Indiesew's Blog

Once, many years ago, I owned a single pair of painted-on true black skinny jeans that I wore constantly. I think they came from a fashion subscription box, long before I was sewing most of my own clothes, and were a brand I had never heard of.  I’ve been dreaming about recreating them ever since they completely wore out, except this time with a super high rise. So, when  Blackbird Fabrics had a . . .

I’m a classic over-packer. On a recent vacation I packed many “just-in-case” items only for them to never see the light of day. You would think I’d learn from experience, but you never know when you might need another pair of shorts, or shirt, or shoes. Not only do I have a plan B for most occasions, I also have a plan C. Just. In. Case. In an attempt to pare down my suitcase for our next . . .

The days are gradually getting warmer here in Boulder and we couldn't be happier to launch a batch of fabrics that we're really excited to sew right now. When it starts to get hot, all I want to wear are natural fibers and cool colors. Our 19th fabric batch, Cloudless, checks both of those boxes with five airy fabrics. And we're obsessed with every single one:   Green Floral Cotton Voile This . . .

A sewing project entered my mind on Monday and by the end of the day Tuesday I had the finished item in hand, exactly how I imagined it. It rarely happens this way for me, I usually sit on sewing ideas for months, even years. Eventually they get replaced with other ideas and leave my brain altogether. But the pattern hack I had in mind was really simple. I had a maxi dress (the Lottie Dress , in . . .

My last fabric souring trip to LA was one that I'll always remember. Three other industry ladies ( Gabriela ,  Kelli , and Leslie ) all joined me to help hunt for overstock fabric, talk shop, and connect in person on the overnight trip. The short jaunt felt more like vacation than work and I left feeling inspired, motivated, and really lucky to call these ladies my friends. What's even better is . . .

I  remember learning to sew back in junior high home economics class with a drawstring "laundry" bag.  It was such a fun project and I loved every little bit of it...from going to the local quilt shop to pick out accessories to learning all of the mechanics of the sewing machine.  I wanted to learn more and sew more, but household financials wouldn't allow me to have a home machine nor was there . . .

It's a big, emotional, heart-full-of-gratitude week over here. Yesterday marked exactly five years to the day that Indiesew was launched to the sewing community after six months in development! It simultaneously feels like we've been working at this dream for a decade and also for about six months. I can describe it in no other words than it's been  a ride . Here are some flashbacks from the . . .

My involvement in the Indiesew community started 3.5 years ago, when Allie reached out to me, asking me to do a guest post on the Indiesew blog ( my FIRST indie pattern! ). Looking back makes me realize just how far I’ve come since then, because I remember the exact post I had just written on my own blog when she emailed me…and it wasn’t very good. Haha. But Allie must have seen that I was making . . .