Sew & So...

Carson Converse is not a minimalist by nature, although she does value simplicity. She also loves doing intricate detail. She describes her process as reductive art because she often starts by throwing a lot of fabric and inspirational images on the wall and then expanding and contracting until the piece feels quiet and still. In her own words, “I want to give the viewer kind of a moment of stilln...

In this special episode, you’re going to meet seven special organizations…charities that use sewing or quilting to care for people who are struggling because of where they live, the health burdens they carry, or injuries they sustained in service to our country. Come with us as we meet the extraordinary who care for the exceptional. :37  Our first visit is with Carla Triemar of Quilts Beyond Borde...

Experience the Houston Quilt Festival through this episode chock full of personal and informative conversations.  We meet BERNINA educators from the exhibit hall stage – Connie Fanders, Amanda Murphy, and Sylvain Bergeron. Show prize winners Angela Petrocelli (grand prize winner), Debbie Corbett, Sue Sherman and Kestral Michaud describe in detail their award-winning quilts. Listen to class instruc...

Linnca Stevens is the co-founder of The Sewing Labs – a non-profit in Kansas City, MO whose mission is to create a community and teach sewing toward employment, entrepreneurship, and enrichment. Hear Linnca’s biographical journey toward where she is today and why she started the Sewing Labs. Her grandmother Margaret, a Swedish immigrant taught her to sew and as a young child, Linnca was eager to l...

Tula Pink grew up in California, graduated from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and worked briefly as an exhibit designer for museums in SoCal. She eventually joined the music industry as an Art Director designing album covers for numerous notable artists. After about 5 years, she left her job… and California…landing in the Midwest. Tula's main function in life is fabric design which...

Maker, quilter, knitter, spinner, and painter, Leanne Pressly is the founder and CEO of Stitchcraft Marketing, which she launched in 2009. Leanne also hosts the podcast, Business of Craft. She is a certified consultant with a Colorado Small Business Development Center, where she consults with new entrepreneurs in a variety of businesses. Be sure to subscribe to, review and rate this podcast on you...

Cosplay, the art of combining costume and role play, grew out of the practice of costuming at science fiction conventions. Over the past couple of decades, it has really taken off and become its own subculture. Desi believes cosplay can be inspired by Japanese anime characters, a Western comic book character, a Disney character, whatever inspires you. “It's literally just, I love this character so...

Although Teresa comes from generations of makers, she was the first to pursue quilting as a career when she, as she puts it, “stumbled into the quilting industry.” It began in 2011 when she joined the crew at the Fabric Shop Network and then became editor of Websense magazine. Teresa started out making garments using patterns from The Big Four. From there she discovered Indie pattern makers and vi...

While at the University of Alabama, Leah Kate got a lot of experience with leotards, both as a dancer and as part of the costume department. What she found was that rarely did they properly fit all women’s body types. Knowing that one of the first rules of dancewear is that it should enhance movement, not burden it, she set out to create styles that were functional, comfortable, and fashionable. W...

When HollyAnne was caring for her babies and in the throes of post-partum depression, quilting was what she did to “feed her soul,” and her online quilting community was her soft place to land. Once she discovered modern and modern-traditional quilting, she quickly fell down the rabbit hole, and upon watching a free motion quilting class online, her passion took on a life of its own. “Something ab...

This is your full access pass to the exclusive/annual BERNINA dealer conference – BERNINA University. Join us in Palm Springs, CA for this 53rd gathering of BERNINA dealers, BERNINA partners and BERNINA staff from both BERNINA of America and BERNINA International – Switzerland and beyond. Hear about the brand-new products BERNINA is unveiling in 2022 and experience the immediate reactions from the...

Make time to settle in for the duration of this fascinating conversation with Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably.  Learn how Kaffe chose his name, about how a chance meeting on a train changed his life, and about the three women that had a profound effect on him and his career. Hear the story of Kaffe and Brandon’s worlds combining and the genesis of an enduring partnership. And then there are the in...

Michelle Morris began re-fashioning long before it became a trend. Growing up, her family didn’t have a lot of money, so she was always doing something to breathe new life into second-hand clothes, or her own clothes. A major influence for Michelle was her first Home Economics teacher who took her under her wing. Today, a sewing influencer herself, Michelle is known for her bold and unusual prints...

Although not a common combination, Mae’s father was a career Marine and an avid sewist. A direct descendant of Betsy Ross, he was born into a family of sewists, including his mother and grandmother. Mae grew up watching her father create quilts on his BERNINA machine and it was his love of sewing that inspired her to start sewing at the age of six. Mae was nine when her mother caught her cutting u...

Bill Schroeder III has been around quilting since he was a young boy selling buttons at their AQS booth at the Quilt Show in his hometown of Paducah, KY. When his grandparents launched the AQS Quilt Contest in 1985, it was the first contest in the industry to award a $10,000 prize.  When Meredith and Bill Schroeder started hosting Quilt Week 36 years ago, young Bill was right there helping his dad...

The conversation begins with Rachael Barr, Curator of the National Quilt Museum. She talks about the history of the museum, its mission and the behind-the-scenes activities involved in bringing an exhibition to life.  One current exhibit is “New Quilts from an Old Favorite: Shakespeare 2022”. This competition challenges quiltmakers from around the world to create an innovative quilt based on a spe...

Be sure to subscribe to, review and rate this podcast on your favorite platform…and visit our website sewandsopodcast.com for more information about today’s and all of our Guests. 

What began as just a hobby in Mimi's Los Angeles home in 2012 blossomed into an international brand. She’s achieved a daily engagement of more than 3.2 million followers across all social media platforms, 22 million pageviews and 2.2 million unique visitors annually on her blog and courses on DIY. But her love of sewing started long before that. Mimi began sewing when she was twelve, taking apart...

Sarah’s love of sewing began when she was a young girl growing up in New Zealand. Her first creation? A bean bag frog. As she grew older, her passion for sewing grew and Sarah eventually studied fashion, design, and garment construction.  Her talent led her to BERNINA. She shares what it’s like to work for a family-owned company, how everyone looks out for each other, and how she can go into any B...

As a young girl, Jean would look at the moon at night and dream of working for NASA. That dream came true when she became one of 18 seamstresses that built (sewed), created, and repaired thermal protection, flight hardware, and parachutes. This dedicated team of women dubbed themselves the Sew Sisters. Jean felt that getting her initial interview with NASA was a miracle. “The second time Kennedy S...

As the conversation begins, we learn about the individual journeys of Christa and Aaronica, and how sewing has influenced each of their lives. Christy, a plus-size sewist herself and daughter of a tailor, grew up around sewing, and notes that the sewing industry has adapted over the years to be more accommodating to sewists of all sizes. Although she sewed on and off since a young age, Aaronica’s...

SHOW NOTES: (1:50) Joe takes us through his early work with his father and his easily found interest in the studios. He talks about entertainment and fashion and how these two industries merged for him. (3:13) Joe meets Mr. Spock on the set of Star Trek. It’s this meeting that led to Joe’s lifelong career. His courage and moxie led the way…with a little help from his friends! (9:00) Learn about th...

Born in the United Kingdom, Justine began her first career as a model at 16. From created performance art costumes for artists, plays, and television commercials while earning her master’s degree in Design at the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School. Seymour designed the wardrobe for the Apple TV+ adaptation of The Mosquito Coast. Her award-winning costume design in the Netflix hit minise...

After living in the United States for seven years, Marisa and her husband moved back to Spain in the late 1990s to help her parents with their sewing machine business. While working at the store, she and her sister introduced quilting to help modernize the business. Marisa also managed the store and taught sewing before returning to the United States in 2019. It was while she was in Spain that Mar...

As a former social worker with zero art experience, Kelly Rae picked up her first paintbrush at age 30 - that's when everything started to change. Although she had been collaging and card making at home after work, it was when she started adding painting to her cards and scrapbooking that Kelly’s passion ignited.  She explains painting brought her what she was craving: healing, unburdened joy, and...