Skip to main content

Sew Forth Now Podcast

Lori V from the wonderful blog, Girls in the Garden, has a monthly podcast,  Sew Forth Now, where she talks about sewing news on the web, what she's sewing, and interviews people in the sewing world.   This month, she interviewed me!

If you've not heard a podcast before, it is like a radio talk show that you can download to your computer or any type of MP3 player and listen to while you exercise or commute or even sew!  It's a neat idea, and if you'd like to listen to the episode with our interview about how I started SewBaby and the changes I've seen in the sewing business, you can find it here. 

Thanks, Lori, for putting together these fun episodes!

Comments

  1. MelissaDecember 9, 2010 at 10:26 AM

    I really enjoyed your interview with Lori. I always love hearing how businesses come to life and it was a special treat to hear about SewBaby since I love sewing. I originally heard about SewBaby at the Puyallup Sewing Expo in 1998 from Jeannie Twigg - wow, that was quite a while ago.

    Now a request for you. Since you love sewing with wool so much, how about a post on your tips for pressing wool. I'm making my first wool coat and it's taking forever. I'm having trouble pressing (i.e. I'm scared I'm going to ruin my coat) and keep stopping and reading in books or on the internet about the proper way so I avoid crushing, etc. I'm using a beautiful eggplant Vera Wang wool coating from Fabric.com I purchased last fall. I know I'll get it with enough research and patience, but any tips you have would be lovely since you make such beautiful coats.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ann BrodskyDecember 9, 2010 at 12:33 PM

    Hi Melissa,
    Ooh- your wool sounds gorgeous! I can't wait to see what you make with it!

    With wool, you just need steam, steam and more steam. If your iron isn't a big steam producer, you can spritz the area you are working on with water before you iron. I also recommend using a pressing ham for curved areas, as the wool will conform nicely to the shape of it.

    A few wools, such as gabardine, can get a shine on them if you press from the right side without a press cloth, but I've never found that problem with coatings. Just definitely test a scrap to make sure.

    I've never experienced any crushing with wool, like you can get with velvet, but if you think crushing is a possibility, just lay a terry cloth towel underneath the fabric.

    There are a lot of wool nylon blends for coating that don't tend to press as nicely as 100% wool. They also tend to pill more, so I try to buy 100% wool if possible.

    Good luck with your coat! Let me know if you need any more ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MelissaDecember 9, 2010 at 5:22 PM

    Thank you for the advice and tips Ann. I'll be sure to ask if I have any questions, but based on what you wrote, I'm good to go. I have all the necessary tools (hem, seam roll, clapper, etc) and a good steaming iron. Apparently I just need to find my courage. ;-) Happy sewing!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for visiting my blog! I would love to hear your opinions! Please share your comments here.

Popular posts from this blog

What to Wear in Madagascar

To be honest, I have no idea what to wear in Madagascar, and this title may need to be changed to "what NOT to wear in Madagascar" in a few months.  We will have to wait and see.  My 22 year old daughter, Alyssa, left for the Peace Corps this week, and she will be stationed in Madagascar for the next 2 years and 3 months.  Yes, you read that right- TWO YEARS and three months!!! We are very proud of her for wanting to help make the world a better place, and for being fearless in doing so, but it will be a looooong time for Mama and Papa back home. Not knowing anything about Madagascar, the first step in figuring out what to pack was to figure out the weather and the cultural norms.  Madagascar is a very large island off the southeastern coast of Africa.  It's very, very unique in it's ecosystem, and has many species that are not found anywhere else in the world- most famously lemurs. Right now, it is experiencing it's rainy season, as you can see by the
17 comments
Read more

Vogue 9305 Asymmetrical Tunics

It's April and we're expecting snow tonight.  Have we switched hemispheres?  Nevertheless, I am sewing with visions of warm sunny days.  And for those warm sunny days to come, I imagine sitting in the shade with a light breeze flowing through the air, enjoying a light beverage with friends.  Just close your eyes and you can imagine too.  What would you be wearing?  Well,  I love a dramatic asymmetrical tunic made of the softest linen.  As luck would have it, I found just the fabric in the "As Is" section in Fabric Mart's sales category.  With just some irregular dye marks on the selvage, it was marked down, but still completely usable.  It started out as a solid color, but I did an ombre dip dye process to get this look- more on that later! For my pattern, I chose Vogue 9305 , a tunic with a shaped hemline, and two styles of pants (I didn't make the pants).   This pattern must be the biggest bang for your time possible.  The tunic went tog
16 comments
Read more

Style Arc Dotty Blouse and Burda 6879 Skinny Pants

Listen children.  It's time for a sewing story.  Sit by the fire with me, and I'll tell you the story of how three flat, lifeless pieces of fabric became my new favorite winter outfit. With a little help from the elves at FabricMart, Burda, and Style Arc, I whipped up this outfit just in time for the holidays. Chapter 1.  The Dotty Blouse Silk charmeuse.  Aahhhh.  Just the thought of it brings me bliss.  Is there anything so light as a feather, shimmery as a star, fluid as a mountain stream?  All wrapped up in one glorious fabric.  Sometimes I look at the prices of clothes in the stores, and wonder "Why am I sewing? ".  But one touch of silk charmeuse and I remember. This is the stuff that you can't buy a top made from for less than $200, but you can make it for $50 or less. When I saw this stylized animal print silk charmeuse at FabricMart, I grabbed up 3 yards of it right away.  One of silk charmeuse's best qualities is it's drapa
6 comments
Read more