Update – This blog has taken off beyond my expectation so I’ve bought my own domain name. The old links still work, but if you’ve bookmarked the site and would like to update the blog address, it’s http://www.takingitupanotchsewing.com .

I’ve been sewing a long, long time. I’ve sewn for pleasure, I’ve sewn for profit, and I’ve sewn because it was the only way I could afford to have nice clothes for me and my family. When I look at old photos of us wearing things I made, which I thought were pretty darn nice at the time, I see things I would do very differently if I made them today. I’m not just talking about never being caught dead in stretch stirrup pants again. I see collars that don’t have a nice roll, lumpy hems, facings that are peeking out, decorative stitching that is a little lopsided, and stripes and plaids that almost match, but not quite. While my sewing got better over the years from just practice, a lot of improvement has come from snippets picked up in sewing groups, new products hitting the market, and a good part of it from classes I’ve been fortunate enough to take. I’m still learning.

My last teaching position before I retired was a science, math, and technology curriculum designer for an international online school. Teaching people I can’t see sitting in front of me was a new challenge. Hopefully, I learned enough about how it’s done to be able to write a blog about how to make your sewing better a little bit at a time in a way that’s engaging for you and enough fun for me to stick with it.

I’m only going to be demonstrating techniques not going to go through the steps it takes to make a particular pattern. I might choose a pattern and show you how you can “take it up a notch”, but that’s not being critical of the pattern. To reach a wide market most indie pattern designers make their patterns “beginner friendly”.  But you can often use the same pattern and get a more upscale look out of it with just a few modifications. I also will not just be using be using pdfs. The Big Four get a bad wrap online, and it’s really not deserved. They put out some nice stuff.

After I have a couple of weeks of this under my belt (would you like to know how to make a belt?),I will take requests, but we’re going to start by talking about hems. Because nothing screams “homemade” louder than a poorly done hem.

Make me proud of you!

Roberta

Update: A picture glossary of sewing machine feet has been added to the blog pages.