About

Hello 

Welcome to my little space on the internet. In the physical world you can find me in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina where I live with my husband, and our crazy but sweet Rottweiler rescue, Atlas. I’m usually in my sewing room avoiding housework. I have finally upgraded from a 30-year-old New Home basic sewing machine to a Bernina that, honestly, I’m not sure I would buy if I had to do it over again.  I continue to house a large fabric stash of mostly printed fabric. I somehow forget to buy solids and neutrals. My favorite sewing tool is my Horn brand scissors. Their weight in my hands makes me feel like I’m doing something serious.

How Sewing Became What I Do

I have always loved making things. As a kid I loved making just about anything; cards, drawings, bean bags, blanket forts, and especially making up stories with my Fisher-Price Little People. As a teenager, I was all about art classes, which let me stay in my little day-dream-world a little out of the mainstream. In high school, you are either in or you’re out so I embraced being different.

Sewing came to me through wanting different clothes than what my peers went for. This was before Fast Fashion or the internet so in order to wear something different, and afford the clothes I wanted with my clothing budget, I would have to plan. What basics did I need? What still fit and wasn’t worn out? What could I find at the thrift stores and what could I only get at the mall? It was work that I enjoyed, but the ace up my sleeve, the resource most of my classmates seemed to be missing, the super power that I took full advantage of was, my mom sewed.

We would go to our local fabric store (where no classmate of mine would be) and she helped me decide on a pattern that had a lot of coordinating pieces, a skirt, a top or two, a vest or a dress, and then she guided me in fabric choice. Back home, during “All My Children”, she sewed it all up for me. That’s a mother’s love for sure (ask my kids if they get wardrobes sewn for them) but I must have over used my super power because she started making me help her. Sewing went from seeing my mom magically turn flat cloth into garments to being work. When it was time to go to college, it was art school for me to be a graphic designer, but I became a record store clerk instead.

It was this time of growing up and making my way that I went back to what I loved doing best; making things with my hands. I was painting and sewing for fun. I sewed a blue fur hooded jacket, bondage pants, a full skirt with bells sewn all around the hem, and other odd ball garments. By simply wearing my sewn creations, I could show them off, a mini art show where everyone I passed was invited to view and have an opinion. I liked bringing art to that basic, everyday level so I went back to school for fashion design.

Why I Started The Daily Sew

When I became a mom I was making things with a vengeance but it was dinner, cookies, Halloween costumes, and homeschool curriculums. Sewing clothing for myself was a rare and cherished event. When I finally got some time to sew, I would get aggravated with the pattern instructions. They were vague, substandard, incomplete or just plain wrong. They assumed you had a high level of sewing skills and a lot of patience and time to figure it out. That your brain was not overloaded with laundry, shopping list, and being woken up in the night by little people.

I had sewing skills. I knew sewing terminology. Patternmaking was my favorite class. So when I found pattern instructions lacking I would have to figure out how to construct it or I would use a better technique that the pattern didn’t mention. But I was tired and sewing was supposed to be my break from thinking hard. A sewing pattern should be straightforward, I thought, like following a recipe from a well-written cookbook.

I kept thinking how much trouble would it be for a pattern company to thoroughly edit or to add more instructions? They seemed to charge enough to cover an extra sheet of instructions. Could they at least throw in some more illustrations? What if I were a beginner sewer? I would probably wad up the pattern and cry.

I thought the big pattern companies (that’s almost all there was when I had this idea) were killing the love of sewing. They were shooting themselves in the foot. I imagined their customers were so frustrated with their patterns that they gave up sewing. With the rise of Old Navy, Target, and the like selling clothes cheaper than the pattern cost, why bother sewing? Soon there was going to be no pattern companies left which was going to be bad for me even though I was fed up with them at the time. (Turned out that it’s fabric stores that went away)

I started The Daily Sew to encourage more people to sew.  To show that it isn’t hard to explain it better or to add some extra pictures. To help people enjoy sewing. To share what I learned and am learning. To inspire anyone to persevere through a project. To encourage creativity, individuality, and great fitting clothes. To eventually see such a large home sewing movement that it would be taken seriously and given respect.

I didn’t realize at the beginning that other individuals around the world were having similar thoughts; that the internet could help us spread the joy of sewing and that someone wanted to hear it. The sewing community has grown. I’m amazed at the many great teachable, stylish patterns on the market, at all the classes and books and the hundreds of sewing blogs. Making things is huge again. Creativity and a sense of accomplishment feel great and I hope The Daily Sew can help make that happen for you.

Sign Up for My Newsletter

The Daily Sew puts out a monthly newsletter with a sewing tip and resources you might find useful. The sign up box is on the right of the page. Oh, and please know I will never share your email with any body else.

Contact Me

Please contact me with any sewing questions you have. I may have an answer or at least a place to start.

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The Guided Tour

Future plans are to categorize The Daily Sew’s content so it’s easier to find but for now here are a few of my favorite post;

• 11 Things I’ve Learned About Sewing
• Sewer’s Block
• How to Sew a Japanese Style Smock Apron
• My Sewing Space