Love to Sew Podcast

Learn how to turn your sewing passion into a full-time career! This week we are chatting about the different sewing careers out there and how you can make a living doing what you love.

Learn all about cotton! We discuss the history of cotton, common characteristics of cotton fabric, and the many popular cotton fabrics we use to sew our garments. We also touch on some tips and tricks for sewing with cotton and our favourite cotton makes!

Paulette Erato joins us to chat about the sewing challenges happening in our community in 2020! We chat about her successful blog, Petit Font, and her annual round-up of sewing challenges each year. We also touch on Paulette's involvement in this year's Sew My Style challenge.

Let's chat sewing goals! This week we are talking all about our sewing and business plans for 2020. We also share your sewing goals and ambitions for the new year too!

Our Podcast Assistant Melanie joins us on this holiday episode! We chat about what went down in 2019, what Melanie does for the show, and our podcast plans for 2020.

Get to know your curves as we dive deep into the curvy sewing resources in our community! We discuss go-to curvy sewing communities, curvy sewists and bloggers to follow, and the sewing tips you need to get that perfect fit.

Linda Lee joins us this week to chat about creating a great fit for any garment! We also touch on The Sewing Workshop sewing patterns and Linda's expansive teaching and business experience in the sewing community.

Are you looking for the perfect sewing gift to give to a loved one? What about gifts to give to your sewing friends? We've got you covered with all our favourites, so your gift can be both as special and unique as your loved one!

We can all relate to the situation when someone asks us to make or mend something! Do you sew for others, or is sewing a solo, self-care activity for you? We discuss how to create sewing boundaries to keep your sewing passion ignited, and also how to graciously say no to those sewing projects you don't want to tackle.

Meg McElwee joins us to chat about how we can mindfully sew our wardrobes as a form of self-care. Meg chats all about the early days of Sew Liberated Patterns and her recent course release of The Mindful Wardrobe Project!

From creating a strong buttonhole to finding the perfect button for your project, we cover all the details when it comes to buttons and buttonholes! We discuss hand-sewing and machine sewing button techniques, and some helpful tips to ensure you have well-sewn buttons on all your garments!

Sewing starlet Gretchen 'Gertie' Hirsch joins us to chat about retro sewing and curvy pattern design! Gertie shares her sewing journey from starting her blog over a decade ago to producing sewing patterns, books, and hosting workshops around the world. Gertie shares her love for retro glam, and the behind-the-scenes of making a pattern that accentuates women's curves.

Vogue Pattern Designer Carlos Correa gives us a behind-the-scenes preview in the making of Vogue sewing patterns! Carlos also chats about his own sewing journey, his love for high fashion, and his approach to making a handmade wardrobe.

We are sharing our favourite items in our sewing toolkits! We also cover toolkit checklists for specific projects such as jeans-making and bra-making. Do you want to level up your sewing toolkit? We cover that too!

Hear your feedback over the last 6 months with our semi-annual feedback fest! We share your inspiring sewing stories, responses to recent episodes, additional sewing tips, and so much more!

Michelle Brown Colistro from Matchpoint Fabric joins us this week to chat about sustainable sewing. We chat about sustainability in the textile industry, and ways you too can make a positive, sustainable impact with your sewing. We also chat about Matchpoint Fabric as a successful earth-friendly business!

Let's get creative and sustainable with refashioning! We cover why you should refashion beloved makes for a better fit, and how you can get creative and make big changes with your unworn garments.

Rumana Lasker joins us to talk about full coverage fashion! From wearing the hijab to her most recent burkini make, we chat with Rumana about her modest sewing approach. Rumana also chats with us about the #sewincolour movement, with its focus on diversity and inclusion, and we also hear some behind-the-scenes details from Rumana's experience on The Great British Sewing Bee!

From your favourite sewing tricks to your go-to sewing tools, we cover all your favourite sewing tips. Whether you are looking for ways to organize your sewing space, upgrade your sewing techniques or some simple, but smart, reminders to help you in your sewing journey, we've got you covered in this week's episode!

From the basic serging seam technique to the hong kong seam finish, we cover various different ways you can finish off those seam allowances. Whether you are looking for something quick and easy, or that professional finish, we've got you covered in this week's episode!

Aaronica Cole joins us to chat about curvy sewing and learning to love our bodies! We discuss the shift toward more inclusive sizing in the community, and the impact it is having on sewists. Aaronica also shares her insights on how we can influence young ones through our creative passions and self-care.

What does your style say about you? From assessing your current style to designing your dream wardrobe, we will have you inspired to create the looks that best suits you.

Everything you always wanted to know about Denim! What do denim weights mean? How do I choose the right denim for my project? What is selvage denim? We cover it all this week as we deep dive into Denim!

Join us as we chat with Susan Khalje about the art of couture sewing! We chat about why couture matters, how to create 'couture moments' in your wardrobe, and the tools needed to succeed with couture sewing. We also chat about her Couture Sewing School and her favourite couture shops!

You're busy, we're busy, everyone is busy! We want to highlight how you can make the most of your sewing time and speed up your sewing process. We give our top tips for sewing efficiency and tons of quick pattern recommendations!

Denise Archer shares her personal experience battling cancer and how sewing played a vital role. We discuss sewing as an escape and the power of knowing our bodies through our relationship with making clothes. Denise also shares her perspective on body image post-cancer and reconstructive surgery.

We answer fabric questions from the community! From identifying quality textiles to tips for working with tricky fabrics, we cover everything you ever wanted to know in this jam-packed Q&A.

Vintage sewing expert Evelyn Wood joins us to talk about creating garments from the past! She shares tips for refashioning thrift store finds, the importance of mending, and her top 5 good sewing habits. We also discuss 'garment archeology' and how to look for clues when admiring vintage pieces.

How competitive are you? This week we discuss our experience managing our competitive sides and fostering the sewing community. We hear from our listeners and dive into sewing competitions, social media comparison traps, and how to start a business in a competitive environment.

To celebrate 100 episodes of Love to Sew, Caroline and Helen interview each other. What have we always wanted to know? Favourite fabrics, recipes, podcasts, and more!

Suzy Furrer of Apparel Arts joins us to chat about patternmaking. From creating a moulage through to drafting patterns, Suzy has so much knowledge to share. We also talk about building her design school and literally writing the book on patternmaking!

What do we do with all of our fabric scraps? We break down how we store our scraps, what is worth keeping, and loads of project ideas that will have you scrap-free in no time.

Brittany J. Jones takes us behind the scenes of running a sewing YouTube channel! How she taught herself to make videos, how she stays on schedule, and how she stays true to her authentic voice online. Plus we chat about the Sew in 30 movement, radiating positivity, and Big 4 patterns.

Recreate your favourite ready-to-wear garments! We break down different methods and provide tons of great resources that will help you replace your store-bought with me-mades. Plus, we answer your sewing questions and reveal some exciting podcast news!

Alexia Abegg talks with us about Ruby Star Society, fabric design, tie-dye, and pottery. She's an amazing creative force and gives us her secrets to successful collaboration, following your passion, and getting things done!

We share the wonderful, heartfelt, and surprising reasons why we sew. Listeners all around the world wrote in to tell us their 'why' and celebrate this wonderful hobby with us!

Adrianna Appl of Hey June Handmade is on to talk about juggling a pattern business, building a house, and raising 3 kids while living in an RV. We chat about her popular patterns and her authentic social media voice. Plus, she gives a pep talk for those of us who are ready to put their creative projects out into the world!

Learn everything you ever wanted to know about sergers! We break down different types of stitches and what they are used for, give some top recommendations for entry-level machines, and tell you everything to look out for when choosing the right serger for you. Plus lots of great resources to learn more and get you overlocking in no time.

David Page Coffin joins us to chat about his almost 50 years of sewing experience! He gives us great shirtmaking tips and shares his sewing philosophy. We also dive into his career as an editor of Threads magazine and how he stumbled into the wonderful world of sewing.

We chat in person with two fun and enthusiastic Spoonflower employees! Have you ever wanted to try designing your own fabric? We share how you can get started with surface design and all the fun projects you can create. We also hear about Spoonflower's history and how the custom printing magic happens.

We share your feedback from the past 6 months in this semi-annual feedback fest! Hear inspiring stories from fellow listeners, get great sewing tips, and leave feeling inspired to get out there and sew!

Elisalex De Castro Peake chats with us about her leap from the fashion world to the home sewing community. We hear the story behind By Hand London and discuss where things are headed next. Elisalex also shares great tips about fitting bodices, embroidering clothing, and dressing to impress.

We have all experienced Sewjo (sewing mojo) or lack thereof! Why does it leave us and how do we find it again? We discuss our personal experiences with losing our SewJo and things we have done to get it back.

Michelle Morris of That Black Chic and Sewn Magazine joins us to talk about her return to sewing, starting her blog, and creating her own sewing magazine. We chat about her joyful approach to choosing projects and how she makes garments simply for the love of it!

Megan Nielsen shares with us about her journey to becoming an indie pattern designer and her passion for sustainable sewing. We discuss how we can make changes in our sewing practice to be more kind to the earth and to each other.

We asked for your sewing stories from around the world! In this episode, we make connections and highlight differences in our sewing. We share your stories, tips and experiences.

Sewing Machines come in all shapes and sizes! We talk about the history of the sewing machine, what to look for when you shop for one, and how to approach machine maintenance. We also discuss our favourite stitches, feet, and fun features!

Mac Housley joins us to discuss her part in starting the @meetmakersofcolor Instagram account. She shares why following a diverse spectrum of people online creates more cross-cultural dialogue and how Meet Makers of Color is helping us do that. We also discuss creative positive space for important conversations and 'trying on' new ideas.

Anna Graham joins us to share her tips on sewing bags, how she got into pattern making, and designing her very own fabric line. We also talk about how she bought her studio space sight unseen and balancing work and family life.

We catch up with six amazing sewists who are on journeys of motherhood. We find out how being pregnant has impacted their sewing, favourite maternity-friendly patterns, and making time to sew post-partum. We also discuss major body changes and how that can both motivate and de-motivate us in our sewing.