Style Blues

Anita Morris is a DIY fashion blogger as well as the creator of Anita by Design. She uses her brand to both inspire and teach women of all ages how to sew their own clothing.

She believes that when a woman discovers and embraces her own personal style, it boosts confidence and opens the door for amazing creativity with her wardrobe and all areas of life. Anita has a passion to equip women with the necessary tools to make their own garments while empowering them to create fashion that complements their own unique body types.

On Anita's blog, you will find plenty of DIY inspiration to get you motivated to start your own journey as a sewist, refresh your skills, or even to take your sewing passion to the next level. The Anita by Design YouTube channel hosts a beginner's sewing course. In this class, Anita teaches the basics of sewing with helpful step-by-step instructions. You will also find sew-along videos that walk you through the steps of creating garments with commercial patterns.

She is a woman of faith and mother of two adult sons who resides in Southern California. In addition to sewing, she enjoys reading, tea parties, lunch dates with friends, and Sisterhood, where women come together to encourage and walk alongside each other.

I first discovered Anita by Design shortly after her husband became ill. Anita has been through a tragic loss in her family. Since then I have followed her journey on social media and am always touched by the wisdom and grace she has to share. She is a very talented seamstress as well as a brand representative for Babylock Sewing Machines. Today I was able to catch up with Anita and learn more about her sewing journey and how she has dealt with her loss.

Brian Dixon is a Podcastor, conference speaker, and business coach. He believes that each of us were made for a purpose. You will discover that purpose by clarifying your calling, discovering your audience, and creating your products, which will help you navigate a clear path to impact and income.

Brian is passionate about helping authors, speakers, and aspiring messengers create a sustainable business through growing their platform, and creating compelling online courses. He is the co-founder of hope*writers, a membership site of over 2,000 working writers.

I first heard of Brian on another podcast, and right away I was fascinated by his story and the way he puts the customer first in business. This concept is not new, but it was to me the first time I heard it! I had spent YEARS trying to figure out who my customer was and what they would buy with my lifestyle blog, Cozy Traditional Home.com. The concept of "People First" was a revelation to me, and just what I needed to hear in my business. It doesn't matter what kind of business you have, whether its sewing, crafting, blogging, creating whatever is is that you do will be forever changed by putting your customers FIRST.

Meet my friend, Emily Thompson from Life Sew Savory. In this episode I chat with Emily about her success as a sewing blogger, how she got started and her experience on the PBS television show It's Sew Easy.

Emily Emily Thompson is the owner and creator of Life Sew Savory.com.  Since 2010, Life Sew Savory has been bringing you sewing inspiration, recipes and free pdf patterns to make sewing fun. In addition to running her website, Emily also loves hanging out with her three kids and husband, enjoying biking, hiking, swimming and traveling. She loves to exercise, read and have coffee with friends when she has time. Emily had been featured on the PBS Television show It's So Easy, and has her own weekly sewing Facebook Live show @Lifesewsavory every Wednesday at 3pm EST.

In the first episode of season 2, we talk about using your Cricut Maker for sewing a simple envelope style clutch with a zipper. Fun and easy project!

Do you have a place to host all your sewing projects, connect with other influencers and brand partners? Sewing Portfolios is exactly what you need to fill the void! In this episode we talk with Candice Ayala from Sewing Portfolios.com.

I decided it would be fun to try something completely different from my usual sewing projects. With the rainy season here, I decided on sewing a raincoat! Here are my tips on choosing fabric and construction for a water proof garment.

Here ye, here ye, Lords and Ladies of the Fair! Gather around for this fascinating tale of adventure! If you are interested in cosplay, steampunk or historical costumes, this episode is for you! We will talk about what sort of costumes you can sew for the fair, what kind of fabrics to choose, colors, and appropriate styles.

We all have unfinished sewing projects lurking in our closet. In this episode we talk about how to get through the tough sewing projects so you can move on to the next ones.

In today's episode we will talk about some basic sewing terms that you need to know to embark on your first sewing project.

Basic Sewing Terminology

1. Straight stitch, single needle 2.5 or 3.0

2. Zig zag stitch: Side to side stitch, different widths small for buttonholes, wide for overcast and uses (elastic, decorative, finishing edges)

3. Interfacing, what is it for? Cuffs, collars, waistbands, pockets, button placket. Fusible or non fusible. There are uses and different weights, bumpy side is glue. Use warm dry iron to a shear to wrong side of fabric.

4. Rotary cutters and plastic matt used in quilting for cutting narrow fabric strips and squaring quilt blocks.

5. Back tacking, reverse stitching. 1-2 stitches at the beginning and end of seams will secure the seam.

6. Basting, long straight stitch length 4.5-5.0. Used for securing zippers, gathering fabric, easing sleeve caps into place.

7. Bobbin, winding on each machine should be marked. Be sure it's smoothly filled to avoid problems.

8. Tension on machine, how to adjust look at top stitches, compare to bottom stitches. Some machines adjust automatically.

9. Needle threader on some machines. Best to trim thread, insert front to back on most machines.

10. Flywheel, move by turning toward you to insert needle into fabric at a specific place.

11. Always begin sewing with the needle in the fabric. Check the stitches, make adjustments. If it's loose on the back, tighten the tension. If it's loose on the top and tight on the back, loosen the tension.

12. Tailor's Chalk, marking pens

13. Types of pins and needles

14. Bias cut, used for close fitting garments, usually woven fabrics

15. Selvedges are across from the fold of the fabric, must be removed before sewing.

16. Grain is the direction of the fabric, noted on the pattern pieces. Pattern pieces must line up with fold of fabric, measure for consistent distance.

17. One way print, pattern is printed one direction. More yardage is needed to cut one way prints.

18. Two way prints, print runs either direction.

19. Nap cut edges of velvet or corduroy. Nap is directional and patterns must be cut one way only.

1. How did you first learn to sew?
2. What motivated you to start your blog?
3. What do you think was the most instrumental thing that you did to grow your blog/sewing business?
4. How did you become a Simplicity Pattern designer?
5. Tell me about your new adventure with Sew It Academy and the Kids Sewing Classes that you offer.
6. I noticed that you have also started a ready to wear division. Tell us about how that began and what your future plans are.
7. What is your favorite sewing pattern(s) you have designed?
8. What do you do when you are not sewing?