Favourites Week: Day 5 – Resources

What a great week! I learned a lot reviewing my favourites. Especially fave garments. I obviously need to make more things that I love.

We all use resources as we learn to sew. I have been at this for 4 years now and still feel like a newbie. Although looking back on things has shown me how far I have come. Some have a resource in close friends and family who sew and pass on their knowledge and, sometimes, even equipment! I am so jealous of those people.

My main resource has been the online community of sewing bloggers. How amazing to see so many of them have books published! This includes those who post videos that show difficult techniques. I remember a video on invisible zipper insertion that helped me see what I was supposed to do.

Here are some great online resources:

Sewaholic – A Vancouver pattern designer who started as a sewing blogger.  Great sewalongs and inspiration.  Sign up for her pattern testers group.  You get a heads up on what is coming up.

Coletterie – the blog for the Colette sewing pattern company.  GREAT inspiration and the Wardrobe Architect feature was so helpful  Not just a fluffy style post but a full program for planning your wardrobe.

BurdaStyle – I feel like this is the original place for online sewing help.  It provided a place for sewists to show their items and network with others.
Pattern Review – A great resource to see other versions of a pattern you want to try.  Certainly a cluttered site, maybe trying to do too much, but none the less a great site that I visit at the start of almost every project.
Gertie’s Blog for Better Sewing – If sewists started their own country, Gertie would be our Queen.  Her passion for vintage is endless and what she has given the community cannot be overstated.  If she doesn’t make you want to sew then you aren’t paying attention.

And some blogs that helped me to begin blogging.

Tanit-Isis Sews – A fellow Canadian who I now call friend.  She is a great writer and a gutsy sewist.  Check out the Avengers dress she made for her daughter.  Not sure how she can be so unselfish…which brings me to…
The Selfish Seamstress – Another Canadian (though living abroad).  She has not been posting in recent months but go and read her past posts.  Cutting wit and some free patterns too.  She truly inspired me to begin writing my blog.

Another great resource is magazines. I buy pretty much every issue of Threads but don’t have a subscription. (This would be a great gift. Wink wink.) I especially appreciate the special issues. To be honest I don’t follow many of the techniques but I consider it an investment. When I move into more couture sewing I will have these as references.

Finally, books. I love books. I have always loved them. The first sewing reference that I bought was the Simplicity Sewing Book. I picked it up used at Powell Books in Portland, Oregon (home of Colette Patterns!). I appreciate the illustrations and straight forward instructions.

The only new book I have is the Colette Sewing Handbook. What a beautiful gem! I love the new approach to beautiful well-made items. And the included patterns are a wide range of sizes.

There are many new books on my list. I usually spend my sewing budget on patterns and fabric. And my other hobby, shoes. Shoes are a hobby, right? Check out books by Sewaholic and Gertie. And Colette’s new book of knits. This is now top of my list!

What resources do you use? Are you fortunate enough to know someone else who sews locally? I didn’t even discuss classes since I’ve never taken one. Do you take advantage of this hands on resource?

Thanks for sharing Favourites Week! I hope it made you think about your favourites. It is nice to be reminded of the good as I struggle trying to improve and sometimes end up with wadders*. I will be back this weekend with a very special finished item.

*Wadders are unsuccessful garments that don’t end up worn and instead wadded in the corner of your sewing room. We all have them.

 

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