Favorite Things- June

Today I wanted to share a few of my favorite things. My sewing slowed down for quite a few months during my recovery from ankle surgery and entertainment became a real lifeline for me. Before I could start walking again I was practically living on my couch so thank goodness for podcasts, youtube and books!

Read:

Here are some of my favorite textile/business/tabletop books right now:

• Mind Your Business by Ilana Griffo
• Making a Life Melanie Falick
• Couture…The Art of Fine Sewing Roberta Carr
• The Royal School of Needlework Book of Embroidery
• The House of Worth- The Birth Of Haute Couture
• Almost Lost Arts Traditional Crafts and the Artisans Keeping Them Alive by Emily Freidenrich

Mind your business is a very cool workbook to help you narrow down your business goals and find your passion. I’m really enjoying working my way through this book! Making a Life and Almost Lost Arts have a similar feel. They’re both beautiful tabletop books that explore multiple disciplines in art and textiles and share inspiring stories alongside gorgeous imagery. My mom gifted me The House of Worth Book this Christmas. I love flipping through it for inspiration. I still haven’t read the entire book but it’s very interesting to see the house as it continued through the century. The dresses are simply stunning and the intricate detail work shown highlights the beauty of a bygone era.

I just bought the Couture sewing book after taking an ASG class with Marla Kazell, “The Go To Jacket” and am looking forward to working through some of the techniques shown. So many great tutorials! The Royal School of Nededlework is both a beautiful tabletop book as well as a great resource on embroidery techniques. I gave myself a little refresher looking through this book before working on my seahorse embroidery for my Vintage Beach Jacket ( blog post coming soon!)

Patternmaking Books:

Here are some of the patternmaking Books I’m reading and working with:

• Building Patterns by Suzy Furrer (link is to ebook)
• Designing Clothes with the Flat Pattern Method by Sarah Alm (link to Sarah’s site where you can get a signed copy)
• Metric Pattern Cutting Series by Winifred Aldrich
• Pattern Cutting for Lingerie and Beachwear and Leisurewear (image not shown)

Most of what I’ve learned about patternmaking has been from Suzy Furrer’s Craftsy classes. You can see my last muslin post using her classes here. Her book is a great refresher with all the info you need to successfully draft patterns.

Sarah Alm’s book has great images of creative muslin’s and how they are drafted. She is one of the founders of GarmentWorks that I’m hoping to take more classes with when they get their filming completed. I’ve taken a few of her classes on Craftsy as well.

Winifred Aldrich’s patternmaking books are a must. They go through a wealth of different clothing styles and how to draft them. Currently I have the Women’s and Children’s books and may get the menswear book as well.

Right now I’m working my way through the Pattern Cutting for Lingerie Book making up my drafts so I can have some good working swim blocks as well as knit and beachwear. I am learning how to draft bras but don’t have much interest in sewing them. It’s the one thing I still buy RTW.

Listen

Some of my favorite podcasts I’m listening to. I listen on Spotify (those are the links I’m using below) but available everywhere. I love bingeing podcasts while I’m working and sewing. From sewing to business, interior design and travel here are some of my favs:

• Science Friday (WNYC studios, this is my very favorite PBS radio show. So glad I can listen to it on the podcast now!)
• Fashion Half Cut (Caroline Barulis and Kathryn Roberts are both professional patternmakers and a joy to listen to!)
• Pull The Thread (Krystal Douglas hosts this podcast about running a profitable craft business)
• Love to Sew ( My very Favorite pod! Listening to Caroline and Helen chat about sewing is like having your best friends over to chat! Love their interviews and all the great sewing info they share!)
• Dear Alice ( I used to be a visual merchandiser with a focus on interiors so I love their interior design podcast. Tons of great tips and inspiration)
• Women Who Travel (Conde Nast travel podcast about travel that is always entertaining!)
• Seamwork Radio (Sarai hosts a beautiful and thoughtful podcast with inspiring interviews)
• Sewing with Threads (Super informative podcast with the ladies from Threads magazine- my very fav sewing mag!)
• Sew & Tell (Another sewing podcast favorite. Listening to Meg Amanda and Kate is always fun and full of great tips and inspo!)
• Business Shet (Mimi G’s business focused podcast is a fast paced and inspiring. Great advice and stories!)

Watch:

I don’t watch as much as I used to but here are some of my favorite youtube channels:

• Marcy Hariell (The Handmade Hariells make such joyful videos. Marcy was one of the first bloggers I ever followed and always inspires with her bold and playful style!)
• Saturday Night Stitch ( one of my favorite sewing bloggers)
• Inside The Hem (great sewist- love her pattern reviews)
• Jess Van Den ( helps makers start and run successful businesses)
• The Museum at FIT (inspiring gorgeous videos)
• American Museum of Natural History (another fav museum with great videos for kids and adults!)
• Rosery Apparel ( sewing and DIY out of Australia)
• The MET ( Great inspiration from my very favorite museum- fun fact I used to work there (audiotours) back in the day!)
• The World Sailing Show ( my husband and I love sialing and dream about living on a sailboat so racing shows are righjt up our alley)
• Liziqi ( my daughter and I love watching this Chinese maker and her awe inspiring life)

Back soon with some new makes! Happy Sewing!