Whipstitch
How to Store Wool Yarn & Fabric
When I started knitting, I realized I needed to think about storing my textiles differently. For one good reason: MOTHS. Moths are the enemy of long-term textile storage, which we learned the hard way at our house from one vintage jacket purchased at a second-hand store that worked its way through three prized sweaters before […]
Hand-Knitted Socks
Hand-knitted? Hand knit? Whichever. I thought at one point I would never, ever, ever knit socks. The stitches are just soooooo tiny, you guys. But my friend Alexia assured me that once I got going they were really fast, and the appeal of knitting something that was so eminently practical was pretty strong. Like when […]
Make This The Year You Sew Your Own Wardrobe: The League of Adventurous Dressmakers
Years ago, before I started Whipstitch, I was a schoolteacher. Schoolteachers are not, as a cultural group, widely known for their fashion sense. For the most part, I suspect I dressed like a sad librarian. I know this because the most common days on which I received compliments from my students for looking “nice” were […]
The Murder Mystery Quilt and The League of Adventurous Dressmakers: BACK FOR 2017!
This past year has been one of the happiest, most rewarding years I have ever spent sewing, and that is down to a single factor: the people I spent it with. I made the decision almost exactly one year ago that I was going to focus on two groups in 2016: The Murder Mystery Quilt […]
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 had made it. And what I told her is this weird revelation that I’ve been having over and over, and that feels so obvious […]
Do I Really HAVE to Block My Knitting?
It is finished! My amazing yellow yellow merino-and-silk sweater is all done. Well, finished depending on whom you ask. Seems like nearly all the knitting sites I’ve seen say it isn’t really finished until I block it. Which appears to involve soaking it and laying it out to dry, and if I understand it right, […]
#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. It was so, so fun. I mean that completely un-ironically. I LOVE test-taking. LOVE IT. Always have. I would get all a-twitter on days […]
When Making Your Own Clothes Becomes the New Normal
And then one day you catch yourself thinking, “Well, sure. Of course I’m going to make my own underwear. I mean, why didn’t I think of that sooner??” But let’s back up a bit. I came to sewing as someone who makes clothing. I didn’t start out making quilts or bags or even really home […]
The Murder Mystery Quilt and The League of Adventurous Dressmakers: Last Day to Join!
The League of Adventurous Dressmakers It’s only February, and I’m deeply immersed in the League of Adventurous Dressmakers. I feel so inspired and motivated and excited about the garments I have in my queue. Part of what slows me down, looking back on past years and the to-sew lists that never get completed, is that I […]
Now OPEN for Registration: The Murder Mystery Quilt & the League of Adventurous Dressmakers!
Now open for registration! Both the Murder Mystery Quilt AND the League of Adventurous Dressmakers are now ready for you to join! The League of Adventurous Dressmakers is a monthly subscription club that focuses on in-depth technique lessons for better garment sewing. As more and more of us seek to sew our own clothes, we want to be […]
The League of Adventurous Dressmakers: Superheroes Who Make Clothes
When I was in college, I was required by the School of Theatre to do a semester in the costume shop. Most of the other kids groaned and whined and did whatever they could to get around the requirement. My reaction was more along the lines of, “Don’t throw me in that there briar patch!” […]
New Clubs for 2016: The League of Adventurous Dressmakers and the Murder Mystery Quilt
Hooray, hooray!! A whole bunch of you have already registered for the 2016 Sewing Buddy Project. I am beyond delighted to welcome back some familiar faces and to greet some new ones–yippee for Sewing Buddies!! The Sewing Buddy Project is a year-long pen pal program, and for just $10 you get a personalized pen pal […]
Results of a Dress Muslin
I have gotten into the habit of sharing finished projects, and hardly ever walking through the steps to getting from fabric selection to final garment. It’s just SO much faster. But this dress was an exception–I tried it on during construction, but with a center back zip, all those fittings (alone in your sewing room […]
Friday Fiver: The Flip Flop Dress is Just $5 Today Only!
Today only! I am tickled to be featured on Crafterhours as today’s FRIDAY FIVER featured pattern with the Flip Flop Dress!
Planning My Sewing
I love the planning part of sewing. Love, love, love it. Choosing the pattern, seeking out the perfect fabric–or finding a fabric, and tracking down the perfect pattern–is the STUFF. I always have eyes bigger than my stomach, and tend to make piles and PILES of folded, prewashed fabrics stacked with the pattern I’d like […]
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