Today I want to give a shoutout to local maker Koala Pouches. Susanna makes high quality bags of all shapes and sizes. I personally own the Olivia coin pouch (which I use to carry my thread snips and yarn needle while on the go), the Peyton large toiletry bag, and the Kate wristlet. She chooses beautiful fabrics and everything is done extremely professionally.

Sewing machine needles, pins, and hand sewing needles all get dull, sticky, or broken at some point. and need to be thrown out. But how do you do it safely?

There are a few different tools I use to mark fabric, which have varying levels of success on different colors of fabric.

Most sewing machines comes with interchangeable feet. This allows you to use the best or more specific tool for the job. There are a lot of different ones out there, but here are the 5 I use most often.

Traditionally in sewing, pins are used to hold pieces together temporarily before they are sewn together. Nowadays, clips are gaining in popularity as an alternative to pins. Both are great and each have their advantages and disadvantages.

Today I want to give a shout out to fellow STL maker Green Rock Sewing! Rachel makes embroidered towels, bags, and pillows, beautiful napkins and paper-less paper towels, plus she offers sewing repair services.

My hair stylist asked me last night when/how I learned to sew, and I had to think about it for awhile. I’m actually not really sure.

My grandma had a sewing machine in her bedroom that she used a lot, mostly to make clothes. My mom also used it a lot to make doll clothes and Halloween costumes. I don’t recall specifically either of them teaching me how to sew, but I’m sure they did.

I saw a question in one of the sewing groups I am in that asked “If you reduce the size of a pattern should you also reduce the seam allowance?” The short answer is “no”, but I thought I’d share the longer answer as well.