yeah, it was, like, salty sweet. And then obviously had, like, an ice cream base. I don’t think there’s any tequila in it, but it definitely had margarita vibes.

Caroline: Uh, was this from that really delicious ice cream place near your place?

Helen: There’s a couple around town, actually. I don’t know if I’ve taken you to this one, but…

Caroline: Okay.

Helen: …next time.

Caroline: Alright, I’ll hold you to that. Oh my gosh. Well, this episode is the last one of our spring 2022 season. This was such a great season and a long one, too. We did 14 episodes and we had fun guests and super deep dives and some really great community episodes. But this episode is definitely one of our favourites, so I’m excited to dive in. And for anyone who’s wondering, the next new episode of Love to Sew is going to be coming out at the beginning of September, so we have the summer off.

Helen: Yes. And otherwise you can find us over on Patreon. We make our full-length, fun, chatty bonus episodes and sewing-focused mini-episodes all year long over there. So do come and subscribe. Plus, depending on your tier, you can get behind-the-scenes photos and discount codes for both Blackbird Fabrics and Helen’s Closet Patterns. So visit patreon.com/LoveToSew to check it out.

Caroline: Yeah. And we wish you all a great summer or a cosy winter, depending on where you live. And thank you for listening and commenting and supporting us this season.

Helen: Yeah. Thank you so much. Okay. Before we get into it today, we have some feedback. And this suggestion comes from Nico Morgan. She’s @HellYeah.Handmade on Instagram. And she came up with an idea to make finding projects from plus size sewists easier. She proposes adding the word “plus” to the end of your pattern hashtag. So for example, #AveryLeggingsPlus or #ClosetCoreCieloPlus. Seeing a pattern you’re considering making on larger bodies is so helpful. It would be great if pattern designers could start using this hashtag, too. Definitely listening on that point. And we love this idea – we’re for anything that makes sewing while plus size a bit easier, more enjoyable, easier to find what you’re looking for. So thanks for the great suggestion, Nico.

Caroline: Yeah. Thank you, Nico. Love this one. And we also got some great pre-washing tips from Susan after we shared the Wad-Free in our free bonus episode.

So Susan says, “About avoiding tangles when laundering sheets and cuts of fabrics: If you don’t want to purchase the gadget mentioned in the episode you can still have tangle-free cloth! I read somewhere to loosely tie 2 corners of the sheet before putting it into the dryer. You know, like the first step of tying a shoelace. Any 2 corners will do. No need to form loops or to make a square knot. Just that one pass of one end under another and pulling loosely works like a charm on both fitted and flat sheets. It’s never failed me once.

“As for fabric, just fold it to a reasonable size and either safety-pin-baste or machine-baste it together in a few strategic spots. Toss it in the washer and the dryer, but be sure to balance the load with towels or something. I used to zig zag or serge the fabric ends before laundering this way but don’t bother any more. For some reason, the fabric doesn’t fray as much when it’s laundered like this. (I don’t pretend to understand why!)”

Helen: Oh my gosh, I love these tips. They’re amazing. I’m definitely going to try this out with my next load of sheets. Like, tying the corners, genius. And same with the fabric. My fabric is constantly coming out of my dryer in a twisted, hot mess. So thank you for this Susan. And by the way, this is the same Susan who wrote in with the tip about using thrift store butter knives as pattern weights. So you’re just full of good information. Thank you, Susan.

Caroline: Thank you, Susan. Oh my gosh, Helen, do you ever have, this happens to me sometimes when we’re taking all of our sheets out of the dryer, and I’m like, Shea, go get the sheets. And then he comes with the big wad of sheets, and it’s just a big ball, and the inside is wet, and I’m like…

Helen: Oh yeah…

Caroline: …why didn’t he notice?

Helen: …that always happens to me at, like, 11:30 at night. I put my sheets into, like, the dryer after dinner and then forgot about them. And then I need to make my bed before I go to bed, and everything is still wet, and I cry.

Caroline: Yeah. I know. That’s why the pro-move is just having two sets of sheets.

Helen: It’s true. I should really upgrade.

Caroline: Okay, let’s get to the show. This is probably the lovey dovey-est episode ever. You guys know we love a touchy feely episode, and today we’re reading your sewing love letters. Sewing and love often go together. Many of us sew because of love, a love for sewing, a love for ourselves, a love for other people we make things for. And through sewing, we sometimes meet people we love, like teachers and sewing friends, sewing students, even. And, of course, we can’t forget our love for all the sewing things, our machines, tools, fabrics, and pattern stashes and that feeling we get when we wear our favourite me-mades. That’s love too.

Helen: Yes. And thank you so much to all the listeners who sent in their sewing love letters for this episode. Even before we started prepping this episode, we couldn’t stop peeking in to see the letters that you were sending in because they were just so, so good. And I cannot wait to read them today, but before we start, Caroline, do you have a love letter to share with us?

Caroline: I do. Okay. I wrote a love letter to my grandma, my mom’s mom. And I’m going to try not to get emotional. I feel like I’m going to cry on this episode, y’all, so just get ready. This is going to be, it’s going to be a teary episode, but this is my love letter to my grandmother.

Dear Nonna,

If you hadn’t dedicated your career to sewing, I would not have discovered that box of fabrics in our basement growing up. If you hadn’t bought my mom a sewing machine for her wedding gift, I would not have dreamed of learning to use that shiny Singer. The stories of the incredible outfits you made my mom and uncle growing up inspired me to want to make my own clothes. I feel sad that I never got to know you in real life, but I have you to thank for helping me find my passion. I’m grateful that I will always feel connected to you through sewing.

Love, Caroline

Helen: Aw, so sweet. That’s just a taste of what is coming today.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Yeah. I definitely peaked in the inbox and shed some tears over the weeks of collecting these letters. But I want to hear yours, Helen, who did you write your love letter to?

Helen: There were so many people that I wanted to write a love letter to, and I couldn’t choose. So I ended up writing one to my Kenmore sewing machine. It’s my first sewing machine that I got as an adult and the machine I started my business with, so…

Dear Rosemary (that’s her name),

When I locked eyes with you in the midst of my neighbour’s moving sale it felt like I had found what I didnt even know I was looking for. When I took off your dusty lid only to find you were shiny and pristine, I felt like you had been looking for me, too. You stumbled through the novelty prints and polyester with me. You revealed your tension and pressure settings only when I was ready to understand them. And you helped me sew the very first Helen’s Closet Winslow Culottes sample. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Love, Helen!

Caroline: Oh my God. I’m seriously crying about your sewing machine. I remember coming to your place in the early days of Helen’s Closet and being absolutely shocked that you ran your whole business on this old Kenmore sewing machine, but you made me believe in the amazingness that is vintage machines because she was really reliable.

Helen: Oh yeah.

Caroline: And she got you through many years of your business before you upgraded. I mean, she was a workhorse.

Helen: She really was. It took me several years before I finally upgraded, and I still use her occasionally, try not to let her sit for too long. And I definitely will be holding her close probably until I die. You’ll have to pry her out of my cold, dead hands.

Caroline: Put that in your will, I would like to be buried with Rosemary.

Helen: Rosemary and I go into the grave together.

Caroline: That was good, Helen. That was really good. Okay. Now let’s get to your sewing love letters. Our first set of letters are written to heroes of the sewing community: sewing teachers. Emma wrote a letter to her sewing teacher, now friend, Abi.

“Dearest Abi,

You’ve been an amazing teacher since the beginning of my sewing journey. I don’t think I would’ve stuck with sewing if it hadn’t been for you. There has not been a problem that you haven’t offered your time and experience to show me how to solve it, even outside class! I just want to thank you with every ‘stitch’ of my heart, especially through that hard time sewing the coat that my mum had started for me. I just couldn’t have faced it alone!

Helen: Aw, I love that. Abi helped Emma sew a coat and get through a tough time. And now that is true friendship. And announcement: there’s a new standard for friendship. If they wouldn’t help you sew a coat, then they’re not worth it.

Caroline: Yeah. Throw ‘em out.

Helen: Okay. Leslie wrote,

“I declare my platonic love and admiration for my sewing teacher, Annie Ford who is @Ford_Wardrobe.

When I first walked into class, I thought, ‘WOW! She is pretty young to be teaching a class,’ but when she spoke and explained things, it all made sense! I quickly became obsessed with class, and tried to learn everything I could from her, starting with her Ford Bucket hat. She has taught me everything I know about sewing, and has always let my ideas run wild, without judgement or criticism.

Now as our paths in life diverge, I’m confident she has left me with the tools I need to make and upcycle all the things! I even purchased the same overlocker she has.

Thank you so much Annie for being the best sewing teacher, you’ll do amazing things in Melbourne!”

Caroline: Oh, I love when teachers work with your ideas and don’t shoot them down. It sounds like Annie is an amazing teacher. Look out for her, Melbourne listeners.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: Okay. Our next one is from Tammy. Tammy wrote, “I recently learned that my favourite teacher passed away. Here’s what I wanted to write to her.

‘Dear Mrs. Jackson,

Thank you for your patience and high standards in your Home Ec classes. Opening the sewing lab at lunchtimes and after school created a community of teenagers who were passionate about sewing. Encouraging our curiosity and asking us to tackle seemingly impossible projects fuelled my lifelong drive to learn new skills.

Forever grateful,

Helen: Aw, this is so moving. Mrs. Jackson created a place where teenagers could be creative and safe. Imagine having a group of close sewing friends in high school. I mean, I actually can imagine that because I also had an amazing home ec teacher, shout out to Ms. Orchard. Always kept the class open, and I was there all the time. So I totally understand where you’re coming from, Tammy.

Caroline: Oh, that is so awesome. I never had home ec class in high school. They ended it before I was in high school. And I’m always sad about that because I feel like so many people start, kind of, their love from sewing started in high school.

Helen: Yeah, it’s true. I know. I hope it’s something that will come back in force.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Okay. Our next writer, Gail wrote us a poem:

“For my quilt mentor Claire

Caroline: Oh my gosh. This is so sweet. I didn’t know about quilt mentors. I feel like you need to have one, Helen. How can we make this happen?

Helen: I do need one. It’s so true. Any volunteers?

Caroline: Let us know. Email us. Okay. Our next group of letters is to fabric. And Lauren from Parker, Colorado wrote,

“Hello you gorgeous beast (my fabric stash, but also you lovely ladies!)

I must confess my love to you, my beautiful stash of ribbed knits, polka dotted polyester blends, and gorgeous green cotton twill that will someday become a pair of Lander pants. I’m sorry that there are so many of you, I just can’t help myself when I see something new and fun and must add it to the rest. One day I will show the world the many different ways that you can be worn. But until that day, you’ll continue to sit on a shelf, in a drawer, in a box, and some on the floor. Just know that I’ll constantly, always, forever and ever think of you and how much I love you sew.”

Helen: Aw, I am definitely calling my fabric stash a gorgeous beast from now on.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And I can totally relate to this “some on the floor” part of this message as well. It’s always, there’s, somehow, always some of it is on the floor.

Caroline: I’m just picturing you, like, every morning when you walk into your studio being like, hello, you, gorgeous beast.

Helen: Throwing open the doors on the fabric closet.

Caroline: Yeah. Good morning everyone. Oh my gosh. This is so good. Thank you, Lauren.

Helen: Alright, Yvonne wrote, “To my precious lace fabric: I love you because you complement my body. If I sew a bra with you, it looks like a piece of art. I feel beautiful when I wear you. Even though you are invisible to everybody else.”

Caroline: Oh, sewing with lace can scare people off some times. Yvonne, I’m so glad you go for it and sew with it, and I can tell that you love it. It is such a beautiful fabric.

Helen: It is. This is one of those letters that makes me think about the connection of a love for sewing, but also the way that sewing makes us feel loved because we’re putting that care and energy into ourselves and wearing something that makes us feel confident.

Caroline: Yeah, absolutely.

Helen: It’s very multifaceted.

Caroline: Okay. Noa wrote,

“To the half-made dress in a fabric I now regret, I’m sorry to tell you that you were a practice dress that I don’t know if I’ll finish anytime soon. To be honest I had this fantasy in my head of people giving me compliments and getting to reply ‘thanks, I made it’ and smile at their surprised faces. Now I’ve come to the realisation that a navy bedsheet with peach and cream coloured spots is just not the vibe. I hate to break it to you this way but I reckon after your extended break hanging out with my fabric stash, eventually you’ll have to become something else. Nevertheless, thank you for getting me excited about creating something wearable for once instead of more scrunchies – we both know I already have way too many.”

Helen: Aw, these are so good.

Caroline: These are cracking me up. It’s just not the vibe.

Helen: It’s just not the vibe. I feel like every sewist has a garment in their collection that they started and then hid at the bottom of a box or, like, shoved in with the fabric stash somewhere. And it’s a good plan to count up the lessons you learn, work on something else you’re excited about, and maybe come back to refashion it or just let it go. I mean, I guess it can always become scrunchies now, right?

Caroline: Yeah. And I was going to say, this is the perfect use for, like, a scrap pouffe.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: You can just throw those abandoned projects that you don’t want to finish in there. No one will know.

Helen: Yeah. They’re in the pouffe. Gone forever.

Caroline: They’re in the pouffe. Okay, this next section is probably my favourite, even though I’ll probably say that about every section. This is letters to family and friends. Do you want to get the first one, Helen?

Helen: Yes. This one is actually NOT from me; it’s from another sewing Helen:

“Dear Mum,

You gave me the belief that I could do absolutely anything if I had a go at it. That has been the greatest gift of my life. I’ll always associate sewing with love, knowing you stayed up until the small hours on Christmas Eve, battling satin and netting to make your girls tutus which we wore until we could no longer get the straps over our shoulders. I’d love you to witness how my sewing has progressed and share my pride in my creations, sadly not to be, but I hope you knew you’d given us so much, a joy in sewing being just a tiny, but thoroughly joyful, part of everything you passed on.

Your thankful daughter,

Caroline: Oh my gosh. I have something in my eye.

Helen: Oh, it’s so wonderful that her mom passed on her love of sewing along with that “I can do anything” spirit. I can definitely relate to that cause my mom was the same way, and it’s just the best.

Caroline: Aw, well thank you for writing in, Helen. Other Helen.

Okay, Jo wrote a letter to her husband, Patrick. “My husband supports me in my love for sewing. He is my constant sounding board, my cheerleader, and my photographer. I love him when he forgives the late dinners and the messy house. When it comes to fabric, supplies, and tools he happily encourages me to get what I need, and go for it! It makes me love him all the more.”

Yeah, it’s so nice to have someone who doesn’t sew, but who appreciates your sewing and supports you through all the ups and downs. It’s definitely nice to have an in-house Instagram photographer, too. I know Shea and Sam can definitely relate to this one. So yeah, this is definitely a sweet letter from Jo.

Helen: Yeah. I always appreciate when I hear about partners who are supportive, especially when it comes to collecting materials for this hobby because it’s endless, as we all know, and Sam is the same way. And I’m like, I’m going to get this fabric. He’s like, great. Awesome. Cool. He doesn’t need to bring up the fact that I already have hundreds of yards. It’s irrelevant.

Caroline: It helps in my case that Shea has hobbies, too.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: So every piece of fabric I bring home is a model train that he can bring home.

Helen: Exactly. Tit for tat.

Alright. Our next letter comes from Ellen.

“A few months before the first wave of the pandemic hit I had moved abroad in the hope of progressing my photography career. This dream was very short lived and I had to return, jobless and homeless, to live with my parents. During this time, my mum taught me to sew. She taught me everything she knew, and we spent hours listening to your podcast, drafting patterns, cutting out, and sewing together. I felt such shame moving back home at 30, but I will forever be grateful for this time I got with my mum. It has given me such creative joy, connected me to our ancestors who were also avid sewers, and given me a bond with my mother I never thought possible. I have since moved out but we text daily about our sewing adventures!”

Caroline: Aw, it’s amazing that so much joy and love came out of such a difficult time. Makes me feel so warm and fuzzy to think of Ellen and their mom sewing together and listening to our podcast.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: I love this so much.

Helen: Me, too.

Caroline: Okay. Sidney wrote,

“Dear Nanna,

I want you to know that your passion for sewing lives on through me. I thought I was loving you well by allowing you to teach me your passion of sewing while you were going through cancer for the first time, but you planted a seed in my heart that grew into my own love for sewing. Since your second round of cancer ushered you into the next life, I’ve moved into your home, given birth to your great grandson, and inherited your sewing space and all of the beautiful things you left behind.

You would be so proud of what I’ve done with your machines, notions, fabric stash, and sewing table. I’ve used them to start my own upholstery business. I feel more connected to you as I sew in your space. I love you, Nanna.

Yours,

Caroline: Oh. Phew.

Helen: Oh, I’m just cutting onions over here.

Caroline: Yeah. This is so touching. Honestly, it’s so beautiful that you didn’t even know you would love sewing when you asked your Nanna to teach you, and I wonder if she knew you would love it. And I’m sure she would be so proud of you, your business, and your son. Thank you so much for sharing that Sidney. It really, it really touched my heart.

Helen: Yes, really good. Alright, our next message is in the form of a voicemail so we can take a little cry break.

Caroline: Yeah, let’s take a break.

Erin: Hi, this is Erin from Boise, Idaho in the United States. I wanted to express my love for my sewing friend, Jessica in Portland, Oregon. Um, our shared love of sewing has been one of the threads that has supported our friendship over the last 10 years, keeping us connected through all kinds of big life changes. And I love that whenever we get together, we seek out the nearest fabric shop and even plan sew-cations, where we meet halfway between our two cities to spend the weekend sewing together. Um, Jess, we have seen each others through some very happy and some very rough times. I am so grateful and lucky that I have you to share this special hobby with. There is truly no one I would rather haul 20 pounds of fabric to a bus stop in Berkeley with. Love you.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. This is so sweet. I want to go on a sewing vacay. Can we do that? Huh? Can we make that happen?

Helen: Oh my gosh. I love sewing friends stories. This is so sweet. I really hope that Erin’s friend is listening.

Caroline: Yeah, me too.

Helen: Okay. Haley wrote, “To Bevan at Bawn textiles – you make the world a better happier place by prioritising eco friendly fabrics. You are such a welcoming face on the high street and Glasgow loves you!”

Caroline: Oh my gosh. You hear that, Bevan. Glasgow loves you. What a high compliment.

Helen: Yes. Okay. Our creative assistant, Lisa, who we love. Love you, Lisa.

Caroline: Love you, Lisa.

Helen: I could write a whole love letter just for Lisa and all the work she does on this show, but…

Caroline: Why didn’t we do that?

Helen: She has left us her love letter via voicemail.

Lisa: Dear Mom, Growing up, you showed me how magical sewing could be. When I was seven, you made me and my stuffed velveteen bunny matching Easter dresses – it felt like something that could only happen in a storybook. When I was ten, you made me a gown just like Rose’s from Titanic for Halloween. I was the most elegant tween alive. When I was twelve, you made me an outfit for the Renaissance Faire worthy of Shakespeare’s Juliet. You always supported my sartorial dreams – and taught me that we could make them happen with discount fabrics! Thank you for the hours you spent making my life magical, and thank you for the love of sewing that you passed on to me. I love you!

Caroline: Oh, okay. Lisa’s mom. You’re so talented. Rose from Titanic, Juliet. My gosh. These are, like, next level costumes. No wonder Lisa fell in love with sewing. And I just want to say, thanks Lisa’s mom for bringing Lisa into the world because we love Lisa.

Helen: And thank you all the moms out there, all the parents out there who have worked so hard for the Halloweens.

Caroline: Yeah. Oh.

Helen: For the Renaissance fairs. For those schools plays. I mean, my mom definitely pulled some all nighters sewing me some stuff growing up too, and yeah, that’s true love.

Caroline: It sure is. Okay.

Next up we have Sarah who wrote, “Dear Nan, It was Christmas in my 14th year. I thought and hoped the big box was a TV. It was a sewing machine. I’m sorry to say I was inwardly disappointed. Now in my 40th year I have 5 sewing machines, an overlocker, a beautiful sewing shed, and share my sewing hobby with my Dad. Thank you Nan for not buying me a TV. Miss you.”

Helen: Aw, Nan knew what your heart really wanted. She knew what you needed.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Okay. Our next batch of love letters are to sewing tools and machines. And I just loved the idea of writing a love letter to an inanimate object. Here we go.

Anne wrote, “I met you at a sewing class, and the attraction was immediate. You were strong, quiet and capable and made me feel that, with you, I could do anything. I went home and couldn’t face the old machine I’d used for a decade and knew I had to have you. Two months later and we’re so happy and have already made some amazing things together. I love you, my fancy sewing machine.”

Caroline: Congratulations, Anne. We’re so happy for you and your fancy sewing machine. May you have many blissful years together.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: OThis next letter is from Barbara to her needle driver! For those not in the know, a needle driver is like a cross between scissors and a clamp. Surgeons use it to hold onto surgical needles when they tie sutures! Okay, onto the letter:

“Dear Miss Driver,

May I call you Needle? After all, we’ve known each other for a long time, since the day I rescued you from the scrap heap at the medical clinic where you had served faithfully, and with great care and precision, helping humans suture up the torn fabric of other humans. Now you honour me with your presence at my sewing machine and every single day you cheerfully embrace all the new tasks I ask of you. Don’t tell the others, but of all the tools in my workshop you are my favourite.

Love always,

Helen: Oh, this is fascinating. I’m wondering what you use a needle driver for in your sewing. I’m guessing that it’s probably, like, pulling through thick fabric, like, or holding the fabric together while you’re sewing. David Page Coffin used a hemostat to turn his collar points, which is also like a medical tool. So maybe stuff like that? Barbara, if you’re listening, we need more details.

Caroline: I know. We can’t just continue to speculate. You must give us more details. No, I feel like it might be, like, similar to tweezers in a sewing room, like, helping you to, like, thread your machine potentially.

Helen: Oh, yeah.

Caroline: I don’t know. We must know. Please follow up with us, Barbara. I love learning about new tools.

Helen: Gemma wrote, “Dear quilting rulers, you’re not designed for dressmaking and I’m not a quilter (yet), but you’re so useful. I’ve reached for you in every sewing project since I’ve owned you. My father-in-law (himself a sewist) said I’d find all kinds of uses for you – and he was right!”

Caroline: I love an unexpected sewing tool, and quilting rulers are great pattern weights. You can use them for pattern drafting, too. And it’s nice that they’re clear and they have the measurements marked. I know I have one in my sewing room and I use it all the time.

Helen: I mean, I have recently taken up quilting as you guys probably know. But prior to that, I did have a few quilting rulers, and now, I have about 20 of them. I mean, they come in every shape and size. It’s like magic.

Caroline: Oh my gosh, I love it.

Alright, Addy wrote,

“My dearest Singer Touch and Sew,

I may not be able to hear you speak, but your actions have always given me comfort in the dark. It’s the easiest of all conversations I have throughout the day and it’s like you just get me. Your tactile whispers run through my fingers and straight to my heart. You are the true definition of ‘Touch and Sew,’ because you have truly touched my heart in unmeasurable ways.

With all my love, thank you,

Helen: Oh, sometimes dealing with a sewing machine is preferable to dealing with people, especially a sewing machine that makes things so easy. Thank you for this letter, Addy.

Caroline: Yeah. Loved it.

Helen: Aviva wrote us a POEM! Ahem. Try to do it justice.

“Ode to my iron:

Caroline: That is art. Oh my gosh.

Helen: So good. I can’t believe how great this poem is. You should be a poet.

Caroline: Yeah. Let’s give Aviva a round of applause for that poem. Also, hands up if you’ve woken up in the middle of the night and ran to check your iron. I mean.

Helen: Yes. Even though it has that auto shut off, I still, like, am always worried I left it plugged in. If it’s plugged in, then something can happen, right?

Caroline: Absolutely. Okay.

Next up, Emily wrote,

“Dear Seam Ripper,

Thank you for always being near at hand. I literally could not do any of this without you. You are my best friend.

Xoxo,

Helen: Oh, it always sucks so much to have to rip something out, but isn’t it great that mistakes are reversible in sewing and seam rippers do need more credit than they get. They’re a cherished tool.

Caroline: Yeah, I definitely think seamer rippers deserve a love letter.

This next group of letters is a hodgepodge. Or, as they call it on Jeopardy, “potpourri.” Basically, a bunch of letters that didn’t fit in a category!

Debbie from the North Oregon Coast wrote, “My love letter is to a stitch… the underrated understitch. This stitch makes my collars lie flat, my facing stay in place, my waistbands appear smaller, and makes me happy every single time I use it. Stitch love like this is, again, underrated!”

Caroline: Debbie, we love understitching, too. We never skip it. It makes too big of a difference in the finished garment. So hell yeah to that.

Helen: Yes. Love me some understitching.

Caroline: Alright, Phoenicks wrote a love letter to prewashing: “I used to ignore the hieroglyphic laundry labels on store-bought clothing and opt to throw it into the washing machine on the default setting instead. My carelessness was facilitated by a culture of fast fashion, which encourages discarding and replacing clothing, rather than caring for it. Caring for something necessitates that you learn about it, first of all. Recently, I learnt that fabric softener shouldn’t be used on 100% cotton; nor should microfibre be washed with cotton (because it picks up the lint). Prewashing fabric, especially by hand, has allowed me to connect with every fibre, and feel the sunlight on the fabric surface when I sew it.”

What a lovely way to look at prewashing. It’s, like, loving your me made before you even start sewing it.

Helen: Yes, it’s true. I don’t know if I’ll ever become a full hand washer, but I do love this idea of sunlight on your clothes. I’m into that.

Caroline: Yeah, me too.

Helen: Emily wrote a letter to grading between sizes. “I didn’t know until I started sewing that one of the most amazing parts was getting clothes that fit to a T. I didn’t know how important it was, or how common a problem it is. Now I can sew a garment in multiple sizes and feel so fabulous, and it makes me wish everyone could feel that joy.”

Caroline: Yeah, it’s so true. Grading between sizes is such a game changer. And most of us don’t fit into one size for bust, waist, and hips. That’s totally normal. Um, and if you’re looking for resources, Cashmerette has a great set of tutorials on their blog for grading between sizes for different types of garments. Definitely worth checking out. We’ll link it up in the show notes.

Helen: Yes. Love, love me some grading. I just keep saying that after everything. Love me a seam ripper. Love me some understitching.

Caroline: Okay. Carly wrote a letter to her past self:

“Dear Carly from 2013,

One day you will have a great job and own a sewing machine that seems to be from the future. It costs more money than you’d ever think to pay for any one thing in your life. And you will LOVE it and deserve it. Just be patient. (It’s a Viking brilliance 75Q).

Love, Carly”

Helen: Oh, Past Carly would be astonished at what Current Carly has achieved. Don’t you just love imagining what your past self would think of your makes or, like, things, like, your fancy sewing machine that you’ve managed to purchase or your house that you live in? Like, I think about that sometimes.

Caroline: Yeah. Oh, my past self that used to sew at the dining room table is very proud of my current self’s sewing room.

Helen: Yes. Okay. This one really belongs in the hodgepodge potpourri section; it isn’t exactly a love letter, but we think it still counts! One of our listeners turned us on to this song by the band Bait Bag. It’s pretty much a love letter to pockets! Here’s a clip:

Bait Bag: I just want pockets for my wallet and keys / I just want pockets to put my hands if I please / I just want pockets, come on I’m down on my knees / I just want pockets, give me pockets / I just want pockets, that’s not too much to ask / I need a place to put a knife and a flask / To keep my goggles and an oxygen mask / I just want pockets…

Caroline: Okay. This is such an amazing song. It’s like an anthem. I want pockets. Check out Bait Bag at BaitBagTheBand.com to listen to more of their music. This song is called “Pockets,” obviously. And they have their first full length album coming out in July. So check out the link in our show notes.

Helen: Yes. Thank you to them for letting us play their song.

Alright, we’re in the homestretch. Our last set of love letters are addressed to sewing itself.

Shem wrote, “When we met I was young and naive. It started off as something silly and fun. Then we drifted apart. Little did we know we’d meet again when I was older, more mature, and ready for something serious. It hasn’t always been easy but it’s always been love, even from the beginning all those years ago. I love you sewing…”

Caroline: Aw.

Helen: Sewing really does feel like a long-term relationship.

Caroline: Yeah, it definitely does.

Helen: Sometimes you fight. Sometimes you lose the passion. You work on it. You get back together. And it’s harder and more rewarding than you ever thought it would be.

Caroline: Yup, but worth sticking it out.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Most of the time.

Okay. Tabitha from sunny England wrote,

“Dearest sewing,

I want to send you my sincere apologies. I danced around you, played with you, taunted you with the infatuation of material bought and never used. A suitcase full of vintage patterns collected for years from charity shops – a glimmer of what our relationship could be. I swept in with hack attempts at a cushion or two then left you, cold…. for some other ‘thing’…. Left you wondering if I would ever come back to you. Thank you, Thank you so much for staying, waiting, having faith in me. I’m here to stay this time. I’m sewing my first dress and yes, you were right all along… I should have appreciated what I had all those years ago… You are the one for me, you are my soulmate.

You were so patient waiting for me all that time…you have my undivided attention; it’s my husband’s turn now to wait!!”

Helen: Oh, I love the ending. Congratulations on your first dress, Tabitha. You’re going to have so much fun sewing garments. I’m so excited for you. I definitely need a bumper sticker or a t-shirt that says, “Sewing is my soulmate,” though.

Caroline: Oh, yeah. That’s a great idea. Put that in our back pocket.

Helen: Okay. This next letter is anonymous.

“Dear sewing,

During lockdown, you stumbled unpretentiously into my life via a 1980’s children’s pattern I fortuitously found in the long-abandoned sewing stash of my mother. I did not expect much when embarking upon that first project but you have slowly crept into my creative heart and flourished.

Because of you I have a go-to talking point which maintains a much-needed line of connection with my mother, a maternal relationship which has been put under major strain because of fierce differences of opinion arising from the pandemic.

Because of you I feel a connection to my grandmother long-since past, each time I reach for her bias-binding or buttons that she purchased in Woolworth’s for 38p in the 1970’s.

Because of you I can connect with loved-ones past and present, something I would have never thought possible when I laid my hands on and considered that first children’s pinafore pattern.

Thank you.”

Caroline: Aw. I’m so glad that you can connect to your mom and grandmother through sewing. It’s amazing that this hobby can enhance the love we already have for our family and friends. Thank you for writing in Anonymous.

Helen: Yeah, it’s so nice to have those connections with people. Like, whether it’s strangers that you meet at sewing studios, you have something in common you can talk about, or family members that you know really well. It’s really nice to have that common thread that can get you through some of these tougher times. And I’m sure a lot of our listeners can relate to that.

Caroline: Definitely. Okay. We’re onto our last letter, and this one’s from Suzy.

“There was a point where I asked myself ‘what do you like to do?’ And I just didn’t know the answer anymore. New motherhood absorbed me and when I finally had some ‘me’ time, I was lost on what to do with it.

‘I guess I used to like to make clothes and sew?’, I heard in the back of my mind. So I tried that. I started a quick project and that didn’t stick, and then I did another and that didn’t stick either. And then I slowly found myself reading patterns whilst holding my sleeping baby at 3 in the morning — something I didn’t like before but it felt right. Then I cut a pattern and that felt like fun again, then some fabric….

Slowly but surely I found the pieces of my old self come in and join at the seams to form a new me, like a small hack that definitely improved the original design.

So thank you, for helping me find my way back.”

Helen: Aw, Suzy. In the face of overwhelming change, you found yourself again, and we always talk about how we can express ourselves through sewing. And this is what we mean in the deepest possible way. Just love that you found your way back to sewing and found yourself through that.

Caroline: Yeah. And our mailbag is empty now, everyone. Thank you to all of the listeners who sent in love letters and thank you to our sewing friends and our old sewing teachers and our moms and our partners, our machines, our tools, our fabric, and our patterns. We love you. Everyone say it together. We love you.

Helen: We love you.

Caroline: And that’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Caroline, at BlackbirdFabrics.com and Helen at HelensClosetPatterns.com! And we’re recording today in beautiful, British Columbia, Canada.

Helen: Head to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from the episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, send us an email at [email protected].

Caroline: And if you love Love to Sew and want more, we would be so grateful if you sign up for our Patreon! Remember this is how you can follow along with us in the off-season. For just $5 a month, you get a full-length bonus episode and weekly behind-the-scenes pictures.

And for $10 a month, you get all that PLUS a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics which basically pays for itself if you shop from our stores! Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content next season. And go to patreon.com/LoveToSew for more info.

Helen: And thank you to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you so much for listening. We love you so, so much, and we will see you in September. Have a great summer.

Caroline: We’ll miss you. Bye.

Helen: Bye.

And thank you so much for nis-, for nisteling.

Caroline: For nisteling.

Helen: Thank you so much for nisteling.

Caroline: That sounds gross.

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Tabitha Sewer is a sewing content creator, button designer, and business expert. We chat with her about sewing with unusual fabrics, creating designer looks for less, thrift flipping, and her amazing buttons! She also takes us behind the scenes of creating content for some of the biggest brands in the world.

The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.

Find Tabitha Online:

Tabitha’s Makes: 

A post shared by TABITHA SEWER (@tabithasewer)

A post shared by TABITHA SEWER (@tabithasewer)

A Few of Tabitha’s Brand Collaborations:

Tabitha’s Buttons:

Other Mentions:

A post shared by TABITHA SEWER (@tabithasewer)

Transcript:

Helen: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Caroline: Join us for today’s interview with Tabitha Sewer.

Helen: Hello, Tabitha. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Tabitha: Hi, how are you ladies? I’m excited to be here.

Helen: We’re so excited to have you. We’re doing well. We can’t wait to chat with you today. Can you please introduce yourself to our listeners?

Tabitha: Sure. My name is Tabitha Sewer. I am a DIY content creator, and I’ve been sewing for about, ooh, I would say about 12, 13 years now. And I’m absolutely obsessed with it.

Helen: Ooh. We’re going to get into all of that today. And where are you from?

Tabitha: It’s funny when people ask me that question because I’m a military brat, so I’ve lived just about everywhere. We moved every three years when I was a kid. So I can’t really call one specific location home, but I’m currently living in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Helen: Nice. And you yourself were in the military, too, right?

Tabitha: I was. I was in the United States Air Force for 10 and a half years.

Helen: Wow. It’s so funny because your, your personal style, I feel like is, like, the opposite of what I would expect in the military.

Tabitha: Yeah. No one would ever guess that I was in the United States Air Force wearing, you know, boots, the hat, the uniform, all that good stuff. But yeah, I was.

Caroline: So can you take us back to your early days of learning to sew and tell us a little bit about how you learned to sew and when that was?

Tabitha: I don’t know if a lot of people know this, but my mom sews. And she went to school for sewing and growing up, I always saw her sew for so many people, um, neighbours, friends, all that good stuff.

Um, she tried to teach me when I was a kid, but I was like, sewing is for grandmas. So no, I don’t want to learn to sew, and then when I got out of the military, after serving, I went back to school and I wanted to do something else other than homework, um, being at home with a kid and doing homework. I just thought that that was so boring.

I needed something for myself, and also, I had, um, severe anxiety. So I taught myself how to sew a little bit. And I would call her to ask her some advice and how to help me, um, get started and things like that. And, um, yeah, 12, 13 years ago, I just purchased a sewing machine per my mother’s suggestion. And I just got started. I jumped in.

Caroline: Do you remember the first thing you ever sewed on that sewing machine?

Tabitha: I do, and I still have it. My daughter’s 13 years old now, but at five years old, I, I made her an Easter dress. I still have the photos. I still have the dress, and it looks so beautiful on the outside, not the inside. But I was so excited to be able to create something for her, so… I do have a question. Why, why is it that when people learn how to sew, they just want to sew, like, the most bold, daring thing ever instead of sticking to something simple?

Helen: Oh, it’s so true. Like to dive right into the deep end. I think it’s because all of the sewing classes out there, like, you need to make a pillowcase or a tote bag, and people are like, no, watch me fly.

Tabitha: Yeah, that was me.

Helen: We already mentioned your personal style briefly, but for those of our listeners who aren’t familiar with you, can you describe your style for our listeners?

Tabitha: Oh, gosh. So I’m going to put out a disclaimer. Social media is my alter ego. Social media is a place where I am able to express, like, my art, my love for fashion, sewing, but in real life, real life, I am very, I’m not the type of person that likes attention, um, oddly enough, very ironic. So, on social media you’ll see that I absolutely love colour. I love all things that glitter. I love, like, bold print showstoppers, like, that, you know, that makes my heart beat.

In real life, my style is very minimal. I don’t want anyone to see me, so I’m usually in, like, black, a t-shirt and jeans, you know, the typical mom uniform. That, that’s me. So there’s, yeah, there’s two sides of me, which is fun.

Helen: Yeah, I love that approach and that outlook on sewing as an art form. And you really take it to the next level with a lot of your makes, especially some of these unusual fabrics that you tend to use, like, faux fur, sequins, velvet. I mean, you’ll make anything out of anything it seems. So tell us a little bit about how you choose fabrics for your makes and how you wrangle those fabrics.

Tabitha: I think in the sewing world, so I, I would say this. I’m the type of person if someone tells me you can’t do this, you can’t do that. I’m usually the type of person that will do it. So within the sewing world, we’ll usually hear like, this fabric is only for this, this fabric is only for this, I don’t really, I don’t really like hearing that.

I know, like, in stores, too, like, they’ll say, like, outdoor fabric or, you know, this fabric is only for this, and it’s like, no, I want to use it for this. And I really like experimenting with different fabrics only because with sewing, because it’s an art form for me, because I use it, just, you know, for art. It’s, it’s like a person that’s a painter that likes to paint and, you know, sewing is that for me.

So when I choose different fabrics, that’s, kind of, like, my canvas or my paints. And I like to experiment with different fabrics just to learn about different techniques and things like that. And it’s fun. I mean, I have absolutely nowhere to go in a sequined jacket or a fur coat, and I would never dare to wear that in public because that would, that would create so much attention. Ugh, I’d be so embarrassed.

But I just, I love, I love sewing with it. I love being able to create a character and just pretend that I’m just this fancy famous person, and I just know how to dress so good. It’s just fun. Fabric and sewing is fun to me.

Caroline: Where do you keep all of your amazing clothes? Cause I’m picturing like a 27 Dresses situation where you have, like, a closet that’s, like, bursting at the seams with, like, all of these dresses. Like, where do you, where do you keep all your clothes those aren’t the things you wear every day?

Tabitha: So you’re, the way that you pictured it, it is exactly what it is. I have a walk-in closet by myself. My husband has his own walk-in closet. And I have my own, and it’s double the size of his, and it is insane. And I also, because it’s so packed in there, and I’m also obsessed with shoes. Oh my gosh. Um, it’s so packed in there with shoes, clothes, handbags, all, all of the things. I also have here in my studio, since there’s so much at home, I have, like, half of my garments here at home. And then a lot of times I sell my stuff on my website. If I want to part with it, then I’ll sell it on my website.

Helen: Ooh. I did not actually know that. I need to keep tabs on you.

Tabitha: Yeah. If you’re going somewhere fancy or where you want to create attention, or you want people to talk about how fabulous you look then, yeah. You gotta shop my closet on my website.

Caroline: I love that. That is so cool. And you are so good at recreating designer looks for less.

Tabitha: Thank you!

Caroline: We love some of the posts on your website, where you show that inspiration. Helen and I were just talking about this amazing jacket that you made with, like, plaid on the front.

Tabitha: Ooh, yeah.

Caroline: And I can’t remember what colour it is on the front, the bright, bright colour on the back and just so, so cool. So can you tell us how you find inspiration for these, kind of, designer looks?

Tabitha: Yeah, absolutely. I think I speak for all creators when I say that our mind is constantly going whenever we see something on the street, whenever we scroll social media, Pinterest, magazines, it’s always, like, noted in our brain, and we’re always like, you know, I can make that. I can make that. No, I don’t need to buy that. I can make that.

Now, that’s, kind of, how I think. I have folders galore on Google Drive. I have folders on Instagram of things that, um, I saved, and I want to make. And every time I purchase a new fabric out, I’ll go to those folders. And then I’ll, you know, it’s pretty easy for me to come up with something to create because I, you know, I’m never not looking for inspiration. And I, um, I always see things that are.

Helen: How do you handle the, like, inspiration, overwhelm? Cause that sounds like a lot of input. Like, how do you choose what you’re going to make?

Tabitha: I know that there are a lot, a lot of things that I want to create and I guess it’s just what excites me at the moment. I know a lot of times I’ll create something, like, I’ll get so excited about something and then something else catches my eye and I already have the fabric for it. I’m, like, in my head, I’m like, oh my gosh, wait, I want to make that, too. So sometimes I’ll start two projects at one time, but yeah, it’s just whatever I’m excited about at the moment, either one or two things.

Helen: I love that idea of just following that creative thread and also taking the pressure off of wearing that garment long-term or out in your everyday life. Like, you’re just sewing for the pure joy of it and excitement about this vision that you have, and I think that is really cool. And a lot of people out there, myself included, could stand to do that a little bit more in my sewing, so that’s really nice to hear. Do you have a dream designer piece that you’d like to make in the future?

Tabitha: Oh my gosh. Um, honestly, not currently, no. I don’t have anything that I really want… actually, no, I take that back. There is this school glitter, sequin, plaid jacket that my favourite fashion blogger, she wears this continuously and oh my God. I just want to have my hands on it. And I always look for fabrics that are very similar, and I can’t find that specific one. So I’m looking for plaid, glittery, sequined fabric to recreate that. And that would make all of my fashion dreams come true.

Helen: That sounds amazing. A glitter plaid jacket.

Tabitha: And, and, of course, I would probably not wear it in any way because I’d be so scared of the attention, but, you know, I love it.

Helen: That’s why it’s a fashion dream.

Tabitha: Yeah, yeah. If I, if I could, like, hang up all of my clothes as art, that would be, that would be a dream to me that…

Caroline: Oh my gosh, the Tabitha Sewer Museum. Like, I would go.

Helen: I would go.

Caroline: I would pay money for that. The exhibition of all of your makes.

Tabitha: There’s, like, a blogger that did that a couple of years ago. Um, she makes, like, gowns, and she would make one gown a month, I think it was. And then she had them on display where people can come and view them, and…

Caroline: Wow.

Tabitha: Yeah, it was, I didn’t get to go, but I saw it on social media, and it was so incredible. I wish I was there.

Caroline: Very cool.

Helen: Ah, that’s such a great idea. I wonder if there’s some local, I don’t know, studio or something, or art gallery that would partner with you to set that up because it truly is art. It would be really amazing to see it in that context.

Tabitha: Yeah.

Helen: And are you using, like, indie patterns when you’re creating a lot of this stuff? Are you more of a Big Four sewer?

Tabitha: To be honest, I think I am more of a Big Four sewer only because it’s more convenient and it’s just right, right there. And I can just grab it and go. I’m not huge with even, even though I have my own patterns, I don’t, I don’t typically go for, like, PDF. I, I don’t know. I just, I want things to be efficient and easy. And for me that’s easier than downloading a PDF. And then taking it to the office store and printing it and then cutting it and all that stuff. So, yeah.

Helen: Yeah. I wonder if that’s in part due to the fact that you’re creating these one of a kind pieces you’re like, I don’t need to use this pattern again. I’m just going to cut it up and go with it.

Tabitha: Yeah, yeah. I feel like that’s, like, a sin in the sewing community. Oh my gosh, you cut your pattern. You, you never do that, but I, I, I cut them and I, I never use them again. I just keep going.

Helen: Move on.

Tabitha: Yeah.

Caroline: We had a convo on the podcast, Helen and I, once where we were talking about, like, are you Team Cut or Team Trace? And we asked the community, and it was very divided.

Tabitha: Yeah.

Caroline: There were very passionate people in both camps.

Tabitha: Yeah. Someone mentioned, too, cause I, I mentioned my love/hate relationship with sewing patterns. I posted a video about that. And someone mentioned something about, I guess, where you can cast the pattern down onto your fabric and you don’t have to cut the pattern. You can just cast an image of the pattern onto your fabric and cut it straight from there.

Helen: Yeah.

Tabitha: That, once I figure that out. Oh, my gosh. There’s no stopping me. I love that.

Helen: Yeah. That’s called projector sewing. I think there’s a, there’s a Facebook group about it. Yeah. So if our listeners are interested, look into that. It is very cool because then there’s no cutting involved at all except for the fabric.

Tabitha: Yeah. Yeah. Which I don’t mind. It’s the patterns. I just, oh yeah. I hate it.

Caroline: Well, one of your specialties is also doing thrift flips. Um, so we’re definitely going to link up some of those in the show notes so everyone can see some of the amazing makes that you’ve done with thrift store finds. But can you tell us a little bit more about what you look for at the thrift store and how you find things to flip?

Tabitha: Yeah, so I will give credit to Fiskars for the idea. Um, they’re the ones that came up with the idea for me. I, when they came up with the idea, I absolutely fell in love with it, and it was to promote their, um, sustainable scissors. And once I started, I couldn’t stop. I love thrift flips. I wish, secretly, I wish that I can change my whole, like, brand, my sewing to just the flips. But, um, of course, I can’t, so I have to mix it all together.

But what I look for when it comes to thrift flips are, of course, fabric textures, different, different types of fabric textures. I love things that look different. Um, typically, I look for things, because I’m more of a curvy girl. I need some garment or fabric or tablecloth or whatever it is, with a lot of fabric because I have a lot of body to cover. So, um, that’s pretty necessary for me. And yeah, just colour and texture. And a lot of times I like to start out with something that people are like, what in the world is she going to do with that? And I like, I like, I like to, to surprise people with the outcome of it.

Helen: Yeah, that is the both satisfying part is the before and after. And if it can be, like, a really extreme transformation, then all the better. And I could see you having a lot of luck at the thrift store cause I feel like a lot of the things that people get rid of tend to be those more out there pieces that might have a bit more going on on them, and they don’t get worn so much. So it must be really fun when you go to the thrift store. I’d love to go with you.

Tabitha: Yeah. I have, like, a bin at home that I need to bring here because I’m sure my husband is annoyed by looking at it by now, but I have a bin full of, like, thrifted stuff, like, vintage. I have some vintage stuff too, um, that I paid a good amount of money for that I want to flip. A lot of things with, like, tassel, fringe, a lot of fringes and feathers. I love, I love, like, all the fun things, but yeah, I have a whole bin full of that stuff that I’m just waiting to get sewn into.

Helen: Amazing. So when you have a thrifted piece you want to do something with, what does your process look for, for deciding what it is you are going to make out of that piece?

Tabitha: Um, I have to look at the garment first, or the garment or the textile, whether it’s a tablecloth or, like, an actual already made garment, just to see how much fabric I have to work with. And then from there I’ll scout my folders. And if I can’t find anything in there, uh, I’ll usually look at different websites like Anthropologie, J.Crew, Kate Spade, all that stuff. Um, I’ll look there for inspiration. And then once I find something, I’ll find a pattern that matches as closely as I can to the garment that I want to make. And then I’ll, I’ll go from there.

Caroline: Awesome. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I’m sure you must have a lot of options in your pattern stash. What does your pattern stash look like? You mentioned folders, so I want to try to visualise here.

Tabitha: Well, no, it’s not. When I say folders, I mean like my inspiration folder, like the pictures.

Caroline: Oh, yeah.

Tabitha: Like the inspiration photos, um, that I save up. My pattern stash isn’t as big as you would think because, remember I told you, I use, typically use a pattern once and I keep it moving. So I’ve, I don’t have a large pattern stash, like most, like most people. Yeah. I just, I just have, maybe this is going to sound like a lot, but to me, it’s not a lot. I may have, like, 50 patterns. Fifty or I don’t know.

Helen: Yeah. That doesn’t seem like a lot considering how many garments you’ve made.

Tabitha: Yeah. Right. Yeah. I usually just make it and then I’ll put it back in the packaging and then we’ll just, and then, like, excess fabric or patterns. We’ll just load it up and drop it off at thrift store or something.

Helen: Yeah, for the next person.

Tabitha: Yeah.

Helen: Well, you’ve also made some really beautiful and bold coats in your sewing journey. And we were wondering if you had any tips for making more structured or complex garments like outerwear.

Tabitha: Yeah. So if I’m being honest, I would say the way that I learned is with sitting down with my mom on, like, more difficult things. Not going to lie, it is very difficult to sew with, with my mom, because I’m so stubborn and she, and she’s, you know, her way, and then I’m my way. So I would suggest that you, you find someone that actually knows what they’re doing so that they can help break down things for you. And make sure that you set aside a good amount of time to finish the project because when it comes to sewing coats and things like that, it’s not, it’s nothing like sewing a dress or top or anything like that. That really takes a lot of time.

Um, so if you’re, if it’s your first time doing it, or if you’re still, cause when I started making the journey of sewing, a lot of coats, I’ve sewn a few coats in the past before, but actually sitting down with someone, even though I had, you know, a little bit of experience, sitting down with someone that has experience and, man, you’ll learn so much from them. And that’s, that’s kind of how I got better at what I was doing. Just, you’ll never know everything when it comes to sewing, and there’s so much to learn. So, um, having access to, um, my mom and her background is really a great help for me.

Helen: Aw. And what’s your mom’s phone number? So we can call… No, I’m just kidding.

Tabitha: And she would talk to you, too.

Caroline: That’s a great tip though. And if, if any listeners out there are thinking like, oh, I, you know, my mom doesn’t sew or I don’t have friends that are experienced sewists, you can get that from, you know, YouTube or an online course or finding a class locally, um, there’s always going to be sewers out there that want to share their knowledge.

Tabitha: Yeah, yeah.

Caroline: But I wonder, do you have a favourite outerwear piece that you’ve made that we can link up on socials this week and show everyone?

Tabitha: Oh my gosh. So I, I don’t, I don’t have a favourite. I don’t, but I do have one that is the most worn. And based on what I’ve told you guys, I told you that, you know, my real life self, I don’t like a lot of attention. My clothes are not, like, out there. So the most worn coat is actually a tan coat. It’s, it’s, like, a camel colour and on the inside, it’s, like, a silk, a pink neo-, I guess it’s a neon pink or fuchsia lining, silk lining, but on the outside, it’s very, you know, low key, like, yeah, I’m cool. Um, this is not, not too much, but on the inside, it’s a lot type of coat.

Helen: I love this coat. I’m looking at you at a Reel of you wearing it right now.

Tabitha: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Helen: Oh, it’s so cute. I could see that getting a lot of wear.

Tabitha: Yeah, that’s my most worn.

Caroline: Awesome.

Tabitha: It looks great dressed up, in exercise clothes like leggings and things like that. I love, I love that coat. And it’s warm, it’s warm.

Caroline: Awesome. Okay. Let’s switch gears a bit. You have a successful small business as a content creator, as well as a business making amazing buttons.

Tabitha: Yeah.

Caroline: So we want to know a little bit more about your business journey. Did you always know you wanted to run your own business?

Tabitha: When I got older, I did. Um, when I, when I was younger, I didn’t. I didn’t want to go to school. I didn’t, cause, because I didn’t know what I wanted to do as an adult. Um, hence why I went to the Air Force. Um, but then when I got out of the Air Force, I decided to get my business degree. So I got, um, my undergrad is in business administration and then, um, I went on to get my master’s degree, my graduate degree in business management.

And, um, while I was in school, I was running my blog, and I watched other bloggers and how successful they were in the beauty community. And I wanted to become successful in my community, somewhat, or maybe not successful, but just make some type of money. So I think, maybe, yeah, when I, when I first started 12, 13 years ago, I knew I wanted to have some type of small business.

Um, I’ve always been the type to sell things. Like, I remember, um, when I first started, I sold earrings, and it didn’t work out. I sold this and that, just all these different things. My husband can go down the line of all the things I tried to sell and it never worked out or I didn’t stick with it, but I finally found that thing that I absolutely love, and it’s, and I don’t know, I just I’m, I’m running with it. I’m enjoying it. And it’s literally a dream that I didn’t know that I had. So this, yeah, this whole business that I’m running, I love it. I love waking up every day and thinking about dang, I’m, this is my job. That’s so crazy. I love it.

Helen: I love this story. It’s so nice to hear that it wasn’t just, you know, deciding I’m going to do a business in this, and then succeeding. Like, you tried all sorts of things before you found that one thing. And I’m sure a lot of people out there can relate to that.

Tabitha: Yeah.

Helen: Especially going back to school as an adult, like, later on in your adult life, too. Like, that’s very inspiring.

Tabitha: Yeah. I w-, um, my husband’s cousin, she, oh my gosh, she does so many things. And it’s funny to watch her because I’m like, dang, that used to be me. I have to do this. I want to do that type of business. I want to sell this. And, um, I listen to other people talk about her and it’s like, it’s good for creators or people like that to experiment and try to find. that thing and, you know, it’s fun to experiment, but once you find your thing, oh my gosh, no one can stop you. And, and you’re going to be, you’re going to be good to go.

Caroline: It’s so cool. And it’s so nice to hear the passion in your voice, talking about your business and how you feel like you’ve really found what you’re meant to be doing.

Tabitha: Yeah.

Caroline: Can you tell us a little bit, like, what’s a day in the life look like, like, what are you juggling on the day to day in your business?

Tabitha: Um, besides being a mom, um, once, once, they’re off to school, I, I, some days I’ll just, you know, come into work. Um, a lot of times I’ll have to put on makeup. I hate doing my hair. I hate putting on makeup. Oh my gosh. I would say that’s my least favourite part of my job. So I’ll put on makeup, do my hair, and then come in and I’ll sit down at my computer.

A lot of times I’ll be in meetings and things like that, um, just trying to plan out my week. That’s usually on Mondays. Each day is something different. So Monday is usually, like, my planning day for the week and buying supplies for the week for whatever I’m going to create that, that week. I’ll plan things out, and then I start creating, or if I have button orders out, uh, you know, I’ll help out with that. But yeah, that’s, that’s typically what I do.

Helen: And you’re creating for other brands that have, like, that you’ve collaborated with, to create projects to, like, do some cross-promotion basically, right?

Tabitha: I am. I would say at this point in my career, majority of the content that I create are, is for other brands. And I think we’ll talk about that later, but, um, yeah, so a lot of, a lot of the work that I do is, is for other brands and that still, still to this day, blows my mind. Like, why, like, you want me to create for you? Of course! Of course.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. We definitely want to come back to that in a minute cause we have some questions about that. You’ve worked with some cool brands, but before we move on to getting into the nitty-gritty, let’s talk a little bit about just, like, maybe current small business owners out there or people who dream of owning their own business, and I wonder if you have any advice for them?

Tabitha: Yeah, so I was lucky enough to go back to school. My education was, was free, um, with being in the military. But if you, if you don’t want to go back to school, you really don’t have to. You, you have so much access to education and things like that online. There’s podcasts, there’s Audible books, there’s YouTube videos.

As far as reading goes, I’m not, I’ve never been one to read about, you know, like, fiction or non-fiction or things like that. Or not non-fiction. Sorry. Um, but I’m usually the type of person that likes to read business books or whatever I want to learn at the moment. So, um, like, currently I want to know about sublimation, so I’m reading a lot about that.

So there’s, there’s so many access to Audible books if you don’t like to read. Yeah. The, the internet is your school, is school nowadays. So definitely take advantage.

Helen: Yeah, that’s a really good point. I think for a lot of folks out there who might be thinking they want to do their own business, or even learn a new skill or change careers, one of the biggest hurdles is just that pressure of deciding what it is you’re going to do. But as you said earlier, you know, you don’t have to choose. You just have to try, and you will find your way.

Tabitha: Right. Uh, huh. And there’s, there’s so many people, there’s so many women, there’s so many men that started their business and no one’s secretive about how they got there. There’s no, like, one formula to get from A to B. You ha-, you have to just dive in and experiment. You can’t overthink it. You can’t, um, you can’t try to create a plan. You can create a plan, but you have to also be aware that you’re going to veer off the plan a lot. So I don’t know where I’m going with this, but…

Caroline: It’s so true.

Tabitha: Then I was about to start teaching my business course cause I was a business instructor, too. I was going to start teaching you guys some business.

Caroline: You’re like class is in session now, everyone. It’s so true though. You can plan all you want and, with a small business, but there will always be curveballs and there will always be hurdles. And you have to, kind of, mentally prepare yourself for that. Um, but it’s, it’s always a fun journey. I, I’d love to get into your button business cause, as you know, we carry your amazing buttons at Blackbird, at my shop.

Tabitha: Yeah! Oh my gosh. Thank you!

Caroline: We love them so much.

Tabitha: Oh, I will have to say. If, if the person that works with you, um, could hear me scream my head off. I know she’d be like, okay, nevermind. I was so excited when I got the email cause that was, that was honestly my dream company to carry my buttons, so…

Caroline: Oh my gosh. That’s so kind. Well, we love you and we love what you do and we’re so happy to be able to sell them in our store.

Tabitha: Thank you so much.

Caroline: Um, but can you talk to us a little bit about the design process? Like, what goes into designing buttons and just take us behind the scenes a little bit?

Tabitha: Yeah. So when it, when it comes to buttons, everything falls in line with, like, my personality. Um, I love colour. I love texture. So I try to include, like, textures in there. I try to keep it very basic with the shapes, but there, there are times when I try to experiment with, um, different shapes and things like that.

Um, I, I will say, like, right now I am trying to come up with a new collection of buttons and everyone can tell you it’s driving me insane because I want them to look a certain way. There’s, uh, the process, it’s so hard because you have to design them, and it’s usually designed on Illustrator. And oh my gosh. It’s just, it’s extremely stressful, um, the design portion of it and, um, creating the mock-up of it. And I’m at that point in the new collection right now. And it’s very, very, very stressful.

So hopefully, it’ll come out the way that I want it. But once, once I get through the process of designing it, um, I’ll, um, go and pick out the colours and textures and things like that. And then it gets made, and they, they, they get shipped here and then we put them all on cards here.

Helen: Oh, cool. Wow. That must be a labour of love putting all those buttons on those cards.

Tabitha: It is, it is. I have a, a huge order now, and it’s a lot, but I mean, I’m thankful, like I, I was looking at it today, and I was like, uh, like, I, I’m so extremely thankful that people actually want to buy my buttons. Like, when I tell people that are outside of the community about, you know, what I, what I sell they’re like, buttons, why? And no one really understands, but I’m obsessed, I’m obsessed with, with, um, buttons and I’m so extremely grateful that people, small business owners like me, love them just as much as I do.

Helen: I mean, they’re so unique. Like, you said earlier that you like to try to keep it basic and simple, but there is nothing basic and simple about these buttons. They’re, like, neon colours and glitter everywhere and hearts and flowers. I mean, they’re, they are just so special…

Tabitha: Thank you.

Helen: So unique. And I think that is a part of why people love them so much and why it’s been a huge success for you. And yeah…

Tabitha: Thank you.

Helen: It’s amazing how many you have in your shop now.

Tabitha: Thank you. Also, when I’m creating them, I always think of it like the cherry on top of an ice cream because I look at them like, you know, most people look at buttons like, wah, they’re just buttons. They, they’re just used to attach, you know, my clothes or whatever.

But to me they’re like little jewellery, like little, um, you know, like earings or like a jewellery accessory to your clothing. And it, I feel like it ties it all together and it gives it that extra, you know, small element of, it elevates your, your garment. Um, so that’s what I really, really love about buttons, too. It just adds that extra little detail that just, you know, it’s like the cherry on the ice cream.

Helen: Yeah. Oh, I love that. I feel like you can go two ways with button choosing. Sometimes it’s like, you can choose it to blend in, or you can choose it to stand out. And if you’re choosing the standout way, these are the buttons for you.

Tabitha: Yeah, yeah. If you want attention, this is it. This is it.

Tabitha: Of course, I use my buttons. Um, so when I started sewing, I did buy some buttons at the store. And for years I stopped because they were just not the quality that I wanted them to be at because they were just, I don’t know, they felt cheap to me, and they would always break in the wash, and also they just didn’t speak to my style. So I stopped sewing with buttons for years.

And then when I launched my button collection, of course, that’s, that’s all I use. So the way that I choose my buttons, um, a lot of times I’ll go on social media, and I’ll ask people to help me because I don’t, I don’t know, um, because there’s so many options and of course I get overwhelmed. But, uh, other times I’ll usually, like, pick out a colour that’s, that you don’t really know. I guess that doesn’t really take over the garment, the colour that takes up the least amount of space on my garment. And I’ll use that for the button colour because it makes that colour stand out more if that makes sense.

Caroline: Oh cool.

Helen: Yeah. That’s great advice and tie it all together and make it pop.

Tabitha: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that’s how I choose it.

Helen: Amazing. Well, we’re going to link up Tabitha’s buttons in the show notes.

Tabitha: Thank you.

Helen: Um, but let’s talk a little bit more about your content creation. You’ve got this cool job as a content creator/influencer, which seems like, I don’t know, one of those jobs that is confusing to explain to people. Do you ever have trouble telling people what you do for a living?

Tabitha: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I’m not going to lie. I hate explaining it because people are like, oh. Like, if you can see my face. It’s like a side eye. Like, oh, that’s what you do? Oh. Like, they don’t get it. Um, but yeah, so my job, what it entails is I work with amazing brands. These are my dream brands. Um, I work with them to create, um, content material on my social media, as well as their social media platforms, as well as, it can be for their PR, any type of PR that they have as far as magazines, door setups and things like that, I’ve, I’ve done. And I, I create that. They, they, most brands give me the ability to create whatever I want. They just give me guidelines on what I should, what materials I should be using or what story I’m trying to tell. But once I get that detail, they allow me to run with it, and I run and I run fast, and I love it. I love it.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. It’s so, so cool. And you mentioned dream brands. I mean, you’ve worked with some huge brands. Can we just acknowledge that? It’s so, so cool. You worked with JoAnn Fabrics, Disney, Creativebug. So can you tell us a little bit, like, how did these opportunities come about?

Tabitha: Yeah, I always tell people, know people who know people. Um, when it comes to social media, I know there’s a lot of people and I’m, I’m not gonna lie. I, I am that person sometimes, too. Um, it’s, it’s, it’s easy to get on social media and to be shy and not talk to anyone, but it’s social media for a reason. You have to be social. You have to constantly be on there, networking, talking to people.

And when you do that, you, you’ll find people. I never, I, like you, you just never know who you’re talking to. Um, and getting to know, you build real and genuine relationships with people, and they’ll hook you up. There’s a lot of people that’ll, that’ll hook you up. I hooked up a lot of people as well. And, um, yeah, know people who know people. Get to know people. Create genuine relationships that will in turn create opportunities for you.

And I would say JoAnn, with JoAnn’s that, oh my gosh. JoAnn’s has brought me so many opportunities. I’ve gotten to know so many people on the team that are my genuine friends that I hang out with. Um, we tr-, I travel some of them, and we talk on a daily basis, if not weekly basis. And they’re, they’re always throwing ideas to me like, hey Tab, do you want to do this? Do you want, you know, do you want to be in the JoAnn’s mailer next month or in a couple months? Yeah, of course. And they, and the opportunities just come.

Another, another thing that I do, I, I, I probably shouldn’t say this cause this is like a sin also in the content creator world, but I never say no. I just can’t do it. And I don’t say no, because for people like me, opportunities don’t come often. So when they come, I never turn it down. And I’m always super grateful that they chose me, so, yeah. And that’s why I never say no.

Helen: Uh, well, I mean, it makes sense and you have all these amazing opportunities and speaking of JoAnn Fabrics, you made a video with them where you play the ghost of Christmas crafts, and you did that with Phyllis, from The Office, which was, like, I, when I watched it, I was, like, this is wild. Like, this sewing person I’ve been following for years and Phyllis from The Office, one of my favourite TV shows, are in a video together. Like, what is happening? So what was that like for you?

Tabitha: It was overwhelming, but I’m so glad that I got to share the experience with a friend, um, that I met on-, online, too. Her name is Rebecca. We both, she’s in the crafting or home DIY community, but we both got to experience that together. And Phyllis, so I will say I have never watched The Office, I, but I knew who she was. Um, I know that when I got on set, everyone was like, so panicking. Like, oh my gosh, we’re going to meet her.

And I’m like, I don’t know who she is. Like, I feel so bad. I feel so embarrassed, so embarrassed, but she’s so, she’s so nice, and she’s so comfortable in, in her element, um, when it comes to acting, she, she stays in her character. It’s so crazy, and she, she’s extremely humble and really fun to work with. She’s so nice. She’s so nice.

Helen: Aw, that’s nice to hear.

Tabitha: It’s, it’s a lot of, a lot of waiting around when you’re, when you’re shooting a commercial. It’s a lot of waiting around, but I’m on the back end of it. And you just sit there and you think, like, dang, like, this is such a crazy, how did I even get here? This is insane. And then, and then when it comes out, it’s even better than you thought. So I’m so grateful for that opportunity.

Helen: Oh, amazing. And for any, uh, Office fans out there, Phyllis who is a character on The Office, but also her name in real life is Phyllis so easy to remember.

Tabitha: Oh, I didn’t know that.

Helen: Yeah.

Tabitha: Everyone was calling her Phyllis. So I didn’t, I didn’t know if that was the character or her name. I don’t know. I guess her name is Phyllis. I got to stand by a celebrity so I was super grateful.

Caroline: You’re like, I don’t care what your name is. This is amazing.

Tabitha: That was me. I’ll figure it out later. You’re famous.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Yeah, you rocked that commercial.

Tabitha: Thank you.

Caroline: We’re going to link it up in the show notes for sure so that everyone can watch as well.

Helen: Well, when you’re not on a professional video shoot with all of those videographers and such, like, I imagine for a lot of the content stuff that you’re creating, you have to take your own photos and videos. So what is that like?

Tabitha: Oh my gosh. So yes, I do. Um, so, um, I’ll work with photographers. Majority of the time my husband will take my photos. If he’s not available, I’ll hire my kids. My daughters take my photos; But a lot of times I’ll take it with either my phone or I have a Canon, a Canon camera that I take the photos with.

Helen: Mhm. That sounds very similar to my setup. I’ve found that, like, I have a professional camera, but often the iPhone takes better photos. It’s just easier to use.

Tabitha: Yes. Yeah. So I think my, my, my camera is a Canon 6D, if I’m not mistaken. I have, I have three of them, and I, I usually, I typically keep them here in the studio for video content, but sometimes I’ll, I’ll take it out and, uh, and I’ll use it. But majority of the time, I do use my phone. And the reason is because, I mean, phones nowadays, the picture quality is amazing. And, um, it’s professional looking as long as you are, you are, um, proficient in, in the way that you edit, and you can edit really well. So I think that phone, phone cameras are great. And I, the number one thing that I love about it is. That I can take all the millions of photos and I can just easily access it through Google Drive. That’s, like, the number one, that’s the number one reason why I use my phone.

Helen: Yeah. It just makes everything in one place, easy to find.

Tabitha: It’s efficient. It’s efficient, and it’s easy.

Well, for any of our listeners out there who would love to take their, uh, sewing content creation or they’re sharing on social media and make it into more of a business like you have, do you have any tips for them? Where should they start?

Tabitha: Sure. I think that you should just start. Don’t overthink it and make sure that it is something that you absolutely love because this is something that you can easily, either get burnt out or just really, really easily get discouraged. I was working for free for about five years and working for free and not caring because I love sharing. Like, sharing is just in me and I love the education part of it. I like to share things that I’ve learned and just sharing things that I make.

Um, so if you absolutely love it, then do it. Don’t do it for any other reason, such as the money or opportunities. That will come. Do it because you love it. So don’t overthink it. If you want to do this, then just do it. Jump in.

Helen: Aw, that’s good advice. I imagine it’s a lot harder than it looks. We like to think of influencers or content creators, sort of, just doing their thing, drinking smoothies, and, like, posing for the camera. But, like, you have to coordinate all of that and, like, be on top of it and be constantly seeking out new opportunities, and yeah, it, it sounds like, uh, a lot of work and you do it so well, so it’s really fun to watch your journey.

Tabitha: Yeah, I will. I will say that I, I know that I have a lot of friends that have to seek out opportunities. I am extremely lucky in the fact that I don’t have to do that. Um, because I have so much work coming in. I don’t, I, I’ve never, I don’t think I’ve ever done. Um, that’s sounds terrible, but I’ve never, I’ve never had to go hunt for opportunities, but that is one of the aspects of the job is to go and look for the opportunities and then hope that those opportunities grow more with that company or open up opportunities, um, with another company.

And yeah, there’s no drinking smoothies laying out on a beach. No. Content creators, you’re all, everything, everything is content. Everything. Waking up. Like, let me show you, um, day in the life. My, my morning routine, my afternoon routine, what I do in the studio, especially for, like, DIY or sewing bloggers, it’s even more work in comparison to, like, fashion bloggers and things.

A lot of my friends are fashion bloggers. And when I tell them the things that I have to do, the extra, the extra millions of steps of actually creating the clothes that I have to share online. Um, they’re like, dang, Tab. Like, I, uh, I can’t even imagine, like we just, you know, go and purchase all the clothes or the clothes get sent. Um, I’m like, no.

Helen: No, that’s not how that works.

Tabitha: No, the fabric gets sent to me, and I have to actually make them. But yeah, that, that minor step of actually making the garments. Yeah, so I think as sewing blogger, we had, we, yeah, it’s a little, it’s a little bit harder. Um, also you have to plan. Planning and staying organised. I am the least organised person in the world. Um, oh my gosh. I don’t even know how I manage to stay on top of what I’m working on. But, um, I mean, it gets done, so yeah. I work well under pressure by the way, so…

Helen: Oh, that’s good.

Caroline: Well, speaking of working well under pressure, you’ve made some really incredible costumes for your kids over the years, and I’ve had fun following along when you’ve had countdowns to Halloween making those costumes. So tell us a little bit about that. And, and do you have a favourite costume that you’ve made for your kids?

Tabitha: Yeah. So my kids are the best. They are good sports. I love, oh my gosh, my daughter’s 13, and she’s still going to allow me to dress her for Halloween, and I love her for it. Um, my, my son, he doesn’t mind. I love them both for that. Um, when it comes to trying to find a costume, it’s the same. It’s the same process as with my clothes. I try to find the most craziest costume. And then my husband, he’s like, oh, like, why did you get me into this? And then we run with it. Like, we, we work really well together in creating the costume. He can’t sew, but he can glue things together, um, depending on what it is.

Like, I know one costume, we created a hot air balloon, and he helped me glue, and he did a little bit of woodworking in there. Creating costumes, that’s, like, my favourite, most favourite part of the year. And it just makes me sad thinking that one day my kids won’t allow me to do this. So I’ll probably have to find the neighbour’s kids or something, or some random child on the street. Hey, let me borrow you.

Caroline: Do you need a costume? Do you need a costume?

Tabitha: Hey! I’ll have a good resume. I’ll have a good resume. This is what I’ve made. If you want to win every year, I’m your girl.

Helen: Oh my gosh.

Caroline: This might be hard, but do you ha-, do you have a favourite costume that you’ve made?

Tabitha: My favourite costume? Yeah, I would, I would say there’s two. So my favourite would be, Hei Hei, still.

Helen: Yes!

Tabitha: I still remember. Putting on the costume on my daughter. So the way that the, the area of where we go to, um, go trick or treating it’s at, um, a local community building, it’s like a rec center and you have to walk up the sidewalk. And then when you turn, that’s where everybody is. Um, I remember walking up, my daughter walking up the sidewalk and when she turned, everyone stopped what they were doing. They were like, what the heck is that? They, they were shocked and they were like, wait, you made that?

And I dunno, it’s, it’s always, like, a great experience seeing people’s mouths drop when they say that we made it. It’s so funny, um, because, and also, like, people will look, like once you tell them that you made it, they’ll look into all the details. Like, wait, let me see if you really made this. So that’s really funny too, but yeah, the Hei Hei costume, I’ll always, like I said, I always remember when she turned the corner and everyone loved it, so that one, and I loved the process of sharing it online.

Helen: Yeah!

Tabitha: That was really fun. That was really, I got everybody xcited and tuned in. It was like a mini little, mini little series there. It was fun. And I would say an older one that’s my favourite is the Little Mermaid. The, the, the octopus, what is her name?

Helen: Oh, Ursula.

Tabitha: Ursula, yeah! That one was my favourite, too. I think my daughter was, like, seven or eight at the time, and we created that costume, and that costume was fine.

Helen: Oh my gosh. I love that she wanted to be Ursula for Halloween.

Tabitha: We, usually, she doesn’t like the princesses and things like that, which I absolutely love because all the girls do that. And I love that she, she likes to take it there. Like, yeah, the villain-, the villains look fun. They stand out because, I mean, who wants to be a villain, but we do. We do, and we love it.

Helen: Well, we’re going to be sharing a roundup of your costumes. They are next level amazing. So you’ll have to check them out and for anyone out there wondering, Hei Hei is the rooster from Moana. Just amazing work on all the feathers on that one. It was so cool to see.

Tabitha: Also, when it comes to, like, sewing costumes, it’s the same as with sewing my garments, it’s just different materials, different techniques, different, just, it just keeps sewing interesting. Like, nothing, um, nothing that I create, well, I wouldn’t say nothing, a lot of what I create isn’t always the same. Being able to experiment with costumes gets me out of my, out of the mundane sewing, you know, sewing cotton or whatever, and just being able to experiment with things other than fabric. Like, I get to experiment with wood and plastic and all kinds of stuff. So it’s fun. I love it.

Helen: Aw. Very cool. And are your kids interested in sewing? Do you think you have any sewers in the family?

Tabitha: Yeah, so my, my daughter, she, she likes to sew, but when she’s in the studio and with my son, they, they usually help me with, with the button business, and they get paid pretty well, so…

Helen: Nice.

Tabitha: I love exposing them to the business, so they’ll know when they get older, it’s, it’s better to work for yourself then, you know, working for, like, this big company.

Helen: Important to realise the realities of a business when you’re, like, sticking buttons one by one onto a piece of paper.

Tabitha: Yeah. Soon, soon, they’ll understand. My, my mom, when I was a kid, when I was their age, actually, when, when I was, like, nine or 10, my mom had her own business. She, she had a sewing alteration business, and her shop was in the back of a store in the mall. So we would go to work with her, and we would go to the back of this men’s store, and her little shop was there, and I never understood.

But you know, now as an adult, I think back on that, and I’m like, dang, like, that’s so awesome that my mom was able to do that, um, and be successful with it. And I think that, I think about my kids, they’ll, they’ll think about, you know, remember when we had to put all those buttons on the card? Oh my gosh, I hated it. But that was so cool that we got to watch mom do that. So that’s what I try to think about when they get older.

Helen: Aw. That’s amazing.

Tabitha: But I will say, too, we thought it was so funny. My, my son, I guess they, guess his class or something, the teacher found out that she saw the commercial with Phyllis, and she found out that I was a content creator and all this. And they were like, oh my gosh, are you guys rich? They were asking my son. And he’s like, no, no. He’s, he’s explaining to them, you know what I do. And he, he was bragging to them that he has a job, and he’s only 10 years old, and he’s bragging to them that he has a job, and he creates, he makes buttons for his mom and things like that. And I was so excited. I’m like, yeah! That’s so awesome. I love that. Bragging about it already.

Helen: It’s been such a joy chatting with you today. Tabitha, before we go, I really want to know what are you sewing right now? Are you going to go make some content after this?

Tabitha: Oh my gosh. You guys, what am I not sewing? That’s the question. Um, so right now, I, I am not sewing at the moment. I am trying to come out with a new button collection, and I’m trying to rack my brain on how to come up with a design. And also, I have some insight, only for you guys. My, uh, I have a new project that’s coming out next month in the month of May. And, I’m so, it’s probably one of my biggest projects today. I’m so freaking excited that it’s coming out. I’ve been working on it for over a year now, and it’s a partnership with another company, a big company, one of my favourite brands. And I’m really excited for you guys to see the new project and all the other things that I have going on over here. Just so many things.

Helen: That’s it? That’s all you’re going to tell us?

Tabitha: You got to wait and see.

Caroline: Oh, we cannot wait. Oh my gosh. That’s so exciting.

Tabitha: Thank you. I’m really excited. I’m really excited for this journey. And, um, I’m so glad that there’s no age on this journey being a content creator. There’s no age limit, and as I’m getting older, I’m just loving the process. Um, I love that I get to grow with my audience and share all the fun things that I’m doing. So, and I’m so excited that I was able to share it with you guys today.

Caroline: Oh, well, thank you so much for chatting with us today. And I know all of our listeners are going to want to just jet on over to your social and find out what this project is. Can you tell our listeners where they can find you online?

Tabitha: Absolutely. So my website is TabithaSewer.com and sewer is S-E-W-E-R. And my Instagram is the same @TabithaSewer, and I typically post weekly. Right now, it’s a little bit slow because like I said, I’m trying to figure out this new project, but I typically, I typically post almost every day. I’m very engaged with my community. I love talking to everyone. So yeah, come find me. Come talk to me. Say hi.

Helen: Oh, they will. And we’ll be sharing lots of your beautiful makes on our Insta this week, too, so we can’t wait for that. Thank you again, Tabitha, for chatting with us today. We loved hearing more about you and hearing your great advice about business. It was a true joy to speak with you today.

Tabitha: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Caroline: Thank you. Bye.

Helen: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Helen, at HelensClosetPatterns.com and Caroline at BlackbirdFabrics.com and those buttons, by the way! We’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, send us an email at [email protected].

Helen: If you love Love to Sew and you want more, you can sign up for our Patreon! For just $5 a month, you get a full-length bonus episode and weekly behind-the-scenes pics. And for $10 a month, you get all that PLUS a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics! Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content. Go to patreon.com/LoveToSew, for more info.

Caroline: Thank you to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening. We’ll talk to you next week.

Helen: Buh-bye.

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Four years after our first Sewing Swimwear episode, we’re back on the topic with more sewing tips, better fabric information, and lots of great pattern recommendations! We also cover ideas for adapting non-swimwear patterns into swimwear, swim coverup ideas, places to buy swimwear fabric, and a review of all the swimwear we have sewn ourselves. Plus: listener feedback from our Getting Started with Pattern Drafting episode!

The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.

From Listener Feedback:

Previous Episodes Mentioned:

Resources:

Patterns:

Where to Buy Fabric and Notions:

Examples of Fabrics and Notions:

Other Mentions:

Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Helen: Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Caroline: Join us for today’s topic: Sewing Swimwear 2.0.

Hi, Helen.

Helen: Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: How are you?

Helen: I’m doing great. How are you?

Caroline: I’m good. I, it’s funny that we’re talking about swimsuits today because it is raining buckets in Vancouver.

Helen: Sam and I had plans to go for our first swim of the season tomorrow because the weather was looking promising, and we were going to wear our wetsuits, but now it’s calling for a thunderstorm, so maybe next week.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Looking forward to that sunny spring/summer weather so we can test out our swimsuits again this season, but can’t come soon enough.

Helen: Yeah. But by the time this episode comes out will be a really good time for our listeners to start thinking about making a swimsuit if that’s something that’s on their list for the year. It’s always great to get it done before the summer weather hits because then you can get the most use out of it. So that’s what we’re going to be talking about today.

But first we have some great feedback that came in after we released our Getting Started with Pattern Drafting Episode, and we knew we just had to share all of the tips with you. So @SewBusty on Instagram said that their favourite pattern drafting book is Dress Pattern Designing by Natalie Bray. They wrote, “I find her method to work the best for busty figures (after trying a bunch of methods)!”

Caroline: Thank you so much for this recommendation. It’s true that some drafting methods are better for busty figures. So it’s good to get a recommendation from someone who’s tried a bunch of methods with that in mind. So we’ll make sure we link that up in the show notes.

And we also have a message from Tamanna. They wrote, “I would highly recommend the fashion courses on Domestika – they are absurdly affordable and super well-produced. Many are in Spanish with subtitles, but there are also some in English or Portuguese, and it’s really cool how it reflects design sensibilities from around the world. They have classes on moulage, pattern making, draping, pattern drafting on Illustrator, and sewing from basic to advanced. I’ve taken nine courses there now and have been amazed by the quality of the content each time.”

Helen: Oh, thanks, Tamanna. We looked at the prices for this, and they’re really great. We’re going to link this in the show notes for this episode. Very exciting to find another hub for pattern drafting online courses.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Taylor wrote, “I wanted to share a hack that I use for sustainable, cheap options for drafting paper – check out wrapping paper bins at the thrift store and grab some rolls of paper with a one inch grid on the back. Wide paper, easy to store, and no guilt about wasted, expensive, newly produced materials if you (like me) have to redraw your patterns a million times! Also, the grid is AMAZING because you can count instead of measure and you never have to worry if lines are straight or square to each other.”

Caroline: Ooh, this is a fabulous idea. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Taylor. I now have another section to look at at the thrift store when I go visit.

Helen: Yay.

Caroline: Okay. So if this topic for the show seems a little familiar, it’s because we already made an episode about sewing swimwear, you might remember, but it was four years ago. Can’t believe we’ve been podcasting for that long. And the number of sewing resources and swimsuit patterns exploded since then. And we have learned a lot too. So even though we’ll be covering some of the same ground as four years ago, we’ll have more and better fabric advice, sewing tips, and pattern recommendations to share with you in this episode. So I’m excited to dive in with this little sewing swimwear refresher.

Helen: Ooh. Dive in, like a splash?

Caroline: Let’s dive in! Make a big splash.

Helen: Alright, Caroline, have you sewn any swimsuits since that wonderful swimsuit photoshoot we did on the beach in 2018?

Caroline: Yes, I have. Not a ton, actually. I’ve sewn one swimsuit – the Friday Pattern Co Vernazza Two Piece, which is a little top with a tie at the front and then a high-waisted bottom, and I really love that suit. I sewed it out of one of our prints at Blackbird that we designed. We also did a photoshoot at Blackbird in 2020, where we had a lovely local woman, uh, sew up some suits for us and, uh, we shot them, and I had one made in my size, but sadly, it didn’t fit.

Helen: Oh no!

Caroline: How rude! So I don’t wear it, but I still have it in my swimsuit drawer cause I love it. It does, like, go on, but it’s just, the torso is too short. So it, kind of, rides up at the bottom, so I don’t wear it. I would maybe wear it with, like, a skirt or a pair of shorts, but I haven’t had the opportunity yet, but that’s basically the new swimsuits or new handmade swimsuits that are in my wardrobe.

Yeah. What about you? I feel like you’ve made a lot because when we recorded that episode, you used, like, a first, really early sample of Sandpiper in our photoshoot. And I remember you talking about it, and it took you a few years to release it, but tell me more about that.

Helen: Classic Helen takes me a few years to release the pattern I talk about. I loved that sporty design that I did for that photoshoot for the first swimwear episode. And Sandpiper does have, like, a higher neck and a more full coverage back. And it, sort of, fits like a workout top, which is my ideal for a swimsuit because I’m a very active person at the beach.

I love paddleboarding, which is new to me. I love swimming. I love Frisbee. I love making sandcastles. I love looking for crabs. I love snorkelling. Like, all the things. Just love being in the water. I love to splash around. So I want a swimsuit that’s really going to offer me support and coverage and make me feel comfortable doing all those active things.

So since our last episode, I’ve also made the Friday Pattern Co Vernazza, and I do love that one as well. And then a lot of Sandpipers swimsuits, and that’s, kind of, been the extent of my swimwear sewing, but prior to that, I’ve tried the Seamwork, uh, swimsuit patterns, Reno and Dakota, I think they’re called, and the Sophie swimsuit from Closet Core, as well as the Bombshell swimsuit from Closet Core. That was, like, early indie pattern sewing days. I can remember when the Bombshell hit the market, and everyone was so excited about that pattern.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Yeah. I remember that, too. That was a long time ago.

Helen: Yeah, right? It feels like forever ago now. But it is only, like, five or six years ago. And the Maison Fleur, I can’t remember the name of it, but I made that one in the early days as well. So definitely been plenty of swimsuits in my past. Only a few of them has stayed in my collection. And that’s mostly due to poor fabric choice, which we’re going to talk about a lot today, but I do love my Sandpipers.

I’m excited to make some more this summer. I would love to make one with long sleeves that’s, sort of, like, a rash guard slash swimsuit that I can wear while I’m paddleboarding cause that is my new obsession. Just want to be on my board as much as possible.

Caroline: Yes. I also picked up paddleboarding last year and have really enjoyed it. I don’t think I get out as much as you do cause you are lucky to be so close to so many places that you can go paddleboarding, but it has, kind of, affected my swimsuit choices when I’m out, uh, on my paddleboard. And for that reason, I also picked up a couple of suits from a local company called Nettle’s Tale because the swimsuits that I had were not, like, full coverage enough. And I felt not necessarily, like, safe to be falling into the water and moving around that much, um, without having some kind of wardrobe malfunction. So yeah, I bought some, sort of, higher neck choices from Nettle’s Tale, and I wear those a lot when I’m out on my paddleboard, but I would love to make a Sandpiper this summer for my paddleboarding adventures.

Helen: Ooh. Would look very cute on you.

Caroline: Alright. Well, should we talk a little bit about fabric? My favorite part of the swimwear sewing journey.

Helen: Yes. And this is the most important consideration, I think, when you’re making a swimsuit. Obviously, you want to choose the style you like, but then you have to choose the right fabric for that style. So for the main fabric of the swimsuit, you’re going to be looking for polyester or recycled polyester or nylon fabrics. Synthetic fabrics are preferred for swimwear because they don’t break down easily in the sun, the salt water, or chlorinated pool water, and they keep and hold their shape. They’re also much less absorbent than natural fibres so they can dry quickly. You don’t want to be lounging around in a wet swimsuit for too long. Everybody knows that feeling.

Caroline: Yeah, no, it’s so true. I know when I went paddleboarding last summer, before I picked up some swimsuits locally, I ended up wearing, like, a, kind of, sports bra type thing that I had that was made out of bamboo, just cause I didn’t have any other options. And, man, when that top got wet, I just felt like I was weighed down, waterlogged.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: And it took so long to dry, and it just reminded me how important it is to have those moisture-wicking fabrics like poly and nylon when you are sewing up a swimsuit. And I will also say not all poly and nylon is created equally, so we’ll talk a little bit more about that soon. So when you’re looking for a swim fabric, you definitely want a fabric with spandex. So spandex can also be called elastane or Lycra. We recommend looking for fabrics containing 10 to 20% of this ultra-stretchy fibre. This is what’s going to give that fabric stretch and also recovery.

And then when you’re looking for swim fabric in person, there are a couple of things that you can look for. So when you stretch out the fabric, you definitely want to be stretching it out when you’re looking at out in person. You want to check if the print still looks nice. Sometimes prints become really distorted or lose a lot of their colour, when you stretch the fabric out, and if it still looks nice, I would say it’s a good quality swim fabric.

But I do want to mention that a lot of swim fabrics, especially if you’re looking at prints, are done with digital or sublimation printing techniques. And this kind of printing is always going to fade a little bit when you stretch it out. So at Blackbird, we look for the digital prints or sublimation prints that do this the least. We test out so many different qualities, and Laura and I were in our sourcing room, just stretching, stretching the prints, just to see which ones look the best. And we try to go with fabrics that do this the least, but it’s always going to happen a little bit. And I will say it’s usually less noticeable when it’s actually on your body than if you’re just staring at the fabric, you know, and stretching it as much as you can cause you’re usually not stretching a fabric to its full capacity when it’s, like, on your body cause that would just be too compressive.

I will say there’s, like, a broad range here. So some fabrics are going to go almost white when they’re stretched or almost grey when they’re stretched, and others will just fade a little bit. So just look for something that doesn’t fade too much. And then you also want to look at a couple of other things when you’re stretching and feeling up the fabric to see if it’s a good quality.

Helen: Yeah. So, for example, does the fabric become more sheer when you stretch it? This is bad news for swimwear because it’s definitely going to get wet and you can, of course, line it, but a high quality swim fabric will stay opaque when it’s stretched, even if it does lose some of its saturation, it’s still not going to become see-through.

Also, does the fabric bounce back after you stretch it? If it does, then it has what we call good recovery. And this is really key for swimwear. You want it to hug your body. We don’t want it to bag out. And if you’re shopping online and you aren’t confident in the information the retailer provides, it might be worth it to order a swatch, so you can test it out in person or just make sure you’re ordering from a company that you trust that, you know, has actually done the work to find those really high quality fabrics so that they’re bringing you what they know is going to work for that specific purpose like swimwear.

Caroline: Yeah. It’s fun now cause at Blackbird we’ve been carrying the same print quality for a few years now and the same solids for a few years. So we can go back and pull pictures of people who have made swimsuits, and we can see it sewn up. And so it’s really fun to see those examples. And if you can find a shop that has some examples of swimsuits sewn up in those fabrics, then that’s always a good indicator of whether it’s a nice fabric.

So swim fabrics also come in different knits, so, kind of, different knit constructions. One of the new trends that we love is ribbed swim fabric. It has a really cool retro feel to it. You can find skinny ribs and wider ribs.

Some ribbed swim fabrics can be a little bit more delicate and prone to snagging due to their construction. So not necessarily a suit that you want to, like, drag against a rock or concrete when you’re sitting at the pool, so just keep that in mind.

Um, and textured knits, like ribs, can make a swimsuit feel really special. I love our rib swims. We’re getting a few wider ribs in the summer that are super, super cool.

And you might also see swim fabric labelled as Tricot. Tricot is a warp knit that’s soft and stable and warp knits are made with multiple needles. Fun fact: Trico is also the French word for knit.

Helen: Ooh.

Caroline: Oh, I also wanted to ask you, Helen, I remember in our last swimwear episode, you talked about sewing up swimsuits in polyester, and I think you used like ITY knits for some of your swimsuits, like, um, the kind of poly knits that you can find, uh, at most fabric stores that are not necessarily labelled to swim fabrics. So can you give me an update on some of those suits and how that wore and how those fabrics worked out in the end?

Helen: I mean, we could probably take a guess. No, I honestly, I didn’t, they were some of my earlier suits, so I didn’t wear them, you know, to death because they, the fit wasn’t perfect or the style wasn’t exactly what I’d hoped it would be. But, you know, I wore them for a season and definitely, the fabric started to fade, um, and pill.

And in one case, I had used it to make a one piece, and there wasn’t any vertical stretch in the fabric, so it was all horizontal stretch, and that’s something you’d want to look out for. We’re going to talk about that next. It needs to have four-way stretch, because as much as you think, oh, it needs to stretch around my body, I don’t need that vertical stretch.

You really do, because you’re going to be moving around, bending over, and you just need it to be comfortable. It needs to stretch vertically over your body as well. So I made that mistake in my early days.

And part of that is just the fun of going to your local JoAnn’s and seeing what beautiful prints they have in their polyester knit section and thinking like, oh, this feels like swimsuit fabric, but it wasn’t designed for that, so it definitely was a bit of a fail. I think you’ll have better luck buying something that’s specifically marketed as swimwear fabric, and it will last a lot longer and be easier to sew.

Caroline: Yeah, I think also sometimes fabrics that are marked for, like, dance or athletic wear, especially those, like, fun printed nylon Tricots that have a lot of stretch, those can, kind of, cross over to swim. But when you’re looking at a poly knit that has maybe a little bit less stretch, a little bit less recovery, you can almost tell from the hand feel, um, if you’re shopping in person, like, does it feel like a swimsuit fabric or not? I think that’s a good indication.

And I think it also, kind of, depends on, on when and where you’re wearing the swimsuit, um, and what type of swimsuit you’re making. I think it probably matters a little bit less if you’re wearing, like, a little triangle bikini than if you’re wearing a one-piece, uh, where you need it to stretch that, in those four directions. So consider, kind of, what your use is for your swimsuit when you’re picking a fabric.

Helen: Oh, totally. Yeah. So we mentioned stretch in some fabrics, um, are two-way, and some are four-way. So two-way stretch fabrics only stretch along the crossgrain. Um, and again, if you’re making a bikini, you can probably get away with this, but four-way stretch fabrics do stretch both ways. Um, and if you’re making one piece, you definitely want four-way.

So pay attention to what kind of stretch the fabric has when you’re shopping. A good online retailer will tell you that, um, so you don’t have to wonder, and you don’t want to end up with a bathing suit that gives you a royal wedgie, so this is, sort of, a key point to look for when you’re shopping.

Caroline: And the pattern you choose should tell you what percentage of stretch to look for. A good general rule is to look for 30% stretch or more for swimwear fabric. And remember stretch percentage, so a 30% stretch is different from percentage of spandex. So a fabric with 20% spandex, and it can stretch 30% or more, and maybe we’ll pop a link in the show notes. Uh, that kind of explains the difference between how to calculate a stretch percentage versus the content that’s in the fabric.

Helen: Yes. It can be confusing when there’s all these different percentages in the product listing. Sometimes fabrics will say 5% spandex, and they can stretch, you know, 50%, so it’s just hard to know.

Some swimwear fabrics are designed to protect your skin from the sun, as well, and this is really cool because fabric doesn’t always stop sunlight from reaching your skin. But if you look for fabrics with an actual UPF number, which is kind of like SPF for sunscreens. To get a UPF number, fabrics have to be tested. They are as strong as sunscreen or stronger. So it’s really great to have that option, especially if your skin is quite sensitive to the sun.

Caroline: And shiny metallic swimwear fabrics can be really fun. However, keep in mind that the foil reduces the stretch of the bathing suit. So make sure to double check the stretch on a metallic fabric and know that it won’t be great for really active swimming, but it will look amazing if you’re more of a beach lounger.

Helen: Uh, so true. Okay. What about lining? Because a lot of swimwear patterns will call for a lining. It can make a swimsuit sturdier and more opaque, and depending on which lining you choose, it can also make a swimsuit more comfortable and more supportive.

Caroline: Yeah. So power mesh is going to add support to your swimwear. It’s usually made of a blend of nylon and spandex. So it’s a fine mesh with great recovery. It often has less stretch than swimwear fabric, so keep that in mind when you’re choosing what size to make.

Helen: Yeah, you might actually want to size up with power mesh because it is tighter. The nice thing with swimwear sewing, I find, especially with the Sandpiper suit, for example, is that if it is feeling a little bit big in places, you can kind of take it in. So if you’re thinking that you might want to change the size, it might be helpful to size up. And then you can always take in those side seams to, kind of, like, bring it in where you need it to come in and make it extra snug if you want it. It’s so personal, too. Some people like a looser suit. Some people like a really strapped in suit. So keep that in mind when you’re sewing, too, um, you can always adjust.

Firm power mesh is like power mesh, but, you guessed it, it’s firmer. So it’s great for adding, again, that extra support. And if you really feel like you like being held in, this is the lining for you. It can be a great option for bust support if the pattern isn’t offering any other kind of bust support.

Caroline: Yeah. And Tricot swimwear lining is a lightweight option that you often see in ready-to-wear bathing suits. It’s usually made of nylon and sold in a few basic colours. It’s not going to add a ton of support, but it will add opacity and a bit more weight to a flimsier swim fabric. And you can find lightweight swimwear fabric, which you can also use for lining. So some fabric shops will say that it’s suitable for lining, but if you’re in doubt, just ask.

Helen: Yeah. And you can also self line with your chosen swimwear fabric. Some patterns will even call for that. Like, if there’s a detail, like a tie, you’ll typically line it in the same fabric as the outer layer, so the lining doesn’t show when you tie that tie. The nice thing is that you generally don’t need a ton of fabric to make a swimsuit. So lining in the same fabric doesn’t actually add a lot of costs. Sometimes I will be like, oh, I can get all of this swimsuit plus lining out of this cut that I purchased, and that way you have less waste.

Caroline: Yeah. And swimwear nearly always calls for elastic, which makes total sense. Most of us want our bathing suits to be as secure as possible. So you want to look for chlorine resistant elastic. Sometimes it’s labelled as swimwear or elastic.

And there are two main kinds of chlorine resistant: rubber elastic and braided elastic. So rubber elastic has a ribbed surface and is coated with silicone. It’s a little trickier to sew with then braided elastic, but it is less bulky. And braided elastic is made of cotton and rubber and comes in a natural, off-white colour.

Some patterns are going to ask you to add elastic to certain seams to reinforce them and help with recovery. So you can actually use clear elastic for this. And it’s, clear elastic is really thin and comfortable, but it’s not as strong as rubber or braided elastic, but for this purpose, it doesn’t have to be.

So there’s a few different elastics that you’re gonna be looking for. Use your pattern instructions, and you might want to experiment. Personally, I used to use the braided elastic, and now, I prefer rubber elastic. So your sewing practice might evolve.

Helen: Ooh. For trunks or board shorts, you want to look for a polyester microfiber fabric. This would be a lightweight, soft to the touch, dry super quickly. You can also try using nylon ripstop fabric though this is much more challenging to sew. It frays quickly, and it requires a microtex needle.

For a mesh brief insert, power mesh would be the way to go. You could use a swimwear tricot, but it might look a bit bulky, so power mesh does work better here. Mellie Sews, uh, who has a great blog with lots of sewing advice, has also used mosquito netting with some success for that mesh insert, that inner netting.

And if you’re looking for technical fabrics for swimwear, I would recommend a company that’s local to me called Discovery Fabrics. They have a lot of really interesting textiles, including great fabrics for trunks and board shorts and things like that, so check them out.

Caroline: Which is really hard to find. We’ve been trying to source a good fabric for that for so long and for that mesh, kind of, netting lining, and we just haven’t found one that we really like that’s at a good price point. Um, so I would totally check out Discovery Fabrics because they have a lot of options.

Helen: Yeah, they do.

Caroline: So depending on your pattern, you may need some other notions. So underwires (and underwire casings), clasps and g-hooks for closures, maybe rings and/or sliders for straps. The sliders are going to adjust the strap length. Um, a lot of the time these supplies can be found at lingerie suppliers online. Grommets are also a nice touch for board shorts drawstrings. Though, a small button hole will totally work for this as well if you don’t want to go through the trouble of finding and installing grommets.

And if you’d like to add more bust support to your swimsuit, you can add foam cups, just make sure that they’re made for swimwear so that they can handle the water, salt, and chlorine. And I also wanted to add foam cups can come in many shapes, but sizing can be pretty limited on these. So you can also purchase foam by the metre or yard and make your own cups. We’re going to circle back to this in a minute and talk about how you.

Helen: So smart. Yeah, the adding bust support thing, it can be really challenging with swimwear design because it’s not always taken into account with the swimwear design. And you might want to look for a pattern to start off with that has bust support, something like an underwire, um, or actual cup shaping on the bust. And that will give you a better starting off point. And you can always add those foam cups, which no matter what your bust size, you might want regardless, because you might just want to have that extra coverage.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: All-purpose thread will work great for swimwear. You could also try wooly nylon thread in the bobbin of your machine. Just make sure to hand wind it. wooly nylon thread is nice and stretchy, so it’s great for swimwear. It’s also a little bit softer. Test it out on your fabric first and really stretch it. Some fabrics can’t handle it, so you want to just do a test no matter what you’re sewing. You can also use wooly nylon thread in the loopers of your serger.

Anytime you use it, you probably want to adjust your tension, but I honestly just use all-purpose thread when I’m sewing my swimwear, and I don’t use my serger. I just use my all-purpose thread. Swimwear fabric doesn’t fray, and I’m lining the suit anyway. So I’m like, who cares?

Caroline: Yeah. I would just say don’t use, like, a natural fibre thread, like a cotton, because I think that would break down too quickly and potentially break with all the stretching of the fabric that’s going to happen.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Okay. Let’s get into some swimwear sewing tips. I think the first warning I would give is that swimwear fabric is super slippery, so it’s often best to cut it in one layer. So if your pattern instructs you to cut on the fold, you can try to do that, but you can also just turn that piece over and trace it and tape it to the other half to get a full piece. And another option is to use a marking tool, to trace the pattern piece onto the fabric before flipping it over and tracing the other side.

If you have a rotary cutter setup, that’s going to help with the shiftiness of the fabric as well. So keep that in mind, rotary cutter is always a good call when you’re cutting out swimwear. I know that’s definitely my preference, but if you are cutting with scissors, do your best to keep your scissors as low to the cutting surface as possible. And if you’re right handed cut around the piece counter-clockwise and if you’re a lefty cut clockwork.

Helen: Yes, it is so much better to cut flat and patterns will often have you cut on the fold of the pattern pieces and as a pattern designer, I just want to say that that’s typically to reduce the amount of printing and assembling that people have to do when they’re getting the pattern ready, but it’s totally okay to turn that into a full pattern piece, if that’s your preference or if that’s going to make things easier.

One little hack that I do sometimes is to, like, lay my lining down on the table and then lay my swimwear fabric on top, both of them flat, and then cut out my pieces like that. There’s still two layers, so there’s some shifty-ness happening. But I find that with the fold in play that’s too much, but I can do two layers as long as it’s flat.

Caroline: Mm. Interesting. Love it.

Helen: You’ll notice on some patterns that they will mark the D-O-G-S or the dogs, and this stands for the direction of greatest stretch. This is the grain for knit fabric. So test out which way your fabric stretches the most and line up your pattern pieces with those dogs. And if you don’t, you might be on your way to wedgieville, like we talked about earlier, or a much narrower swimsuit than you want. You want the direction of greatest stretch to be going around your body horizontally. Some patterns will still mark just a classic grainline, so pay attention to what it’s labelled as, so that you know which way you’re supposed to orient your pattern.

Caroline: I love that our assistant Lisa made wedgies sounds so cute in this episode.

Helen: The royal wedgie or…

Caroline: …wedgieville. Oh my gosh.

Helen: Come on down to wedgie town.

Caroline: You also don’t need a serger to sew swimwear. You can use a zigzag stitch or a three-step zigzag stitch, also known as a lingerie stitch. And take your fabric and test out different widths and lengths of zigzag if you’re not using a serger. You can stretch the fabric out after you sew, so you can tell if the stitch size will accommodate the stretch of the fabric.

Our zigzags on swimwear look wide and short and a lightening bolt stitch can also work well here. So depending on your machine setup, test out some different stitches and see which one looks the best and stretches the best with your fabric. Might take a little bit of experimentation at the beginning, but it’ll totally be worth it.

Helen: Yes, use a ballpoint or stretch needle. You’re sewing knit fabric after all, so this is, kind of, a must. This kind of needle will keep the stitches from splitting and the fibres from snagging, um, and swimsuit fabric has a lot of spandex in it, so you don’t want your needle hitting that bouncy spandex and not going all the way through in order to create the loop on the other side. You really need it to go all the way through, and the ballpoint needles can actually help it to, sort of, find its way through the fibres to the other side.

Caroline: Similarly, clips or ballpoint pins are better than regular pins, which can also snag your fabric.

Helen: Yeah. Or don’t pin at all. That’s, kind of, my go-to when I’m sewing. We’re dealing with pretty small pieces a lot of the time. You can just line up those edges and go right to your sewing machine and use your fingers to hold it in place.

Caroline: Ooh, it’s, like, good practice for pinless sewing, which is very aspirational for me. I love, I love trying to sew without pins.

Helen: And if you need to press, you can use a low heat on your iron, but personally, neither of us press our swimwear fabrics. It doesn’t really hold. You’ll find it’s not as satisfying as print pressing, like, a cotton or a denim. This fabric does not hold its shape when you press it anyways. And again, often you’re doing a lining, so you just need to, like, finger press it to one side. And then once you’ve lined your suit, you’re not going to notice which way those seams are going.

Caroline: Yeah, and if you find, like, your seam looks a little bit wavy, that’s pretty normal. I would say. Like, obviously not too wavy, but a little bit of wave is normal. And just keep in mind once it’s on your body, it’s going to be stretched out and you’re not going to see any of those little imperfections in the sewing.

When you’re sewing, try not to pull on your fabric as you stitch. So this could lead to a super wavy, kind of, curly lettuce hem situation. You may need to pull on the elastic as you stitch it to the fabric, but if you do need to, pull just until the length of the elastic lines up with the fabric and no more. Again, this might take some experimentation and some trial and error on your sewing machine.

Also, I feel like sewing an elastic to the edge of fabric, kind of, like when you’re sewing lingerie, it’s, sort of, like, a feel thing. It’s really hard to explain with words or pictures. You sorta just have to do it and get a feel for it and see what the results are with different levels of pressure or pulling and figure out what looks the best with your fabric and elastic combination.

Helen: Mhm. Again, it’s another thing that’s really personal, too. Some people might want, for example, around a leg opening, that elastic to be nice and snug and tight, and other people might find that to be so uncomfortable and want it to be more loosey goosey. So, you know, you might have to make a couple of suits before you nail down this fit for yourself.

But again, luckily the pieces are small. The fabric requirements are low. So give yourself some grace. If it doesn’t work out the first time, you can always try again, and it will get better.

Speaking of elastic, there’s a method that you’ll usually use for finishing edges that is to serge or zigzag your fabric and lining together along the edge. Because, again, It’s really slippery, so it’s really helpful to join those edges together. Then, you’re going to sew the elastic to the lining side of the edge. You’re going to turn the elastic under, and you’re going to stitch it again.

You can use a zigzag for these stitches, but a triple stitch looks really nice here because you get that extra stitch in the middle, um, and you can do a wider zigzag that way when you’re using a triple stitch. And that’s it. You don’t actually need to finish the raw edges. They’re not going to unravel. You’ve got tons of stitching in there. So it’s going to be super secure.

And if you want to add a ruffle or a flounce to your suit, you won’t need to finish the hems either. Because, again, swimwear fabric just doesn’t fray.

Caroline: Mhm. Yeah. So you just have to make sure you get a really clean cut, and then you can just leave it. So there are several methods for achieving bust support in a swimsuit. The first is simple tension. The negative ease that’s built into swimsuit patterns offer some support, which you can increase by using power mesh.

The second way you can get more support is by using cups. You can get pre-made swim cups, or you can use cut and sew bra foam for a swimsuit designed with cups. There’s a great series of tutorials on the Cloth Habit blog that shows how she made a foam cup bra if you’d like to learn that method, and you can transfer that over to a swimsuit, as long as you’re using foam that works for swimsuits. Often, it’s labelled as, like, swim foam.

You can also use underwire with or without foam cups. So this is going to give your swim top a defined shape. Just use a pattern that’s designed for underwires obviously. And stays or boning are thin, but rigid strips of plastic that are used in swimmer to add support. These are usually placed on the sides of swimsuit tops to keep the bands from collapsing. So these are all ways that you can get better support in your swimsuit.

Helen: Yeah. I put some stays into my Reno swimsuit by Seamwork. They put them on the sides there, and it does really help the bands not to collapse and help the suit to hold its shape a bit better. And again, just a very small amount of material, so not too much investment there.

For board shorts or swim trunks, the shorts themselves can be sewn with just a straight stitch. Since there is no stretch in this polyester microfiber fabric that’s used for this part, you don’t actually need stretch in your seams. You’ll probably want to finish the seams though.

Um, and if you make net brief for your trunks, you’ll need to use a zigzag or serger to stitch that because there is some stretch. And you can finish the leg holes with elastic using the same method we just described. That’s the leg holes for the netting. It’s always nice to have a drawstring for board shorts or swim trunks for that extra security. You can cinch it in at the top. And you can make one out of the main fabric or you can buy drawstring cord in a cool colour. Maybe look for something that’s also, um, chlorine resistant or designed for swimwear just so it lasts a bit longer.

Caroline: Okay. Before we move on to patterns, let’s quickly cover caring for your swimsuit. Even if you choose fabrics that will stand up to the elements the best, salt chlorine and sunscreen can still damage your swimsuit over time, and leaving those things to sit on the fabric can degrade it over time. So the best way to care for your swimsuit is to hand wash it with a gentle detergent and lay it flat to dry after every time you wear it. But who wants to come home from a long day of swimming and spend an hour washing their suit every time? Not me.

The lesser, but probably good enough, option is to put your suit in a mesh laundry bag and wash it on your gentlest cold cycle with a mild detergent. Hang it up, or lay it flat to dry. Never use a dryer. The heat can actually weaken the elasticity of the fabric and the tumbling can stretch and distort it. So for the same reason, if you hand wash it, don’t wring it out. Instead, just press it between towels to get the moisture out and then hang it to dry.

Helen: Ooh, I’ll admit that I throw my swimsuit in the wash frequently and in the dryer.

Caroline: Ah. That’s fine.

Helen: It has not fallen apart yet, but I do know that it does degrade it over time. And I try to, like, I think about hanging it up. Another thing is that, like, often you’ll want to hang things that are wet up in the sunshine, but the sun can also damage your swimsuit, but then you’re wearing it all day in the sun anyway, right? I feel like there’s no perfect solution here. You have to do what’s sustainable for you. Um, and you’re not going to completely ruin your swimsuit by doing it the wrong way, but if you do want it to last the longest, then definitely, these are things to keep in mind.

Caroline: Oh yeah. No, it’s so true. It’s not like you’re going to pull it out of the dryer, and it’ll be absolutely ruined. You’ll just, over time, maybe notice that it loses a bit of its elasticity or those spandex, you know, sometimes with a fabric, with a lot of spandex, you’ll get those little spandex hairs that come out. So over time, the spandex might just, sort of, release from the weave and create these little hairs, which goes alongside losing that elasticity. So it’s something that’s going to happen slowly. And if you’re cool with that, then I say, do what works for you.

Helen: Okay, pattern time. Now, before you go searching for the perfect pattern for your swimsuit, take a bit of time to think about what kind of swimsuit will work best for you. This may seem obvious, but we’re going to go through it anyways.

So firstly, think about what coverage level and style you’re looking for. There’s lots of different styles out there. Anyone can wear any style of swimsuit or no swimsuit or whatever you want to the beach or pool. So just keep in mind whatever you’re going to feel comfortable in and look for something that’s going to fill that need.

Caroline: Yeah. And secondly, you want to think about what you’re going to be doing in your suit. So if you’re going to be swimming laps, it’s probably best to go with a simple one-piece or maillot or some kind of wetsuit or bodysuit. If you’re going to be lounging poolside, you can explore other styles and go as strappy and stringy as you want. And if you’re somewhere in the middle, think about what would be practical for you. You can also consider making a rash guard to go with your suit that can be taken on and off. Love this idea.

Helen: Ooh, layering options. Thirdly, think about what vibe you’re looking for. Are you drawn to more sporty, more retro, more flirty, more modern? Gather some inspiration photos of bathing suits that you like, and this will help you later as you think about what pattern view to choose, what fabrics would work, and whether to make any pattern hacks when you’re working with your design.

Caroline: Ooh, I love looking at swimwear inspo because often I find it hard to, kind of, picture, especially with solid swim fabrics. Like, what is that going to look like when it’s sewn up? The pieces are so small, and there are so many cool swimwear designers out there that are doing really awesome colour blocking or just combining colours in a unique way. And I love looking at inspo to see like, okay, how can I hack a pattern to make it more fun? Or how can I mix colours? I’m not always, like, the best at pairing, like, bright colours together, so it’s fun to look and see what other people are doing to get some inspiration.

Helen: Yes, definitely. You can look at just general hashtags on Instagram, like #SewingSwimwear, or you can seek out specific hashtags for your patterns, or just look at Pinterest. I mean, I love looking at Pinterest.

Caroline: Me, too. Okay. Let’s start the pattern roundup. There’s no way we could talk about every bathing suit pattern out there, and that’s a good thing. It just means that there’s a wide selection and it keeps on growing, but we’ve tried to include a variety of styles in this roundup: bikinis, one pieces, tankinis, dresses, shorts, and long sleeves. You want to kick us off, Helen?

Helen: Yeah. So firstly, the Ipswich swimsuit by Cashmerette is a simple modern design with lots of bust support, of course. Thank you, Jenny. You can make it in a one- or two-piece and the design is really great for colour blocking. There’s these designated clear areas where you can play around with prints and colours and really create a look that’s unique for you.

Caroline: And Muna and Broad makes a Banksia Swim expansion for their Banksia Bralette and Tank pattern. It includes instructions for making a swim version and includes a swim bottoms pattern. The Banksia has slings for supporting and separating your bust, so it’s super comfortable and you could make it into a bikini or a tankini.

Helen: We’ve already talked a little bit about the Sandpiper swimsuit, but I want to mention it again because it is my go-to swimsuit. I’ve so enjoyed wearing it the last couple of years, and I’m really excited to make some new versions this summer. It’s a two-piece with a sporty top and your choice of bottoms. We’ve got a high rise or a low rise. There aren’t actually that many patterns out there for low rise swimsuits. So if that’s something that you’re looking for, check out Sandpiper. Might be your jam.

Caroline: Awesome. And the Closet Core Sophie swimsuit is a great pattern that includes a pieced bra cup and underwire. I’ve made this one, and I still have it, still love it. It’s great for a swimming situation where you want that, like, coverage on your boobs and that support. And, um, it just looks really cool.

Helen: Yeah, it’s such a cool pattern. The Agility Tank and Dress by by 5 out of 4 Patterns is so cute and unusual! It’s basically a sports bra with an overlay that hangs from the centre front and centre back. There’s an option to make the sides of the overlay hang lower so that you get a bit of torso peekaboo on the sides. It would be an adorable top for a tankini or swim dress.

Caroline: And Jalie’s Victor Swim Shorts are a nice option for trunks. They have all the classic features, including an inner briefs layer, elastic waistband with drawstring, and pockets!

Helen: The Shin Swim Trunks by Joost de Cock on Free Sewing are fitted swim shorts. The cool thing about the patterns on Free Sewing is that you actually enter your measurements and fit options, and it’s gonna generate a pattern just for you! And you can enter your bulge fit preference, so it’s suitable for lots of different figures.

I love a swim short. I mean, again, the more I’ve gotten into paddleboarding, the more I appreciate having some more fabric in between my thighs. I’m doing activewear, and I really want to make some Avery Leggings swim shorts this summer.

Caroline: Ooh. Fun. Okay. Jalie 4013 is a long-sleeve one piece with a half-zip on the top. I love the colour blocked sample! We’re going to link all of these up in the show notes, but this is a great option.

Helen: We talked about Reno a bit. The Reno swim top by Seamwork is cute, kind of, retro halter top style with two piece cups. And actually I have a sew-along for this on my blog, my early blog days, so we’ll link that up in the show.

Caroline: Nice. The Siren Swim Top by Patterns for Pirates has such a cute flouncy overlay! One of the samples has it in a laser cut fabric, which is really fun.

Helen: Swim Style Patterns has SO many swim pattern options! You’ve made some from here, right?

Caroline: Yeah. I made the Jazz Tankini for my mother-in-law, and she absolutely loved it. I added a flounce to the bottom, so I sorta made the bikini, I guess, with an added flounce. And, yeah, I mean, that was, like, five years ago, and she still wears it every summer.

Helen: Aw.

Caroline: Props to me for making a long lasting swimsuit. I’m kidding.

Helen: Okay. This isn’t a pattern, but Tuesday Stitches has a great tutorial on their blog for how to add a skirt to a swimsuit. They use a half circle skirt and include how to do it for a bikini and also a one-piece. Super simple and cute way to hack a pattern if you’re looking for a little more coverage. And I love a swim skirt, it’s just adorable.

Caroline: Too cute, too cute. Another option to widen your selection of patterns for a swimsuit is to use non-swimwear patterns and adapt them for swimwear. So the main way to adapt a pattern for swimwear is to swap knit shell fabrics for swimwear fabrics. You can also add swimwear lining or power net. And normally, swim linings are cut from the same pattern pieces as the shell, and they’re basted together and treated as one piece.

So it’s a good idea to finish the openings like the neckline, armscye, leg holes, waistband, and under bust band with swim elastic so that they’ll stay in place. Also, consider how much seam allowance the pattern calls for and how much seam allowance you’re going to need to finish the swim elastic. You might need to redraw the seam allowance.

And if you want more specific instructions for how to construct a swimsuit, read a few swimwear sew-alongs for reference, but here are some ideas for patterns to use that you can, kind of, hack to make them work for swimwear.

Helen: Yes, both Lila and Jess from Muna and Broad have made really cool rash guards from their Tarley T-Shirt pattern. Their undies pattern would also be great to adapt into swim bottoms too. But if you’re looking for a rash guard pattern, I mean, look no further than your favourite tnt t-shirt in your collection. You can totally take that and run with it to make a rash guard for yourself for the beach.

Caroline: Absolutely. You can also use your favourite leggings pattern to make swim shorts like Helen just mentioned with her Avery pattern. There’s a post on Cashmerette about making swim shorts from their Belmont Leggings, which can give you some ideas for construction.

Helen: Sports bra patterns would be a good base for making a swim top, especially if you’re an active swimmer like me, and they’re designed to fit snugly and stay in place. So again, just a great choice if you want more support.

Caroline: And regular bra or bralette patterns could make super cute and sexy swim tops. Pretty much any undies patterns can be altered to use for swimwear. And patterns for tank tops with shelf bras would work really well for tankinis.

Helen: totally. I mean, also if you have a favourite swimsuit that’s, sort of, seen better days, you know, like, maybe it’s a little see-through in the butt from all that chlorine. You can take that existing suit and make a pattern for yourself out of it. Um, you might need to do a couple of muslins, but if you really love that style of swimsuit, it might be worth it in the long run to recreate a pattern for yourself.

Caroline: Oh, yeah. I’ve had this swim top forever that sort of like wraps and ties in different ways and you can, sort of, customise it how you want. And it’s really just, like, two triangles with really long pieces on the edges. And, um, I keep telling myself like, oh, I should totally hack this and recreate it because it’s such an easy convertible, sort of, swim top that is super, super cute.

Helen: Um, that sounds amazing. I love when things can be worn, like backwards or forwards or tied multiple ways.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Super cool. Okay. A lot of us also enjoy a good coverup in a swimsuit situation. Whether you like feeling more coverage or you just like having extra style element or maybe extra protection from the sun, we’ve got some recommendations for you. The Almada Robe by Seamwork is a short robe with wide grown-on sleeves. It would look and feel really lovely in a drapey print. Definitely can picture this one poolside.

Caroline: Caftans are eternally cool, especially in a drapey or gauzy fabric. Troy from Thriftanista in the City has a simple tutorial for a four-seam summer caftan that looks dreamy.

Helen: Merrick from Merrick’s Art made a super cute circular beach coverup with pom-pom trim! We’re going to link up that tutorial for you as well.

Caroline: Melly Sews made a swim cover-up with a hood and kangaroo pocket out of towels! And the tutorial seems simple, too.

Helen: Uh, I really want on my pattern wishlist, which by the way, is so long. One day I would love to make a wetsuit changing pattern. So it’s basically like a towel sack that you put over your head. It often has a hood and that sort of kangaroo pocket that you can actually put your hands in and access underneath so you can take off your suit while wearing this really warm, cosy towel because not only does it like shield you from people seeing you changing, it also protects you from the cold and the wind cause you’re not always in super sunny, warm situations when you’re wearing your wetsuit. So I really would love to make a pattern for that. Maybe next year. Let me know if you’re interested or not.

Caroline: It’s so niche.

Helen: I know that’s part of the reason why it’s never happened. I’m like nobody wants to buy that.

Caroline: I think it’s a cool idea though. I mean, you can always make a prototype for yourself.

Helen: It’s true. Yeah, that’d be really fun. I’m so perpetually cold when I get out of the water, so…

Caroline: Okay. We’re about to wrap up, but first we want to share a few online shops where you can buy swim fabrics and notions. So my shop Blackbird has been designing its swim prints for three years now. Our new collection is so cute. It’s my favourite one yet. And it should be released by the time this episode comes out. So check that out.

Helen: Oh, Caroline. You’re killing me. I still have prints from last season.

Caroline: I know, I know. Oh my gosh.

Helen: No. I’m always so excited for your swim collections. Like, they’re so, so much fun. I really love how y’all play with colour and often go for less traditional looking swim fabrics, which I really appreciate.

The Fabric Fairy has swimwear prints and solids, boardshort fabrics, swimwear linings, power mesh, even some recycled swimwear fabrics. So that’s a great shop to check out.

Caroline: Meg Healy from Sew Daily recommends Spoonflower’s Sport Lycra. The best thing about it is that you can totally customise your print!

Helen: Literally, anything you want. I mean, how fun is that? What would be, like, your dream swim print? I mean, I guess you design print so we know what your dreams would look like.

Caroline: Well, if it was just for me, it would be like, a print with Pepper on it, all over it or something.

Helen: Aw. Which is doable with Spoonflower.

Caroline: It really is. This is not an ad.

Helen: I would do, like, cute little mushrooms.

Caroline: Aw, mushrooms.

Helen: I know, right? Or just sea creatures, like a print that had, like, jellyfish and starfish on it.

Caroline: Oh, that would be so cute.

Helen: Emerald Erin has swimwear fabrics, cut and sew foam, foam swimwear cups, swimwear elastic, swim hardware, and also just so much great tutorial content on her site. So check it out.

Caroline: And Porcelynne has power mesh, cut and sew foam, underwires, clasps, g-hooks, rings, and sliders. There’s a whole section just for swim hardware!

Helen: Amazing. Melissa of Fehr Trade has a great article on her blog that lists “Where to buy exercise fabric – a global list.” So check that out and enter “swim” in the “find” feature of your browser to see the swim specific links. A great article if you’re having trouble finding something in wherever you are located.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: I know it can be really a challenge sometimes to shop globally, especially with shipping. So this could be a great resource for you.

Caroline: Yeah. Okay. That’s all we’ve got for this round of Sewing Swimwear. Making your own swim outfit is a fabulous way to show yourself some love, so get out there and shine in the sunshine. Dive into the water, dive into sewing swimwear.

Helen: I’m feeling very inspired. I am really excited to make a swimsuit. Now I want to make another Sandpiper, and my vision for it is, like, fire engine red, like, the brightest red.

Caroline: Ooh, like Baywatch red?

Helen: Baywatch red. I think it would be so cute with that sporty style of swimsuit.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: And I might make the bum a little bit more cheeky this time.

Caroline: Love it.

Helen: Just cut it up a little bit.

Caroline: I’m into it. Just make sure you don’t take a trip to wedgieville. It’s not a fun place to be.

Helen: What if it’s a royal wedgie? It sounds kinda nice.

Caroline: I’ll take it.

Helen: Crown it. Crown that wedgie.

Helen: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Helen, at HelensClosetPatterns.com and Caroline at BlackbirdFabrics.com! And we’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, send us an email at [email protected].

Helen: If you love Love to Sew and want more, you can sign up for our Patreon! For $5 a month, you’ll get a full-length bonus episode and weekly behind-the-scenes pics. For $10 a month, you get all that PLUS a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for both Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics! Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content. Go to patreon.com/LoveToSew, for more info.

Caroline: Thanks to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening. We’ll see you next week.

Helen: Buh-bye.

Caroline: Lisa is the queen of wedgieville.

Helen: Is that a compliment? I don’t think that’s a compliment.

Caroline: I just love, I love all the wedgie jokes in this episode. It’s doing it for me.

Helen: Oh my gosh.

Caroline: Sorry, Lisa. It was meant as a compliment.

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This week’s episode is a podcast crossover! We chat with the hosts of the Asian Sewist Collective Podcast, Ada Chen and Nicole Angeline, about making a sewing podcast, issues that affect sewists of Asian descent, and their personal sewing stories. Listen in to learn about how the Collective got started, how they make decisions, and how the podcast sausage gets made!

The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.

Find Asian Sewist Collective online (season 3 starts on May 18, 2022!):

A post shared by Asian Sewist Collective (@asiansewistcollective)

Find Ada and Nicole online: 

A post shared by Ada (@i.hope.sew)

A post shared by Nicole Angeline (@nicoleangelinesews)

Episodes of the Asian Sewist Collective Podcast mentioned: 

Articles mentioned: 

Patterns mentioned: 

Other mentions: 

Transcript:

Helen: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Caroline: Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: And I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Helen: Join us for today’s interview with Ada Chen and Nicole Angeline from the Asian Sewist Collective.

Hello, Ada and Nicole. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Ada: Hi, thanks for having us.

Helen: We’re so excited to have you BOTH on the show today. You are both the hosts of the Asian Sewist Collective podcast. And to start us off, Ada, can you introduce yourself to our listeners?

Ada: Sure. Uh, I’m Ada Chen. I am a second generation, Taiwanese American sewist. I use she/her pronouns, and you can find my sewing @I.Hope.Sew.

Caroline: Awesome. And Nicole?

Nicole: Hi, thanks for having us today. My name is Nicole. I’m a Filipinx American woman. I use she/her pronouns, and you can find me @NicoleAngelineSews on Instagram.

Caroline: Amazing. And we’ll obviously be linking your profiles up in our show notes, but we ask all of our guests how and when they learn to sew. So let’s start with you Ada. Can you tell us your sewing story?

Ada: Ooh, well, I learned to hand sew when I was little, and my home-ec class, unfortunately, did not involve sewing machines, so I didn’t actually get a machine until sometime during the pandemic. And then I, kind of, dove right in and went a little wild with garment sewing.

Caroline: Awesome. Do you remember the first thing you ever made on, on a sewing machine?

Ada: It was a linen apron, and I remember making a linen apron because I had seen all these really nice ones in stores for years. And I was like $200 is a lot of money for a linen apron. I was, like, I could do it, like, linen fabric can’t be that expensive. Turns out nice linen fabric is expensive, but it does hold up. And I did, I think it was a free pattern from Purl Soho with a crisscross back. And I French seamed the whole thing because I didn’t have a serger. So instead of it being, like, an hour-long project, it became, like, a weekend-long project, but I still wear that apron. It’s great.

Helen: And it still made you want to sew more, so it was a success.

Ada: It was a success.

Helen: That is one of the biggest hurdles when you start sewing though, the realisation that it’s not in fact going to be cheaper than buying clothes. A bit disappointing, but once you get over that, it’s all beautiful.

Caroline: Ada, what are you working on right now?I love that you guys talk about this on, at the beginning of your podcast. So we want to know what you’re working on.

Ada: So I am working on, what I will say is, an interesting project. I’m trying to copy a pair of well-loved, almost-ten-year old, uh, exercise bike shorts that are, I guess I would consider them fast fashion, a big athletic wear company that I no longer buy from.

And I’d cut all the pieces, but the problem is there’s a gusset, and so trying to reverse engineer my favourite pair of exercise shorts without taking them apart and get the gusset is currently, kind of, like doing all sorts of complicated equations in my head right now.

Helen: Oh, man, that does sound challenging. Like, it’s impossible to lie it down flat when there’s a three-dimensional gusset piece in there.

Ada: Exactly. And it’s the remaining fabric of this really cool, like, remnant that I got at a secondhand creative reuse store up in Boulder. And the other half of that remnant was actually turned into the top from the Sandpiper Swimsuit, so I’m trying to go for, like, that matching exercise look, but the gusset, the gusset.

Helen: I cannot wait to see this. I have turned Sandpiper into a sports athletic top as well, and I love it. It’s going to be so fun to see it as a matching set. Nicole, how about you? Tell us about your sewing journey.

Nicole: Like Ada, or maybe not like Ada, I’m fairly new to the sewing scene. I know, Ada, you said you learned how to hand sew a while back. I did not. My sewing journey really started right before March 2020, before the pandemic started. And it was really just come, came out of a desire to dabble in making small things. Uh, what I wanted to make was a u-, like, a reusable utensil holder. So I don’t know if you’ve seen those, like, roll up-type things where you can stick, like, a fork and a knife and a straw and keep it with you so that you’re not using plastic.

Yeah, totally.

Nicole: That’s what I was trying to go for. And so I picked up a very inexpensive, new, but inexpensive, sewing machine I think it was February 29th, 2020. And that’s, I just remember the date because it was the leap year, um, and then my niece’s birthday was a couple of days later. So I go hard when I find something new and interesting, you could say. So from unboxing my sewing machine to a reversible apron for a three-year old, it was, like, nine hours. And I didn’t un-box it at nine in the morning. I un-boxed it probably at, like, six at night. So I just ploughed through and made this adorable, cute apron. Um, but you know, you learn the most when you’re under stress sometimes. I wouldn’t advocate for it, but that’s, that’s really how I started to, that’s how I learned how to sew. And it’s been this journey of making, primarily clothing for myself, um, once I got over that rush of masks, that was, that happened back then. I turned to more shapelier things and things I could put on my body in other places besides my face. And that’s where I’m at.

Caroline: And what are you working on right now? What’s your current sewing project?

Nicole: So I don’t have anything at my sewing machine. And I don’t know if this happens to you, but I spend a lot more time, I’m spending time thinking right now. So I’m in the planning stages of what I want to make next. And I am just mulling over what pieces I want to make for an upcoming vacation. And I’m still in the mental part of that, where I’m just thinking and looking on Instagram and at my patterns and looking at my fabric, but I haven’t really come up with what I wanted to make yet. And I’m not going to make a new wardrobe completely for this trip, but I just want a couple new things that would, you know, integrate with what I already have. So I don’t have anything specific I’m working on, but that’s the process I’m in right now.

Caroline: Oh, I can relate. I always feel really inspired before a trip, and I’ve talked about this on the pod before, to sew, like, a whole new wardrobe or at least a few new pieces cause you’re like, well, I’m going to be travelling. I’m going to want to wear something fresh and fun and new, right?

Ada: And I can take pictures of it.

Caroline: Exactly.

Ada: That’s what I was going to say. I mean, let’s be real here.

Caroline: Yeah. Oh my gosh. Okay. I have to know. How did you two meet?

Ada: So, um, fun fact: we’ve never met in real life yet, which is hilarious because I think we met through the internet about a year ago, a little over a year ago at this point. And we met because, after the Atlanta shootings, um, where six women of Asian descent were killed, I was really feeling it and deep in my feels posted on my sewing Instagram and was, like, mulling it over with Leila of Muna and Broad. And I was like, what if a podcast space existed for people who look like us. And she and Jillian, formerly of the Sewcialists, and Lisa of Black Women Stitch, all amplified that and put out a ca-, call for me.

And somehow Nicole popped up in that call, and then we started, I think on Instagram we were DM-ing, and then it moved to text, and then it moved back to Instagram, and then it moved to Slack. And somehow it was, like, a whirlwind. Within a month we had a podcast team, and we were chatting all the time, not only about the podcast that we work on, um, but also what we were just sewing in our free time. And we would just, like, hop on Zoom, and so it was, like, sewing together, kind of, in the same space, but we weren’t physically in the same space. We were just on Zoom, and we would have to mute when we were running our machines if it got too close to the mic.

Helen: Yeah. Oh, I love stories like this. It’s just so amazing that people can meet online and develop these friendships. And the fact that you started this amazing podcast together just takes it to a whole other level. So can you introduce your podcast to our listeners who haven’t heard of you before.

Nicole: Yes, of course, I’d be happy to. The Asian Sewist Collective is a group of people of Asian descent who enjoy sewing as a hobby. It’s as simple as that, but what brought us together, you know, is the same thing that Ada talked about: this desire to connect to with other people who share similar experiences with us and to connect through craft. And so we have folks from all around the world.

Um, Ada and I are both based in North America, so a lot of our recording happens around, you know, when we can, uh, talk to each other. But we have folks from everywhere who joined us, and we have a pretty sizable team now. Everyone is very integral to the success of the podcast, but we bring our own personal experiences as people of Asian descent to everything about the podcast, from our episode discussions and selections, the people that we bring in as guests for the podcast.

And we also try to find ways to see if our Asian identity intersects with our sewing. And sometimes it’s just, we are Asian, and we bring those experiences with us wherever we go. And other times, like for me, it’s, I’ve been able to explore a little bit more of my cultural identity through sewing, so…

Caroline: Awesome. And so the Asian Sewist Collective is not just the two of you. You two host the podcast, but there are more people involved. So can you tell us a little bit more about how that’s organised and how you make decisions about things like what topics to produce and who does what work?

Ada: Yeah. So how we run the podcast, I think is a little bit different from how any other podcasts or group that I know of is run, and a lot of that stems from my background in community organising in the AAPI community. So we have, we basically recruit on a seasonal basis, and we accept anybody who is willing to contribute their time on a volunteer basis with us for a certain amount of time to get a season out. And we all have different roles within that. And everybody gets a say in, the reason it’s a collective is, because everybody gets to say, and we all get to say in what gets made and how we make it. And so we make decisions a lot of the time as a group.

For example, on how we decide on what episode topics to do. We will brainstorm all of that. And since we don’t live in the same place, it’s all asynchronous, and through the magic of Google docs. We will have, like, timelines and deadlines around that to, kind of, get everyone on the same page. And then we’ll meet pretty infrequently when we’re not recording to organise, discuss, and then vote on those topics. And then, um, once an idea or a topic has enough support from people that, kind of, signals to us that there’s enough of us who are working on the podcast who want to work on a specific topic, or find a guest for a certain topic, to put in the work to get that episode made. And then we, kind of, divvy up the work from there. And all of it is, like, what can you do? And when, and, are you free? And it’s all volunteer-based. So yeah, it’s, it’s a pretty interesting and unique system, I think.

Helen: And are you and Nicole, the ones, sort of, wrangling all these people?

Ada: Yes. So we use lots of online tools, which is lovely. And if it wasn’t for the internet, this would not exist, but I will be sending out weekly reminders. We just ask everyone who volunteers to be on the podcast to commit to a set of expectations and agreements to make it a supportive and welcoming and inclusive community. And to just work better together because you don’t want to send a message off into the internet and never get a response. So we ask everyone to check in about once a week cause we know everyone has, like, full-time jobs or maybe they’re a caregiver or all the other things that happen in life not next to your computer or phone.

Helen: It’s so cool that you have all of these different people working on the show. And it sounds like people come and go, too. Is there a way that people can reach out and join the Collective if they want to get involved?

Ada: Yeah, so we are currently, I guess, kind of, closed because we’re currently working on season three and when season three ends, we will usually, we’ll take a break. We’ll do a little retro at the end and, kind of, say, what did we like? What did we not like? And refine our processes. So the way that we worked has changed over the seasons, and then we will establish, kind of, a timeframe loosely for the next season.

And a few weeks before that kicks off, we will put out a call on our Instagram @AsianSewistCollective to see if anyone’s interested and have them fill out a Google form so that we can get in touch with them and understand how much time they have and what they’re interested in and what we need as a Collective in terms of skills and interests and expertise, not only in sewing, but also things like social media and editing.

And sometimes there’s folks who have no experience in the things that we need, but are super willing to learn because it’s just something new. And so we will then be able to, like, teach them and figure out different roles for them. And that process takes about a month before each season. And then we will announce the new team for each season, right before we begin recording.

Caroline: Yeah, I’m sure it is amazing to have so many minds working on a project like this, and I’m sure that it really enriches the content that you all are putting out, so I encourage our listeners to check out your podcast, and we’ll talk a little bit more about some of the specific episodes that you cover or specific topics that you cover, but it is so rare that we get to chat with other podcast hosts. So can we talk for a minute about making a podcast?

Nicole: Yeah, of course.

Caroline: I guess my first question is: what’s your favourite part of making a podcast?

Nicole: For me, I think it’s easily being able to expand the people that I meet through the podcast, and whether it’s the members of the collective, who I have gotten to known, know better, whose skills have grown along with mine, we are discovering new things together, and we can also just get excited and nerd out about sewing together, to our guests and the people who I may see from afar on the interwebs, but actually get to interact with and form relationships with. Easily making the podcast, the best part about making the podcast is meeting and developing all of these new relationships with everyone involved. What about you, Ada?

Ada: I think I am, kind of, of a similar mind. I’m a huge nerd, and I really like our research process because we go really in-depth and not only do we get to provide that information for listeners, but in that process, we get to learn it as well and ask interesting questions. And I love that everyone involved on our team asks really good questions and is so thoughtful about their approach. So I’m also learning from them at the same time about, like, why they’re asking these questions.

And I, I don’t know, I’ve just learned so much, not only in, like, how to make a podcast, but the topics that we get to cover that I probably, you know, if I was walking around the library, wouldn’t necessarily think to myself, oh, I should go, like, pick up that book and read a whole deep dive on it. But in the process of making each episode, we essentially get to do that. We get to do a whole deep dive on a new topic or a person and what they’re doing in the sewing world, and so that’s been really, really gratifying.

Caroline: Yeah. We feel the same way. It’s so fun to be able to dive deep into topics that you would normally maybe not go quite so deep into. Uh, but it’s really fun cause you feel like, you know, you want to do that research and have all that or as much information as possible for your listeners. So it’s, it’s, sort of, that push and that encouragement that, uh, that we need. Okay. What about your least favourite part of making a podcast?

Ada: I don’t know if it’s the same for you two, but I really hate listening to my own voice over and over. And I listen to every episode, at least three to five times before it’s released, and I’m the person in charge of hitting the release button. So by the time it comes out on my phone, I just, I’m just, like, over it. I don’t need to listen again.

Helen: Oh yes. We can definitely relate to that. It is painful to listen to your own voice. I think that’s a universal feeling.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: We have to reassure each other. It’s, like, no, you don’t sound shrill. You sound great. How about you, Nicole?

Nicole: I don’t know. I, uh, don’t actually mind listening to my own voice. I don’t know what that says about me. But, um, uh, it doesn’t, it doesn’t bother me as much when I’m, like, reviewing episodes for video or if I’m listening, I listen to the episodes as they come out as well. And I get excited when I’m listening to it as a listener as well, not just as someone who’s working on it. My least favourite part, I think it’s, maybe for me, it’s wishing we could go from, like, recording and seeing the final product. It’s the time that it takes to really get, you know, the, the quality product that we have.

It takes time, it takes effort and, and I don’t want to do more effort. Like, I w-, I want it now. Um, but I think it’s just, you know, it does take a lot of time and energy, but podcasting is something that I never thought I would love doing. And I don’t think I would love it as much as I do if it weren’t for the people that I do this with and, you know, all the things that I get to learn. So to sum up, I guess my least favourite part is having to do the work part of the podcast.

Helen: I love that answer. It’s so honest. It’s great being a podcaster, but it’s hard work. And I don’t like doing that part. Well, what about episodes? What’s your favourite episode of the podcast so far? People have asked this to us before, too, and it’s so hard to answer, so I’m sorry.

Ada: Oh my gosh. And I think I’ve listened to all your episodes. There are a lot of Love to Sew episodes. We have, like, 20 something. I think, so far, my favourite episode, it might be because of the way that the recording was set up. But we did an interview with a textile artist named Joy Mao, and she actually happens, we share a mutual best friend. Her high school, best friend is my college university best friend, and that’s how we got connected. And when I started sewing, our mutual best friend, Emily, just would send things back and forth between us.

And so getting to actually sit down with her and talk to her about her process and how she got to work with a non-profit in New York’s Chinatown was fantastic and, like, a whole new context to a relationship that I didn’t get to see yet. And I think it was definitely a highlight that I had to record this with our mutual best friend Emily present, because we were actually at a bachelorette party, and I was the one who misscheduled the recordings so I had to wake up at 7:00 AM to do this recording.

Helen: Oh my gosh. Well that sounds really cool. Like, it’s amazing to open up this relationship even further, like, just through your connection over textiles and to get to know that person. That sounds really cool.

Nicole: I remember you were in a closet.

Ada: Laundry room. Laundry room padded with towels because as all good podcasters and sewists know, you need to have a lot of soft materials around you.

Helen: Yeah, that’s true.

Caroline: What about you, Nicole? Do you have a favourite episode?

Nicole: That is a very tough question. And I am automatically going to say all my guests, all the guest episodes are my favourite because I don’t want to pick a person. I think that one of the most important episodes for me as an individual was the episode on imposter syndrome. And so it is one of my favourites because there was so much personal revelation and just my mind was being blown about some of the ways that imposter syndrome, not manifests, because I feel like many people, particularly women, like, we hear it and we get it, but just the way that societal expectations play into that.

I just, I just loved being able to understand the research behind it and hear all of the perspectives instead of just the, I don’t know about you, but I’ll be honest, the Instagram, like, carousel photos that you’ve, end up on your feed and you’re like, this is so me, you know, but to really take a deep dive into it and feel validated and hopeful about some thing that in the past has really gotten me down before. So I think I’m going to go with imposter syndrome on this one.

Caroline: That was a great episode. There was a moment in that episode, Nicole, where you were, like, I am good at sewing, and I am a good public speaker. And then Ada was, like, and you’re great at sewing knits. And I was, like, this is the best moment ever. Like, it was so sweet. And I just, I, I relate to that. And I, and I, you know, I, I love pumping up Helen, too, cause she’s a great sewist. And I think we all experience those moments of feeling like an imposter, but I loved hearing you all unpack that and all of the layers to that. So we’ll definitely link that up in the show notes. It was a great episode.

Okay. We talked about this briefly, but can you tell us a little bit more about how you all come up with ideas for episode topics?

Ada: Yeah, so we got a lot of listener suggestions, which if you are a listener, keep them coming. We love them. They all get dumped, truthfully into one giant spreadsheet on Google Sheets, and then we have, like, a massive go at it, kind of, for probably a few weeks before each season where we just ask everybody on the team to put whatever random ideas they have about episodes or topics or things they want to see us do or learn more about into that spreadsheet.

And then we, kind of, organise some of it, like, we’ll group up things and remove duplicates and ask clarifying questions if we’re, like, I don’t really know what this term means, or I don’t know what you’re talking about. Can you please link me to something about it? So that we’re all going into the selection process with the same, kind of, understanding. And we basically have a discussion on that sheet about all of our different topics and all of the different ideas that we have, potential guests ideas, too.

And sum all of it up, figure out what our topics are for each season. And then we do a vote, and it’s not, like, a you only get one vote. Like, each person gets, um, multiple votes. So it’s, kind of, like, a weighted ballot. I don’t know how to call it officially, but it’s, like, a weighted vote where everybody gets the same number of votes. You can vote on multiple different topics because we obviously make more than one episode per season. And we end up with, like, a top list of maybe 20 or so ideas. And each season doesn’t have 20 episodes.

So we end up starting work on all of those ideas and then seeing how far we get. And for some of them, we end up finding out that the topic isn’t as robust as we would have liked or maybe it’s shorter, and so we, kind of, table it. Or maybe we’re not able to secure a guest in time for that season, so we’ll table it, but then others, we will end up doing, like, a whole huge research, deep dive on, and we’ll end up recording it. And that’s what you end up seeing in your podcast feed.

Helen: I love the peek behind the curtain. It’s amazing how some episode topics seem like they’re going to be great. And then you start getting into it, and you’re, like, there’s not as much here as I thought. And then also the reverse can happen, too, where you’re, like, maybe this should be a two-parter cause this is going to be so long.

Nicole: That has already happened twice to us. Is that right, Ada?

Ada: Yeah. Twice. And I think it might happen again in season three. I don’t know. We have to actually sit down and record some of them and see.

Helen: Yeah. You mentioned the seasons, which is something that we’ve switched to doing as well. What was behind that decision for you all?

Ada: Honestly, mostly the fact that we’re all podcasting and working on this in our free time. It, like, no one, it’s no one’s full-time job or even part-time job. And we wanted to make sure that since it was volunteer-based, we could give people clear expectations on how much time they would need to dedicate. And, like, when certain people in the podcast team have other commitments, like, they might be in school or they might teach school.

And so their calendar is a little bit tied to the school year, at least in North America, and so they have different availabilities throughout the year. And then some people, you know, they may have a slower time at work when they can dedicate more time to the podcast and then things pick up and we understand that life happens.

So most of the decision to do seasons was to keep it, kind of, structured that way so that people would have freedom to, kind of, come and go and not feel like they were overcommitting or tied up to something because we didn’t want to burn anybody out with what was supposed to start out as just, like, a fun podcast project.

Helen: Very wise decision. I have to say it makes a lot of sense. And I love looking forward to new seasons when my favourite podcasts go on a break and then they come back. I’m always so happy to see them. How about feedback from listeners? Because you must get all sorts of stuff in your inbox. So how has it been interacting with people who are listening to your show?

Nicole: It’s been really wonderful, but in some ways also challenging given the way that we record and released our episodes. So with regard to forming relationships and getting feedback, feedback is the only way we can get better and continue to produce content that other people are interested in, particularly, our listeners of Asian descent cause we want the space to be great for them, too. But since we record in batches, sometimes we don’t get to, we’ll get feedback way further out than when we recorded. And we aren’t necessarily able to respond to the feedback in whatever the next episode is in chronological order.

So that part has been a little bit challenging, but I think we found a nice balance with last season, season two, we, we did what lots of podcasters do, and we did a mailbag episode where we could capture all the things that came in at different times throughout the season. But I love the, to be able to speak to our listeners and to hear from them and that they are comfortable and willing and eager to share their thoughts and ideas.

And of course, positive feedback is always nice to hear, too, so…

Helen: Make it a sandwich, right? Positive, critiques, and positive.

Nicole: Yes. Yes.

Helen: No, it’s so true. It has been an amazing opportunity for growth for us both to interact with the community in that way to get that feedback. And then it is a little hard to implement sometimes because you are making it ahead of time, and you want to react in a timely fashion, but I’m sure people are giving you lots of grace on that front, so try not to take it too seriously.

Nicole: Yes. Yes.

Caroline: And you all also record yourselves and post the video on YouTube of your podcast recording, which, kind of, blows my mind. It’s something that Helen and I vowed never to do early on. We were, like, video, not for us, but I want to know, like, how do you make that work with audio editing and such? Because our audio editor works magic. He cuts out a lot of ums and a lot of other random sniffles and things. So how do you make that work with video?

Nicole: So I think the secret is all of those sniffles are actually in the YouTube videos. So our editing process, it’s a multi-stage process where the, the editor cuts a rough edit, where the major ums and ahs or pauses that we take and rerecords those all get smashed cut together into one file, and then it gets refined from there.

But with our YouTube video, we just take that smash cut and we, kind of, just go from there. It’s, for us, the podcast, the audio medium has been the way that our listeners reach us. So the investment in the time to perfect or refine the YouTube video has been lower on our commitment. And I think people haven’t really noticed, as far as I know, I don’t think we’ve gotten feedback about the poorer quality of our YouTube channel, but I think we just aim for more perfection with the audio and then just do more of a rough cut on YouTube.

But I, for my part, I try to just, kind of, be presentable. I try to wear a me made, but other than that, you know, it’s a, because it’s built in to our podcasting platform, that video recording, then we were like, mm, it’s content. Let’s go for it. And that’s, it’s really all it is at this point, but maybe it will evolve into something more. But I think right now, we’re, we’re doing okay.

Helen: Yeah. It is nice to have that video option for people to be able to see your faces and maybe tell you apart. That’s something people really struggle with with Caroline and I, but I’m just so married to podcasting in my pyjamas with, like, in my little closet room with poor lighting. I can’t let it go.

Ada: I mean, I never said, she never said that we’re not wearing pyjama bottoms.

Helen: True. Oh, so true. You can wear whatever you want in the lower half. It’s great.

Caroline: Um, can you give us any sneak peeks of upcoming episodes that you have planned for your third season?

Ada: Yes. So season three, it should be coming out about a week after this episode comes out, so May 18th. Mark your calendars. Our episode topics include really cool guests from all different areas of sewing, so some quilting folks, some vintage sewing folks, bra sewing folks. We’ve got a focus on some more fabric. So if you’ve ever heard of batik or batik fabric, we’ve got a deep dive on that. And then we’ve got also more interesting identity related topics like gender non-conformity.

Caroline: Ooh, awesome.

Helen: Oh my gosh. I can’t wait. I love your fabric deep dive on silk. And batick is a great one, too. I’m definitely looking forward to that.

Ada: And that one got a little spicy. I’m not going to lie.

Helen: That’s what I like about your podcast though. You guys don’t pull punches, you share your honest opinions and your personal experiences, and it’s so interesting and valuable to listen to, and it’s, yeah. Yeah, it’s tough work, too, to share that stuff sometimes. So thank you for doing that.

Caroline: Okay. Let’s dig into some specific episodes of the Asian Sewist Collective podcast. Uh, you have a great two-parter on cultural appropriation. So I was wondering if you could give a definition of cultural appropriation for our listeners.

Ada: Anybody who already listens to our podcast is probably sick of hearing me talk about cultural appropriation because I talk about it on Instagram, too. But here is the short definition of cultural appropriation. It’s the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, et cetera, typically of a non-dominant people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.

And the way that we like to explain it is we actually borrow the three piece framework from Emi Ito who’s @Llittle_Kotos_Closet on Instagram. And in her post and open letter to white makers and designers who are inspired by the kimono and Japanese culture, she outlines those three P’s as power, profit, and people.

And so power comes first because, in that definition, there’s always a power dynamic of a more dominant culture taking from another culture that’s historically been oppressed or marginalised. Profit, because when someone does that, they’re typically profiting. We all live in a capitalist society. And often the person profiting is not of the origin culture or community. And people because the people of the origin cultures almost always get erased in this process.

So an example would be wearing a cultural garment as a costume. So one of the examples we brought up in our episodes, uh, is wearing the qipao cheongsam as a prom dress or using a cultural object as a prop or naming or using cultural garments or terms to describe something that isn’t that actual thing. And in the episodes, we, kind of, do a deep dive on all of this and talk about how it really seems harmless cultural appropriation, but it does uphold a structure that harms people like me and Nicole where it exoticizes and fetishizes us and makes us targets of terrible things like bullying, street harassment, violence, and all of the terrible things that we see in the news, unfortunately, nowadays.

Helen: Yeah. And I want to encourage our listeners to go and listen to both of the episodes because we’re not going to have a chance to do a deep dive on the subject today, but they’re such great episodes. And I so appreciated you putting yourself out there and talking about this hot button topic in the sewing community in the last couple of years and explaining it really well and really giving a lot of perspective in those episodes. So I think our listeners will get a lot out of that, so please do go listen. But one of the things that, kind of, comes up for people is what can sewists do to avoid cultural appropriation in their personal sewing practices?

Ada: Ooh, that’s a hard one. I think because in the podcast we try not to be, like, the cultural appropriation police. I hate using that term, but I have no other better way to describe it. Like, we’re not trying to make the decision for you, especially if it doesn’t have to do with either of our cultures. But I think what sewists can do is, kind of, challenge themselves to think a little more critically when they are looking at patterns or looking at designs and even fabric, for example.

Just, you know, ask yourself before you buy something or make something, is this from my culture? Is it from someone else’s culture? If it is in someone else’s culture, am I doing it in a way that is respectful to that culture? Or am I doing the whole power, profit, and people thing where I am profiting from someone else’s culture and taking from it because I can. And I think just adding that little step into our decision making process when we’re making, it’s not necessarily something that comes up naturally, I think for most people, but adding that little step of consideration, I think really does help folks have more deep connections, I think, to what they’re making and also to their making process.

Caroline: Mhm.

Nicole: I think that part of the cultural appropriation discussion also should include how to handle discussions of a cultural appropriation. Because I think that particularly as sewists, we are dealing with a long history of clothing or other tech-, sewing related techniques, and we can’t necessarily know everything. So yes, kind of, having your radar up and being more mindful when you are selecting your fabric print or your pattern and, sort of, investigating to the extent that you’re even aware you need to investigate, you know, your, your motivations or the history behind what you’re working on right? We’re not investigating the history of the t-shirt here, but there are obvious, you know, cultural markers that we should be looking out for.

But on the other side of that, one of the more difficult parts of cultural appropriation and the conversation around it is addressing it when there’s a question about whether a person has already done it. So this is the other side. We’ve already, perhaps we chose to do something, uh, we examined it, we chose to do something because we felt like it was not cultural appropriation. Or you just did it, and someone else is saying, um, excuse me, this is, this appears to be cultural appropriation. Whether it’s a person from the culture who is being harmed or an ally or a co-conspirator who is trying to help the culture who is being harmed by the act.

And the biggest thing for me is us and other people in the creative space, not becoming automatically defensive. When somebody says, hey, can we talk about the impact of this garment on this particular culture? I think, oftentimes, the reaction is defensive immediately. It’s um, no, I know a Filipino person and they said, it’s fine.

I’m, like, well, part of the cultural appropriation discussion is being open to listening to more than one person. Um, no single person is going to be representative of a culture. But saying, okay, can you help me understand what you mean by this? How have I harmed you? Or instead of being dismissive and sometimes rude and sometimes hostile. So it’s, there’s the avoidance part, but sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know.

So there still has to be understanding and discourse, respectful discourse, on the other side of it as well. And I think for my part, I can’t speak for Ada, I think the defensiveness is what really halts the productive conversation around, you know, community learning on this subject.

Caroline: Mhm. Yeah. And I think as members of the sewing community, you know, being allies and calling this out when we see it is important, but also hanging back and letting those voices be heard of the people that are being affected by this cultural appropriation is important.

If somebody is speaking out, don’t automatically come to the defence of your white friend because maybe you have a friend who said it was okay. And really trying to listen, I think, is so important and understand, you know, that it’s not a time for our voice to be heard as, as white people, you know, but, yeah, it’s such a great episode, and you all dive really deep into this. So again, we want to encourage our listeners to go and check out this episode because you do dive a lot deeper into this topic over there. Um, so we’ll link that up in the show notes.

And maybe let’s move on and talk about another episode that we loved, that we also touched on already in, um, this interview, but you made an episode on imposter syndrome and sewing, and I’d love to know just a little definition of imposter syndrome for our listeners, if you could give that to us.

Nicole: Absolutely. Generally, imposter syndrome looks like somebody who believes that they have fooled the rest of the world into thinking that they are more competent than they actually are. So in the episode, we talked about how some psychologists think that imposter syndrome should actually be renamed, perceived fraudulence, because generally speaking, these feelings that we have about ourselves, that we’re fooling the world, that we’re not as great as we are, um, they’re unjustified. So the word imposter implies that the individual is actually a fraud and has, you know, defrauded everybody. But obviously, they’re not.

So imposter syndrome in sewing, you know, can manifest in a lot of different ways, especially with social media. So us putting pictures online and people saying, wow, that’s a really great job. But at the end of the day, you get mad that you think, like, oh no, they actually think that I’m really good at this, but I see this flaw and that flaw, and they don’t actually know how terrible I am at sewing. So that’s what imposter syndrome looks like. It is important to note that when we talk about imposter syndrome, it’s not a medical or psychological diagnosis, it’s more of a social construct or phenomena that, that we are all becoming more aware of and having conversations about.

Helen: And how does imposter syndrome intersect with Asian identity in your guys’s experience?

Nicole: So for me, I think that, and I can only speak from, from my experience, my own identity, I think imposter syndrome manifests itself from something that I learned growing up about how we are not meant to celebrate ourselves. And we are not in my, in my family in particular, I won’t generalise for all Filipino people, but there’s a strong feeling or ethos that you do hard work, you get results and that’s, what’s expected.

So if I do really well, but maybe I am feeling like I didn’t do very well, um, or if I did something and I’m really proud of it, but I shouldn’t be really proud of it. I think that’s how for me, imposter syndrome gets mixed up in that. It’s about how I see myself, um, in relation to what other people see in me.

Ada: I think if you listen to the episode, you’ll hear that I’m pretty uncomfortable during most of it, and it’s probably because I guess I don’t really feel like I have it is probably the best way to explain it. And there was a Harvard Business Review article called “Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome” that I would recommend anybody read, but basically, it challenges the whole concept of imposter syndrome because it points out all of these other things that are systemic racism, classism, xenophobia, and all there and all these other biases that can cause us to feel certain ways in certain situations.

And I think I identify more with that then with necessarily calling my feelings or experiences imposter syndrome. And I definitely, like, that is something that I think comes from a place of privilege, for sure. Like, I am a east Asian woman who, I was born and raised in the States and, you know, relatively upwardly mobile, I guess, the best way to summarise. And I work in finance and tech. And so in all these situations, like, it never felt like I was a fraud. It just felt like I had all these other slights against me. And therefore, I think when it comes to even sewing and crafting, like, I never had that kind of experience personally.

Helen: Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. And I really appreciated that point you made in the episode about this blanket statement of imposter syndrome, erasing all of these other important things that are happening and dismissing them, and that can be really harmful. So that was such an interesting perspective that you brought to the table. And again, we encourage our listeners to go and listen. More listening for y’all today. But I wonder what advice you might give to sewists who are feeling like they have imposter syndrome or like they don’t belong in the sewing community or elsewhere.

Nicole: I think I would start with you do belong here, and we welcome you here. Um, I wish that that’s a message that could be said and felt at every single person’s core and anyone who has ever felt like they don’t belong. But with regard to, you know, if you’re, if you’re feeling like a fraud, you know, find your people, find people who really you can talk with online, people who are encouraging of you, and then maybe take a tiny leap of faith and believe them when they say you’re doing a really great job.

For me, I had to really flip a switch to, well, no, very slowly and painfully flip a switch to believing what people say, you know, to say, rather than dismissing a compliment or, uh, a comment about how skilled I am, you know, not just saying, oh, you’re just being really nice, but absorbing it and allowing yourself to feel, you know, appreciated for what you do. And that, it’s a tiny leap of faith to say, I believe what they’re saying is true. And over and over again, surround yourself with those types of people who will uplift you.

There will be people who will give you unsolicited advice and things that are not, you know, productive to your wellbeing with regard to sewing. So, you know, you can set them aside and really surround yourself with folks that you trust already to continue to lift you up, and then believe them, just believe them.

Caroline: That’s great advice. You two often ask your guests how their Asian identity intersects with and influences their sewing practice. So we wanted to ask each of you the same question. Um, Nicole, do you want to start us off?

Nicole: Yeah, for me, it is a very direct connection between the practice of sewing and the exploration of my identity. Growing up, I was a part of, so I, for context, I was born in America. My parents immigrated from the Philippines and then my grandparents came after that. So I grew up in a household where I always felt torn between, like, my American identity and my Filipino identity. And I did Filipino school. I learned cultural dances. I put on these awful, garish outfits. That’s what I thought they were growing up. These, like, big sleeves and plaid and wrap around skirts. And I hated it.

My nineties, American-loving jean/ sneakers girl, growing up, like, rejected it, you know? I wanted to be American. I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to look Filipino. I just wanted to be like everyone else. So lots of complex feelings there. Um, but when I started to learn how to sew, so, this was just a couple of years ago, I am at a point in my life where there’s maybe a little bit of regret for behaving like that as a child, but the balance is more toward being really excited about rediscovering my connection to my Philippine heritage.

So we did, during the Cultural Appropriation Episode Part Two, I talked about how, like, upset I was about the Great British Sewing Bee, having taken a Filipino garment called the terno, which there’s a longer history there, and appropriating it, in my opinion. And it’s been through learning how to make that specific garment that I wore growing up with these cultural dances that I thought was the cheesiest thing ever, but learning how to, how artisans who create these designs make them and trying and failing and, and getting a little bit better each time on how to make this design.

Uh, something that’s newer for me, so it’s the terno sleeve, you may have heard me talk about this, something that’s newer for me is this realisation that the terno is beautiful and distinct. And I am looking forward to continuing to hone that craft over my lifetime, but I want to start looking at some of the traditional garments that were made during pre-Spanish colonial Philippines time.

Would I ever have cared about any of this if I hadn’t started sewing? Honestly, probably not, but being able to explore the history of my ancestors and my people through the garments that they make, the fabric that they use, the weave styles that they, that they do has been a really wonderful part of my sewing journey that I’m grateful that I get to share with other people as well. So there’s a pretty direct correlation between my Asian identity and my sewing and what I hope for it to evolve into in the future.

Helen: Oh, that is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing. Ada, how about yourself?

Ada: I guess that’s a little different for me because I think, unlike Nicole, I, I wouldn’t say I always embraced my identity growing up. Definitely, I can relate to wanting to assimilate in many times and parts of my life. Um, but I think I always grew up being taught to be and then learning how to be very proud of being Taiwanese. And I think that just, kind of, carries a lot of things that I do. And so when I think about my sewing, there are certain things that I do and certain decisions that I make that I think definitely stem from my cultural background and heritage.

And then there’s, like, things that I haven’t been able to explore yet that I want to do because of my identity. And so I think of things like, um, there’s that meme or stereotype that I think goes around sewing Instagram every few weeks or months where it’s, like, is this a tin of cookies or is it a tin of sewing notions? Like, I think almost any culture, um, or any immigrant family can probably relate to that, just, like, repurposing things like that.

But I think deeply and in Taiwanese culture and anybody, kind of, in the Chinese speaking role, it’s like, you probably, it wasn’t a cookie tin so much as, like, the mooncake tin that would come or the box that would come because it was fancy packaging. And it’s, it’s little things like that that I think come up.

And then there’s, like, the fact that I didn’t know until I started sewing that there was such a vibrant community, I think, in Taiwan of people who do sew, and, like, a whole fabric district that, you know, I’ve been back many times in my life and been lucky to have been able to do that. But I had no idea, you know, knowing Taipei as well as I do that, there was a whole district that I had missed until I got on sewing Instagram and started connecting with people. And so one day when I’m allowed to go back, I hope to, kind of, explore that more deeply.

And then I think it’s, it comes up sometimes when we’re doing episodes, right? Like, the history of quipao cheongsam. I didn’t know about the whole history of the garment. I own one from my mom, but I, A: don’t really fit into it because she was very tiny at the time. And B: it’s not really something I, I necessarily want to be wearing outside right now.

And so, yeah, I think there’s still a lot of unpacking personally for me to do, but it is something that I do notice from time to time just, kind of, pops up here and there, and you, kind of, have to go like, oh, that was unexpected. Maybe I should, like, journal on that or, or think about that a little bit deeper sometime.

Helne: I mean, you’re both so in the early days still of, not only your sewing journey, but also your podcasting journey, and I just can’t wait to continue to follow you both and, and see where it takes you and watch you do all of these explorations and unpacking that you’re talking about.

And thank you again for taking us along on the ride with you. I wonder if making the podcast has changed your personal sewing practices at all for either of you.

Nicole: I think, for me, something that happens a lot, and you probably have heard me say this a lot, is that I always want to try something new that we’ve talked about or learned about. And so, I don’t know if this is, like, something people want to hear, but, uh, my practice is chaotic now because I was content with just, like, trying to figure out how to sew. But I’m learning about this whole wide world of wonderful types of sewing and garments and fabrics that I want to do at all.

So I have a little bit of a hard time focusing on what I want to do because every time I talk to someone, I think that is wonderful. I’m going to be a quilter now.

Helen: Oh. I got totally sucked in by Bhiravi’s quilting as well.

Nicole: Yeah. Or I’m going to make bags now. This is what I’m going to do. Oh, silk? I’m going to make with some silk, too. This is going to be so good. So I don’t know if that’s the answer you were looking for, if I even answered your question, but, uh, that’s, what’s been happening with me.

Helen: Oh, I can relate, we also delay episodes sometimes because Caroline and I feel like we don’t have enough personal experience to cover something like shirring, for example. We’ve been wanting to talk about that for years, but neither of us can, like, find the time to make a shirred garment first. We need to practise before we talk about it.

Ada: I’m staring at the five spools of thread I have that are elastic thread that I bought explicitly for shirring that I have not done yet because of the same thing.

Caroline: I have, I have the spools and the fabric and the pattern. It’s, like, oh my gosh.

Helen: How about you, Ada? Has it impacted your sewing practice at all? Is it chaotic as well?

Ada: I honestly think it’s kept me, it, maybe not chaotic, but it’s kept me more accountable because at the start of every episode we ask each other what we are working on and having that, kind of, has kept me accountable to making progress on my projects because I don’t want to share that I’m working on the same thing. I mean, it’s totally fine. Like, you should sew at your own pace, but me, personally, I’m still in that phase where I’m, like, just good enough to make things that I decide, like, oh, that’s never going to make it out a house or, oh yeah. That’s, like, fine. I’ll just wear it.

And so having that accountability of knowing that we’re, we’re going to record I need to have things in my project queue has helped me. And it’s definitely also helped me move through that queue because there are some projects that I cut out way far in advance, which is what everyone tells you not to do. And then I don’t end up sewing it for months, or even like, I just finished a dress a year after I cut it out. Maybe, partially, because my serger sucked and I got a new one. And then I was bias binding all these seams, and it was a whole whole saga. But I think that having that layer is helpful for me, at least, in terms of, like, how I work. Like, I know that all these garments are mostly for me, 95% of the time.

But it also, like Nicole said, has gotten me interested in all these other things, like sewing a quilt. I wouldn’t have ever attempted it had we not had Bhiravi on. And she had said, you can do it. You can make this quilt. And then, of course, as I’m halfway through making her quilt, I’m like, wow, this is only a baby quilt and, like, how many blocks more do I have to go?

Caroline: It’s a process.

Helen: Yeah. It’s so fun to be inspired by the guests though. And I’m constantly trying to resist the urge to pick up new hobbies, like beading or quilting, but sometimes you just can’t, you just have to go for it.

Well, we’re almost done here, but we just have a couple more questions. First of all, what advice would you give to someone out there who wants to start their own podcast or maybe just their own space for people who are like them?

Ada: You can do it. I know we were just joking about that, but you can definitely do it. There are so many tools out there for podcasting now that make it really easy and simple. And honestly it doesn’t have to be as finessed as we have or with this, kind of, complicated process of involving all these people.

We have a whole team of people because we wanted to start a community and Grubin quite honestly knew we couldn’t do it without help, but you can always just hop onto record by yourself, even on your phone as long as you have, like, the mic near your mouth to make a podcast episode and share your thoughts and ideas.

The biggest thing that we learned is, that gave us, I guess, encouragement in the beginning was that the vast majority of podcasts never make it past one episode. So by the time we were working on, like, the second or third episode, we were, like, we’re fine. We’ve already made it past the really hard part, the first episode.

And if you’re building a community, whether it’s podcast-based or not, I think doing a little bit of work on understanding who you want to reach and who you want to build that community for and where they all are already helps you, kind of, have some more direction and gets you further along that journey than you might think.

And you might not have to work as hard as you think you might have to in order to start something. So, for example, we’re really active on Instagram because we both already knew that the sewing community on Instagram was super active, had the people that we wanted to find and engage with and build community with. And that not every platform out there was going to offer that. And that building something from scratch, for example, would be pretty difficult to get people onto.

And so that, kind of, pretty easily helped us decide, okay, this is where we’re going to focus most of our time when it’s not on podcasting. We’re going to engage with people on Instagram, share information, share clips, and start conversations there to, kind of, build that momentum so that people now send us emails and send us audio messages, which is fantastic. And we’re still, kind of, trying to figure out what to do with it all.

Helen: More mail bags.

Ada: Probably, yes.

Helen: I love getting audio messages from our listeners because it’s such a one-way street sometimes it feels like. We’re talking into the mic, and we don’t get to hear their voices in return, so that’s always special. Please call us.

Caroline: It’s hard with our voicemail line though cause it’s not, like, they don’t email us an audio message. We just get a voice. There’s no way for us to respond.

Helen: It’s true.

Caroline: Sometimes we’re, like, should we call them back? Like, we can’t, we don’t have your email. Um, but no, it is so fun to hear from everyone.

Helen: Nicole, do you have anything to add, as far as advice for folks?

Nicole: I just followed whatever Ada was doing.

Helen: Be more like, Ada. Perfect.

Nicole: I don’t have the same skill set or the PR, like, particular organisational skills and drive that Ada has. So I am listed as a co-founder, but none of this would have been possible without Ada. So I’m like, listen to Ada.

Helen: The thing is the Ada’s of the world need the Nicole’s of the world. It is definitely a symbiotic relationship.

Ada: Yes. Oh my gosh. You should’ve seen when Nicole and I were trying to learn TikTok. I mean, I would say I’m still trying to learn. I don’t know if Nicole has given up or not, but we were, we were like, this is, this is, no, this is probably not where we need to be right now or nor is it a good use of our time and energy.

Helen: Oh gosh, I can relate to this so hard. We’ll get there. Maybe TikTok 2023? We’ll see.

Caroline: Well, where can listeners find each of you online? Remind us again, and also, uh, where can they find the Asian Sewist Collective.

Nicole: You can find me @NicoleAngelineSews on Instagram.

Ada: And you can find me @I.Hope.Sew on Instagram. And the collective is @AsianSewistCollective on Instagram and AsianSewistCollective.com.

Helen: Perfect. Make sure you subscribe in your podcast apps.

Caroline: Yes, go do it now. And thank you so much for chatting with us, Ada and Nicole. It was so much fun making this crossover episode with you. Thanks so much for coming on the show.

Ada & Nicole: Thanks for having us.

Helen: Bye.

Caroline: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Caroline, at BlackbirdFabrics.com and Helen at HelensClosetPatterns.com! And we’re recording today in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Helen: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from the episode. And if you would like to get in touch with us, you can always send us an email at [email protected].

Caroline: And if you love Love to Sew and want more, you can sign up for our Patreon! For $5 a month, you get a full-length bonus episode and weekly behind-the-scenes pics. And for $10 a month, you get all that PLUS a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics! Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content. So please, go to patreon.com/LoveToSew for more info.

Helen: Thank you to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening. We will talk to you next week.

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Chests come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes – and patterns usually don’t. In this episode, we go over the ways that patterns are shaped (or not) to accommodate a bust, how you can tell if you need a pattern adjustment, and how to adjust patterns to fit your unique chest.

The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.

Previous episodes mentioned:

From the listener question:

Resources:

Patterns:

Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Caroline: Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: And I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Helen: Join us for today’s topic: Chest Fitting.

Caroline: Hi, Helen.

Helen: Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: How are you?

Helen: I’m good. But you know, I have to get something off my chest.

Caroline: Oh, you had to. What’s that, Helen?

Helen: I don’t know. I, that’s, as far as it went.

Caroline: You didn’t even have anything ready?

Helen: I should have prepared more.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. That’s hilarious. Well, we have a question from Beth, and they have something to get off their chest, so maybe we should read it.

Helen: Okay. “Hi Helen and Caroline! I am new to sewing and have been binge-ing your podcast as I dive into this awesome new hobby.”

Welcome, Beth!

“My question might be a basic one, but I’m discouraged by thread issues when I’m sewing. There are almost always tangles of thread from the bobbin when I begin or end sewing, or when I’m going over a couple layers of fabric at once. I suspect this might be a tension issue but I don’t really know how to fix this. My projects look good except for the tangle of threads that interrupt the lovely flow of even stitches. How do more experienced sewists avoid thread tangles?”

Caroline: Ooh, this is a really good question. Thank you so much for writing to us, Beth. I totally remember this being an issue for me when I was new to sewing, and it definitely does sound like it could be a tension issue. So the goal with tension is to have stitches that don’t pull through on either side; the top thread isn’t pulled through to the bottom, and the bobbin thread isn’t pulled to the top. So whenever you start a new project, or if you introduce a lot of layers, it’s always a good idea to test out the tension on some scraps of the same fabric and the same number of layers. So you can sew a line, look at the tension, adjust the tension dial, sew another line, and you should be able to see if you’re getting closer or farther away from the tension that you want. And when the tension is right, switch to your cut out garment pieces and start sewing seams.

Helen: Yes, and it’s also possible that this could be a threading issue. If your machine is incorrectly threaded or your bobbin’s incorrectly put in, it will create those awful thread nests that happen. So double check your machine’s manual to make sure that you’re doing it right. There might be a little step that you’re missing sometimes that’s causing that. There’s a really good article on Threads that we’ll link in the show notes that can help you to troubleshoot your threading. And I know you feel discouraged right now, but once you get a handle on what’s causing the thread tangles, it will be something that you will hardly think about in the future. You’ll just adjust the tension or rethread your machine and move on.

And I also want to add that if it happens at the start and end of your seam, which I think you did mention, you can mitigate this by starting or stopping further in from the edge or even using a little piece of scrap fabric to get started sewing. So rather than starting right at the edge of your fabric, maybe start a centimetre in from the edge and do your back stitch first and then go forward so that you’re not giving the needle a chance to be sewing not on any fabric because that is likely to cause tangles. There always needs to be fabric under there.

Also, I had this issue so much when I started cause I was sewing on this vintage machine and my thread tails, the little tails that come out of the needle and out of the bobbin, would get sucked up into the machine every time I started sewing. So I had to hold on to them with my hand, and it took a little while to get used to this, but I would just, like, place my fingers over top of the thread tail so that when I started sewing, they wouldn’t get sucked into the machine and cause those tangles. So you could try that as well.

And lastly, another consideration is your needle. Make sure you change it often and use the correct one from your project because if you’re using the wrong needle or if it’s really old needle that can also cause thread nests to happen. So there’s a lot going on here, but we’re confident you’re going to figure it out, Beth, and just know that it’s a very common problem for new sewists to have, so you’re not alone.

Caroline: Oh, totally. And I want to also add that the, kind of, thread nest at the beginning and end of sewing is not unique to vintage machines. My Bernina, which was a pretty pricey machine, does that. And I just got into the habit of always hanging onto those thread tails when I start sewing so that they don’t get into a knot, and it just becomes second nature, so that might just be what you need to do. But I would experiment and try to figure out the issue, Beth, and best of luck!

Helen: Alright, Caroline, are you ready?

Caroline: I’m so ready for this episode. I’m excited to talk about chests.

Helen: Yes, chests. We’ve all got them. Big chests, small chests, flat chests, low chests, sports bra chests, free boob chests, bullet bra chests, binder chests. There’s all kinds of chests, and they all deserve to be dressed. Okay. I’m done Dr. Seuss-ing for the day.

Caroline: Personally, I’m a big fan of the free boob chest.

Helen: Yeah. Free boob chest.

Caroline: Let them free. Uh, no, but in this episode, we’re going to talk about the ways that patterns accommodate different chests and busts and how to alter them to fit your personal chest.

Helen: Yes. And before we start, we just want to acknowledge that this isn’t an easy thing for many sewists. People who deal with gender dysphoria can find it difficult to deal with altering patterns. In order to do it, you have to measure your body and pay attention to its shape, which can be challenging! You will also come across a lot of educational materials that are gendered, assuming that all women have a bust and all men are flat-chested, and flat-out ignoring anyone with another gender. So in this episode, we want to offer you our support. Some men have busts, some women don’t, and everyone deserves clothes that fit and make them feel really good. We’re going to be linking to some tutorials with gender-inclusive language, and also some that aren’t in this episode. We hope that more people in the sewing community will contribute fitting information that includes everyone in the future. So that’s something to keep in mind if you’re out there creating content.

Caroline: Yes. Okay. Let’s begin by talking about bust shaping for those out there who have a bust to fit. So bust shaping is a set of pattern making techniques that add fullness to the chest of a pattern so that they can accommodate the curves of a person’s bust, and most sewing patterns drafted for women include bust shaping.

The default bust size they are drafted for is usually somewhere between an A and a D cup. This can be really frustrating for folks with no bust or with larger breasts. It’s already hard enough finding clothes that fit in stores only to find standardised sizing in sewing patterns, too! So thankfully there are some very doable adjustments that will help, and we’re going to go through those a little bit later in the episode.

Helen: Yes, and so we mentioned cup sizes, A to D cup, and a lot of people find this very confusing and for good reason. It is not a straightforward measurement. So what does cup size mean anyways? Cup size is a measurement of volume. It’s a three-dimensional thing, and that’s part of the reason why it’s not super straightforward.

Caroline: Yeah, cup size is a relative measurement. So for sewing patterns, it depends on the high bust measurement, and it’s about how much difference there is between your high bust and full bust. So a C cup for a 40 inch bust measurement is a totally different size from a C cup for a 50 inch bust measurement.

Helen: And in addition, pattern cup sizes are different from bra cup sizes. Bra cup sizes use your underbust measurement, which they call a band measurement. Pattern cup sizes tend to use the high bust measurement. It’s important to note that your pattern cut measurement may or may not be the same as your bra cup measurement. And this is a stumbling block for a lot of folks when they get into sewing because we’re so used to, well, many of us are so used to the bra measurement sizing, even though that also makes little to no sense, but you learn it, right? And then all of a sudden it’s different in this context, so that can be definitely a hurdle when you’re getting started.

Caroline: Yeah. So let’s debunk this. Let’s go over how to get your cup size measurement for sewing patterns. So you’re going to need your current accurate high bust and full bust measurements. To take your high bust measurement, you’re going to wrap your measuring tape around your torso, right under your arms before your chest starts to curve out and make sure to relax your arms down by your sides, as much as you can while holding the tape to get an accurate measurement. And then to take your full bust measurement, wrap the measuring tape around the fullest part of your bust. Again, make sure your arms are down and make sure you’re wearing the bra that you’d like to wear with the finished garment when you take this measurement.

Helen: Yeah, or don’t. Free boobs.

Caroline: Or don’t wear a bra. Exactly.

Helen: So your cup size is your full bust measurement minus your high bust measurement. A one-inch difference between those measurements is an A cup, a two-inch is a B cup and so on. So if your high bust is 50 inches and your full bust is 56, you’re a double D, which is the same as an E by the way, cause the system, again, is weird. It goes, like, A, B, C, D, double D, F. Like…

Caroline: Right. Okay.

Helen: But, but E is just like… We just don’t talk about E.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: It’s just, like, not a thing.

Caroline: Makes total sense to me.

Helen: Oh yeah. Perfect. So next you’ll want to check what cup size the pattern is designed for. Some pattern companies will list this information on their website or in the pattern, or you can email them to find out. Some patterns include high bust measurements in their measurement tables. So to find out what cup size they’ve designed for, you take the full bust measurement and the high bust measurement in a size that’s close to yours and then you can look at the difference. So if it’s a two-inch difference then that pattern is drafted for a B cup, four-inch difference drafted for a D cup.

Caroline: And for example, the Ashton Top, Helen, that’s your pattern, is designed with B cup and D cup options. So you can check out the measurement tables and find the size that matches your high bust measurement, and then look at the full bust measurement for your size. So in the example we used before, a 50-inch high bust measurement would be a size 26, and the full bust measurement for a size 26 is 54 inches in the D cup range. But since our example needs a double D cup, they may benefit from a full bust adjustment. So we’re going to cover those and other adjustments in a minute, but just keep that in mind.

Helen: So, what is the advantage of taking cup size into account when choosing your pattern size and adjustment? Why is it better than just choosing your size based on only your full bust measurement?

And the answer is in the fit of the neck, shoulders and the armscye. The armscye being the sleeve opening of the area that goes around and under your armpit. If your cup size is larger than what the pattern was designed for, you might find that the shoulders are too big, the neckhole and armscye gape, and there’s wrinkling above the bust. If your cup size is smaller than what the pattern was designed for, the shoulders might be too narrow the neckhole and armscyes might be tight.

It also affects how the rest of the garment falls below the bust, showing drag lines in different places. If your cup size is one bigger or smaller than what the pattern was designed for, it might not be a big deal, and you can make a beautiful garment without making any adjustments. We’re going to get into how to assess that.

But for those of us outside that range, adjustment to bust shaping could be the key to a nicely fitting me made garment in the end, and it’s not too hard to do, so don’t be intimidated.

Caroline: Yeah. Okay. So let’s talk about how patterns include fullness to accommodate the bust. So darts are probably the most common way to include fullness. They turn a straight piece of fabric into one with a curve or several curves. And darts can come from anywhere on a pattern bodice, up and down the side seam, the armscye, the neckline, even a centre front seam, or seam underneath the bust.

Helen: Gathers or pleats are another way to add bust shaping, and princess seams are seams that start at the front armscye, curve inward near the bust apex, and then travel vertically down the front of the bodice. That is another way to add shaping to a pattern.

Caroline: Okay. And A-line shaped bodice can give enough room for the bust without including darts, gathers, pleats, or princess seams, or it can be combined with them to be just one part of the bust shaping strategy.

So designing a pattern for stretch fabrics is another way to accommodate a bust because the fabrics can stretch over the curves. Some patterns will also have curved side seams that will help accommodate a larger bust and further bust shaping may not be needed if you’re using a stretchy fabric.

Helen: And good news: all of these elements that we’ve discussed are super customisable. We talked about a lot of these in our pattern drafting episode, actually, and how you can change a dart into gathers. You can influence how big that dart is, therefore, making that area larger. There’s so many things that you can do to change these elements around, or you can completely remove them if you don’t want any of that bust shaping.

Caroline: Yes. So, of course, not all patterns are designed to accommodate a bust. For example, almost all men’s patterns do not include bust shaping. And in this case, you can measure your chest or high bust and compare it to the size chart. And if you have a bust you need to accommodate, you can do a full bust adjustment to add bust shaping. And if not, you can sew it without adjustments.

There are way less patterns on the market for folks without a bust, but please don’t let this stop you from sewing styles you like. If you love a pattern that has bust shaping and you don’t have a bust, adjust the pattern to get rid of it. And if you love a pattern without bust shaping and you do have a bust, add it in. It’s easier said than done, but we want you to know that you can do it.

Helen: Yeah. So let’s get into these adjustments. First thing is: how do you know if you need an adjustment? Well, you can check out the measurement chart on the pattern. For pattern drafted with bust shaping, check if there is a high best measurement listed, find yours and compare the full bust measurement. If it’s off by two inches or more, you’ll probably going to want to do some kind of adjustment.

Caroline: And if you do not have a bust, you’re comparing your high chest measurement to your full chest measurement. And there may be little difference here. If there’s no high bust measurement listed, see if you can find the cup size. You can work backwards to find the high bust size. So if it’s drafted for a B cup, look at the measurement table and find the bust size that’s your high bust plus two inches, and that’s the size you’re going to want to choose. If the full bust measurement for that size is bigger than yours, you need a small bust adjustment. If it’s smaller, then you’ll need a full bust adjustment.

Helen: And you can always reach out and ask the pattern designer for high bust measurements or cup size information, or just help choosing a size. People do email me often. Here’s my measurements. Help me choose a size. Always happy to do that.

And I also recommend when you’re looking at the size chart, you want to compare that with the finished garment measurements chart as well. Um, you can measure the pattern pieces and check them against your body measurements if the chart doesn’t have what you’re looking for. Make sure to subtract the seam allowances and allow for ease if you’re measuring on the pattern pieces.

Threads has an article called “How to Measure a Pattern to Assess its Fit” that includes a table of minimum ease that you’re going to want to look for when you’re making things. After all, you want to make sure you’ll fit into the garment in the end, but compare your measurements to the pattern’s finished measurements and see if there’s any big discrepancies. If there are, then that’s where you’re going to need to make those adjustments.

Caroline: Yeah. I wouldn’t necessarily look at a finished measurement chart and see that, you know, I still fit into it and go for it without, sort of, understanding ease because you still need a little bit of ease in there to be able to move around. So even if the finished garment maybe matches your bust and you’re like, oh, I don’t have to do a full bust adjustment. You probably still will because you still have space to, kind of, move around. Your body changes as you sit and stand and reach, so you need a little bit of ease there to accommodate that movement.

Helen: Yeah, definitely. And the more you sew, the easier it will be to determine if you need to make certain adjustments to a pattern just based on the design, the style lines, and the amount of ease. So, for example, a boxier fit design might not require as much adjusting as a very fitted design, and, Caroline, I know you and I have experienced this where, you know, it’s great to do a bust adjustment cause you get an even better fit, but with a lot of boxier styles, you can, kind of, get away with not doing it because it’s just sitting on top of your body in this boxy way, so it might not fit perfectly, but it’s not as noticeable as if you were making, like, a fitted ball gown.

Caroline: Yeah. And I think different folks have different standards for how things, how you would want something to fit on your own body. So I would just say, like, you know, it’s such a personal preference thing. So if you try something on and maybe it’s not perfectly fitted to you, but you’re, like, really happy with how it looks then, like, who cares if there’s a drag line here or there, or if, you know, that doesn’t really matter. I think the most important thing is that you’re comfortable in the thing that you’re wearing. And I would keep that in mind when you’re looking at other people’s clothes, too. And, you know, maybe hold back before giving fitting advice if you don’t know that that person wants it.

Helen: Yeah, so true.

Caroline: Had to throw that in there. But it can also be really helpful to check out the hashtag for a pattern on Instagram and see what adjustments sewists have already made. You may be able to find information on the adjustments that sewists with similar bodies to yours have made. I know a while back there was a, kind of, trend in the sewing community on Instagram where you try to find your body double and, like, try to find someone who has similar measurements and maybe even similar style and you can, kind of, see what they’re sewing and making and take cues from that and see how things will fit. Obviously, that’s not a perfect way to find things that are going to fit you, but it’s, sort of, fun to get inspiration from other sewists when you’re deciding whether to make a pattern, so Instagram is a great place to do that.

Helen: Yeah, definitely. And, of course, make a muslin. This is a great way to assess the base fit of a pattern and see if you’re going to need adjustments, especially if you’re, kind of, on the fence. You can absolutely go ahead and make adjustments before sewing because all of this information you’re gleaning from these size charts and the finished garment charts and your personal experience, you can go ahead and make things like bust adjustments right off the bat.

But if you’re not sure, and if you’re new to sewing, it can be really helpful to just cut up a bed sheet, make a muslin, and just see what you’re looking at before you start trying to guess what adjustments you might need.

19:02 Caroline: Yeah, totally. And if you have a B, C, or D cup, you will probably find lots of patterns that will work for you without adjustments since a lot of patterns are drafted for these sizes. But if you fall outside of these cup sizes and want to avoid adjustments as much as possible, look for patterns from companies that offer multiple cup sizes. So there are some pattern companies that do this. Cashmerette is beloved for their C to H cup sizing. Other companies that offer your choice of cup sizing are Jennifer Lauren Handmade, Charm Patterns, Connie Crawford, Unleashed Patterns, Sew House Seven, Laela Jayne Patterns, Itch to Stitch, and Bella Sunshine Designs, that we know of. And Cashmerette also has a guide to plus size pattern companies that list the cup sizes of a bunch of different pattern companies, so we’re going to link that in the show notes.

Helen: Yes. It’s so helpful to have that jumping off point that actually matches your measurements, especially when you’re new to sewing. The adjustments that we’re about to talk about can sound and look pretty intimidating, but they really aren’t that hard. And I want to remind you that the stakes are so low. You’re just cutting up paper. If you mess it up, you can cut out more paper later. Just paper.

Caroline: It’s just paper. And with that said, we always recommend making a muslin when you make adjustments to a pattern. That way you can check that it fits just the way you like and make any more adjustments you might need before cutting into your quote-unquote real fabric or special fabric.

Helen: A lot of bust adjustments have you pinpoint the bust apex first, and some people don’t know what that means, and that’s fair because it’s a weird word. What is the bust apex anyway? Well, it’s the fullest part of the bust, the part that is furthest away from your body, the part that sticks out the most, the top of the hill, the peak of the mountain. Apex means high point, so that makes sense, right? For some people, this is going to be where your nipple is.

However, all chests are different. And I think about when I was helping Laurie learn how to do bust fitting when she started sewing, my mother-in-law, and we had a good laugh about this cause she was like, yeah, that’s not where my nipple is anymore, you know? And that’s totally fine.

When you’re finding your apex, wear whatever undergarments you want to eventually wear with this garment, or none at all, if that’s your preference. Lay the bodice pattern piece over your body, making sure the shoulder seam line is where it should be and the centre front is lying flat over your centre front, and then you’re going to take a marker and make a dot on the pattern piece where the sticky-out-iest part of your chest is. If your bust is rounded because of your undergarments, make a point at the centre middle of that roundness. And this is the bust apex.

Usually, darts end about an inch away from the best apex that they’re designed for. This gives the bust a more rounded shape that’s popular in modern designs, but in vintage patterns though, especially in the fifties and sixties, they would bring the dart right up to the apex. And that gives it a more pointy look.

Caroline: Yeah. And like many pattern adjustments, it’s best to follow some specific steps when making bust adjustments. So to keep the balance and proportion of the garment, bust adjustments often add or remove width and length on the front pattern piece. So you want to think of the fabric as a road in the countryside, a road going up and down a hill is going to be longer than a road that’s going over flat ground. So in the same way, we need more length and width in the garment fabric to go over a larger bust and less to go over a smaller bust. I love this analogy: a road in the countryside.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: There are two major adjustments to fit chests, and you’ve probably heard them before: small bust adjustment or SBA, and full bust adjustment or FBA. Both of these adjustments require taking your measurements, cutting into your pattern, and then you’re either going to spread the pieces apart and add more paper, or you’re going to overlap the pieces to take some of that width and length away.

We’re going to talk in pretty general terms here since it’s really hard to visualise going step-by-step through these adjustments in a podcast, but again, we’ll have lots of link tutorials in our show notes, so you can actually have a look at how these go and review the steps and just give them a try. It’s only paper, just paper.

Caroline: And I would also say, I think that small bust adjustments and especially full bust adjustments are probably the most common tutorial online for making an adjustment to a sewing pattern. So if you’re working with a specific pattern, look at that designer’s website or blog and see if they already have a tutorial that’s tailored specifically to that pattern because there’s just so many out there so you have the resources at your fingertips. We’re going to link some of our favourite sort of general tutorials, but take a look at the specific pattern you’re working on because you might find something there.

Helen: Yeah. So small best adjustments remove volume at the bust. And this might mean completely removing shaping like darts or gathers. And you can do an SBA to remove the bust shaping completely or you can just make that bust shaping a little bit smaller. This can open up a whole new world for some sewists. There are way more patterns available for purchase that are designed with bust shaping than without. So, for example, dresses are almost always drafted with bust shaping, but anyone can wear and enjoy a dress.

On our blog, the Helen’s Closet Blog, we do have an article on how to remove bust darts with lots of visuals for this particular adjustment. We’re using the Gilbert Top as an example, and there’s two versions. We have a more precise, proper method. And then I also provided a quick and dirty method because sometimes you just want to get to the sewing.

Caroline: I love a quick and dirty method. Seamwork has a great article called “Four Essential Small Bust Adjustments” that illustrates SBAs for a dartless bodice, a side dart bodice, and a side and waste dart bodice, and a princess seam bodice. So lots of examples in that article.

So the general steps for a small bust adjustment include marking the apex, cutting into the pattern horizontally from the side and vertically from the bottom, overlapping the pieces, and redrawing lines to be smooth. So this is going to close a dart partially or completely. And if you have facings or yolks, you may need to alter them to match the new front pattern piece. And if you’re doing an SBA on a dartless bodice, you’ll need to make sure the back pieces end up the same length as the new front piece.

Helen: Yeah, this can get confusing sometimes because often when we’re working with side darts, if you’re closing and/or opening them more, it seems like the length of the side seam is changing, but that’s not always the case. If the bust dart is getting larger, you’re then going to, like, take that length out when you close that dart. So it will come back up to meet the back piece. So oftentimes you’re only going to be working with the front piece and you won’t need to touch the back piece. Um, but it is something to be mindful of. Once you finish your adjustment, you want to just, like, walk your pattern pieces and make sure that everything is going to line up in the end and that you didn’t make any oversights because it totally happens.

Caroline: Yeah. That’s great advice for any kind of fitting adjustments that you’ll make to a pattern is just walk those pieces together as if you’re sewing them, but just do it with paper to make sure everything sort of lines up correctly. Sometimes notches will move a little bit when you’re making adjustments. So redrawing notches and things like that will be really helpful once you get to the sewing stage.

Helen: Definitely. Okay. Next, we have the full bust adjustments and these are going to add more volume for the bust. And this might mean adding a dart where there wasn’t one to begin with. Seamwork coming in clutch again. Their article “Four Essential Full Bust Adjustments” has examples on making an FBA for a dartless bodice, including instructions for adding a dart, side dart bodice, a side waist dart bodice, and princess seam bodice. So we’ll link that up.

The general steps are pretty similar to those for the small bust adjustment, but instead of overlapping the slashed pattern pieces, you’re going to be spreading them apart. And this often will mean making things like darts larger. And this can get tricky as you start making really large adjustments because if you’ve ever experienced this, you start to spread that dart to the point where it’s too big to be closed. And in that case, you might need to split it into two darts.

Um, but again, there’s so much tutorials online for how to handle this kind of stuff. There’s e-courses, too. I know Cashmerette has a great e-course on how to do full bust adjustments on patterns. So we’re going to link all of that up and there’s lots of ways to approach it as well. So if one thing isn’t working for you, try something else.

Caroline: Yeah. You can redistribute that fullness from the dart into, like, other kinds of style details or adding an extra dart in the waist or there’s so many options there. So if your dart starts looking really large and maybe it doesn’t sew up the way that you want it to, that might be the way to go.

Okay. Let’s talk about knits for a second. So doing an FBA for knits can follow a different process, and Cashmerette has a good tutorial for doing a simple FBA that we’re going to link for you, but you do need to have a muslin of the garment first. So basically, you try on your muslin and measure how much it rides up in front versus the back. And then you take the pattern, cut a horizontal line across the bust apex, and spread the two pieces apart the number of inches that it rode up, and then you add a small bubble curve at the side of the seam and you’re done. Sounds so easy.

Helen: It’s so cool what you can do with knits in this case, like, cause you can add shaping at the side seam. You can even, like, stretch or that fabric to, like, meet the front piece so that you can ease all that extra fabric in and then you have the excess across the front. Um, and Cashmerette does a great job at explaining all of that stuff for knit garments.

And, of course, you can add a dart to a t-shirt as well using a knit fabric. It’s just not something you see a lot in ready to wear so in order to, kind of, replicate the look that you’re going for, you might not want to have any of those things like darts and gathers, and you can do a lot with just the stretch of the fabric.

Caroline: Yeah, and there are other adjustments you can make that will affect the fit of the chest. So you can move a dart up or down. If the bust apex of the pattern is far above or below your own bust apex, you’re going to want to try this adjustment. There are a few ways to find the bust apex of a pattern. So if the pattern has one side dart, split the dart in half, draw a line from the middle of the dart at the side seam to the centre and an inch beyond that, because remember the dart usually ends an inch before the bust apex.

So if you measure an inch beyond, that’s going to be your bust apex, and if the pattern has a side and a waist dart, you could draw a line splitting each dart. The bust apex is where those two lines intersect. And then after you find where the apex of the pattern is, where it’s, sort of, drafted for, you can lay that pattern piece over yourself, and again, mark your own bust apex, so the top of the hill for you.

And to do the adjustment, you basically draw a box around the dart, move it up or down on the pattern, tape it down, and redraw the sidelines. It’s kind of cool. There’s a tutorial on the Curvy Sewing Collective that shows this really clearly, but you’re literally just, kind of, cutting out this little box and moving it up and down and it feels too easy, but it works really well.

Helen: It does. It’s one of those adjustments that does feel too easy when you do it. You’re just like, I just cut it and slide it and we’re good.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: But it makes such a big difference having that dart pointing at your apex on your body can change the whole fit of the garment. Like, it can change how it hangs all the way down to your knees. So, yeah, it’s definitely a good thing to nail right off the bat. You can also deal with a difference in your bust apex from the pattern’s bust apex by adjusting just where the dart points to. So not moving the entire dart, but just changing the angle to where it’s pointing.

The bust darts should always be pointing towards the apex, no matter where the dart itself is located. So you do this adjustment by marking your apex on the pattern, drawing a line from the centre of the dart to your apex, and then, you measure the dart legs and draw the legs the same length onto your pattern from the side seam to the centre line or wherever the dart is located. So you’re basically just moving the point and not moving the legs or not moving the, what do you call the other side of the dart? The opening?

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: The hat.

Caroline: Yeah. I always just call it the hat.

Helen: Yeah, there’s probably a name for it, and it’s eluding me now.

Caroline: And actually, speaking of which, if you’re moving the dart, you’re probably going to need to redraw that dart hat.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Um, cause it’s not going to look right once you fold the dart, it, if it’s going, like, in a different direction, so take a look at that. There’s also a fabulous article on the Closet Core Patterns blog called, and I love this, “A Dart is Just a Suggestion: How to Make Darts Fit You (And the Other Way Around)” and that shows how to do this adjustment and several others. So we’re going to link that up in the show notes. I just love the clever title. A dart is just a suggestion.

Helen: It’s such a great way to reframe it because it can be so frustrating when you start sewing and things aren’t fitting, but learning to see things as just a roadmap. So when you’re looking at a pattern and you see a bust start, see it as fullness in the pattern that may or may not be necessary for your body and may or may not be the right place on your body. And it’s up to you as the sewist to customise it to fit you. And it is just a suggestion, and it can be really frustrating when you get started to, like, just make things right out of the packet and they don’t work out, but starting to change your mindset about how you’re viewing the pattern and what it’s capable of, it really helps you to build that confidence to be able to take that pattern and make those changes.

Caroline: Totally. And I think for beginners out there, like, if you’re feeling like, oh my gosh, making a pattern adjustment feels insurmountable. It feels like I don’t understand what I’m doing. And you know, like, it can feel really intimidating, but just know, like, it does get easier once you do it once, twice, you’re learning the technique, and that’s a tool that you can take into your sewing practice forever. And it will mean that you’re going to have clothes that are going to fit you better. Like, you’ll thank yourself later. Just jump off the diving board into the pool of adjustments, and you, you will be happy in the end, but I know it’s intimidating. Like, I totally relate. And, um, yeah, I hope we can inspire you guys a little bit today.

Helen: Yeah, and you can also adjust the length of darts. The darts should end, as we said, about an inch away from your apex. So if you mark your own apex and find that it’s too close or too far away, you can shorten or lengthen that dart. Mark your bust apex on the pattern, you can draw a line from the centre of that dart to the apex, and then mark a point on the line that’s an inch away, and you can redraw the legs, ending them where the original dart legs are. This one is also illustrated in that Closet Core article as well. You can do this, too, on a garment that you’ve already sewn. Maybe you try it on and you think, like, oh, this dart is actually further away from my apex, but Helen and Caroline said it should be about an inch and it’s, like, way over here. So then just sew it a little bit longer, you can just pop back onto your sewing machine and lengthen that dart. Or it might be the case that you’ll have to unpick it a little bit and shorten it, but those are things that you can actually do in the moment, too, which is cool.

Caroline: Yeah, absolutely. Sometimes you don’t just need to move a dart, you need more or less length above the bust. So you can tell you’d need this if the armscyes are too tight and the bust darts are too high. If the pattern has a lengthen shorten line marked there, you can just cut along that line and spread it the amount that you need. If it doesn’t, you’re going to need to choose your own location to do that slash and spread.

So Brittany from Untitled Thoughts recommends going about one third of the way up between the bust point and the high point of the shoulder, and this adjustment is done to the front and the back of the pattern. And when you slash and spread above the bust, you’re going to be changing the armscye of the patterns, that’s, sort of, the arm hole. So just remember, you need to make sure you also adjust the sleeve of the pattern or any facings that you have or binding, as well, so that it matches that adjustment and that addition of length that you’re making.

Helen: Yeah. We started including all these lines on our recent patterns. I think for the past few years, we’ve had them in there, the ones that are above the chest or on the chest. Like, the upper part of your chest, and that’s so helpful for people. And we talked about this in our Petite Sewing Episode, that when you’re shortening patterns to adjust for your height, you can’t just chop it all off the bottom, right? We are proportional. So it’s important to take a little bit of length out in multiple places. And it’s really helpful to do some of that above the chest. And it might just be for your specific frame that all of your bust fitting issues or chest issues could be solved by just shortening or lengthening above the chest, so it’s something to look into for sure.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: The fit of the shoulders can affect the fit of the bust, too. You might need a forward shoulder adjustment if the shoulder seam sits too far back on your shoulders, pulling the fabric to the back. For this one, you’ll want to take a wedge or rectangle from the front body shoulder seam, add it to the back. So you’re, kind of, repositioning where that shoulder seam is going to be. You can also adjust the sleeve cap to make more room at the front of the sleeve. Melly Sews has a great article on Shoulder Fitting Adjustments that shows how this is done.

Caroline: And if your back is broader or narrower than the pattern is designed for, it can give you excess fabric at the bust or tightness across it. So Alexandra Morgan has a video on how to do this that we’re going to have in our show notes. And this is going to add or remove a vertical sliver of fabric on the back of your pattern without altering the neckline, armscye, or seams.

Helen: Ooh, magic. Speaking of Alexandra Morgan, we did that amazing fitting episode with her last season. She recommended doing fit adjustments to the bodice from the top down because they can have a cascading effect, meaning that what you do to the upper part of the garment has an effect on the lower part, and this can actually be a great thing. Sometimes, you think you need a whole bunch of adjustments, then you make the first one, try it out and it solves more than you thought it would because they’re all interconnected and related. And that’s why it is recommended that you make one adjustment at a time and then try it out. Of course, I’ve been there and I’ve made many adjustments at once, and that’s okay, too. You know, you just have to go with your creative process, but it’s such great advice to think about that cascading effect and how, oh, if I change the shoulder seam, how is that going to affect the bust fit or how is that going to affect the arm and the more you do it, the more you’ll learn.

Caroline: Yeah. Okay. This episode wouldn’t be complete without a little pep talk. So when you’re dealing with fitting adjustments that feel outside the quote unquote norm, it can feel extra intimidating and add on the bodily changes that come with big life events like ageing and pregnancy, breast augmentation or reduction, mastectomies, or top surgery, and it’s an emotional obstacle course, but through all this, remember that everyone deserves clothes that fit and make them feel great. And that includes you, dear listener, no matter how your body changes, you will still deserve that. You will always deserve that. So be kind to yourself and keep on trying, treat yourself like you would treat someone you love, and you can adjust your favourite patterns and make them work for you. You’ve got this.

Helen: Oh, I’m gonna cry.

Caroline: You’ve got this, Helen.

Helen: You’ve got this.

Caroline: And that is it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Caroline, at BlackbirdFabrics.com and Helen at HelensClosetPatterns.com! And we are recording today in beautiful, sunny British Columbia, Canada.

Helen: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to learn how to do chest fitting adjustments. We filled our show notes with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, please send us an email at [email protected].

Caroline: And if you love Love and want to hear from us more, you can sign up for our Patreon! For $5 a month, you get a full-length bonus episode, our bonus episodes are super fun, y’all, and weekly behind-the-scenes pics. And for $10 a month, you’ll get all that PLUS a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for both Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics! Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content for you. Go to patreon.com/LoveToSew, for more info.

Helen: Thanks to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening. We’ll talk to you next week.

Caroline: Bye.

Helen: Buh-bye.

Caroline: Thankfully, there are some very doable adjustments with that help and, oh my God, I can’t talk today.

Helen: Perfect. Do you want to start from the beginning?

Caroline: I’m, like, jumbling the words. Okay.

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Rose Parr is a sewist and ergonomics expert. In this episode, we get her best advice for sewing practices that are kind to your body, including how to set up your sewing space, which ergonomic tools make a difference, and what stretches to do.

The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.

Where to find Rose:

Resources:

Tools:

Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Helen: Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Caroline: Join us for today’s interview with Rose Parr.

Helen: Hello, Rose. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Rose: Hi, Helen. Well, thank you for having me. As people may have guessed, my name is Rose Parr.

Helen: Yes, and can you please let our listeners know what it is that you do and specialise in?

Rose: I specialise in ergonomics for crafters, sewers, makers, quilters, and just helping them set their areas up to stay as pain-free as possible. That’s my goal.

Helen: Yes, we are here for it. We’re so excited to learn from you today. Where are you from, Rose?

Rose: Uh, I’m in Guelph, Ontario, which is just outside of Toronto.

Caroline: Awesome. I have some family in Guelph, actually. That’s, that’s very cool. We’re fellow Canadians over here on the West Coast. So tell us a little bit about your sewing and quilting journey, and I’d love to know how and when you learned to sew.

Rose: Well, I always, during my lectures, they always introduce me, and they’ll say, sewing for 40 years, quilting for 30 years. And it just sounds good, but I’m 59. And I know I started sewing long before I was 19. So it’s probably more like sewing for 50 years, but you know, like a lot of people I learned at my mother’s knee, and it was just, sort of, osmosis. You know, you wanted to alter your Barbie dress and cut it off and change it. Then, you just went over to the sewing machine.

I’ve done a lot of sewing, a lot of dressmaking, a lot of everything. And then, um, actually went to school for home economics and studied pattern design, tailoring, colour design, all of those things. And then, um, you know, had a family, took a break from a lot of that, sewed a lot of curtains and a lot of kids’ clothes. And then as my kids got older, I got more into quilting, and I do a little bit of clothing making now, but it’s mostly quilting.

Helen: Wonderful. And how does ergonomics fit into that? What got you interested in studying and then teaching ergonomics?

Rose: Well, when my kids went back to school, and I had four young kids, but when they started school, I wanted to work somewhere that was very flexible. And so I became certified as a personal trainer. I’m also a registered holistic nutritionist and a few other things. And my business was from my home. It was in my basement. They all, they enter through the garage. And so I could see people, um, when kids were at school, and it was great.

And during that time, I did a little bit of, uh, corporate work for an employee wellness company. And they, of course, would have ergonomic protocols given to them by, um, the ergonomists in the corporate world, and so I learned a lot through that. And then I took a certification for office ergonomics, which translates beautifully to the craft room. It really does.

And, uh, so I’m not an ergonomist. I am certified in ergonomics, and, you know, there’s a big difference. So, yeah, and even when I was still personal training, I was, I was teaching my clients then who sewed or who were at their office or whatever, um, the best ways for them to set up. It just, it just comes very natural to me. My dad was a machinist, and we were just always doing things the smart way, I guess.

Helen: Oh, that’s awesome. And I love that you’re sharing all of this knowledge now with the broader sewing community online. When did that start for you?

Rose: Well, it was, I was actually one of my, so in, I think 2017, I decided that I didn’t want to be a 90 year old personal trainer, and so I was looking for the next chapter. And at that time, I had been taking my quilts out to be long armed by, um, a lovely long armer. And so I thought, hey, I’ll get a long arm. And so I bought a long arm and for, um, a year, actually my, my personal training clients were basically paying for my long arm cause it was in the same studio.

And even then some of the ones that were, sort of, they were personal training clients, and they were quilters, and I’d be talking to them about things, and one of them said, you know, you should really talk to the Guild about this. You should, you know, put together a PowerPoint and talk to the Guild, and I did. And then I talked to, um, a couple of other, you know, fairly local guilds and that went really well. And then in, uh, 2019, I think it was, I spoke at Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England. And since then, I mean, once you’ve spoken there, then, you know, that’s a real, um, high point in my career.

And then, of course, once everything shut down, it, it actually really opened things up for me because people don’t normally, um, I speak primarily to quilt guilds, and they don’t normally pay mileage for places that are, you know, six, seven hours away because you’re only doing a lecture. If you’re not doing a workshop, then they usually, you know, it doesn’t work that way. And so I didn’t do a lot of lectures far away. Let’s put it that way.

And so of course, with Zoom, um, I’ve lectured in Scotland and England, all over the United States. I cannot believe how many quilt guilds there are in California actually. It blows my mind. And so, yeah, so that’s, so I’ve gone from speaking, you know, once every couple of months to speaking two or three times a week, um, it’s been a little crazy.

Helen: Wow. And we found you actually via your book that’s all about sewing ergonomics, so we’ll put that in our show notes so our listeners can take a look at that, too. Did you write that book in the last few years as well?

Rose: Uh, yeah, actually that was, um, two, it came out in 2021, so I guess it was 2019, actually, that I was writing, and a lot of that just came from my PowerPoint. It was like all the information was there, so it was just a matter of really fleshing that out and, you know, doing a little bit more research. Everything in my lectures, everything in my book is very research-based. None of it is based just on, you know, what worked for me and isn’t that great? It’s based on research that’s been done in the field of ergonomics and then applied to the crafting world

Caroline: Awesome. And your book is called Sew Healthy and Happy. Um, so, yeah, we’ll make sure we link that up in the show notes, but we want to talk to you about how our listeners can set up their space for better ergonomics. But before we get into, kind of, the nitty gritty, we wanted to spend a bit of time on the basics and just ask you what is ergonomics?

Rose: You know, there’s, there’s a lot of different definitions because people use it as a noun and a verb and lots of different things, but really it’s just doing something comfortably and efficiently. That’s, that’s all it is.

Caroline: What are some common difficulties that sewists can face because of the way that they sew?

Rose: Well, it depends which area of the process that you’re referring to because there’s different ways that we can improve, whether it’s, um, you know, at the ironing board, at the cutting table, uh, whether you’re trying to cut a pattern on the floor, which I know we’ve all done, um, years ago or at the sewing table. So there’s, there’s room for improvement at different stages.

Helen: That makes a lot of sense. So should we start by talking about how to set up a sewing space? In your book, you suggest setting up a work triangle. Can we talk about that for a moment? What is that?

Rose: So a work triangle, right now, almost everyone has a work triangle in their home already, and that is their refrigerator, um, their sink, and their stove. That’s a, that’s a work triangle. And, and that actually was designed by, um, a very famous mother of twins, and I’m a mother of twins, and her name was Lillian Gilbreth, and she was the Cheaper by the Dozen mum

And the work triangle that she designed for one of the state fairs in, uh, 1928, I believe, is really still the same one that’s used today. And they have parameters for overall size, the minimum and maximum for the size, for the corners, like, when, when it’s being designed for a home kitchen or industrial setting, it’s very, set up to be very efficient. And my, you know, most kitchens are just naturally set that way because they’re not huge, and so you don’t have a lot of choice.

In our sewing studio, I think of the ironing board, the sewing table, and the cutting table, uh, as being our work triangle. My big difference is that I really want people’s sewing work triangle to be as inefficient as possible. And, uh, I always joke that, you know, I’m so efficient when I had my third child, I had twins because I wasn’t doing this again, and I can do two for one. And so I’m all about efficiency. I’m all about doing two things at once except when it comes to this particular, um, aspect.

And that’s really because every time that you stand up from your sewing machine and walk, whether it’s six inches or 60 feet to your ironing board, your blood is pumping. Everything is circulating. And, you know, a lot of the things that I talk about and the suggestions, they really all boiled down to that, to not disrupting blood flow or circulation.

And so, for me, if your sewing triangle, basically, you want to have your ironing board as far away from your sewing machine as you can. The, the cutting table doesn’t usually apply. You know, it’s not as important because you’re not going back and forth to it as much.

With sewing, it’s a little bit different because with sewing garments, you spend more time, you know, whether you, whether you, um, are basting and setting a sleeve in or something that there’s a lot more time spent, um, in detail work.

But with quilters, they go from the sewing machine to the ironing board constantly, and they’ll press one seam before they sew the next seam. And, um, so yeah, so the farther away your ironing board can be from you, the more circulation you will have.

Helen: Yeah, that makes sense. And I mean, caveat for all of this conversation today for our listeners, you have to do what works for you. This is just some general advice that we wanted to give. And I also want to ask you about lighting rows, because this is a big issue for a lot of people. What should our goal be as far as lighting when we’re sewing?

Rose: Well, the thing is, if it’s for your overall, um, sewing space or sewing room, then brighter is better. And so, uh, a few things that you can do is even just remove the shades or the actual cover from your, from your light in your room can make a big difference.

Uh, I recently found out about these light bulbs that they’re made for garages, but you plug them into a regular light socket, and then they almost look like a flower pedal and, and protrusions come out into a fan-like surface, and they all light up, so they really spread the light around a room. And I keep meaning to go get one and add it to my, uh, ergonomic toolbox lecture, but I haven’t, I haven’t yet.

Uh, but the main thing is, is that wherever you’re doing work where you need the most light, whether it’s at the sewing table, the ironing board or the cutting table, you really need to have some task lighting there. And just depending on how big your space is, is going to determine how many different lights you have set up really.

Caroline: This might be an obvious question, but why do, why is it important to have that light? Is that, is it so that we’re not bending and, kind of, going closer to the project or is it actually for our eyes?

Rose: Um, both. It’s, it’s, it’s for both. I mean, yeah, it’s, it’s, whether you’re sewing or whether you’re cutting wood or whatever you’re doing, you know, you always want to try to bring your work to you, and so good lighting helps with that so you’re not having to bend in to get a closer look at it.

Um, the other thing is I’m a big fan of, um, just dollar store readers. I’ve got them everywhere, and they’re usually, you know, on top of my head or tucked in my shirt. And, you know, so much of what we do is just a habit. So if you have the readers and you can just get into the habit of every time you’re threading the needle on your machine, instead of coming in, you drop your readers down, then you won’t need to lean in so much to see things. They really help a lot.

But, and again, it, it, a lot of times people like to do their handiwork, um, in the evening when they’re watching TV, mostly because, um, someone in the house is complaining that they’re always in the sewing room, and they’re never watching TV with them, so we find something to do to watch TV.

But you have to remember that that table lamp beside you, um, was designed for ambient lighting. It was not designed to do close-up work of any kind. And so you need to have a, um, a floor lamp or something coming down over your shoulder as well. Um, when you’re doing that kind of work. So, I mean, brighter is better.

Caroline: Yeah, of course. And you’ve also recommended the use of an anti-fatigue mat. Can you tell us a little bit more about that and what you look for in this kind of a tool?

Rose: Yes. Now I normally don’t get into too much detail on this, in any of my lectures, because there was a lot of different, um, specs that you can examine. And so there’s an older blog post at HealthyQuilting.com that if you scroll back a little bit, everything is, is there depending on whether you want to talk about the material, th-, the size, the height, what, what you’re looking for in that because there’s, there’s lots to choose from. They’ve come a long way.

Like, now you can even get decent ones from the big box stores where that wasn’t the case in, before. I mean, the big one that I used to have at my long arm was from Uline, which is a industrial supply place. And it was, you know, really heavy, um, really great quality, but I’ve since switched that in for another one that is a Canadian company, and they are called Vigorous and it’s, it’s, they’re a totally different concept. They’re weird to look at, you’re going to look at it and go, well, why would I want to stand on that? But they’re heaven.

Uh, but basically you just want to make sure that what you’re using is thick enough that, um, it doesn’t just compress as soon as you stand on it and never come back. Um, the material has to have that resiliency to come back again, but you don’t want it so thick that you’re wobbling on it. And, and so, yeah, there’s, there’s a lot of different things to look at with that. And, um, there’s all those specs are at HealthyQuilting.com.

Helen: Perfect. Yeah, I got my anti-fatigue mats at Costco, I think. They’re just designed for kitchen use, and they work great.

Rose: You know, I mean, the thing is with the, the more, I guess we call them household ones, I mean, they don’t last as long. And so whether it’s your anti-fatigue mat, depending on how often you’re standing on it and compressing it, or whether it’s your, your running shoes. I mean, uh, I’m a big fan of indoor shoes and, you know, I get into arguments with people about this all the time and that’s, we can do that another day, but I, I always have indoor shoes on.

And so if you’re wearing a pair of indoor shoes, you know, they’re clean, and they will look brand new forever, but they actually may be really worn out. They might not be doing any good for you anymore. And so you need to check if the, the cushioning on the, um, the heel, um, is, is wearing down. If the insole, even if you’re wearing orthotics on top of them, if that is wearing down, and they’re, they’re really worth the investment. I mean, I cannot believe how much I spend for running shoes that really do not look great at all, um, but they’re worth it.

And, I mean, if you’re shopping for them, I really recommend that you go to a running store. Even though you’re not running, go to a running store. Take your old running shoes with you. Uh, whether you take your indoor ones and maybe take your outdoor ones, too, because the outdoor ones, your gait and wear pattern might be a little bit more obvious on them because they’re dirtier, but then have them find something for you. It’s probably going to be a cross trainer, but who knows.

You know, I talk a lot about machine maintenance when it comes to, uh, healthy quilting with us being that, that machine. We are the most important piece of machinery in our sewing room. No warranty, no guarantee. You know, replacement parts are really hard to get. And so if we think about, you know, buying this pair of expensive running shoes, because they will be expensive compared to, you know, buying a new foot for your sewing machine that, you know, I, I bought feet for my long arm that were $80 that I don’t even use, you know? Um, and so if you just think about, you’re maintaining the piece of machinery that is literally irreplaceable, then I think it, uh, it makes it a little bit easier sometimes to spend that money on ourselves.

Caroline: Yeah. And it’s something you’ll be potentially wearing every day, right? So you’ll get a lot of wears per cost.

Rose: Yeah, and I mean, I’m saying running shoes, but I mean, something similar to a Birkenstock is great, too. They don’t have to be a running shoe. Um, just something that provides a lot of support.

Caroline: So would you say a comfortable, supportive shoe is a good alternative to an anti-fatigue mat? Or would you use them both? Would you recommend using both?

Rose: I mean, I use them both. My sewing studio has a hardwood floor. It’s not carpeted. And even with carpeting, sometimes, again, it depends on how old it is, how old is the underpad on it? You know, it’s could be flattened to something by now. If you, for whatever reason don’t want to have an anti-fatigue mat, then yes. They’re great. But the thing with, so if you’re wearing running shoes all the time, then your body is acclimated to that. And that’s what is natural and normal for you just in day-to-day life. So now if you add to that standing in one position for a long time, then that’s additional. So the anti-fatigue mat gives you that additional help.

Caroline: Okay. Okay. Let’s move on to cutting because yeah, I think this is usually, personally, what makes my body hurt the most. So, um, how do you figure out what the right table height is for your body?

Rose: Caroline, so, um, are you primarily using scissors or a rotary cutter?

Caroline: I do a bit of both, but rotary cutter would be primary for me.

Rose: So the, the thing that we need to start with with that, and it applies to all the different areas that we can talk about in this sewing studio is everything starts with your baseline ergonomic angle magic number. And it’s a little bit different for each of us, but that’s, we need to determine that first, before we look at anything further and, you know, people refer to it all the time as the 90 degree ergonomic angle.

And that’s not always the case, that’s a starting point, but the way that you can determine that is to, you know, stand up nice and tall, roll your shoulders back, have the top half of your arm close to your body. Bring the bottom half of your arm up at a right angle at the elbow. And then just reach out like you’re going to shake someone’s hand, but you’re going to shake someone’s hand that is the exact same height as you. They have the same torso length and everything.

And so if you can face a mirror, it’s great. You can put a little whipped cream on the end of your finger and face a mirror. And then what you’re going to do when your hand is out there is you’re going to turn, rotate your palm towards the floor. And so what you want to do is you want to measure from your palm facing the floor to the floor and, uh, there’s different ways. I mean, I have a, I have a, um, a tape measure pinned to a wall in my studio because I used it for a video, but most people don’t have that. You know, you can just drop a tape measure in your hand, how-, however it’s going to work.

But so for me, I am five foot three in my shoes. I’m in my indoor shoes. And so from my turned over palm, the bottom of my palm, whatever, to the floor is 39 inches. So I know that’s going to be the starting point. And so, you know, if anybody’s listening to this, and they’re taking notes, then just remember that you’re going to shake somebody’s hand, turn your palm towards the floor, and measure from your palm to the floor. Yeah, for me, it’s 39 inches, but that doesn’t mean that somebody else that’s five three is also going to be 39 inches.

Then, from that, if we’re starting with the cutting table, you know what, can we start with the ironing board first?

Helen: Sure.

Caroline: Oh, sure. Yeah.

Rose: Okay. Just cause it’s, cause it, sort of, sets the stage and makes it easier to understand for the cutting table. So if we’re looking at the ironing board, same thing applies. We’re going to start with that magic angle, that magic number. And then what we want to do at the ironing board is we want to deduct the width of our iron. And so the height of your iron is when it’s standing upright unless it’s an Oliso, but most are standing up upright. That’s your height. When it’s lying flat, you want to measure from the sole plate to the handle, and so we’re going to say that mine is six inches. The one that I used in my initial calculations in the book and everything was, was quite a big one.

And so I know that 39 minus six, so your ergonomic angle minus the depth of your iron, 39 minus 6, 33 inches, for me, is going to be that, you know, perfect pressing height for my ironing board. And again, that’s going to be a starting point, and we want to look at, so your ironing board has a limited number of adjustments.

So, if I’m looking at my ironing board and I’m thinking, I can go 32 and a half or I can go 33 and a half, I’m going to go 32 and a half every time. Because what we want to avoid with the ironing board is we want to avoid having our ironing board too high because when your hand has to come up, even at the slightest angle up over top of your iron to, to guide it, to hang on to it, then first of all, you have a bend in your wrist, which is, you know, never great.

Uh, you also sometimes will have the handle of your iron now, basically, your hand is resting on top of it because it’s come up over top. Um, it’s not that it’s digging into it, but it is against it. But the other thing that happens is that when we raise our hand or raise our arm, our shoulder follows, and that’s what it’s designed to do. If we’re getting something off the top shelf, the shoulder helps us. We bring everything down, and then the shoulders are down again. And when our shoulders are down, generally, everything above them is much happier.

And so when you’re pressing at an ironing board that’s too high, basically, one of your shoulders is just a little bit hitched up all the time. And it’s such a slight movement that somebody standing beside you might not even see it, but it is there. And at the end of the day, when you’ve got a headache, when your neck is tight, when there’s a lot of tension, when your shoulders are sore and tight, and you’re thinking I didn’t do anything different, um, it could be that one of your shoulders was creeping up all the time.

And so say, if I’m going to then, I’m going to look at that 32 and a half. The next thing is quilters tend to use, uh, wool pressing mats a lot, and that can add, you know, half an inch as well. Garment sewers, not as much, I don’t believe. And so, for me, anyways, even though my own calculation says that my height should be at 33, mine is set at 32. And so as long as it’s, you want it low enough that your shoulders stay down, but not so low that you have to bend over to see what you’re doing.

Helen: That makes a lot of sense. And I’m wondering if this is why my neck and shoulders often hurt after a long sewing session. It’s probably because of this angle.

Rose: Well, and honestly, even if somebody was standing right beside you, they wouldn’t be able to see that it was up. It’s that slight of a thing. But imagine it’s that way all day. If we’re lucky to be sewing all day, it’s that way all day. And so if you think about that same scenario in terms of your cutting table. Um, now you’re going to start with that same, for me, 39 inches. And then with this, it’s a little bit trickier because when you’re using scissors, um, you can use scissors much closer to a 90 degree angle than a rotary cutter. But if you’re going back and forth, you really have to set up for the rotary cutter because you can do your scissors a little bit lower. Um, but you can’t do your rotary cutter higher.

And so, um, let’s, we’ll say right now that we’re going to set this up for rotary cutting. And what you need to do with this is, so you’re going to approach your table. You’re going to stand up nice and tall. Bring your arm out at that 90 degrees. Have your rotary cutter in your hand with the blade, um, not exposed and then drop your elbow, keeping your arm, your forearm, from your fingertips to your elbow, you know, neutral, straight, and then because a rotary cutter requires pressure and we need a little bit of, um, gravity to help with that pressure.

And so as we’re coming down, what feels good that you can apply enough pressure without having to bend over. That’s the whole thing. You want to avoid bending over. And so again, you’re going to determine, determine that measurement. And for me, it’s only about four inches. I have, I have, I’m short waisted. I have short arms. And so for me, it’s about 4 inches.

Now, a way that you can play around with that and audition different heights is, you know, just stack some board games, puzzles, books, aren’t as great because they’re, they’re not as big, and so it’s nice to be able to mimic the motion of going across. So it’s nicer to have a larger surface, so board games, puzzles. And then when you get closer to the right height, start adding magazines or something that is, um, you know, smaller, so you can really customise it and then determine what that drop is.

So if mine is four inches, then I know that 39 minus four, my cutting table height for rotary cutting would be 35 inches. Um, it could be a little bit higher for scissors because you don’t need the downward pressure so much. So if it’s, if it’s 35, then what I need to do next is I need to raise my existing table to that height and how you raise it will depend on the table that you’re using. And so, if my, and I will tell you, there is no average height for any table, any desk, they’re all over the place, but let’s say that my table is 30 inches, and I need to raise it five inches.

One of the quickest and easiest ways is to use what, we’ve always called them bed risers, but I mean, they’re table risers now is to pick up a set of table risers. And the thing to watch with this is that first of all, you know, a lot of people didn’t even know they came in different sizes. And so you go and you buy a set and you come back and your back is still sore. And you’re like, yey, you know, um, but they do come in different sizes.

The tricky thing is the person who made the label for the packaging for that riser might not even ever have it in front of them. They might’ve just been sent the, sent the specs and sent a picture. And so they may put on the label that it’s a four-inch cable riser, but they’re not accommodating for the cavity that the leg sits in. And so you might only be gaining three and a half inches of height and not four inches. And so, you know, keep your receipt and be able to try that out.

Uh, I was actually recently shopping online for a new set for a desk, and they are getting much better at that. Um, they, a lot of the, um, online spec sheets are saying, you know, raises three and a half, not that it’s four inches high, um, or, or whatever. And so I know that if I wanna raise it five inches, then I’m going to get, you know, it, it could be a, um, a six inch set of bed risers, but it only raises five inches or whatever.

Helen: Right.

Rose: Um, and so they, they worked the best for wooden table legs because wooden table legs are bigger in circumference. And the thing is, is that if you use them on a, uh, say a folding table where the diameter of that, the leg is, is round and much, much smaller, you just risk them jumping out when you move the table. And quite often you would say, oh, well, I never move my table. And if you absolutely never ever move your table, okay, fine.

But we do, we want to get around to that other side for whatever reason, and we pull it out. And it’s just really easy when you pull on the one end, that they, they just, they jump out and then, you know, you’ve got, you’ve got chipped rulers and chipped scissors and chipped blades because they’re on the floor.

Um, and another way that, that people often raise their folding tables or anything with that, you know, round smaller, um, leg is they use it’s PVC piping, plastic piping, um, and then, you cut it into four equal lengths, and then, you slide it onto the bottom of the table leg. But the thing to remember here is that you have to accommodate for the part of a table leg that goes to the first bend or, or knuckle in that leg.

And so if you’re looking at a table and it’s 30 inches high, but it’s, say it’s three inches from the floor to that first little bend or knuckle, then you’re not going to cut or buy a set of these that are five inches. You’re going to cut them eight inches to include that three inches.

And I, and I did again, when I was looking for a set recently of just regular risers, I noticed that they are now selling these online. I never saw those before. Everybody I know just made their own. And I’m a lot of, a lot of guilds and a lot of groups that do sew days. They have a, they have a set in their retreat bag that comes with them because they know that they’re always sewing at the same, you know, Legion or hall or whatever it is and using the folding tables.

Uh, you can use wheels, but you know, again, wheels, by the time you’re buying a five inch wheel, you might as well have gone to Goodwill and bought a new table. I mean, they’re, they can get really expensive for the good ones. And you need a good one because you need one that locks. That, that’s it.

If you’re looking at, you know, screwing on little furniture legs to the bottom of up, say a wooden table. If they are only five inches high, then they were designed for a, an ottoman, a footstool, and so they weren’t designed to hold the weight of, you know, your big old desk or dining room table. And so a lot of them are spindly almost, and they look great.

And again, if you never move that table, then it’s going to be okay. But if you start shifting that table around, then you could damage the integrity of that, and at some point, there’s a crack or whatever. Uh, so there’s, there’s lots of different ways to, to do that.

Caroline: Okay. Those were all amazing tips, so thank you for that. Um, and you mentioned we should try to avoid bending. So do you have any other tips for how our bodies should be positioned at the cutting table when we’re doing the cutting?

Rose: Ideally, you’d be standing facing it with your fabric and your rotary cutter and your ruler in front of you. There, there are times I’ve done this myself. Believe me, I’m not perfect. I’ve done this myself where I’ve just been in a hurry and you’re, kind of, at the edge of the table, and so you’re going, you know, on the side to it or whatever that is, that’s not ideal. Um, you, you really don’t get the best positioning that way. So yeah, if you can be directly in front of it and you’re, you’re approaching it head on.

Um, the other thing to keep in mind is that, this is talking about rulers, is try to tent your fingers on the ruler. Um, if you think of yoga toes where you’re displacing the pressure around, um, on, on your toes, rather than your foot bed, the same thing when you’re holding your ruler. If you can hold it down with your finger pads, rather than placing your hand flat cause when you place your hand flat and put all your weight on there, um, it really disrupts the blood flow and circulation from the back of your hand, and it actually hurts as well.

And so if you can, if you can try to do it that way, um, and then, you know, you got to make sure that you have grips on the bottom of your rulers, or there’s rulers now that have a coating on them. Um, I haven’t purchased one, but people that I talk to, um, say they work really well.

Helen: Yeah. I recently got a Creative Grids ruler that has that, sort of, like, rough texture on the back, and it’s awesome. I absolutely love it. It’s my new favourite thing cause it doesn’t slide around as much.

Rose: Good to know. It’ll be interesting to know if that, um, if it wears down at all or if it stays there.

Helen: I’ll keep you posted.

Rose: Well, no, because, and that’s the thing, like, so many of the things that we do in any areas of our life, they’re perfect when we set it up. Those running shoes we first got were perfect, you know? That chair that we got was perfect. That ergonomic mat was perfect. But over time, things wear out and they wear down and they compress, you know? And so we have to reevaluate, um, over time because, you know, it was, it was great two years ago when I first set it up. And so sometimes you just need to double check that it’s still where it should be.

Helen: Yeah. Are there any other tools, you mentioned those sticky back rulers, anything else that could give people a, kind of, leg up when it comes to cutting, um, and setting up their cutting space?

Rose: Uh, well, there are, there’s lots of things on the market and, you know, I’m, I’m easy to buy Christmas gifts for. My kids just buy me whatever newest thing is on the market. And, um, a few years ago they got me one of the rulers with the blades attached, and, um, they, they work really well. And the nice thing for them is that if you do have any wrist issues at all, you’re not gripping a rotary cutter.

It does not need to be quite as low and your hand, kind of, glides across. You still need to apply pressure. That’s the thing. And so you need to make sure that you are, um, keeping your elbow to wrist as straight as possible because you are applying pressure. Um, they, they work, they work well. Personally, I just find lifting them up to move around all the time, I find them bulky. And so I will use mine once in a while. I don’t use it all the time.

Uh, I’m a big, big fan of AccuQuilt, and they are expensive for sure. I bought mine used on Kijiji, and I bought it, uh, five hours away from home near where one of my siblings lived, and they picked it up for me. That’s how badly I wanted it. And, um, so you can get them used. And they, they have really kept a lot of people quilting. I mean, the AccuQuilt sn’t obviously going to be great for garment making, but they’ve kept a lot of people quilting for longer than they ever would have in the past.

There are several rotary cutters on the market that market themselves as ergonomic. And some of them just have a better grip. Um, some of them have a different weight. The one that is truly ergonomic is the Martelli, and they have one for left-handed and right-handed. And the Martelli cutters, you can use a little bit higher because, as well, they glide, and you don’t need the same amount of gravity because you’re going straighter across then down at that angle. There’s a learning curve with them. They do take a little bit of time to get used to, but they’re handy.

Helen: Very cool.

Caroline: That’s a great tip. I’m actually, with my fabric store, we have a lot of cutters every day and, and we’re always looking for new rotary cutters that are more ergonomic, and I’d never heard of Martelli, so that is an awesome lead.

Rose: They do take a, they do take a little bit of getting used to. They, they really do. Um, I know there’s a, there’s a fabric store here in town, and they only sell Boutiques and you know, that, you know, Boutiques can be, uh, fairly heavy and they only use the, the ruler with the blade attached. I mean, it’s probably a fairly industrial one, I don’t know, but that’s all they use, and it works well for them.

Caroline: Very cool. Very cool.

Helen: What about for sewists who need, or want to sit down while they’re pressing or cutting? Do you have any advice for setting up a sitting pressing or cutting station?

Rose: So, so pressing by all means, I mean, I sit down to press all the time, and there’s two options. You can either get a bar stool that works with the existing height that your ironing board is at, or you can drop your ironing board. Dropping your ironing board, it just gets tricky, uh, because, quite often, to get it low enough to have it be the most ergonomic it’s crashing through your thighs, and it just won’t go any lower. Um, so, so that one can be a little bit tricky there.

Um, as far as cutting, it’s very difficult, um, to cut well from a seated position. And certainly not for, if you’re cutting with the fabric, if you were, I mean, and if you’re using scissors, um, it’s far easier. You can certainly do that. You really have to make sure in that case that the table is lower because our whole goal when we have tables beside us, is to have them, um, ergonomically where our hands are coming to them at a 90 degree angle, whether it’s a keyboard, whether it’s picking up your knife and fork, whether it’s coming out to your machine’s bed, um, or harp, or, you know, throat plate that you want that all coming straight in at 90 degrees or a little bit more, depending on your body’s makeup. And so, if you’re going to, for whatever reason, need to cut while you’re seated, then you’re going to want that table lower than it normally would be.

Helen: That makes sense. Keep in mind that angle, no matter what height you were at. Okay. Well, speaking of sitting down, we spend a lot of time seated at our sewing machines. So what about chairs? Do you have advice for us about choosing a chair?

Rose: So in the, like I had said at the beginning, a lot of the points that I use are based on different research and, um, chair research actually comes from the, oh, I don’t know the fifties or the sixties when they had, you know, the typing pools and the secretarial pools, and, you know, you saw a hundred people typing at once. And from that, they actually designed the stenographer’s chair.

And the stenographer’s chair has a waterfall front. So the seat pan or the seat depth, it’s shorter. And then it drops off, and it rounds down. And the reason for that is that you don’t want the front of your chair right up against the back of your knees. And so you want to have a, you know, a two finger gap or whatever it is, just enough there so they’re not touching.

And, I mean, you know, you wouldn’t, you wouldn’t sit down to start sewing and get some big elastic bands and wrap them around your knees and then start sewing. And so you wouldn’t want that pressure there. And so when you remove the pressure from the back of your knees, then your body doesn’t have to work as hard to, to pump things from, from the heart through, through your system.

That’s one thing, no matter what chair you have, um, that’s really important. And if you can’t adjust the seat pan, because normally you can’t, unless it’s, unless it’s a really expensive executive chair, and they’re normally really big, but you know, you can put a cushion behind you, um, to, to bring you forward a little bit. Some people like to use their lumbar cushion in their sewing chairs. So if that’s behind you, that would bring you forward.

Uh, we, I mean, you know, we all know wheels are great. I mean, yes, they, they get full of threads and, and we deal with that, but they really are nice. But depending on the surface, I mean, if you’re on a hardwood floor, then maybe you don’t need wheels to slide your chair back and forth every time you get up. Um, hydraulics on a chair are great because you know, when you’re trying to get the most ergonomic position for sewing, you either need to bring your machine down or bring your bum up, one or the other. And so when you have the hydraulics, you can raise your chair. You might still need another cushion. Um, but you can, you can bring that up.

When we, um, like I talked before about having the table at right angles, regardless of what work you’re doing. If you are setting your sewing machine on top of your existing desk, you’re existing, um, dining room table, that desk was made so that your chair is designed so that your arms can come out at a 90 degree angle to your keyboard.

The dining room table was designed, if you’re using the chairs it came with, and if you’re an average height person, so that when you sit in that chair, your arms will come out at 90 degrees to the tabletop to grab your knife and fork. So even if you’re the perfect height, and it works great when you’re eating dinner, when you put your sewing machine on top, you’ve now added three or four inches. And so you have to crawl up over top of it. And so every time your hand’s coming up, you’ve got the bend in your wrist. You’ve got the part of the machine, whether you have an extended table on it or not where the underside of your wrist is, is resting on there.

Your forearm, quite often, is resting on the table itself. Um, so you’ve got a lot of, uh, points of contact there. You’ve got a lot, a lot of elastic bands that you’ve wrapped around different parts of your body, and nothing’s going to go numb. Nothing’s going to fall asleep, and it’s not necessarily, your wrist might hurt a bit, but normally it doesn’t even, even hurt. But what it does is it just all adds up. You were cutting, you were pressing, you were doing this, you were doing something else in another part of your life.

And, you know, if you picture the garden hose where it’s got that little kink in it or that, that, that little bit that’s disrupting the flow. The water is still coming out, but everything’s having to work so much harder to do it. Um, and so it’s not good for the part of the body that’s not receiving, um, nice, fresh circulation and blood flow all the time. But also if your body has to work harder to do it, you just get tired faster, simple as that, you know? And so, I mean, I shouldn’t recommend that you sew til 3:00 AM, but, uh, if you want to stay awake, then, uh, make sure your blood flows, but, yeah, you need to raise your chair up so that you can get in that position.

And so whether you have hydraulics on an office chair, if you’re doing it at the dining room table, chances are you’re using, um, the dining room chair. And so you want to make sure that you have a cushion, um, that you can put on that chair that you use the same one every time. It’s your go to cushion. And if the chair is square, then get a square cushion. It’s not something you where you want to walk into the next room and grab a throw pillow off the couch and put it down there, you know?

Our body likes to be level and even our hips like to be level and even, and so have something that, you know, covers your whole bum so that everything is sitting on there. And then if you want to add to that, some of the seat toppers or something else that you like, then be sure that you are keeping that in mind when you’re, when you’re picking the size of the cushion.

And I mean, we’re sewists. You can, you can buy some foam cushion. You can put a nice cover on it. And then the key is to keep it with your sewing machine. So every single time you pull that up on the table, the cushion is just part of it. Because if you don’t, then you’re not going to bother. You’re going to be like, oh yeah, I know I heard I should get a cushion, but this has been fine. I’m, I’m just gonna, cause you want to get sewing. It’s as simple as that, you know, we’re a little obsessive and we want to get on it. And so I always say that the biggest lie that a quilter or a sewer, or I don’t know, an embroiderer, a knitter, whatever it is, the biggest lie we ever tell is, I’m just going to do a little bit. Right?

Nobody does a little bit. Nobody sits down to sew for five minutes, you know, and even if you say it’s going to be 30 minutes, you can have all the timers in the world you want. You set the timer, you get up, and you do something. You’re going back. And so you might as well, you know, just, just admit to yourself that you’re going to be there for the next 12 hours and set up the right way.

Caroline: Yeah. It’s, it’s funny. And I love your, sort of, way of looking at things because it’s true. Like, as, sewists, we just want to jump in and get sewing. It’s really hard to, uh, not do that. But when you talk about setting yourself up so that your body doesn’t get tired as quickly, and you can sew for a little bit longer, I think in the end, taking that time to, like, front load that, that work to get yourself set up properly in the end is going to pay off for all you sewists out there who are maybe wondering if this is worth it. I think it is because it’s going to let you sew for longer in the end.

Rose: Well, and not even just longer four hours or minutes that day, but longer for years. You know, my mom had to, had to quit. That’s another reason why I was so happy to start speaking to guilds about this because you know, uh, my mom quit doing all of her handiwork that she loved: knitting, crocheting, quilting, sewing. Um, she was probably about 70, which, you know, seemed normal at the time. Um, a lot of arthritis, a lot of different things going on. But she probably didn’t have to, but we, kind of, all thought at the time, well, she’s 70, and everything like that.

And when I speak to guilds now, I mean, I’m, I’m seeing, you know, lots of, uh, much older sewists and quilters and embroiderers and knitters that, that are, that are still doing things. And, um, you know, we don’t have the best genetics in my family, frankly. You know, uh, a lot of, uh, a lot of replacement parts and a lot of, um, arthritis and, and different things happening. And, uh, so I’m very proactive in, in that field because, you know, I want to be, you know, when I can finally afford to tour Europe, I want to be able to walk every place I’m going.

Helen: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Um, and this is a cheesy segue, but speaking of walking and feet, we wanted to also ask you about the foot pedal because I find that it really gets away from me sometimes. And before I know it, I’ve got my leg all the way stretched out and I’m trying to, like, feel for that foot pedal.

Rose: And you’re still sewing!

Helen: And I’m still sewing.

Rose: You don’t stop sewing.

Helen: Yeah, of course not. So where should it be?

Rose: I’ve had it where it was actually flipped upside down, and I didn’t care. I just kept sewing.

Helen: Oh my gosh. I haven’t quite got that far yet.

Rose: The, or you have, and you just didn’t notice it. Um, yeah. So I mean, anything that you could have in place for that to have the grip underneath, and there’s lots of fun things on-, online. There’s, there’s one on my website, but it’s not mine. And it says right there that it’s not mine. I copied it from someplace and gave them credit.

But really all I do is I have the, um, you know, the stuff that you buy to put in your cupboards that is, like, a sheet of grippy stuff. You know, you get at the hardware store. Um, I just have a piece of that underneath mine. And then I had a, with two-sided tape, I had another piece stuck right to my foot, and then I had a piece on the floor, and that works fairly well.

Uh, for some people, I mean, we’ve talked about raising their sewing machines. Some people want to raise their sewing machine, so that they’re all in line at the machine. Uh, now all of a sudden their feet are dangling in midair, and so they need to get something under their feet. Um, usually it doesn’t have to be very high at all because you still want your knees at about that 90 degree angle or whatever’s comfortable for you. And you know, when it comes to the ergonomic knee angle, often it can be 95, a hundred. It can even go up to 110, depending on your body.

I mean, you know, everything that we’re talking about there, there’s no cookie cutter mould here. It’s all about trying to make things as customised for you as possible. And so, again, something you had mentioned earlier, there’s something that I might say that, you know, works for 90% of the population. If it’s not working for you, then you’re the 10% it doesn’t work for. And so, you know, either email me and ask me about it, or maybe what you’ve been doing all along is great. Um, it’s just to figure that out.

So if you have raised your seat so that you’re sewing at a 90 degree angle. You might find now that your feet are dangling in midair. And so you want to put something underneath them and something fairly small, so you can still keep, um, the best angle for your knees in the chair. And it needs to be wide enough for both feet. Our hips like to be even and level, and then everything is, is happier. And so you’re going to have it wide enough for both feet, and it’ll keep the hips happy, but it does a few other things as well.

It will give you the opportunity, which, I mean, hopefully you’re already doing it now when it’s on the floor, but you want to be sure you have the opportunity to sew a little bit with your non-dominant foot as well. You know, we sit down and we always, I’m right-handed, I always, you know, use my, my foot pedal with, with my right foot. And, and the majority of people find that they do do that.

You know, we talk about, a lot about circulation and you know, all the terrible things we’re doing while we’re sewing. Well, the great thing that we’re doing while we’re sewing is we are pumping that foot pedal. And pumping your feet is really good for blood flow. Uh, but your other foot, it’s just dead weight. It’s just sitting there. It’s not getting any extra blood flow whatsoever. And so if you can, you know, push that pedal over. Sew a little bit with that other foot, um, it’s great for that.

It’s also really good for your brain, frankly. Um, it’s, you know, the whole brain gym, the whole getting the wires to the synapses, to fire faster, all these different things that just make it, you just have to think about it a little. There’s no muscle memory, right? So it’s not automatic. You have to think about it. So that is, that is good for your brain.

Uh, you know, I always say that I can’t do a crossword puzzle while I’m sewing, but I can, I can use my left foot for my foot pedal. Um, the other thing that it’s really handy for is you may find, you have a fracture, you have a sprain, you have some kind of surgery, and you’ll be quite happy that you’re, you’re used to using that other foot. Uh, because the first few times you do it, you will go faster. Uh, just because, you know, again, there’s no muscle memory. It catches up really quickly. I mean, it’s not hard to do. That’s important.

So if you’re doing that and you’re adding that extra, you know, box, block of wood, whatever it’s going to be, then make sure that you put that, uh, gripping surface underneath that as well. Um, you mean when you have it under your foot pedal, but put it under that because now you don’t need another thing sliding all over the floor.

Helen: Yeah. I have never tried to use my left foot to operate my machine. I’m definitely going to go do that right after this interview.

Caroline: I also would love your thoughts, Rose, about a standing sewing station. And if that is a good option for some people and how you would set that up?

Rose: Absolutely. So the, uh, parameters are the same as far as, you know, 90 degree to the machine bed. And, the, the thing to remember with sit-stand desks is that they are sit-stand desks. They are not standing desks, which we, you know, we refer to them that way because then we know what we’re talking about.

Um, but you don’t want to go from a hundred percent sitting to a hundred percent standing because you will, um, your posture will deteriorate. And what a lot of us do, and we do this at the ironing board as well, um, is we tend to put a lot more weight on one hip than the other, and my chiropractor told me it was from, you know, having kids. And, you know, um, I was like that, the textbook standing with the phone and the, you know, on one hand and the kid on the other hip.

Um, but a lot of people do that. And it’s, it’s really not great for our bodies. And so we want to work up to, to standing more and, uh, but no, by all means the, uh, I, I, um, my husband’s been working from home for two years, and last Christmas, or maybe the first lockdown Christmas, um, I bought him a standing desk, uh, with the thought that once he went back to the office, of course I was taking it, right?

Um, but that hasn’t happened yet. Uh, but I have, I have full intentions of, um, you know, bringing that into the sewing studio. The tricky thing with that is that the standing desks all have, most of them have a bar across the centre where you put the top on. And so I’m not just sure how, and you’d be able to inset your machine into that, but you could have it on top for sure.

Um, there’s a fellow online, his name, he was just at QuiltCon, his name is Tyg, T-Y-G, I want to say, I want to say Tyg Flanagan, um, but we could check that. But he has a really great tutorial online about how he built his own standing desk sewing table, standing desk. And he did it before they were as popular, and so it was probably a little bit harder for him to find the parts and everything. They’ve really come down in price now. But, uh, yes, I am a fan of them.

Helen: Oh, very cool. Yeah. I’d love to set one up, so I could use it occasionally, and, like you said, kind of, work my way up to it or use it when I’m feeling like I just need to be standing for a little bit, would feel nice. We also noticed in your book that you suggest tilting your machine forward slightly. Why is that helpful?

Rose: So I, and I, and I’m pretty sure I have, I have to check the book ad-, again, because I was pretty sure that I made, like, a big disclaimer when I, when I said that. Well, because you know, a lot of people really like to do that.

I, um, have a cottage, and at my cottage, I have a, I don’t know, whether it’s 40 or 50 year old, uh, Janome, and I use the door stoppers there because there’s no electronics in that machine. And so the reason why people do it is, is it really, it does, it helps you see under that needle better. It really does. And you’re not shifting enough. It doesn’t, it doesn’t affect anything else, but it, it helps you see, um, where you want to see, because it’s, it’s bringing your work to you rather than you to your work.

I’ve, I’ve not done it with my drop-in machine, um, because then it throws off the smoothness of the surface and all that kind of stuff. But I do do it at the cottage where I have a terrible sewing set up, and it’s on top of the table. But the reason I’m always cautious about it is because, I mean, I’m a machinist’s daughter, and I just have always felt that electronics were designed to be used at a stable surface. That’s how they were made. That’s how they should be used.

Now I will say that last year I was speaking at, um, a retreat and the person who was speaking before me was Bernie Tobish, and Bernie Tobish writes the books for CT Publishing on how to fix your machine. And so I asked him, you know, his view on this and he was like, nah, it’s fine. No problem. Don’t worry about it at all. And so he says, it’s okay to do, so, yeah. Basically, it brings your work to you.

Helen: We’ve got the Bernie stamp of approval. That makes a lot of sense. So you’re tilting it away from you so you can actually see that needle plate.

Rose: No, you’re tilting it towards you. You’re tilting it towards you. So you put the doorstoppers under the back.

Helen: Oh.

Rose: And so you’re tilting your machine towards you.

Helen: Oh, okay. I feel like for me, that might make me, like, hunch more to see under the…

Rose: No, it’s only, it’s only a little bit. Here, let me try to think. I’m trying to think. Cause it goes under the back, and it’s a wedge, and the top of the wedge is at the back.

Helen: Yeah. If they’re out the back…

Rose: It’s bringing it up.

Helen: Yeah, bringing it towards you.

Rose: No, it, you try, try it. No try it. It does because it’s, um.

Helen: Yeah, I will. I’m excited.

Rose: It’s a very small amount. It’s very small. Um, but it just, what, what it allows you to see is where the needle is going in. That’s what allows you to see.

Caroline: Yeah. Okay, cool. We’re going to try that one out. Okay. We want to move on to stretches because your book has so many great illustrations of stretches, and we also appreciate all your stretching videos on YouTube. We’ll definitely link some of those up in the show notes, but I wonder what parts of our body should we focus on stretching while we’re sewing?

Rose: And so it, just, just to mention that, the, I’ve just added on YouTube a couple of ones that are, like, six minute and seven minute. So it’s more of a, uh, put together series of people want to do it. Like, you’re at a retreat and, you know, let’s all turn this on or something together, where most of them are, I mean, if you’ve seen them, most of them are just, kind of, wacky.

Um, and I just kinda did what I felt like at the time. So I did have some that are a little bit more, um, structured job, shall we say, but, you know, whatever, whatever. So in personal training, we would always refer to different parts of the body. And this is going to show my age as your non-Mercedes-Benz parts.

So we have parts of our body that are Mercedes-Benz, and we have parts that are not. And so, whatever that is for you, um, whether it’s your ankle or your wrist or your shoulder. Who knows? When you bring that into the sewing studio, it’s not going to get better in the sewing studio on its own.

You’re not on the massage table. You’re not in a hot bath. It’s, you’re not going to make it better there. So what you want to try to do is keep it from getting any worse. Um, and then the other parts of your body that started out fine, you want to keep them from getting bad to begin with. And so I guess my answer to that is, it’s a little bit different for all of us, but because of the work that we do, and we’re using our hands and our wrists a lot, we’re bending a lot, you know, the shoulders get, get tight, regardless. Then, it seems to be a lot of shoulders and lower back and, and hands and wrists.

Helen: And what are some of the stretches that you would recommend for people to start with if they do have that sore neck and shoulders and back and wrists?

Rose: Well, you know, there’s, there’s nothing, there, oh, and I missed one, actually I missed two. And that being the chest that gets really, really tight just from sitting in that position, whether you are sewing, you’re knitting, you’re reading, you’re driving, you’re texting, you’re typing. Uh, your arms are forward on your body and your chest, where it connects at the shoulders, it gets really tight, and the muscles actually can shorten that they contract because they’re in that position all the time.

Um, and the other area that gets tight when we’re seated a lot is, um, our hip flexors, and your hip flexors are basically where the pockets on your jeans are. Those are your hip flexors. And because again, they’re sitting in a compressed position all the time where they’re designed to be long when you’re standing or lying. And so they shorten, and they get tight as well.

And so there’s two ways to look at this. There’s the areas that get tired and tight and sore from overuse. And there’s the areas that get tired and tight and sore from underuse or sitting in one position. And so if it, if it, um, depending on which one you want to address, one that I really like that, that helps with the, the hands and wrists and just, kind of, invigorating the whole body, uh, is, is I call it a three for one. And it’s not three for one for everybody though. That’s the thing.

But really with that, what you’re going to do is you’re going to interlace your hands in front of your body, at chest height, and then you’re going to push them away from your body. And then you’re going to feel that stretch down the underside of your forearms and wrists. And then if that’s good for you, you can just stay right here.

If you wanted to take it a bit farther, you could then have them in that position and then continue lifting your hands overhead. And that actually is not easy for everyone to do. A lot of people will go to do that and they’ll get, sort of, in front of their face, and their arms just stop because their shoulders are really tight. If that’s the case to stop, that’s, that’s fine. That’s where you’re going today.

But if you’re able to go higher, once you get to the top, then you can bring your hands overhead, and then you can arc to one side. So now you’re going to stretch your torso as well. Come back to centre, arc to the other side.

And so that one, I really like, um, but any of the ones that you’re doing for your hands and wrists, if you’re doing the ones where, so you’re either stretching the underside of your wrist or the top half of your wrist. I find it most beneficial to stretch the underside of your wrist first, because when you’re doing that, you are putting pressure on the top part of your wrist. Um, there’s, there’s not much fat there. It’s like bone on bone when it, when it’s coming up.

And so if you do that one first and then follow with stretching the top part, then you’ve sort of alleviated the pain you just caused, if that makes sense. And when we’re stretching the top side of the wrist and forearm, um, the standard one that we see a lot is you put your hand out and then you point your fingers towards the ground. And the one that’s in my book has the hand just coming up then and balancing, um, supporting those fingers, not pushing on them, just supporting them. And, uh, you’ll feel a nice stretch there.

Uh, but another one that I do a lot now that’s not in the book is just bringing your arm out in front. And this one, I mean, I’m all about two for one. This one you can do both arms at once, which is nice because you’re not using the other hand to support, is bringing your arms out in front and, uh, having your hand face towards the ground and then make a fist and then roll your knuckles towards the floor. And then you feel a really, really deep, nice stretch across the top. And you’re only going to go as far as, as feels comfortable.

Uh, most stretches, when you see them, when you look up a stretch, it will say, you know, hold 20, 30 seconds, whatever, you know, they, they say, I prefer to say, hold from five to 30 or five to 60, if you want. But I start with five seconds because it really gives you that permission that if you start into that stretch, um, and it hurts, then you’re going to stop. And it’s five seconds, you’re going to stop.

And it usually just means that you’re far, far tighter than you thought you were. It might mean that you need to reread the instructions for the stretch. It might mean that you’ve gone too far, too fast. Uh, it might mean that stretch is not for you and, uh, you know, email me we’ll, we’ll get you another one, but it’s really important to, to stop at, at the very first sign of pain. I mean, you should feel that it’s stretching. Um, but it shouldn’t, it shouldn’t hurt.

And so those are, those are good ones for there. Shoulders, it’s really just nice to roll your shoulders a lot. It really is. I mean, get that synovial fluid moving. Tell yourself that motion is lotion. And every time you move you’re, you’re sending, uh, fluid to some part of your body. Uh, even if you’re just spreading the, uh, hydration in between your fascia where it’s stuck, even if you’re just spreading that out. Um, it’s, it’s real-, it’s really important.

When your chest is getting really tight, there’s lots of great stretches for that, but really one of the easiest ones to do is just open your arms nice and wide, and just take a few breaths and just relax and just open your arms really wide. If you’re in a chair that allows for you to reach behind the chair, um, and get your, get your arms behind the chair. That is a, that’s a really good habit to get into when you’re, if you’re, you know, you’re on a Zoom call or you’re doing something where you’re, you’re sitting in one position for a while, and you’re not typing or needing your hands, just bring them, just bring them behind your chair once in a while. And, uh, that, that can be nice. There’s lots of, so many different ones.

Helen: Yes, and we will link up your videos. Caroline and I are doing all these stretches while you’re talking, and I have to say it feels really good.

Rose: Yeah. Um, even, even when I was personal training, one-on-one, even when I was telling people what to do. I’m not good at that. I really would have to show them. Like, I would be doing it as I was showing them because it was just so much clearer than telling them.

Helen: Of course.

Caroline: Yeah, I bet you, we have listeners who are going to be, uh, stretching along with your instructions there.

Helen: That’s true. Unless they’re driving.

Rose: I have a great one for driving. I’ll tell you my one for driving.

Caroline: Oh sure!

Rose: When you’re, when you’re driving, because you know, you know, we all are, are victims of, uh, text neck now. And, uh, you know, whether we’re actually texting or not, it’s, it’s, uh, you know, it’s an epidemic. And, um, so one nice thing you can do to counteract that is if you’re driving, um, not that any of us ever leave the house to drive anywhere anymore.

Um, but if you’re driving, then every time you get a stop light, just push your head back into your seat rest, and just push it back into your seat, you know, count to three or whatever you want and bring it back again. And push it back and bring it back again. Um, and it’s, it’s not stretch as much as a, a reverse of the position and of, uh, uh, of a strengthening of the overall neck muscles, but that’s, that’s just really, again, it’s, it’s a habit.

So much of what we do all the time is just habit. And, and whether it’s, you know, people will say that when they’re at the sewing machine that I don’t know, they just can’t do what I seem to be suggesting, and they’re just leaning in. A lot of times it’s just habit. We just, that’s just what we do.

Helen: Yeah. That’s so true. I love that driving tip. I’m going to try that one, too. How often do you recommend that people stretch while they’re sewing and take these little stretching breaks?

Rose: So, you know, I’m, I’m a big fan of spontaneous stretching, and stretching breaks are great. Fantastic. And, you know, anything you’re going to do in the sewing room will never replace your regular, um, activities that you do. And there’s probably stretches that are aligned with those specific activities. Or maybe you do a stretching routine, you do yoga, you do Pilates, whatever it is you do, you do MELT method, which I’m a big, big fan of.

But I like to promote that you stretch every time that you stop, whether you’re, whether you’re loading the bobbin, whether you’re, you walk back over to your ironing board and it’s cooled down and you’ve got to give it that little flip to get it hot again, you know, whether you’re just sitting to think, I don’t know, do I have enough thread left, whatever it is, then that’s when you’re going to stretch.

That’s when you’re just going to reach up and, you know, interlace your hands behind your head and, you know, look at the ceiling and maybe do a little bit of a side bend and whatever it is so that you’re just, you know, that whole waiting for the tea kettle to boil or whatever it is. Um, but you’re just fitting them in all the time because no matter how much we stretch, you know, I, I used to, when I was doing the corporate wellness, I did a little bit, I did everything with them.

Um, I did lunch and learns and one-on-ones, but once in a while I would do, like, a lunchtime exercise class. And I remember this one place we did a lunchtime stretching class, and at the beginning of it, you know, we warmed up and everything. And then we down on the floor, I mean, stretches for quilters, the whole thing with stretches for quilters is you never have to get on the floor. They’re all designed to be done standing or seated.

But in this particular class, um, we got on the floor and we did the typical hamstring stretch with the leg in the air and et cetera, et cetera. And then at the end of the class, and it was only, like, 35 minutes or something at the end of the class, we did the hamstring. And everyone was just as tight as they were at the beginning because the one at the beginning, it felt good, right? That moment, but it really didn’t do enough.

And so my point is no matter how much stretching you’re doing, it’s never enough. So you can always do more because, you know, we’re not chopping wood and driving standards and rolling the windows down on our car and just all of the parts of life where there was so much activity built in. We’re not doing any of that. And so we, we just need to do more and more and more stretching.

Caroline: Well, thanks for that. Okay. We need to wrap up soon cause we’ve been talking for awhile, but we have a couple more questions before we let you go. And one of them is about posture cause we haven’t touched on that too much. And I wonder if you have any tips for improving posture and if there’s a way to, kind of, slowly work towards better posture as a sewist.

Rose: There’s a, there’s a few things. One thing that I like to do is, is I will use what I call a posture reminder. In my view, there’s no such thing as a posture corrector. Um, if you really want to correct your posture, then you need to stretch your chest. You need to be aware and you need to strengthen your back as well, um, to, to keep you upright and to keep your shoulders from rounding forward. But a lot of times, you know, we think we have great posture and everything’s fine.

And so if you take an infinity scarf, if everyone remembers the infinity scarves, and there’s, there’s a pattern for one I’m on my website, but to be honest, the older stretchy kinds work better. But if you take that and loop it into a figure eight or tie a knot, whatever you need to do and, and put it on, like, a vest, sort of. So now you’ve got this, this big figure eight around your, again, it’s hard for me to describe this without, without seeing it in front of you, but basically, you’re going to wear a figure eight around your shoulders on your back. Am I making sense?

Helen: Yeah, absolutely.

Caroline: Like, a little, kind of, like, a shrug almost. Yeah.

Rose: Yeah, exactly. Okay. And so when you put that on, all of a sudden, it will draw you up. Like, it’s not, it’s not heavy duty, but it will draw you up. And then all of a sudden what you’re saying to yourself is, oh, this is the way I should be because we forget the way we should be. That, that’s the problem. We spend all of our life in the position where, you know, we, we think we have great posture, you know, but actually our shoulders are coming forward. The, the, um, attachments where the chest muscles are are shortening, and they’re pulling everything forward.

And it’s not so much, you have a rounded back. You again, you probably can’t even tell by looking at you, but it is there. And so when you put on a posture reminder, then it just tells you where it’s supposed to be.

Um, I have other ones I have, um, you know, when I used to do wellness shows and trade shows and stuff like that in the past, I was always one of those people that bought something from the table beside you. And I bought this rubber gadget from the table beside me. And it’s really great, but it’s tight and it’s uncomfortable and it’s really strong and it really pulls you up, but an infinity scarf will do the same thing. And it just, it just reminds you where you should be, if that makes sense.

And so I think that’s number one. Number one is, is to really tell yourself, show yourself where you’re supposed to be. And then really, it’s just stretching your chest and strengthening your back with a resistance band is easy. Um, and then you’re gonna, there’s a couple of different moves you can do to target different areas of your back. And then once you get really good at that, you can actually just do, um, isometrics and contract your back muscles without using anything, but you have to be fairly body aware to do that.

Um, with my training clients, I used to put my hand on the flat of their backs. And have them do it, and then I can feel whether or not they knew what they were doing. Um, but there is you, you can do it that way. You know, the, the awareness is key. Just setting things up so that you’re not having to bend over in the first place to get into those positions.

Helen: Yeah. That does seem like the ideal, kind of, starting or place to start for people. And with that, we were wondering if you had any suggestions for people out there who may be feeling a little overwhelmed by all this information, wondering what’s the first thing they should do to set themselves up for a more ergonomic sewing practice.

Rose: To be honest, and this is free, I suggest that you move your ironing board. I really do because we go back and forth to it so often. That just trying to get that ironing board is absolutely as far away from you as possible. And, uh, it, it will just make a, such a difference in your overall day and how you feel and how much energy you have, how your legs feel, and, uh, just, you know, take a look around your, your sewing area because, you know, something that I’m saying today might resonate with you, and you look at your ironing board and go, hey, that’s been the same as the great position all along. I’ve been doing it right.

But sometimes it’s nice to know you’re doing it right because you second guess yourself and you move it to the wrong position where you had it right all along, you know? So just basically, try to do things that keep your shoulders down, and that it’s low enough that your shoulders are down, but you’re not having to bend over. And, uh, again, you’re always trying to bring your work to you. So whether it’s with reading glasses, whether it’s with propping pillows up under your work if you’re doing hand stitching of any type. Get some pillows up under there to bring your work up to you.

Helen: Amazing. I’m thinking about putting my ironing board upstairs, so I have to go up the stairs. No, I’m just kidding. But that was not a bad technique if I wanted to get some extra exercise.

Caroline: Uh, okay. Rose, tell our listeners where they can find you online.

Rose: Uh, my website is HealthyQuilting.com. And my Instagram is @HealthyQuilting. And my Facebook is, I think it’s Healthy Quilting with Rose Parr or Rose Parr, Healthy Quilting. I’m, I’m usually on Instagram a lot. I haven’t been, uh, recently just because of, you know, some, some things going on in the world and it’s, it’s, it’s hard to be super cheerful online all the time. Uh, but normally if I post something on Instagram, it automatically goes to Facebook, but I pay more attention to Instagram. And, uh, YouTube I’m, I’m really getting much better at my YouTube videos I will say. And, um, they’re not quite as haphazard. How shall we say?

Helen: I think they’re great. We’re definitely going to link up everything in the show notes so people can go follow along. And of course, your book as well, which we really enjoyed reading. And, Rose, thank you so much for coming and sharing all this knowledge with us. I feel like we’re going to be healthier and happier sewists from now on, and I bet our listeners are going to be going into their sewing studio and taking a look around and making some improvements.

Rose: Yeah. Well, thank you. Let’s, let’s hope everybody takes away a little something that helps.

Caroline: Awesome. Thank you, Rose. You take care. Okay. Bye.

Rose: Bye.

Helen: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Helen, at HelensClosetPatterns.com and Caroline at BlackbirdFabrics.com! We’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, send us an email at [email protected].

Helen: If you love Love to Sew and want more, you can sign up for our Patreon! For $5 a month, you get a full-length bonus episode and weekly behind-the-scenes pics. For $10 a month, you get all that PLUS a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for both Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics! Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content. Go to patreon.com/LoveToSew, for more info.

Caroline: Thanks to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you so much for listening. We’ll see you next week.

Helen: Buh-bye.

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