News from the Sewiverse is all our latest news and finds: indie pattern launches, podcast episodes, interesting articles, and all the goings on in the sewing universe! In this edition:
- Straight Stitch Designs releases the Montlake Tee
- Thread Theory's first women's pattern: the Camas Blouse
- Sarah Watts' super fun Cat Lady collection for Cotton + Steel
- Upcoming events
- Best of the sewing blogs and podcasts
Straight Stitch Designs Montlake Tee
Clearly I'm not the only one who's caught the sewing with knits bug! Who can ever have too many t-shirts? Straight Stitch Designs just released the Montlake Tee! It's a beginner-friendly pattern for a classy t-shirt with a scoop neck and multiple sleeve length options, that will look and feel great no matter where your day takes you.
Thread Theory Camas Blouse
Thread Theory has released a women's pattern, the Camas Blouse! (Apparently this is not a new pattern, but I just learned about it and their sew-along started yesterday!) Normally they only produce men's patterns, but this was designed as a thank you to all the women sewists who've supported them in their first two years in business. (Congrats!) This retro-inspired shirt can be made in a woven or a knit, and has beautiful details that make it a fun project to sew, and beautiful garment to wear. The Camas sewalong started on Monday, January 25th (2016), so head over to their blog for all the details!
Sarah Watts' "Cat Lady" for Cotton + Steel
I'll admit it, I'm a dog person, but I kind of freaked out when I saw Sarah Watts' latest fabric line for Cotton + Steel, Cat Lady. This incredibly fun line full of cats, flowers, and yarn is done in Sarah's wonderful hand drawn artistic style, and uses a combination of bright and more neutral colors that coordinate with each other and across the entire Cotton + Steel fabric line. I've added the entire Cat Lady collection to Textillia's fabric database, so make sure to post the projects you make with it and link them up to the fabrics!
Events
CIA Webinar: Strategic Planning with Todd Gibson
I wasn't sure whether to include this since it's only for Craft Industry Alliance members, but it's too good to leave out. February's webinar is on strategic planning with Todd Gibson of sewing pattern companies (empire?) Liesl + Co, Oliver + S, Lisette, and Straight Stitch Society! I was lucky enough to do the inaugural run of Creativebug's "Building a Creative Brand" course a couple of years ago, and got first hand advice from Todd back when I was thinking of pursuing illustration (before we had decided to go for it and build Textillia). He got me thinking very hard about the practical side of business, which can truly be what makes or breaks it in the long term! If you need a reality check about why not to skip the strategy and planning aspects of starting and running a business, Todd's your guy. In case you have any doubts I will vouch, he is a genius at business strategy. This one is not to be missed (even if you have to watch it as a replay)!
Craftcation Earlybird Registration
As if you need an excuse to go to California for a crafting conference, the deadline for earlybird registration for Craftcation is February 10th, don't dawdle and miss the discount if you're planning on going!
On the Sewing Blogs
- Colette's Phoebe Sewalong led me to discovering that they have every previous Colette sewalong they've done documented for posterity at: https://www.sewalongs.com (Add that to the list of website domain names I wish I'd bought years ago!)
- On the Craft Industry Alliance blog read all about how Fancy Tiger Crafts has gained success by diversifying their business.
- A great resource one of our community members posted in the forums during our ongoing Cal Patch pattern drafting with knits sewalong: Printable sewing curve rulers!
- As if Colette wasn't already making us all swoon with their sewing publishing and media, they've started a book club!
- Did you know you can add a video to your Etsy shop About page now? Abby from While She Naps added a video about her plushie sewing book to her about page - it's so charming and now I desperately want to sew a plushie ram (how cute are it's little horns???)
- In the ongoing discussion online about gender in quilting and male quilters, a response from male quilter Molli Sparkles on the criticisms of Luke Haynes' work and the success of modern male quilters.
Podcast Highlights
I'm way behind on my podcast listening, but I've got two great ones for you this round:
- Seamwork, Episode 6 with Leah Price was an engaging episode for me because I can relate to the limits and constraints that life can place on one's ability to live an engaged life and be creative, even when we desperately want to. Leah also lives in Vancouver, but so far we haven't crossed paths - it was also nice to hear more about Our Social Fabric, which is a local fabric recycling project.
- While She Naps, Episode 65 with Phoebe Wahl is such a delightful listen, though it's not specifically about sewing. Phoebe does a lot of illustration and visual art for Taproot Magazine and has also done some textile art, and talks about her unusual upbringing and experiences with unschooling, growing up a creative person.
If you have something you think I should include in the next edition, please tag me on social media @textillia or drop me a quick message through the Contact page!