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Essays on Sewing

  • Knitting In Progress: Picking Up Stitches

    I started this sweater more than three years ago. And I was SO EXCITED about it. And at some point, I set it down. I didn’t even remember why. I was…

  • Ola Hudson: A Great Woman Of Sewing

    Art always has two balancing demands: technique and aesthetics. Sewing requires that we understand the basics of construction, how to operate a sewing machine, how to handle fabrics and shears to…

  • Recursive Sewing

    I have a clear memory of a single conversation that changed the way I see the world.  The initial memory is of feeling frustrated and defensive.  Then the scene skips to a…

  • Sewing and Self-Compassion

    Years ago, I was teaching a sewing class to brand-new seamstresses.  It was an introductory class, and there were six women there.  I gave my usual second-day-of-class pep talk, and then…

  • The End of the Stash

    I wore my Driftless Cardigan–photograph below from Instagram, and yet another garment I have yet to blog about because I’m too busy wearing it–this morning, and a friend asked if I…

  • #aggressivelyambitious and the Handmade Wardrobe

    I did a personality profile recently.  Not like an online quiz kind of thing, but like a detailed personality assessment with a 39-page analysis and a person-to-person de-brief with the consultant.…

  • Jen Aniston tailors her tees: Fit is Fabulous

    One of the most revolutionary “Hollywood secrets of the stars” I’ve ever read (well, maybe the ONLY one) was the interview where Jennifer Aniston was asked where she gets such flattering…

  • Stephanie Kwolek: A Great Woman In Sewing

    Stephanie Kwolek isn’t the first name that springs to mind when you think “famous seamstress.”  But her scientific contributions have made more impact on our world that you might think–and it…

  • Rosa Parks: A Great Woman In Sewing

    I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama.  The earliest school memories I have celebrated the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March from Selma, and the Civil Rights movement in a very personal and…

  • The Only Reason The Internet Works

    I was watching an old Hepburn & Tracy movie over the holidays, Desk Set, all about replacing a crack reference librarian with a computer, back in the 50s.  And it occurred to…