Love to Sew Podcast

You're busy, we're busy, everyone is busy! We want to highlight how you can make the most of your sewing time and speed up your sewing process. We give our top tips for sewing efficiency and tons of quick pattern recommendations!

Denise Archer shares her personal experience battling cancer and how sewing played a vital role. We discuss sewing as an escape and the power of knowing our bodies through our relationship with making clothes. Denise also shares her perspective on body image post-cancer and reconstructive surgery.

We answer fabric questions from the community! From identifying quality textiles to tips for working with tricky fabrics, we cover everything you ever wanted to know in this jam-packed Q&A.

Vintage sewing expert Evelyn Wood joins us to talk about creating garments from the past! She shares tips for refashioning thrift store finds, the importance of mending, and her top 5 good sewing habits. We also discuss 'garment archeology' and how to look for clues when admiring vintage pieces.

How competitive are you? This week we discuss our experience managing our competitive sides and fostering the sewing community. We hear from our listeners and dive into sewing competitions, social media comparison traps, and how to start a business in a competitive environment.

To celebrate 100 episodes of Love to Sew, Caroline and Helen interview each other. What have we always wanted to know? Favourite fabrics, recipes, podcasts, and more!

Suzy Furrer of Apparel Arts joins us to chat about patternmaking. From creating a moulage through to drafting patterns, Suzy has so much knowledge to share. We also talk about building her design school and literally writing the book on patternmaking!

What do we do with all of our fabric scraps? We break down how we store our scraps, what is worth keeping, and loads of project ideas that will have you scrap-free in no time.

Brittany J. Jones takes us behind the scenes of running a sewing YouTube channel! How she taught herself to make videos, how she stays on schedule, and how she stays true to her authentic voice online. Plus we chat about the Sew in 30 movement, radiating positivity, and Big 4 patterns.

Recreate your favourite ready-to-wear garments! We break down different methods and provide tons of great resources that will help you replace your store-bought with me-mades. Plus, we answer your sewing questions and reveal some exciting podcast news!

Alexia Abegg talks with us about Ruby Star Society, fabric design, tie-dye, and pottery. She's an amazing creative force and gives us her secrets to successful collaboration, following your passion, and getting things done!

We share the wonderful, heartfelt, and surprising reasons why we sew. Listeners all around the world wrote in to tell us their 'why' and celebrate this wonderful hobby with us!

Adrianna Appl of Hey June Handmade is on to talk about juggling a pattern business, building a house, and raising 3 kids while living in an RV. We chat about her popular patterns and her authentic social media voice. Plus, she gives a pep talk for those of us who are ready to put their creative projects out into the world!

Learn everything you ever wanted to know about sergers! We break down different types of stitches and what they are used for, give some top recommendations for entry-level machines, and tell you everything to look out for when choosing the right serger for you. Plus lots of great resources to learn more and get you overlocking in no time.

David Page Coffin joins us to chat about his almost 50 years of sewing experience! He gives us great shirtmaking tips and shares his sewing philosophy. We also dive into his career as an editor of Threads magazine and how he stumbled into the wonderful world of sewing.

We chat in person with two fun and enthusiastic Spoonflower employees! Have you ever wanted to try designing your own fabric? We share how you can get started with surface design and all the fun projects you can create. We also hear about Spoonflower's history and how the custom printing magic happens.

We share your feedback from the past 6 months in this semi-annual feedback fest! Hear inspiring stories from fellow listeners, get great sewing tips, and leave feeling inspired to get out there and sew!

Elisalex De Castro Peake chats with us about her leap from the fashion world to the home sewing community. We hear the story behind By Hand London and discuss where things are headed next. Elisalex also shares great tips about fitting bodices, embroidering clothing, and dressing to impress.

We have all experienced Sewjo (sewing mojo) or lack thereof! Why does it leave us and how do we find it again? We discuss our personal experiences with losing our SewJo and things we have done to get it back.

Michelle Morris of That Black Chic and Sewn Magazine joins us to talk about her return to sewing, starting her blog, and creating her own sewing magazine. We chat about her joyful approach to choosing projects and how she makes garments simply for the love of it!

Megan Nielsen shares with us about her journey to becoming an indie pattern designer and her passion for sustainable sewing. We discuss how we can make changes in our sewing practice to be more kind to the earth and to each other.

We asked for your sewing stories from around the world! In this episode, we make connections and highlight differences in our sewing. We share your stories, tips and experiences.

Sewing Machines come in all shapes and sizes! We talk about the history of the sewing machine, what to look for when you shop for one, and how to approach machine maintenance. We also discuss our favourite stitches, feet, and fun features!

Mac Housley joins us to discuss her part in starting the @meetmakersofcolor Instagram account. She shares why following a diverse spectrum of people online creates more cross-cultural dialogue and how Meet Makers of Color is helping us do that. We also discuss creative positive space for important conversations and 'trying on' new ideas. 

Anna Graham joins us to share her tips on sewing bags, how she got into pattern making, and designing her very own fabric line. We also talk about how she bought her studio space sight unseen and balancing work and family life.