Seamwork Radio: Sewing and Creativity

You might have learned to sew from grandparents or parents, but some of us didn't have sewing elders. In this episode, Sarai and Haley share invaluable lessons and reflections from Seamworkers who have been sewing for more than 20 years.

In this episode, Sarai and Haley cover some of the benefits of setting up a ritual for your sewing. Then they show you how to create a creative ritual that fits your mood and attention each time you sew.

Making stuff is brings up issues around confidence because it's a constant process of learning, and learning will always challenge you. In this episode, Sarai and Haley share 5 moments in your sewing practice that will boost your self-confidence.

73% of you said that your sewing space stops you from sewing. In this episode, Sarai and Haley help you figure out the issues that bother you the most about your sewing space, Then they share concrete ideas to fix each of those issues.

What do you do when you make a sewing mistake? Curse? Throw your garment across the room? Give up on your project? In this episode, Sarai and Haley share 3 tips to help you let go of your mistakes.

Making sewing plans is a great way to keep you motivated, but sometimes you need to break the rules. In this episode, Sarai and Haley share the reasons why you might want to break your plans along with tips to help you ditch them.

Ever feel like you don't have time to sew? Sarai and Haley talk about some of the blocks that we commonly encounter when we want to sew, but we can't. And then six strategies that might help you to remove those blocks.

In this episode, Sarai and Haley share practical things that you can do to use sewing to slow down and de-stress, including 5 tips to ditch your productivity-focused mindset, even if it's just for a little while, to relax and enjoy your sewing time.

Wondering how you can sew more sustainably? In this episode, Sarai and Haley share four main ways to consider your environmental impact when sewing, including a bunch of actionable tips from the community.

Want to sew a capsule wardrobe? If you need help narrowing down your choices, Sarai and Haley will show you how to turn all the inspiration you've gathered for your wardrobe into a final plan that really fits your life right now.

In this episode, Sarai and Haley discuss how a beginner mindset can help you become an advanced sewist. They'll explore niche sewing and how exploring all the unexpected corners of the sewing world can empower you.

This re-run episode is packed with tips for finding the best fit for your clothes. You'll learn how to treat your measurements like data, diagnose a good fit, and track your fitting adjustments so you can make them quickly and easily. When it comes to fit, every body is different—it's normal to be different!

In this re-run episode from our Sewing by Design series, Sarai and Haley walk you through the steps of our super popular Design Your Wardrobe program. You'll learn a bunch of tips for sewing a wardrobe full of clothes you love.

In this re-run episode, Sarai and Haley explore the second step in the Sewing by Design process: Build Your Practice. They'll share 4 ways to build a sewing practice you really love.

You wouldn't start building a house by buying paint and picking out cabinet hardware. You'd start by creating a strong foundation. In this re-run episode, Sarai and Haley explore the first step in the Sewing by Design process: Lay Your Foundation.

Your sewing practice is like a house. Once you've built it and moved in, you can decorate it how you'd like, get into comfy clothes, and unwind in your own personalized creative space. Sarai and Haley explain this metaphor in this re-run episode.

When do you have enough? Making things brings you joy, and you can't always measure it by the number of clothes in your closet. So how can you sew without overflowing your closet? Sarai and Haley share 10 questions you can ask yourself.

What's missing from your wardrobe? If you know there are gaps in your wardrobe, but you don't know exactly what those gaps are, Sarai and Haley share two exercises to help you identify them and fill them with clothes you love to wear.

In this episode, Sarai and Haley share tips for making the most of your favorite sewing patterns, with pattern hacks, extra notions to add flair, and fun ways to transform your tried and true patterns into the dynamic wardrobe of your dreams.

Do you ever ask yourself, should I buy it or should I make it? In this episode, Sarai and Haley cover six questions to ask yourself when you're deciding whether you want to take the time to sew something for yourself or simply buy a readymade version.

In this episode, Sarai and Haley share ten tips for finding super cheap fabric. Whether you're a bargain hunter or someone who is looking for creative alternatives to muslin, these tips will help you save money on fabric for your sewing projects.

In this special Halloween-themed episode, Sarai and Haley share 5 of the most common sewing monsters and give you plenty of tips for taming them and conquering your sewing fears.

In this episode, Sarai and Haley help you stay focused. They cover how to decide what you'll actually sew and wear, how to cultivate your personal style, and share concrete strategies that you can use to make clothes you'll love.

If you buy too much fabric, have yards of unused fabric getting dusty in your stash, or you aren't sure if you're buying the right fabric for your projects, here are 6 fabric shopping rules to help you only buy fabric you'll actually sew.

Why do you sew? We each have our own reasons, but there are some common threads. In this episode, Sarai and Haley ask the Seamwork community why they sew. They'll share 5 of the most common (and inspiring) reasons to sew your own clothes.

Buying your first machine can be puzzling, and upgrading to a new machine can be overwhelming. In this episode, Sarai and Haley share 10 tips for buying a sewing machine that fits your budget.

Sewing can change your life in unexpected ways, but it's a complex skill to learn. How can you teach someone else how to sew? This topic was inspired by a new course taught by Sarai and Haley, called Learn to Sew Clothing for Absolute Beginners.

After reviewing the 10 most essential sewing tools last week, Sarai and Haley share 10 nice-to-have tools. These tools are by no means necessary, but they will save you time and effort—plus they're fun to collect!

When it comes to sewing tools, are you a specialist or a generalist? Sarai and Haley share the 20 most essential sewing tools in this two-episode series. In part one, they discuss the 10 most essential tools to have.

If you've ever looked up a quilting tutorial on YouTube, you've probably seen Jenny Doan. In this episode, she shares her story of growing Missouri Star Quilt Co, why she thinks quilting is such a powerful activity, and tips for anyone interested in learning to quilt.

Do you have too many ideas for sewing projects and not enough time to make them all? Here are 4 steps to help you bring an idea for a sewing project out of the idea stage and turn it into a finished garment.

Do you want to buy less clothes? Break the fast fashion cycle? In this episode, Sarai and Haley share 7 simple tips to be more intentional about what clothing you add to your wardrobe, so you can feel good about everything you own.

Wondering how to store all of your fabric in a way that's accessible and inspiring? Sarai and Haley share what works best for them, what doesn't, and three approaches to storing fabric, so you can find what works best for you.

Sarai and Haley explore why a messy space is such a block, and what makes clean-up hard for us, and they share Haley's surefire, seven-step process for cleaning up your space in only 15 minutes.

We're celebrating the 100th episode of Seamwork Radio with a Q&A with Sarai and Haley! They answer your questions about their jobs, personal life, and the podcast.

We often get asked how to help clothes look less "homemade," but what's the stigma behind homemade? In this episode, we explore that and share some tips for making your clothes look polished.

In this episode, Sarai and Haley talk about their favorite go-to fabrics for sewing clothes, what makes them so versatile and useful, and their favorite manufacturers and shops to go to when they need them.

In this episode, Sarai and Haley talk about how to tell if you are burned out or bored. They share the symptoms of burnout and how to recognize them, why it's so easy to confuse burnout and boredom, and three questions you can ask yourself to use sewing and creative activities to move past both.

Being a beginner is as fun as it is intimidating. Not all beginners have the same amount of knowledge or the same amount of confidence. In this episode, Sarai and Haley share three levels of beginners, how to identify where you currently fall, and how to pick patterns that help you grow your skillset.

Sarai and Haley talk about why it's hard to pick the best projects that challenge you without frustrating you, how to identify the skills you need, and our favorite method for learning new skills, project by project.

If you love to sew, you probably love a helpful shortcut. In this episode, Sarai and Haley share a long list of shortcuts to help save you time and headspace while you sew clothes.

Wondering what kinds of sewing books are best for learning how to sew? In this episode, Sarai and Haley share a framework for building a sewing library, including three types of sewing books you should have.

You might have sewing goals in mind, but it's easy to get distracted. If you are struggling to set and keep goals, Sarai and Haley share a bunch of ideas to help you uncover your most important sewing goal right now. They also talk about balancing having fun with your sewing while still working towards a larger goal.

When you're feeling crunched for time, it's hard to make space for sewing. In this episode, Sarai and Haley share 14 different activities for when you're short on time but feel like doing something sewing-related.

Feeling stressed out? In this episode, Sarai and Haley talk about why it's hard to sew when you're stressed and share super practical tips for using sewing as a way to remove stress and not add to it.

Some of your future sewing projects will fail, so what can you do when you make a mistake? In this episode, Sarai and Haley share 3 simple steps to help you get past a mistake or failure.

Sewing is such an involved hobby, and with all the possibilities for mistakes, sometimes you can take it a little too seriously. That can kind of suck some of the joy out of sewing. Here are creative ways to make sewing more playful.

This episode talks about the four main reasons you might not want to wear something you've made, how to plan to make things you'll get more use out of, and a quick exercise you can do at home to help you brainstorm ideas for future projects.

What if you could bring your projects with you wherever you go? When Alexis Bailey asked this question, she had an idea. Now she's the owner of Fibr & Cloth, selling supplies and kits for hand sewing and a growing collection of zero-waste patterns.

Are there fabrics that are gathering dust in your stash? If you can already picture a few unused cuts of fabric, and you're cringing, this episode shares 12 tips to help you use more of the fabric that you buy and buy fabric that you will most definitely use.