I am a newcomer to the indie sewing pattern scene. I taught myself how to make my own patterns in high school, after several frustrating experiences with Big Four patterns. I went on to get my bachelor’s degree in fashion design, and for the past decade or so, I’ve made one-off sewing patterns in a… Continue reading What fashion school didn’t teach me: Learning to “see” fat beauty
Category: Maker Blogs
Meditations on Fat Fit
For a long time, I didn’t know my body. Hell, I didn’t WANT to know my body. It was not my own, it was something I never recognised when I looked in the mirror, I just didn’t want it. Avoiding my body was actually quite easy, I knew clothing stores just weren’t for me; it… Continue reading Meditations on Fat Fit
I am enough
Hello! I’m Emma (@emma.m.makes over on insta) and I’m a Canadian sewist living in Denmark. I moved here with my husband last year after graduating with a BA in textile design and sadly had to leave the fabric shop I worked at/my sewing family. I miss it immensely so joining the sewing community on instagram… Continue reading I am enough
Gender, Fat, and Aging
I was 10 the first time I really remember being misgendered. I was by myself at the salon assigned to foreigners in Beijing in 1979, to get my hair cut before going home to Canada for the summer vacation. I was in shorts and a tee shirt, a lanky-long slip of a thing not quite… Continue reading Gender, Fat, and Aging
Learning to sew, learning to see
When people ask me how I’m keeping myself grounded during lockdown, I reply, “I’m learning to sew!” When people ask me if I sew, I say “I’m a beginner!” I don’t really feel like I’m a sewist yet, because that implies that I have some idea of what I’m doing, but calling myself a beginner… Continue reading Learning to sew, learning to see
The resilient sewist
TW: death, grief and burnout I started to sew clothes 10 years ago, next July. It’s a weird thing to know the date of, but I remember it as it’s the summer my father died. I was lucky to have a great relationship with my dad so the months following his death were the worst… Continue reading The resilient sewist
Sewing saved me.
TW: talk of death, body measurements, depression, weight, weighing, body image, body positivity The other day, Jess (@Fat.Bobbin.Girl on Instagram), posed a question that really got me into my feels. The question: What has sewing meant to you/ what has sewing enabled you to do?
Opportunity Knocks: Tips for inclusive patterns.
For many designers, it appears that this drive for positive, inclusive change can be overwhelming. Here are some practical and relatively simple ways to make pattern companies more inclusive.
What Sewing Means To Me
I’ve been sewing & quilting off and on for over 40 years. Every time I think about how long I’ve been at this, I’m amazed. First, it startles me to realize that I’m 51 – soon to be 52; second, I can’t believe it’s been 40 years. I learned to sew first from my mother;… Continue reading What Sewing Means To Me
(In)visible bodies
As a fat lady in Australia, I don’t have many options when it comes to brands that make clothes in my size in styles that I love. What I do have is an immense amount of privilege as a white, able-bodied person, a decent amount of disposable income and a bit of spare time here… Continue reading (In)visible bodies