Hear me chatting on the Modern Sewciety Podcast

Do you listen to sewing podcasts? I've started listening to them recently while sewing - whether at home at the weekend or on a marathon session stitching samples for the new pattern (it's at the printers!).

I love sewing podcasts for two reasons. One is that I find that they really help me sit and stay focused on my sewing, and less likely to get distracted by my to do list - or, let's face it, checking social media. The other reason I enjoy sewing podcasts is that it's like listening to friends having a chat... about sewing! And sewing businesses! Which are my two favourite subjects, obvs.

I was chuffed to be interviewed by Stephanie recently for the Modern Sewciety podcast. She's such a passionate champion of the sewing community, and just so lovely to chat to. I've been enjoying her podcasts for a while now, so during the interview I kept having to remind myself that I wasn't listening to a pre-recorded episode featuring someone else, it was me she was talking to so I needed to respond to her questions!

If you want to hear me chat about sewing, how Tilly and the Buttons grew into a business, and what goes into putting together a book - oh and getting seriously confused about dates ("I quit my job a year ago... no - six months ago! But it seems like ages ago..." Err yes, that's because it was actually over a year ago, hahaha!) - then you can listen to it here.

And if you want to find out more about the podcast's host, I interviewed Stephanie a few months ago, so go read more about her.

Ooh and if you've just found this blog from listening to the podcast - welcome! If you're interested in finding out more about some of the things Stephanie and I chat about, you might like these links:

Tour of my studio
How I got a craft book deal
The process of writing a sewing book
Behind the scenes at my sewing workshops
My sewing pattern (and gifts!) shop
My book on Amazon.co.uk and on Amazon.com

Bon weekend, tout le monde!

Latest Obsession... Modern Sewciety Podcast!

You guys, I'm obsessed. Obsessed with something you should really know about if you're into sewing of any kind - the Modern Sewciety Podcast. Have you listened to it yet? Are you hooked on it too?

I first found out about the Modern Sewciety Podcast a few weeks ago when Jen and Kelli were featured and mentioned it on their blogs. I began listening to the episodes while packing orders and cutting fabric, and very soon I was addicted! The show features inspiring people working in sewing - from fabric brands to pattern designers to bloggers and others. It's hosted by a lovely lady called Stephanie who is just SO adorable - not only because of her lovely accent, but what really comes across is her generosity of spirit and the fact that she is so genuinely excited to talk to people who are in the wonderful world of sewing. It's kinda like listening to two friends having a chat, but you also get to hear about the really interesting work that goes on behind the scenes at various companies. This is something that I love to hear because running a (very) small business can be lonely sometimes so it's great to hear how others handle the highs, lows and everything in between. But even if sewing is simply a for-fun activity for you, it's a really nice listen.

Since I knew you guys would be interested in the podcast, so I turned the tables on interviewer Stephanie and asked her to answer a few questions herself...

Hi Stephanie! How would you describe Modern Sewciety to people who haven't listened to it before? Can you sum it up in a tweet?

"ModernSewciety, a weekly podcast, with host Stephanie chatting about all things fabric, sewing, inspiration with creatives in the industry. —— that was so hard!!! lol"

Tell us how you got started with the podcasts…

"My husband started listening to podcasts long before me and kept suggesting I try to find one about sewing. I searched and found some great ones. I really found I enjoyed the podcasts that were chatty and allowed you to get to know the guests in a relaxed way. I knew I would love to “meet” some of the creatives in the sewing industry and hear their stories about how they got started sewing, what inspires them, and pretend like we were BFFs! I am not really shy when it comes to talking to others so I thought why not give it a try and so Modern Sewciety was born. I blindly emailed a lot of creatives in the industry that I had followed for a long time to ask them to come on the show and, well, so many said yes. I still can’t believe the awesome people I have had the opportunity to chat with."

How did your own love of sewing begin?

"My grandmother and mother sewed when I was little. They never really sat down and taught me but I always loved watching them. When I was in college I tried to make a baby blanket for a friend who had just had a little girl. Let’s just say it wasn’t an awesome gift but I really loved trying to make it. Many years later I had my first child and my husband gave me some 'fun' money to spend (he had gotten a bonus) and I bought myself a sewing machine. I didn’t know much but read a lot of blogs and tutorials, and the rest is history. I now can’t live without sewing something all of the time."

You've interviewed so many inspiring people for the podcast. Was there one interview or interviewee that stood out in particular for you? Or as you would say, can you choose a favourite child?!

"Ha a favorite child… this is hard! I will say that some of the first guests I had on were my favorite. They gave me a chance and came on the podcast when I didn’t know what I was doing. Heck I still don’t! They were all so nice to me and would chat after recording about the podcast, make suggestions, help me with contacts, and that really helped open doors for me. Without them I don’t think the podcast would be what it is today."



If you could interview anyone, who would it be and why?

"Well I have to say I love interviewing everyone. I know. I know it is corny but everyone has a story! I really enjoy having others on to share their story. I think it is inspiring to hear someone chat about who they are, their passions, and most importantly how much they love sewing. I really connect with others by hearing their voice and laugh and I have found that once I start chatting with someone they forget we are recording and then it is just a chat between friends. It is real life and well I love the realness of it."

Apart from Modern Sewciety, which is obviously the best sewing podcast in the world, do you have any recommendations for other podcasts that we might like - related to the world of sewing, craft and/or crafty businesses?

"I really have a lot of non-sewing podcasts I listen to like This American Life, The Moth, After the Jump (which is Design Sponge’s Grace Bonney), How they Blog the podcast, 99% invisible, Smart Passive Income! lol okay that will get you started! And for sewing-related, I listen to Katie’s Quilting Corner, APQ radio, and I am sure their are more I am forgetting."

What would be your top tips for anyone thinking about making a podcast themselves?

"I say research. I researched podcasting for a long time before I started mine. I really think Pat Flynn does an amazing job with his podcasting tutorials. Hey Pat!"

Do you have anything exciting up your sleeve for Modern Sewciety that you can tell us about?

"I really would like to go to Quilt Market in the Fall and maybe Quiltcon. I am a stay at home mom so I rely on sponsors and listener pledges (find more about that on the support page of Modern Sewicety) to make all of those things possible. I hope to continue to make the podcast more professional and also do more on location shows."

Thanks so much for making these podcasts, Stephanie - I love them!

Readers, if you fancy dipping into the Modern Sewciety podcasts, take a look at the episodes on offer. And if you like it, you might also like my A Day in the Life interviews too!

A Day in the Life of Liesl Gibson (Oliver + S)

You all know Liesl Gibson, right? The designer behind no less than FOUR sewing pattern brands - kidswear Oliver + S, Lisette patterns in partnership with Simplicity, Liesl + Co PDF patterns, and Straight Stitch Society accessories. (Just reading that list is making me need a little nap on her behalf!) Well today we get to find out what it's like to be superwoman Liesl by spending a Day in the Life in her company. How does she manage her time to stay on top of it all? And what does she wear while doing it? Let's see...

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"My typical day right now is pretty atypical. For 10 months of the year, my daughter S is in school (she’ll start fourth grade in September), and we have a regular schedule: wake up, breakfast, to the school bus stop by 8:20, work, afterschool program pick up by 5:55, dinner, homework, bed for her, more work for me, and then sleep.

But July and August are different. S spends all of July with her grandparents—two weeks with my husband Todd’s parents in Michigan and two weeks with my parents in Wisconsin. They all love the time together, and Todd and I enjoy the adult time. Then we usually do a home exchange for the month of August and spend that month together as a family somewhere interesting. This August, we’ll be in Barcelona. We still work while we’re away, but the change of scenery and pace is always inspiring.

So right now, my typical day is much more unstructured than usual. This morning I woke up at 8:00. I start the morning with breakfast—usually eggs or a little granola. Todd and I have just started doing the Seven Minute Workout together in the morning. S and I recently started taking violin lessons together, so I practice violin a little in the morning—I absolutely love playing! After that I shower and get dressed. Today I chose a pair of linen culottes that we’ll be releasing as a Liesl + Co. patterns this fall. I paired it with a white embroidered blouse I bought at Zara a few years ago and with some new sandals.

Todd and I left together for the studio around 9:00 today—which is quite late for us. Todd usually bikes to the studio while I take the subway. But today there was a thunderstorm forecast and a flash flood watch for the afternoon, so he took the subway with me. (The afternoon ended up being sunny with no rain. Go figure.)

When I first launched my business, Todd was working as a management consultant and helped (“forced” might be more accurate…) me to write a business plan before I did anything else. Having a solid business plan really helped me through the first two years. Whenever anyone asks me for advice about starting a business, I tell them they have to have a good business plan before they launch. Todd hadn’t originally planned to work with me, but that changed about a year and a half after the company started and we saw the potential in the business. We’ve been working together for five and a half years now. I do product development for our four brands of sewing patterns, and he makes the business run smoothly.

We live in Manhattan’s East Village, and our studio is four stops into Brooklyn on the L line which runs under the East River. We can make it there by bike or subway in about 20 minutes. But today I needed to stop at the art store to pick up some materials for a Straight Stitch Society photo shoot, so I got off one stop early.

From there I walked to the studio. Our space is in an industrial neighborhood that is undergoing rapid change. The small manufacturers are moving out, and their large spaces are being carved up into artist studios and workspaces for creative businesses. The floor where our studio is located used to be a book bindery, and you can see sewing machine needles nestled between the floor boards. I moved into this space six years ago, shortly after I started our first brand, Oliver + S.

I was one of the first tenants in the building after it was converted, and I really like it here. We’ve become friends with some of our neighbors who do interesting things like creating paintings, designing wallpaper, recording music (and arguably being the coolest woman in the world), and making artisanal beef jerky. Until recently, we even had a small bourbon distillery in the building.

I usually start my morning at my desk, responding to email and corresponding with many of the freelancers who help us create our patterns.

What I do after that depends on where we are in the production cycle for each of our brands. I could be designing new styles for kids or women (for Lisette or Liesl + Co.), figuring out how to construct a new style, writing and illustrating instructions, or formatting patterns for the printer. Every day is different. We often have work in different stages of development for our brands, so some days I’ll be working on something early in the production cycle at one time and then switch to something later in the cycle for another brand. I usually spend Mondays writing blog posts, but right now I’m trying to finish the fall patterns, so I’m really focusing on all the details that are so important to our patterns.

There aren’t any convenient places to eat in the neighborhood, so Todd makes lunch around 12:30. We have a sandwich press in the studio, and he puts together hot sandwiches of some kind. Today’s lunch was sponsored by the letter P: panini (with prosciutto, pepperoni, provolone, plum tomatoes, and pesto), pickles, and potato chips. We pair lunch with some fruit that I pick up on my way to the subway in the morning. Today it was cherries.

 In the afternoon, it’s more of the same activities. This afternoon I cut out a dress that we’ll release this fall under our Liesl + Co. brand, and I worked on formatting the pattern sheet for another Liesl + Co. pattern for the fall.

We left the studio at 7:15 and stopped for a quick dinner of vegetarian burritos and nachos at La Gringa Taqueria which is near the closest subway stop. We were home by 8:15. I practiced violin for a while and then we put on an episode of Boardwalk Empire which I’ve checked out from the library. While the show played, I opened my laptop and made cutting layouts for the patterns I was working on in the afternoon. After that, Todd headed off to bed and I stayed up for a while finishing the layouts, finally turning in around 12:00. Tomorrow I leave for a series of trips: flying to Nashville to teach for one of Anna Maria Horner’s sewing workshops, then home to see my family and to pick up S, and then we all leave for Barcelona a few days later. I guess this is one of my last typical/atypical workdays in the studio until we return home in September and school starts again!"

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Thanks for letting us spend the day with you, Liesl! Readers, if you liked this and want to read more Days in the Life of inspirational people who have made a career out of their love of stitching, there's a whole page of them - from Colette Patterns to Sublime Stitching to Figgy's. Enjoy!

Getting to Know Kate & Rose Patterns

Do you know Kate & Rose sewing and embroidery patterns? As part of Sewing Indie Month, independent designers are interviewing each other, and one of the things I love about this project is the opportunity to discover new-to-me pattern companies. Kate & Rose is one of them. I love this Giselle dress pattern (above) - so gorgeous! - and really enjoyed getting to know designer Kati in this interview. I know you will too!

Hi Kati! It's lovely to meet you. Can you tell Tilly and the Buttons readers a little bit about Kate & Rose?

"Kate & Rose is a line of sewing and embroidery patterns, often inspired by folkwear. I design for women who like to make easy-going pieces with an interesting detail or two, but perhaps don't have a whole lot of time to devote to making one garment. You can place embroidery on all of my designs, or use the embroidery patterns to add a folklore-inspired touch to anything else you like."

Where did your interest in folklore-inspired designs spring from?

"While growing up in Hungary, folk dance and basic hand embroidery was part of my elementary school's curriculum. I'm also a child of the '70s, when flowers and bright colors and hippies and folkwear worn in daily life abounded. I think that aesthetic is forever etched in my brain (or - some might say it has forever scarred my brain…). But it's also something a bit more idealistic. In small Eastern European villages women often came together to make things - finish a girl's trousseau, spin yarn, or paint the walls of their houses with wildly colorful flowers. Folklore is a bit about that: making and creating together, and in the process making a tough world look a little bit nicer. I try to infuse my designs with this sense of coming together to create. Eastern Europe is a very divided and troubled, and of course I'm not suggesting that pretty embroidered blouses can heal the world's divisions. But making things together perhaps does improve things, just a little. The modern sewing movement is a kind of folklore too: it's about coming together and making things, with the help of the internet. It's an amazingly supportive and kind community."



That's such an interesting way of describing the online sewing community - I agree completely, collaborative creation can indeed make the world a better place. Tell us, how did you get started with your pattern business?

"I was at a modern quilters' meeting a few years ago (I used to make quilts - I no longer have time, except to make doll quilts for my daughters!), and Kathy Miller, one of the founders of the fabric company Michael Miller was there to speak to the group. She talked about leaving her fashion industry job to start a creative business, at first working out of a New York City apartment with her business partner, Michael Steiner. She talked about the sewing-making-quilting community for which she was now making fabrics: how amazed she was that the focus was on creativity rather than winning at any cost, which is much different than what she was used to before.

When I heard her speak, I had two very small children at home. A few years earlier I'd left behind a career in academia (I have a Ph.D.) because it was really quite impossible to get a full-time job in my field. Impossible without moving really far away from my family that is (I live in New York), and even then quite tough! I always wanted children and wasn't so young when I had them, and my family life was really important to me, so I gave up any dream of being a university professor. I was happy with my new life but in another way, it was a big blow to my sense of self. For years I didn't even think about starting any other career. But then, little by little, I started sewing again. I'd sewn a lot of my own clothes when I was a teenager, it was tough to get clothes you actually liked in Hungary back then). And then, hearing Kathy Miller talk about how she took a chance on a creative business made me think, wait, so people actually do that WITH SEWING?

Little did I know how much time & work is involved. But having my daughters changed me somehow - I've realized there is no time to put off doing things that are important to me. And it's always about my daughters, in a way: I think that even today, it's especially important for little girls to see examples of other women going for the things they want. And to see that that's something women get to do! (Okay - so this has a bit to do with my dissertation work, there's tons of research on it.)

So I decided I wouldn't let myself find excuses and go make sewing and folklore and handwork my work and career. No matter how many mistakes I make, how little sleep I get, or how silly I'll look in the process. My husband warned me it would be hard - he's a photographer and knows pretty well how much work it takes to be a creative professional! - but he is also an amazingly supportive person. It took me a long time to figure out just what I want my work to be about. I dabbled in RTW for about 15 seconds but realized I love tinkering far too much. And also, makers are so much nicer! So here I am, making embroidery and sewing patterns…"

Good on you, Kati. You're right, it takes an insane amount of work to start and run your own business, but you only live once, so if you have a dream, you should go for it! And yes, makers are seriously lovely - I can't get over the sweet emails that my customers send me, I'm pretty sure they're the nicest people in the world!

Now - talk us through your approach to designing sewing and embroidery patterns. Are there any similarities in the processes?

"The processes are similar in that coming up with a design always starts with an image that gets stuck in my head. Then I go collect every possible variation I can find of that image, online via Pinterest or elsewhere, and offline in vintage stores, flea markets, magazines, vintage sewing patterns. Eventually I start to draw ideas they bring to mind. I usually draw in the computer and not by hand. I'm not a very linear person so being able to think/draw things out in a non-linear fashion, by computer, without having to start from scratch over and over again, is closer to the way my mind works. For sewing patterns I do usually start with a paper draft which I then digitize to finish working with. Having said that, I do try to keep a handmade feel to my patterns anyway because it's a reflection of my aesthetic better. So… I do think creating patterns for sewing or embroidery are very similar."



What are your own favourite things to sew?

"Well… I think my Instagram feed reveals how many blouses I own… I'm afraid I'm a somewhat boring seamstress when it comes to sewing for myself."

Not boring at all - it's good to have a signature style! My readers love dressmaking but not all of them are into embroidery... yet! Do you have any top tips for getting started with embroidery? 

"Make something real and useful that you might like handling a lot when it's done. Something that will recall to you the time you spent stitching it. For me, this is clothing: it touches our bodies every day. And I like the way hand-embroidery reminds me that living people's living hands made the clothes I'm wearing, even if I didn't make it myself. Start with a simple pattern, and use a color (or colors) of thread that makes you happy when you look at it. At first, use something easy to stitch with, like perle cotton, #8 or #5, nothing too thin. A nice thing to do is trace a pattern with just a running stitch, like Sashiko, using variegated thread. Not hard at all yet the effect is quite impressive. Oh, and make a date with a friend or two and stitch together!"

Great tips, thank you. I love embroidery and started a project to embroider pattern illustrations but haven't done it in ages - you've inspired me to get back into it this summer!

Important question time - what is your staple meal, please? ie. what is the meal you eat most often, by default?

"This is a really important question! Food is a huge part of our daily lives and the quality and flavor of what we eat affects everything else. Having said that, there's more often than not too little time to make fancy meals. I have a rotating crew of staples, they all involve some degree of chopping vegetables and throwing them in a pot, quick meals that can be made with whatever is in the fridge. One is a stew, slow-cooked on days when I spend the afternoon at home working (I add chicken, sausage, or smoked ham to vegetables, and simmer them with beans or chick peas), there's a soup (my kids call it "green soup" and oddly enough, they actually eat it) I make it with leeks and cucumbers or zucchini, blend it with a stick blender, also blending in fresh herbs like dill or more recently mint. Then there's the light pasta dish when I literally have 15 minutes to cook and need to eat something warm and fresh - sautee onions and a chopped veggies in olive oil or (ahem) bacon grease left over from making bacon earlier, perhaps add chicken or a bit of tuna, and eat with pasta. But - let's be honest - another important staple is sushi ordered from the Japanese restaurant down the street."

You're making me hungry! Back to business - what plans and dreams do you have for Kate & Rose in the future?

"Right now I'd like to get through the next two months, before I get a longish vacation… I've already got another pattern in the works, and there's more embroidery to do! I'd like to grow Kate & Rose as a brand of patterns for folksy stitching. And do all the things people dream of - collaborate with other makers, write a book or two perhaps, and of course meet more of the wonderful makers of the sewing community along the way!"



Good luck, Kati - I'll be rooting for you!

Readers, I hoped you enjoyed learning more about Kate & Rose patterns. Sewing Indie Month is linking up different pattern designers with each other, so Christine Haynes also interviewed me for her blog - check it out...

A Day in the Life of Figgy's

Do you ever look at kids' sewing patterns and wish they fitted you? I do, especially when they're designed by Shelly Figueroa of Figgy's. Those are some seriously stylish children. So what's it like to be as talented a lady as Shelly? And what does she eat for lunch? Let's spend a day in her company, in this month's A Day in the Life...

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“Hello Tilly and the Buttons readers! What terrific fun it is to be here today and have this opportunity to share my A Day in the Life! Thank you so much for inviting me to join so many great artists that have shared their day. Here goes…

I awoke today 30 minutes before my alarm. I think it’s because I have so much on my mind these days that it’s causing me to not sleep well. Today is my day to awaken with the boys. My husband takes the morning shift two days a week and on those days I sleep until 9am. I used to be able to sleep until noon if given the opportunity but it seems age has altered by inner alarm clock. Today I’m just going to lay with my thoughts until the alarm dings softly.

It’s 7.45am and time to get my sons up and ready for the school bus. I like to wake them slowly because I used to despise having someone wake me with a bright light or loud noises, so I try to offer them a little peace when they rise. I make them breakfast of eggs and toast, pack the lunch bags (I put in a little joke or note) and fill the water bottles. I check my phone calendar to see if they need bus passes for a friend date after school and if they don’t I kiss and hug them out the door. Once I see them off I like to sit in the quiet for 10 minutes with mint tea before I get ready for my day. I like complete silence and try to clear my head.

Depending on whether or not I need to leave the house for errands or if I have a class to teach affects my choice in what to wear. If I’m teaching a class I try to wear at least one thing handmade because my students love to try and guess which item I have on was hand made. I can’t work without shoes on, I feel like I’m a modern day Mr. Rogers. My work attire consists of skinny jeans, tank top with a high low tee layered over top and my grey booties. I dress a lot like how my pattern line is described: simple, modern and contemporary.

My office is just two flights of stairs up so I mix my morning protein shake and head up at 9.20 am. I open email first and the responding begins. It usually take me close to 2 hours before I’m done, but on some days I find myself done in just an hour (woohoo). I have a blog post for Michael Miller due tomorrow so I need to edit photos and finish my post to mail out by the end of the day. I’ve been pretty good at doing a little here and a little there that it only takes me an hour to finish up and email. I wish the next thing on my list is sewing but I have volunteer duties at the school today working with the HOPES committee so I’m off to the school.

The HOPES committee is hosting a “Sewing for Shriners” day in the school gym on March 15th. The day will include kids coming in every 1.5 hours to sew a hospital gown for a child at the hospital. We hope to have at least 100 gowns finished by the end of the day to donate to the hospital. It’s quite a lot organizing this big day but it’s very special to my heart and that makes it all better. It’s 1pm and I need to get back in the studio.

Back in the studio, I’ve printed off a new pattern I’m hoping to release at the end of the blog tour in February. My graphic designer sent back my sample pattern so it’s time to sew and test. I trace, cut and sew my muslin. It’s a fairly quick sew, but after looking at the finished product I noticed some tweaking that needs to happen. For this pattern I’m working with another designer (I can’t reveal this information just yet) so I snap some phone photos and jump back on email to see if she agrees with me about the changes.

Crud!! I forgot to eat lunch again. I run down to the kitchen and grab carrots, hummus and gluten free pretzels. I run into my mom and she gives me a little speech about how I need to stop skipping meals and eat some protein. I know, I know!! Did I mention my family shares a home with my parents? I call it living European style in America.

With a little food in the belly, I’m back at it and it’s time to set up for class. I check my calendar to remind myself which group is coming in at 3.40pm for class. Today is Figgy’s Fashion where the kids are making garments using Figgy’s patterns. I love this class because I love to see how the kids will take the pattern and make it their own by adding something special to the garment or using a fabric I never thought to use. Yesterday I had a birthday party with eight girls in the studio and they all made super cute bags.

It’s 3.20pm, so I pop organic popcorn in coconut oil and make sure all is ready to go. At 3.40pm, six kids have jumped off the bus and into my studio for some super fun creative time. I’m so grateful to have my mom here to greet my boys when they get off the bus and feed them a snack. My husband rolls in about 4.30pm and begins homework duty and that is a huge score for me because homework was never my favorite thing to do. I often fantasize about opening up a storefront, but if I did that now I wouldn’t have this great home studio where my children can simply walk up a few steps if then need a minute with mom. I believe doors of opportunity open when it is time for them to open no matter how often we know or bang on the door. Having my own pattern line and teaching studio has taught me two main things: you will never be able to please everyone all the time and PATIENCE.

It’s 5.40 pm and parents begin to show up to gather their children. It seems a tornado has come through my studio so for the next 30 minutes is cleaning and vacuuming. The smells from the kitchen are calling my name and it’s time to sit with my family, say grace and talk about our day. I only have dinner cooking duty twice a week thanks to my amazing mom and one pizza night a week. The days it is my responsibility I try to prepare something in the crockpot or I prep the dinner in the morning and my husband will cook during my class. ☺

Tonight is busy beginning after dinner. Jules has basketball practice and Franco is off to youth group so we split up and go our separate ways. Meeting back at the house by 8pm it’s time for bath and books. Reading to my children is my favorite part of the day. I get to escape with them into some fun fantasy book for at least two chapters, then prayers and lights out. I cross my fingers that I only get woken up by one of them once tonight.

My husband is currently in college studying to become a paramedic, so he studies and I hit social media for work until we meet at 10pm for some husband and wife time. It’s not much these days but we’re doing the best we can as we work towards our goal of having our own home one day. I end my day usually how I begin, with a hot cup of tea and silence. By 11.30 pm I’m reading, my husband and children are all snoring and I have a little quiet time until 12am when it’s my turn for lights out. Tomorrow it all begins again where I get to create something new, volunteer at school, design and love my family as much as possible.

Thank you for spending the day with me!”

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Thanks for giving us a peek into your day, Shelly! Readers, if you have little ones to sew for, check out the new patterns from Figgy's, they are seriously cute.

Want to read about more Days in the Life of inspirational people who have turned their love of stitching into a career? Spend a day in the company of Christine Haynes, Lucie Summers, Colette Patterns and more! 

Interview with Weaving Destination

When you're handling fabric, do you sometimes stop to think about whose hands it has passed through before yours? Who was involved in its production, and what their story is? Occasionally that story is a very special one. Today, it's my pleasure to interview Debi Fry from Weaving Destination a social enterprise that produces fabric in a very interesting context. You may already know Debi from her sewing blog, which was one of the first blogs I ever read and, in fact, Debi was the first blogger I ever met up with IRL (yes, she is LOVELY). And now she's embarked on a very worthwhile project. Let's find out more about it...

Hi Debi! Please introduce yourself...

"Thank you Tilly for inviting me to talk about the exciting enterprise called Weaving Destination. For those that don’t know me, my name is Debi and I blog over at My Happy Sewing Place. I’m a researcher by day and a vintage sewing enthusiast in my free time. My research focuses in the area of child protection and preventing violence against women. I’m also the co-founder of Weaving Destination UK (alongside another amazing woman named Javita Narang — and our lovely partners David and Digambar) — which is an initiative that builds on my two passions: preventing and addressing violence against women, and sewing!"

Debi and Javita, founders of Weaving Destination

What does Weaving Destination do and what is the objective?

"Weaving Destination is a social enterprise that promotes financial independence and empowerment of indigenous women in Northeast India through the sale of their hand-woven organic cotton and eri silk products. The social enterprise started as a women’s weaving collective with capital funding from the UN to develop a weaving centre (using women’s own home-based looms). Handweaving is a traditional craft in the area (very similar to Scotland, where I am based) and it gives women the opportunity to build livelihoods and generate income based on skills they already have.

All of the women weavers come from the indigenous Bodo communities in Assam, India. Due to the region’s location in the Northeast of India (bordering Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and China), Assam suffers very high rates of human trafficking especially among indigenous communities. All of the women employed through Weaving Destination are either survivors of human trafficking, living with HIV/AIDS or are female migrant returnees who are highly vulnerable to re-trafficking, social exclusion and poverty. Weaving Destination provides employment and also housing and support for the women and their children.

We are passionate about creating financial independence for women and also in connecting women globally. Because I love sewing and work in the fields of gender-based violence prevention and child protection, this is the perfect project: it is a way of blending the things I feel most passionate about.

I love that these women are able to gain access to what they need through the employment of traditional skills – that’s a powerful thing. Bodo women learn to weave at a very early age, and they take a lot of pride in their expertise. It’s amazing to be able to expose the world to their handiwork and for them to benefit from it directly."



A social enterprise is a very interesting business model. Can you explain what it is and how it works for anyone who hasn't come across the term?

"Basically, a social enterprise is a business that helps people or communities instead of private shareholders. Social Enterprises can include Community Interest Companies, Limited Companies, Charitable Organisations, Co-operatives, or Industrial Societies. The common thread is that all of these involve significant re-investment of profits into the community or co-operative.

Social enterprises are different from charities or not-for-profit organisations as they are profit-making entities. Usually, though not always, social enterprises sit alongside charities. This is the case with Weaving Destination, which currently consists of two social enterprises (one in India and the partner social enterprise in Scotland) and one charity in India called the Nedan Foundation.

The Weaving Destination is a social enterprise primarily for creating livelihood opportunities for ethnic, indigenous local women. Nedan Foundation - the charity organization, on the other hand, with a few international grants and revenue generated from the Weaving Destination works towards other significant issues in the area such as child protection, education, health, peace building and overall community development aspects in the villages the women come from and where the weaving centers have been established.

The other exciting news is that we are about to start a not-for-profit part of Weaving Destination in Scotland as well, and will develop and register a charity that will seek to build links between women weavers in Scotland and India. The charity will also help support key initiatives related to healthcare, anti-trafficking and child protection. I am super excited about this!"

The weavers produce ethical silk - could you tell us a bit more about ethical considerations we should consider when buying fabric?

"Ethical fashion is a hot topic; there are many problems in the way the fashion industry currently operates, and it’s important as sewists, designers, and consumers that we exercise our ability to influence the market through our purchasing habits. The fashion industry has tried to address concerns such as exploitative labour, animal cruelty, waste, and environmental impact but there is so much more to be done.

As sewists, we often look for fabrics with particular properties, such as drape or “give,” as well as colour and patterns, but often we don’t know where that fabric comes from or how it was produced. In this economy, price is often the chief concern (or at least, a high priority) in choosing fabrics or fashion pieces. Unfortunately, in order to produce inexpensive fabrics, human rights, animal rights, sustainability, and environmental concerns tend to get pushed aside. Nobody wants to wear a garment made out of fabric that has been produced through conditions that cause pain, suffering, or destruction but oftentimes that is the case. Many factories worldwide operate based on child labour or women who have been trafficked. Raw materials are often produced through the heavy use of pesticides or other chemicals that are harmful to both the environment and the workers who come into contact with them. It’s important that we pay more attention to where our fabric comes from and how it’s made.

Weaving Destination is dedicated to employing sustainable growing practices, organically- and ethically-sourced materials, and a safe and humane working environment and one specifically that values and empowers women. Our ethical eri silk is produced without harming the silkworms; they are raised and cared for by individual women in the village, and the cocoons are collected once they are discarded, then separated into fibres and spun. Eri silk fabric is often worn by Buddhist monks throughout India, Nepal, and the surrounding area, and is suitable for vegans, as it is cruelty-free.

This project was originally begun by a member of the indigenous Bodo community in order to address the vulnerabilities of Bodo women due to poverty, regional strife, and sectarian violence. Weaving Destination is a grassroots organisation that has created a safe space for Bodo women to live and work within, providing them the opportunity to become self-sufficient through their own skills and abilities."

What can we do to support Weaving Destination?

"We’ve got some amazing organic cotton fabrics, silk and cotton scarves and bags for sale through our Etsy shop. We have small samples of Eri silk fabric, which only comes in only natural beige/white colours. We are exploring the possibility of weaving different weights of Eri Silk for use in wedding dresses and formal gowns. At the moment, there is no chemical-free way to dye the ethical silk. We are planning some fundraising activities later in the year to support the building of a vegetable-dyeing centre so that we can dye the silk lots of different colours! The great thing about this is that it would allow us to work with more women and build on some of the amazing vegetable and natural dyes (e.g. Indigo) in the area.

We also welcome suggestions and requests for colours and patterns. Our weavers are extremely talented and enjoy developing new designs, so feedback is another way to support our social enterprise. You can contact us through our Etsy shop or through my blog.

Finally, spreading the word is a great way to help us grow. We are dependent on sales of our hand-woven cloth, scarves, and bags to accomplish our goals of providing a sustainable path to self-sufficiency for these women."

Thanks Debi for sharing more about Weaving Destination. Readers, if you'd like to support Weaving Destination, check out their Etsy shop here and help spread the word.

A Day in the Life of By Hand London

By Hand London have taken the sewing world by storm with their range of super trendy sewing patterns. It's been so inspiring to watch how the budding business, founded by friends Charlotte Hintzen and Elisalex De Castro Peake and later joined by Victoria, has set down its roots and blossomed in the past year. If, like me, you're curious what it's like to start a company with friends, you'll love reading their Day in the Life. Plus, as always, we find out what they eat for lunch. What's not to like? Over to the BHL ladies...

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Victoria, Charlotte and Rachael (shiny new intern helping us out! Read all about her sewing adventures). Grabbing a second in between filming a tutorial video (hence the juicy cerise backdrop)
to go over a pattern in the works

"So, this has actually been a little more difficult than we imagined and caused quite a lot of discussion! Basically, in the last nine odd months since our first patterns, there has been nothing resembling a 'normal' day - and we're pretty sure all of the other ladies featured here would agree! Anyway, we'll do our best and try to tell the story of what kinds of things keep us running around and over excited on a daily basis.

Our early mornings are all pretty different. Elisalex is getting her young son ready for school, Charlotte is clutching coffee and scheming and Victoria is making her odyssey to the studio from where she lives far far away (due to move in with Elisalex soon though! By Hand boarding house...). Depending on what we're doing, the studio is either Elisalex's sewing room (for sampling and general sweat shopping or designing) or Charlotte's studio apartment (photo shoots, video shoots and master plan constructing).

Time to pack some orders! (yesyesyes, we will get that label maker working one day)

When we're all together, cue the first hour disappearing in a flurry of coffee, high speed chatter and some cackling laughter as we catch up and talk about what we wanna get done that day. One of our favourite things to catch up on is any new examples of our patterns that we've spotted online. All the creative women out there supporting us, making each garment look so completely individual continues to quite simply blow our minds. The rest of the morning is then typically spent planning DIY tutorials and blog posts, press hustling, going through progress reports on sewing patterns in production and posting out orders. If we're lucky though, we'll get to spend the morning blowing some of the budget fabric shopping...!

Lunch is something we really stop for and value. There is something wonderfully peaceful about all just sitting down over a meal and taking some time out together. Particular favourites at By Hand HQ is a scrummy charcuterie board selection of hams, cheeses and hunks of fresh bread or overdosing on Jamaican takeaway. Truth be told though, this is definitely a beginning of the month scenario - towards the end of the month fish fingers is more likely!

Elisalex working on some sketches for a new dress design

In the afternoon, to a soundtrack of Choice FM (Victoria), Destiny's Child (Charlotte) or old-time country music (Elisalex) we set about actually getting things did. This may involve sewing up samples of a pattern, preparing DIY or sewalong tutorials for the blog or checking over pattern packaging and instructions for the gazillionth time. We could also be in the super exciting early stages of making the first toiles and blocks for a new pattern! One thing's for sure though, somehow, at around 2pm, between trying on all the samples and checking fit, we all end up a little naked - and we've come to call this tradition 'Naked Hour'!

Over the last few months, one thing that has been taking up a significant chunk of our scheme time is 'Our Next Move'. It's still in the early stages, but well underway and we cannot WAIT 'til we're able to share our new product with the world! For now though, we shall say no more...

Gone our separate ways for the day and post dinner, we shouldn't, but totally do, get straight back to work and finish off admin-y things or some sewing, passing out around midnight. If we've got something to celebrate though, it's all about donning our finest handmade garms and our highest heels for a night of dancing all together!

If anyone is reading this and thinking about starting their own business, ummmm, DO IT! And, we also absolutely cannot recommend enough setting something up with pals. The whole own business shenanigan is tough and it's totally been a bit of a baptism of fire at times, but to all of us this is by miles and miles the best thing we have ever done.

Elisalex, Victoria and Charlotte in a still from a video tutorial.
Yup, this really is one of the better photos we have of the three of us...

Thanks for reading our story!"

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Thanks for sharing your day with us! Can I come round to play, please?

Want more where this came from? Catch up on TWO YEARS' worth of A Day in the Life!

A Day in the Life of The Thrifty Stitcher

One of the best parts of being a blogger is getting to meet incredibly inspirational people who get to sew all day for their job. Taking a peek into their everyday world is what the Day in the Life interviews are all about. This month I'm excited to introduce you to Claire-Louise Hardie, the sewing consultant on The Great British Sewing Bee. Not only that, but CL is also a talented costumier and runs her own sewing studio, The Thrifty Stitcher, where I taught a Miette skirt workshop this Summer. Wanna know how she fits it all in? Let's find out...

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"I’d like to say big thanks to Tilly for including me in such an amazing and inspiring group of stitchers. I feel very honoured to be here. I live in Old Street in Central London, in a small flat with my fella Tim. Luckily for me I have a 350 sq ft sewing studio in Stoke Newington, so I escape there to do my creative stuff. I’ve been sewing all my life, and has given me an income my entire adult life. I can’t imagine never sewing again, it’s both my job and my passion.

As a freelancer I juggle several roles, so really my days are never the same. Here are the jobs I juggle:

1. Freelance Theatre Wardrobe Mistress and Costumier - most recently for the play The Audience at the Gielgud Theatre. This involves preparing Costumes before each show. I’ve been lucky enough to have toured the globe - I’ve pressed togas in Michigan for Sir Patrick Stewart, fixed trousers in New Zealand for Sir Ian McKellan and darned Vanessa Redgrave’s hem in Greece.

2. As The Thrifty Stitcher I teach sewing in my lovely studio in Stokey. My passions are helping people conquer their fear of the sewing machine, and making dressmaking simple.

3. Sewing Advisor to BBC2’s The Great British Sewing Bee. This involves sourcing tools and fabrics needed throughout the series, collating and researching patterns, and answering lots of questions the production team have about anything sewing related. I’m excited about the forthcoming second series which is my next big project, but I’m sworn to secrecy about the details.

The strangest thing I’ve ever sewn was a silver leather jock strap for a dancer. That was an awkward fitting… The sewing I’m most proud of - it was a real privilege to sew my sister’s wedding dress and help her have the dream dress she’d designed. Things I wish I’d never sewn - as a teen in the 1980s I made a lot of very hideous clothes. Thankfully none of them exist today to haunt me.

My morning starts anywhere between 7am and 11am, depending on the day ahead and what I’m juggling. I am definitely not a morning person, so I try to do all the mundane tasks first thing. My “weekend” is a Monday, and that’s when I have a lie in. I cannot start my day without breakfast, usually just cereal, or porridge, and I need at least two cups of black tea before I’m human!

Before setting out for the day, I catch up with my admin. I usually need to plan the logistics of the day’s tasks, as I am not only juggling roles, but different locations too. Late morning I try and do any shopping or class prep at the studio, as this is near to my home. Running a small business means wearing many hats, so once I get to the studio, I mop the floor, make sure the biscuit tin is full, organise patterns /materials and get the room ready for classes.

I squeeze a lot into every day, and eat my lunch on the run. I’ll have some salad or soup and coffee. I’m very lucky with the location of my studio, it’s opposite a fabulous park, and if the weather is dry, I’ll sit out in the park to eat lunch. Just a 15 minute breather in the fresh air really clears my head! Once I’m done with lunch it’s a bus and tube hop from Stoke Newington into the West End. Travelling gives me time out, and I try and carry a book so I can zone out. I’m a total crime nut, and have worked my way through a stack of very gory books.

My afternoons are spent preparing the costumes for the evening performance. Unlike regular clothes, costumes in the West End are worn every single night, and anything next to the skin needs laundering and pressing every day. Items like dresses and suits are pressed or steamed every day. There’s around 3 hours of pressing/steaming and sock matching on The Audience every day… Luckily I have a couple of assistants help me with this.

At the end of every show there’s a list of repairs to do before the next one. If I’m lucky this is just a loose button, but I’ve had days where sleeves have ripped out, loads of hems are down, shoes need cobbling, and there’s a massive rip to be darned. On those days, I have to ensure I allow extra time to get everything done in time. In the past that has involved some very scary sewing, including finishing sewing a new zip into Dame Helen Mirren’s dress 15 minutes before it was needed!

Between 5.30pm and 6.15pm I usually get a break, and often this is when I’ll try and catch up with all the things that inspire me, whilst I eat my dinner. It’s so easy to get bogged down with work, that you don’t keep up with the things that make you happy. Throughout the evening I am on standby in case an understudy needs costuming, or a repair crops up last minute. I have been called to the stage to sew up Peter Pan’s trousers whilst he swung above me in a harness. My evening ends at around 10.30pm after I’ve sorted all the washing.

On Sundays I try and hang out with my man, as he’s on tour and we don’t see each other through the week.

The best advice I’d give anyone wanting to start a sewing business would be to follow your heart. Sewing for a living isn’t the same as sewing for pleasure, and you need to be prepared to sacrifice having a hobby. Having sewn professionally for 21 years though, I can’t imagine doing anything else."

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Aw... thanks for sharing your day, CL! Readers, catch up on more Days in the Life of inspirational stitchers, including Tasia Sewaholic, Lucie Summers and Sublime Stitching.

The Good Wardrobe: Interview

The other day I stumbled upon The Good Wardrobe and my eyes lit up. A website to help make the quest for sustainable fashion easier and more accessible? Yes please! I thought you, good reader, would be interested too, so I had a chat to the founder, Zoe Robinson, to find out more...

Hi Zoe, thanks for joining us! Can you tell my readers what The Good Wardrobe is?

"The Good Wardrobe is a free online style-sharing community hub. We mix the best ‘conscious’ fashion with services that prolong the life of clothes. If you’re looking for a sewing class recommendation, organic jeans or the best local cobbler, just ask The Good Wardrobe community, or search in our ‘long-life style directory’ for inspiration."

What inspired you to start The Good Wardrobe?

"About three years ago my sewing machine broke. I had no idea where I could have it fixed locally and I had no idea who to ask – I was stumped. I figured I could probably find someone online if I searched for long enough, but I wouldn’t know what their service was like and felt I would much rather have a recommendation.

At that time I’d been working as an ethical stylist and fashion writer for a few years. An increasing number of people told me they were interested in dressing more sustainably but couldn’t find what they were looking for. The general consensus amongst them was that ethical fashion was too expensive and too hard to find - this was a barrier which I wanted to break down. I knew there were amazing, affordable brands out there and a lot of knowledge too but the dots needed to be joined.

So, it wasn’t just one light bulb moment, but a series of ideas I had about creating a platform for people (both experts and the inexperienced) to collaborate and share knowledge. I believe being able to sew and mend clothes is part of having a sustainable wardrobe so it just makes sense to bring the two together – something which other ethical fashion sites hadn’t done."



How can sewing enthusiasts get involved?

"The website is in beta at the moment so the site only has a fraction of what we want to share but we would love your support so please do join us and start to share your wardrobe wisdom! Here’s how:
- Forum: you can post questions on our forum or help other people by answering theirs.
- Directory: review shops, sites and services in the directory to help grow our community and help others find what they are looking for. New listings are being added all the time but please do tell us if your favourite shop or site is missing – if they share our ethos of great ‘service, style and sustainability’ we will add them to the site.
- Sew It Forward: this is our initiative to encourage people to share their sewing skills. You can download a gift voucher from the site and give it to someone with the promise of sharing your sewing, knitting or mending skills with them. (Please let us know what you have taught or learnt and send us your photos too).
- Spread the word – if you like what we’re doing, please share by social media and tell your friends, family and anyone you know interested in sewing."

Apart from sewing our own clothes, how can we ensure our fashion consumption is more sustainable?

"There is a lot we can each do. Much of it is simply about thinking and being more conscious of our choices:

1) Buying to last – before making a purchase, think about how much wear you will get out of that garment. Does it really suit you and will you want to wear it for years to come? Look at the quality of the fabric, cut, stitching – will it stay in good shape or fall to pieces after the first wash?

2) Seek out garments that are:
- Fairtrade: this ensures workers producing the fabric or garment are paid a fair, living wage, are treated with respect and work under safe conditions
- Organic: this cuts out the use of harmful pesticides making the process safer for farmers, their communities and the wider environment
- Buy second hand, recycled or upcycled garments: they use fewer resources than producing new, and prevents what might otherwise have been waste textiles ending up in landfill.

3) Ask questions - many of us tend to trust the brands we buy from and take it for granted that the clothes we buy on the high street are produced under fair working conditions. If you have heard about the recent garment factory collapse in Bangladesh which killed over 1,200 people you may already know that some of the UK’s most popular high street brands had produced their clothes in that factory. Next time you visit your favourite store, ask staff if they know where their clothes are made. If you have concerns, write to the company’s CEO and tell them you care about the people who make your clothes. And talk to your friends and family about ethical issues in the fashion industry – even if you’re just asking them if they know where their clothes come from. Chances are, if they haven’t thought about it before, they will now.

4) Wardrobe care: wash at low temperatures and only when needed, line-dry, protect garments from moth damage and learn to mend.

5) When you are finished with your clothing dispose of it considerately – if it’s still in good condition donate it to a charity shop, a charity textiles recycling bank like Traid, go to a clothes swap or sell at a market, car boot sale or dress agency (we have listings for these on the site)."



You were recently shortlisted for the Observer Ethical Awards - congratulations! How did that feel?

"I was thrilled! I have been an admirer of what Lucy Siegle (awards founder and Observer columnist) and Livia Firth (Creative Director of Eco-Age who sponsored the Well Dressed award) have been doing over the past few years and I feel very proud to be runner up in a category judged by them."

What are your hopes for the future?

"The aim is for the site to become a comprehensive resource for sustainable fashion. I want to see thousands of people across the world sharing skills and knowledge as a result of The Good Wardrobe.

We are just launching a new function on the site: with the help of some friendly corporate sponsors you will soon be able to earn credits for helping on the forum and use them to donate to one of our chosen charity projects. Our potential sponsors will share our ethos and want to be involved in our community whilst donating to charities working towards a more sustainable fashion industry.

The link between learning to sew and ethics in the fashion industry is important and it’s one we want to develop. When we know how to make or mend, we can better understand the amount of work that goes into producing a garment so we have a genuine appreciation for Fairtrade and the premiums paid to workers. Subsequently, we are more likely to think twice before buying a new shirt for £3 from the high street, and are less inclined to throw clothes in the bin. There are lots of exciting Sew It Forward plans and events in the pipeline so watch this space!"

My sentiment exactly - making your own clothing provides an understanding of the processes involved in production and can thus inspire a more mindful approach to consumption and the way we interact with the world. Thanks very much for sharing The Good Wardrobe with us, Zoe, and keep up the good work!

A Day in the Life of Deer and Doe

Mes amis, aujourd'hui nous allons en France to be a fly on the wall in A Day in the Life of Eléonore Klein. Her lovely Parisian business Deer&Doe produces beautiful sewing patterns, a massive hit with French stitchers and now available in English too! What's a typical day like at Deer&Doe HQ? Let's find out...

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"I usually get up around 9am. I have always been a heavy sleeper and I find that this extra hour of sleep helps me to feel more productive and happy all day long!

As soon as I wake up, I grab a cup of coffee, a bowl of cereals, and go to my computer to sort my e-mails, read my RSS and Twitter feeds, and keep up with what have happened throughout the night (working with American and Australian customers means there’s often interesting things happening while I’m sleeping).

When I have few emails I like to answer immediately, but most of the time I just sort the emails in order to treat them later. When I’m done, I take a quick shower, dress up in something comfortable (usually a nice dress, leggings and slippers) and move on to my work day.



I am incredibly lucky to be able to work from home. I know some people find it difficult to work at their place, but I’ve always loved it. When I was an engineer, I used to work from home from time to time and I’ve never been more efficient! I have a very small but cute apartment in the heart of Paris, in a very calm neighborhood. I work in my living room, at a large desk where I set up my computer and my sewing machine.

I begin with all the emails I sorted earlier (client emails, stockists, comments on the blog and on Facebook...). It can take several hours, but I always try to finish the day with an empty inbox, as things can quickly become out of control! When I’m finished, if I still have time left before lunch, I love to use this spare time to sketch new ideas, work on new patterns, sew muslins, or to take pictures for the blog. At the moment, I am sewing all the patterns from the new Spring/Summer collection for the upcoming photo shoot! My days can quickly become very busy, so I learned to use my time wisely - 5 minutes are better employed to sew a sleeve than to watch this funny video on YouTube... ;)

I take a break around 1-2pm for lunch. When I launched Deer&Doe, I used to eat at my desk (when I took the time to eat properly), but lately I’m trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle, and it means a real lunch break! However, I’ve never been a great housewife : I usually microwave a bowl of soup and watch an episode of Futurama.

After lunch, it’s time to pack the daily orders! As I ship daily, it’s a routine I cannot pass on ;). Depending on the amount of orders, I spend 1 to 3 hours preparing the patterns (all the pattern envelopes are shipped to me flat, so I need to fold them, fill them with the booklets and the pattern sheet and close each of them by hand). Then, I prepare the orders and put them in my awesome bright pink cart.

I then take a walk to the post office, and usually do my grocery shopping on the way back. When I come back home, around 5pm, I like to take an hour to think about my current projects (craft fairs, collaborations, advertising, sew-alongs) or to do my accounting. I also like to schedule my meetings when I have some at this time of the day. Then, I work again on everything computer-related: I write my blog posts, I answer technical questions (and new emails!), and I search for awesome new Deer&Doe projects to feature!

I finish my work day at about 8pm, when my man comes back from work. I usually relax while he prepares dinner, and we spend an hour of quality time together (at the moment, we are on a Buffy marathon!). Then, from 10 to 12pm I go back to my computer to manage Thread&Needles, the sewing community I created 3 years ago (I work with a small team of 10 volunteers and I need to proofread, illustrate and schedule daily articles for the blog). We then go to bed and I relax on Pinterest or Reddit until 1am!

I started to think seriously about Deer&Doe in April 2012. At the time, I was working in a web agency and had little time left for sewing, not talking about creating a business! I was coming back home late, and used all my free time to search for potential printers and writing my business plan.

When I felt ready, I negociated my leave with my employer, and dived into the project! I had a lot of all-nighters, and worked without counting the hours (ok, maybe it’s still the case, all-nighters apart). Now I feel like I start to get a nice routine, and I hope I will be able to find a balance between work and rest!

The part of my job I definitely enjoy the most is the communication with my customers! I receive so many nice messages thanking me for the patterns! When I wake up sick or tired and I read such messages, I cannot help but smile all day long :) I also love the creative part, when I get to sketch new collections, style photo shoots, sew and adjust muslins... if only I could do this all year long!



I think there’s no "hardest" part to the job... but I could definitely do without my daily trips to the post office! I’m thinking about hiring somebody part-time to help me with this task, if the spring-summer collection does well enough :D

In the future, I’d love to produce more patterns of course, and also to work more with British, American and Australian shops now that the patterns are bilingual! As I said, I’m also thinking about hiring somebody part-time (being overworked is always a good sign!), and maybe in a few years renting my own little workshop!

I’m still very new to the pattern-making world, but for the moment if I had to give one piece of advice to other emerging sewing businesses, it would be, "Work hard, stay humble". Launching a business is a LOT of work, even if people don’t see it from the outside, but don’t be so caught in your work that you brag about your products or disrespect your customers. Stay humble and nice with your clients and your work partners, and always focus on making better products and services!"

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Merci Eléonore! The Pavot jacket is already in my sewing queue and I'm super excited to see the new patterns...

A Day in the Life of Rochelle - Lucky Lucille

For this month's A Day in the Life, we get to be a fly on the wall chez Rochelle from Lucky Lucille, one of the sweetest, most colourful sewing bloggers there is! Rochelle has launched her own line of delightful homemade accessories in gorgeous prints that match her personality so perfectly. Want to find out what it's like to sew for business on a daily basis? And what she wears while she's doing it, of course. Read on...

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"I was lucky enough to grow up in a home with a sewing machine so I suppose it was inevitable that I carry on the crafty tradition in my family. The first job I got after moving to Vermont was at a quaint fabric and yarn boutique. That experience, paired with Vermont’s genuine enthusiasm for small business and handmade, inspired me to start selling my accessories full time at local craft fairs and online. This whole 'I’m the boss' thing is quite new to me, but so far it’s been a real dream come true! I can’t wait to take Lucky Lucille to the next level, and I have big plans for 2013! (I suppose I should specify that Lucille is my rescued pup and the love of my life! The other love of my life is William, who plays an important part in this whole story too. I’m so very lucky to have his support through all of this!)

I set my alarm for 7:30 every morning so I can check my email first thing and package up any orders I may have received over night, and have them ready to ship off with Wil on his way in to the office. I work from a studio space out of our home and we share a car, so Wil is kind enough to do Post Office errands for me. If I don’t actually need to get out of bed at 7:30, Lucille and I snuggle and lay around for an hour or so before starting our day. I usually wear comfy clothes such as leggings or fleece pants and a sweatshirt when I’m working since sitting down and sewing for hours on end isn’t the most comfortable thing to do! Plus, wouldn’t you work in your PJ’s all day if you could get away with it?

A morning walk with Lucille is the first thing on my agenda. It’s the middle of winter in good ole’ New England right now so our walks have been really quick! (Lucille hates the cold.) After that, I make myself some tea or hot chocolate, paired with toast or a muffin and a few eggs. Lucille gets her breakfast while mine is cooking, and I usually make an extra egg for her as a treat. As I eat I like to check my social media stuff and reply to blog comments and things like that.

Mondays are my 'prep days' that I spend setting myself up for a smooth productive work week. They’re not exactly scheduled, but here are the things I generally try to complete on Mondays:

1. Thoroughly clean my house and do all the chores that might distract me later.
2. Write out a long list of goals, deadlines, and other general “to-do” things that I want/need to accomplish for the rest of the week.
3. Schedule a few blog posts in advance so I don’t have to worry about blogging during the week.
4. Answer emails and keep up with social media platforms.
5. Research! I have a lot of plans for 2013 as far as new products and things like that, so I’ve been researching and collecting inspiration for styles, fabrics, etc.
6. Work on some personal non shop related sewing – aka ME projects! This helps me get excited and motivated for the rest of the week!
7. I hope it’s obvious that showering and other personal hygiene habits fall on this list somewhere too ;)

I usually do all these things while half watching/mostly listening to a movie or TV show on Netflix. Right now I’m mildly obsessed with 1940’s Film Noir and BBC’s Top Gear! I try not to give myself numerical time frames to work from because I have a terrible concept of time and it frustrates me when I feel like I’m working against the clock. I do however like to keep a general structure to my work day, and that all goes something like this:

Tuesdays and Wednesdays start very much like Mondays, except after I finish breakfast I take a shower straight away and then get right to working. I like to work assembly line style, meaning I’ll spend all of Tuesday cutting out pieces so I can spend the rest of the week sewing them together. I set up the iPad on my sewing table so I can listen to music or some TV while I work, and Lucille settles down for her mid morning nap. This is usually around 10am. I’ll work until lunch time and then make myself some soup or a quick microwave meal. While I eat I check in with Will via Google chat to see how his day is going, and try to beat my brother in Words With Friends (that doesn’t happen often). Then I take Lucille out for a walk. When there isn’t 3 feet of snow on the ground, we like to walk for a mile or so on the trails near our house. As I mentioned, it’s very snowy and cold right now so usually these walks are more of a run to the side yard and back. But when the weather is warmer, I really love a nice long walk with Lucille in the woods. It’s the perfect way to break up the day.

After lunch and a walk, I get back to working and Lucille gets back to napping. I’ll sew, cut, sketch, plan, trace patterns, or whatever I was working on until around 4pm when I take a break until Wil gets home at 5:30. During this time I like to read, knit, or browse around online to clear my head and recharge. Lucille usually starts getting antsy around this time too and decides I need to pay attention to her instead of business. When Will gets home, he’s around to keep her occupied as I finish up a few things before dinner. Will usually cooks unless I have a slow cooker meal ready from that morning (my chicken and biscuits are always a hit!).

After dinner I package up any orders from earlier in the day and put them near Will’s desk for the morning. At this point I’m only selling items that I have pre-made so everything that sells will usually ship the next day. After I write myself a note of where to start for the next morning, the rest of the night is mine. I’ll read, knit, catch up on blogs, or watch an episode of something to relax before bed. Some evenings I’ll go snowboarding for an hour or two after dinner since we live really close to a ski resort! Another perk of living in Vermont ;) Sometimes I like to work later into the night if I’ve gotten a late start that morning, or had errands to run during the day, but usually I’m in bed between 10:00 and 12:30.

On Thursdays and Fridays Will takes Lucille into the office with him so she can have a social day and I can get super focused! It’s hard sometimes to stick to a schedule with her in the house. She’s a very good girl, but she has her needy days just like the rest of us haha ☺ I save the weekends for any product or blog photos that I can’t get without Will’s help, and also for stocking up on supplies. I like to support the local small fabric shops often.

Well, that’s pretty much what my days look like! I’m working on going back to school online for business, so we’ll see how that factors in to the schedule when I start.

I feel very blessed to be able to call this my job, and I’m eager to grow it into a career. Slow and steady wins the race, they say! I have a lot of goals for 2013, including turning a few of my accessories into PDF patterns, selling wholesale to local shops, and designing more fabrics for Spoonflower! I also feel extremely blessed to know so many creative and encouraging women online who have supported me and helped my success. I’m one lucky girl!

Well, thank you so much for reading, and thank you Tilly for having me! It’s been an honor and a pleasure ☺"

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Aw it was lovely to have you, Rochelle! Our lifestyles are pretty similar really - I read Bloglovin after dinner, you go snowboarding after dinner... Wait, what?! How awesome is that?!!

Want more Days in the Life? Catch up with previous posts from the likes of Gertie, Tasia Sewaholic, Sublime Stitching, Colette Patterns and many more lovely ladies!