I had the very great honour last week to be featured in not one but two places in the Sewisphere.  As a long time follower of Sew over 50, I was delighted to be invited to join their list of featured sewers and serve as a guest editor for the day, over on their IG account. I did a brief walkthrough of one of my favourite quick wins, which is to clone ready-to-wear tops and T-shirts using a simplified version of the rubbing off method.

That’s the method used in the fashion industry for replicating pieces of clothing without dismantling them.  The clothes are copied by carefully pinning at all strategic points like seams, darts etc. and then tracing the pattern pieces. I have used it for simple clothing like t-shirts but I have also copied a pair of jeans using the method and one of my favourite Craftsy tutorials was by the legend that is Kenneth D King showing how he replicates his jeans using the rub off method. One commenter explained how firms would copy rivals’ clothes before returning them to the store – I have never gone down that route, but it did remind me of a story line in Brookside – my favourite UK soap in the 80s!

After a great conversation via DM on IG with Sandy @sunnydayz06 of Sew over 50, I put together the post and some photos which were then put on their account. I then spent a very enjoyable 24-hours on and off interacting with fellow sewing people around the world and I was delighted at the number of people who chimed in with their tales of how they recreated their own clothes using the rub off method.

It was a great day spent “chatting” with my fellow sewing enthusiasts around the world so much fun and a great pleasure to share my hobby with so many others. 

This wasn’t my only bit of exposure. A week or so before this I was contacted by Maria who runs Sew Organised Style podcast which like SewOver50 is a part of the Sewcialists family and regularly features members of the sewing community.  Maria is such a lovely host and guided me along as we chatted about why I sew, how I got into it and what the sewing community means to me.

As it’s Black History Month in the US, we also discussed the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, its increasing growth into a global movement and how we could move it forward and contribute, considering our perspective from outside the US.

I hadn’t really been aware of the podcast because I don’t usually like any accompaniment with my sewing. I prefer silence as it’s less distracting to my over-busy brain.  However, I’ve discovered a little treasure trove of conversations with fellow sewing enthusiasts around the world and I will be tuning in regularly now. You can listen to my chat with Maria here.

These two experiences remind me how crafting can bring great joy, both in the making and in the sharing of our hobbies. Long may it continue to do so.

Thanks for dropping by,