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How To Choose A Sewing Machine

I love to tell the Story of Sandra, about how I chose my first just-for-me sewing machine. It was the first time I researched a purchase like that, and the first time I got to express my own preferences…

(How To) Get (Back) Into Sewing

All The New Stitchers COVID changed the entire world in 2020, in almost exclusively grueling ways–but as a life-long Aggressive Optimist (TM), I have looked for AND FOUND so much to be grateful for over the years since the…

How To Preshrink Fabric For Sewing

I took advantage of some Black Friday sales to make purchases for fabric I know I’ll need in the New Year. Wanna see? This amazing organic twill is from District Fabric on the Olympic Peninsula. This shop is a…

Holiday Gift Sewing with How To Sew Video Patterns

I love holiday sewing. I love the deadlines, and the planning, and the excitement of thinking through what will make the people I love feel the most loved, and then meeting that need with my own two hands. Bonus…

Christmas Sewing Deadline: Handmade Pajamas

As our kids get older, some traditions we’ve held close to our hearts are changing and growing along with them. I’ve sewn a new pair of pajamas for our kids each Christmas for years, and that has become their…

Murder Mystery Quilt 2023: Murder of the Viking

The Murder Mystery Quilt for 2023 is NOW OPEN for registration!! Join us next year for The Murder Of The Viking and sew the quilt to solve the crime with the nicest quilters on the internet. We can’t wait…

How To Sew: Learn To Sew In About An Hour!

The first sewing class I taught was in the teensy tiny back room of an artists’ co-op in Atlanta. It was mostly a storage room, if I’m telling the truth, and we plugged our machines in around an Ikea…

Fashion At The Museum

On a recent visit to New York City, I took a trip from JFK airport to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a celebrated exhibit: In America, an installation of American fashion. It was a surprising insight into what…

Whipstitch Podcast: Season 2 Premiere!

I’m so excited that TODAY is the Season Two premiere of the Whipstitch podcast! Last year, I started a podcast, and thought of it as an extension of this blog.  A place where my writing-voice could be my ACTUAL voice,…

Design & Sew: Make Your Dream Tee Shirt

I have a dream where every garment in my drawer or closet is something I really love. One that sparks joy, if you will. Bonus joy if they’re handmade. It feels like better stewardship if I focus on making…

How To Install A Sewing Pattern Projector

**This is a sponsored post. I was sent the VANKYO projector, unsolicited, in exchange for an unbiased review. Opinions and experience are all my own!** A few years ago I started hearing rumors of the “next big thing” in…

How To Sew A Linen Sport Coat: Where Guts Meets Glory

In 2013, I started sewing a men’s sport coat. This is the story of how that sewing project became a crucible that revealed my own insecurities, resilience, tenacity, and weaknesses. It’s also a sewing project that turned into an…

The Queen’s Quilt: New Podcast Episode

The Whipstitch Podcast is back! Season Two launches TODAY and a new episode will arrive every other Friday from now until June 2022, ten episodes in total this spring. I have some serious topics, some lighthearted episodes, some behind-the-scenes…

Birthday Dress: Vogue V9311 in Floral Rayon

This pattern has been on my to-sew list for…years. So many years. And this rayon has been lurking right behind it. But until recently, I didn’t think to put the two together. And even THEN! I didn’t make the…

The How To Quilt Start-to-Finish Video Series

After thousands of hours of work, IT’S FINALLY HERE! My How To Quilt start-to-finish series with 4K video, guiding you to make a gorgeous sampler quilt while AT THE SAME TIME building your quilting and patchwork skills, is ready…