Blog

I am often asked:  How do I adjust the shoulder seam on my sleeves for my narrow shoulders?  I’ve written a little picture tutorial to help. […]

I met Katie a couple of years ago when I was teaching from my garage.  Ugh.  Let’s not talk about that part.  Katie signed up for a couple of private lessons with the intent to sew with her two young daughters.  The girls, though freaking adorable, were not that into it.  Katie, however, […]

I’m sick of talking about me.  Let’s talk about some of the truly gifted sewists I’ve had the extreme pleasure of meeting and working with.  Today I’m featuring a lovely woman that took both levels of my serger classes at Fabric Depot in Portland.  Rebecca […]

Note:  Today is March 19, 2018.  I began writing this story on August 31, 2016-the day I ‘retired’ from my very comfortable, secure job with our local electric utility.  If it seems out of time sequence in places, it probably is. I decided to finally publish this as this month marks the 10 year anniversary of […]

I never sew a muslin because I tissue fit my sewing patterns.  I talk a lot about tissue fitting because it takes the guesswork out of fitting for me.  I know, as I create the garment, that it will fit.  I don’t sew, sew, sew… and end up disappointed because the finished garment doesn’t fit.  I love the Palmer/Pletsch Tissue Fitting Method because…it works! […]

One of the reasons I have always found solace in sewing is because I’m an introvert with a mind that just will not stop jumping unless it has something creative to do.  Sewing was my meditation before meditation was a common practice.  Sewing takes concentration and care from every angle. […]

Let me clarify.  Pattern companies, and I mean all pattern companies, just want us to sew and make cool stuff.  I love and admire each and every one of them.  I avoid rating or criticizing them because art and instructions for art are subjective.  I think we just need two sets of difficulty ratings to […]

Just like junk stashed around that jabs at your subconscious from behind closet doors and underneath beds, unfinished objects (UFO’s) are one of the worst kinds of clutter.  They effect us negatively in a few ways […]

I’ll start right up front by sharing my biggest take away from this project:  you can’t fit a round boob into a pointy dart.  Thank goodness my mom hung on to a vintage-style bra that that brought my middle-aged bust firmly back into the 70’s!  Hardy, har, har, you say? […]