We decided to start the year with some fun by getting ALL FOUR Clothes Making Mavens together to talk about our plans for the new year. We found that we all have different ways of approaching our sewing project planning! Planning can be fun and inspirational, or suck all the fun out of our creative endeavors. How do we make it work for us? And can Lori guess everyone’s planning style off the top of her head?

Podcast Ep037: A Mavens Extravaganza!

Clothes Making Mavens is a sewing podcast about handmade fashion. Helena and Lori discuss their favourite pastime--sewing clothes--and talk to other people who are also passionate about sewing. For information and episodes, visit ClothesMakingMavens.com.

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The podcast begins with our statement against anti-black racism. We talk about how the sewing community has a racism problem, and we offer our podcast as a platform for black sewists if they wish to talk about these issues and others. If you are interested in this, drop us a line at our website at clothesmakingmavens.com.

We then go into the episode we had recorded previously in which Lori and Helena, along with Joy Correspondent Hila and "Font of All Sewing Knowledge" Barbara, discuss the various sewing phases we've been through. The fit-and-flare dress phase? Check. The sew someone's entire bridal party dresses phase? Mercifully short lived, but check. The phase of Magical Thinking (aka forgetting that it takes WORK to transform that pattern you just bought into an actual garment)? Check. The sewing beautiful gowns for fancy parties we never get invited to phase? Also, check!

Podcast Ep041: Sewing Phases

Muna and Broad is a new indie pattern company that specializes in making patterns in sizes that start where most other patterns end their sizing. We talk to Leila and Jess of Muna and Broad about why they started the company, what impact it's having on size inclusivity in sewing patterns, how they manage to work together from opposite ends of the planet, and why the beginner's feeling of "being totally free to really suck" is so amazing.

Podcast Ep040: Leila and Jess of Muna & Broad

Our Font of All Sewing Knowledge Barbara laments that the Big Four sewing pattern companies (Vogue, Butterick, McCalls, and Simplicity) aren't what they once were. Has the art and craft of pattern drafting taken a turn for the worse? The Mavens weigh in on what clues to look for to assess how well a pattern might be drafted before you cut your fabric, and talk about their favourite indie pattern alternatives to the Big Four. Inevitably, we find ourselves complaining about taping PDF patterns together, so we explore the emerging practice of using a projector to trace patterns directly onto fabric. Lastly, our Joy Correspondent Hila asks us to imagine what our 'dream sewing life' would look like, and tells us how to help make it happen through mood boards.
A note for our listeners: We've chosen to carry on talking about sewing without reference to COVID-19. We hope this provides you with a bit of respite from the harsh realities of the world right now. Stay home, be kind, and stay well.

Podcast Ep039: What's Happened to the Big 4 Pattern Companies?

Helena and Lori chat sewing with Emilia Bergoglio, whose minimalist style and sustainable approach are informed by not only Emilia's Italian heritage, but also her current life in Tokyo.

Podcast Ep037: A Mavens Extravaganza!

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