Maker Style

This week on the Maker Style Podcast Star White from Well Fibre has come on the show to share how she approaches shopping for second hand and vintage fabrics. You can learn more about Star on Instagram at @wellfibre and @shopwellfibre

Hello friends, we’re back! Make sure you hit subscribe and tune into the ten episode mini-series that will be coming out LIVE this summer. Want to let me know of a future guest you’d love to hear interviewed? Send me a message on Instagram @Maker.Style

Curious about what kind of content to post on your sewing blog/vlog/podcast/Instagram? Today on the show we're digging into what types of content some of my favourite bloggers post, how often they post, and how they determine their schedule. This is a super inspirational episode full of actionable tips for any of you content creators out there!

Today on the podcast we will be discussing everything websites. Do you need one? What should I use to make it? How much is this going to cost me? What do I need to consider? Check out EP 37 for an introduction to Blogger Blueprint!

As promised, today I'm opening up and talking about my own personal experiences branding Maker Style. We're covering lessons learnt, things I'm trying, and things that confuse me like crazy.

This is the first episode in the Blogger Blueprint series talking all about branding Check out EP37 for an introduction to this new series.

Today we're going to be talking about inclusive in the sewing community and barriers that might be in place that discourage people for trying sewing for the first time.

Our guest today is Julian Cordell from Julian Creates. Julian will be sharing his experiences sewing in a predominantly-female online community and ways we can help engage more men in the awesomeness of sewing.

We discuss how it's often assumed than men don't sew, which can make it harder for men to get involved in the craft - How many pattern companies, indie or traditional, even carry men's patterns? What about stylish ones? Even in my intro I assume this show is just going to be for "hanging out with your girlfriends" which certainly isn't the most welcoming opening statement for men in the sewing community - This conversation really gave me some great insight on ways that I can be more welcoming on Maker Style.

Outside of talking about how we can help welcome more men into our awesome sewing community, we also talked about how Julian has found the community really welcoming and some of the super cool sewing projects he's been working on lately.

Have you ever wondered what's involved in turning a PDF pattern into a pretty, printed booklet? I was completely unaware of how many steps it takes to print a pattern, and it was so cool to learn more about the process in this week's episode.

Kimberly is the designer behind Straight Stitch Designs. After going through the process of learning how to print her own patterns (which took a LOT of researching) she decided to put everything she's learnt into a course to help other designers - got to love it when biz owners help other biz owners succeed.

Today Kimberly is sharing SO much about what goes into a producing a printed pattern, and what the pros and cons are for designers. If you're an indie designer who's been considering making the move to print, Kimberly has been kind enough to offer Maker Style listeners 10% off her course using the code MAKERSTYLE10 - valid through July 2nd, 2017.

Juggling a sewing small business and real life is no joke, so I'm always keen to learn how other lovely ladies in the sewing industry are making things work behind the scenes.

This week on the Maker Style Podcast, Lisa from Sew Over It has come on the show to share how she's planned for her maternity leave and what she's learnt along the way. Giving up the reins on your business to focus on other areas of your life is hard, and I appreciate Lisa sharing lots about how she's been planning this transition.

This was an amazing episode talking about business, trusting your staff, and giving yourself grace to try new things. I know you guys are just going to love it! Thank you Lisa for coming on the show, and congratulations on welcoming your little bundle of joy into the world last month!

The internet has been blowing up lately with claims that video is where it's at in 2017 - and it's easy to see why people are saying that. More and more social media platforms (I'm looking at you, Instagram) are prioritizing video content on their sites and making it easier than ever to produce awesome videos.

I've seen a lot of sewing bloggers try their hand and sewing vlogging over this last year, and it's really opened my eyes to the huge online sewing community that exists on YouTube. While I haven't gotten too deep into this community yet, I used to watch a lot of Secret Life of a Bio Nerd's Tutorials way way back in the day - maybe that was a pre-Pinterest influence on my desire to sew?

I'm still just dipping my toes into the world sewing vloggers, but one I loved right away was Brittany J. Jones. I love her chic style, how she produces her videos, and how genuinely nice she is. I was thinking she would be the perfect guest to talk about video - then a bunch of you requested she come on the show and it sealed the deal!

So, today Brittany has come on the show to give us a behind-the-scenes look at how she makes her videos happen. We cover her equipment, software, lessons learnt, and her top three tips for anyone looking to start their own sewing vlog. This is an amazing, content-packed episode I know you're all going to LOVE.

Lately, you guys have been asking me to open up a little more about myself on the show and give you a little bit of a background on the lady behind the show.

I guess this makes sense, because I love learning more about my favourite online friends, but I've got to admit it makes me a feel a little strange opening up like this on the internet.

So, as per your request, here are your questions answered in celebration of my 22nd birthday. Blogging, personal, sewing - nothing was off limits. It's chatty, full of anecdotes, and shares a whole lot about who I am as a person. To save my sanity (and avoid me over-analyzing every last word I said) this episode is pretty much free-form with very little editing. I hope you can appreciate the rawness and openness found in this episode.

Regular interviews will resume next week. A special thank you goes out to everyone who asked me a question - it really blows my mind that there are people on the internet who are even remotely curious in who I am as a person.

Welcome back, friends! We're starting season two off with a little bit of sewspiration and discussing the big fabric trends we're seeing for the spring of 2017. As the weather starts to warm up, I can't help but daydream about my summer sewing projects or obsessively stalk my favourite RTW stores (I'm looking at you, Anthropologie) to figure out how to recreate my favourite looks for less. Today my guest is Michelle from Style Maker Fabrics. Michelle is the owner of Style Maker Fabrics, an online fabric store that specializes in offering trendy fabrics at affordable prices. Some of the fabrics in Michelle's shop are leftover from big-name designers (Like my love, Anthropologie). What make's Michelle stand out for other fabric stores, in my humble opinion, is the emphasis she places on offering fabrics that match RTW trends. When you order from her she sends along a little postcard with all of her trend observations this season on the back - it's a little touch, but it really reaffirms her commitment to offering sewists the tools they need to make stylish clothes. In addition to stocking super fashionable fabrics, Michelle also sponsors seasonal style blog tour - you might have seen the Spring Style Tour taking place right now. The eight trends Michelle is going to share with us today can be seen in action on the tour, so it's definitely worth taking a closer look at! Although this episode is part of the Spring Style tour and I'm one of the tour participants, it's not sponsored, and my opinions about Style Maker Fabrics are all my own. I genuinely think it's important to celebrate businesses who support stylish apparel sewing and think Michelle is the perfect expert for this episode. I've been lucky enough to partner up with Michelle on many projects like the Itch to Stitch Holiday Blog Tour and the Spring Maker Fabrics Spring Style Tour, but I've also bought (and paid for) a number of fabrics from her shop. While I can't order as much as I would like to because shipping is a killer, I know I can always count on her for finding the trendiest fabrics I can't seem to find anywhere else. I know you're going to love this episode, so let's jump on in!

Finding bra-making supplies, in my humble opinion, is the hardest part of the bra-making process - especially if you're wanting to look around and find supplies locally. Imagine for a second, though, if it's this hard for us as shoppers to buy supplies... what's it like for indie suppliers? Today we're going to be talking about all that and lots more business with Karu from Studio Costura. Karu started Studio Costura just last summer (2016), so she gives a really interesting perspective on what it's like growing a business within the first year. While I don't want to spoil the episode for you guys, I just want to highlight that Karu is going to be talking about her super-interesting supply chain - this is hands down my favourite part of this episode! I also wanted to take a moment to quickly celebrate how fearless Karu is. After appearing as a podcast guest on Modern Sewciety last week I have a new-found appreciation for how difficult it is to be a guest on a podcast - it's really nerve racking! While French is my second language, and I'm pretty fluent at speaking it, I would never consider doing a podcast interview in that language because I just wouldn't be comfortable. So needless to say, I think Karu agreeing to do a podcast interview with me in a language other than her first is insanely courageous. Way to go, girl, you totally killed the interview!

Want to start bra making but don't know where to start? Here's where you start! Today on the show I have Hannah from Evie la Luve on to answer her most frequently asked questions about making bras and undies. Hannah is a lingerie pattern designer and supply shop owner, so you can bet she gets a lot of questions about bra making every day. What I love so much about this episode is that it really covers all the bra-making basics. This is the perfect bra-making 101 intro crash course that you can listen before starting your first project to feel more confident. I wish I could have asked her these same questions before I made my first project last year, especially the questions about choosing fabric because I found that SO CONFUSING. For the more advance bra-makers out there, don't worry, we talk about other stuff too. In fact, I told Hannah I've never successfully made a pair of undies even though I can crack out an underwire bra no problem (true story). We chatted a little about where I was getting tripped up, and some of her patterns that might be a good starting point for me to try again. I bought her Lyla pattern, although it wasn't what she recommended because the woven/knit combo seemed perfect for me. So cross your fingers for me, guys, because I'm going to try and make some undies. (I'll keep you update on any disasters/success stories on Instagram)

Today we're kicking off the Maker Style Bra-Making Month with an awesome interview with Sara from Ohhh Lulu talking all about her lingerie style and where she finds inspiration for her patterns and handmade pieces in her shop. If you're working on planning some new pieces for your handmade underwear wardrobe, looking for some inspiration before purchasing a bra-making kit, or just looking to explore some of the cool styles you can experiment with in lingerie sewing you're going to love our chat today. One of the best parts about sewing bras and underwear is that since they're (almost) always hidden, you can really go crazy with prints and patterns, daring to try new styles on a smaller scale. Maybe you can't get away with wearing a hamburger print shirt to the office, but a bra? Why not! It's so much fun to experiment with bra and underwear sewing, and I know this episode will give you some inspiration for your latest project.

Hey everyone! Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes at your fabric small fabric stores? What the day to day process looks like as a sewing entrepreneur building a curated and chic fabric collection for shoppers like you and I? Today, Fiona from Faberwood Fabrics is here to fill you in. Fiona is the creative entrepreneur behind Faberwood, a highly curated fabric shop featuring small collections of designer yardage that you cannot find anywhere else. What's always stood out to me about Faberwood is that the shops aesthetic is unique, but perfectly defined - the ideal mix of indie-cool I'm always searching for. Plus, the styling of all the products is beautiful. I could a good hour browsing through. That swatch up there? Her gorgeous Spot "Like Chambray" Ikat on 100% HANDLOOM (!!) Indian cotton. Fiona was one of the first people on my list of potential interview guests because I've admired her work for a long time. I'm happy to report she's just as kind and knowledgeable on air as she is online. This was a fantastic interview, so let's dig in!

Today on the Maker Style Podcast I'm sharing a special tip about getting your products out there: effective media relations. Ever wonder how Helen decides what makes it into her Wednesday Weekly's? Or how Rachel and Kate find content for the Sew Reporter? Or how Fiona from Diary of a Chain Stitcher does her Indie Pattern Roundup? The short answer is they put in a lot of work sourcing a boat load of information. Now, if you're a sewing small business or indie pattern designer, you're probably wondering how you could get your products listed in these roundups. They're a great way to gain traffic to your site and spread the word to new potential customers who might not have heard of your brand before. The secret is a simple email and a little bit of media relations savvy. Easy, I promise! Today on the episode I share what I've learnt about media relations so far from chatting with Kate from The Fold Line and Helen from Helen's Closet on the show, and also from a brief little Instagram conversation with Fiona from Diary of a Chain Stitcher. These sewing reporters have given me some insider information about what helps them create their roundups and how they would like new Indie Designers to contact them. All these tips have been organized and packaged into a short, informational epsiode containing all the information you need to know about media relations for pattern designers. So lets jump in!

Guys, we are 26 days out from Christmas. Have you gotten started on your handmade gifts yet? I admit, I'm a little behind this year. So far I've gotten the pattern and fabric I need for my boyfriend's gift, but have yet to start sewing it. Hopefully sometime when finals are over I'll be able to whip up his sweater and not leave it too much until the last minute! If you're still in the planning stages of your Christmas sewing and are in need for some ideas, we're here to help! Today on the Maker Style Podcast Morgan has come on the show to share her top five handmade gift ideas for the men in our lives. Morgan is the pattern-making genius behind Thread Theory, a pattern company that specializes in timeless, quality, and extremely wearable menswear designs. She is THE expert in menswear sewing, so I know you're just going to love the amazing tips she has to share. PLUS: If you're listening to this episode the day it comes out, Monday, November 28th, all of Thread Theory's Patterns are 50% off too help you get your Holiday sewing started with a deal. Being the incredibly sweet person she is, Morgan has curated a whole bunch of past men's gift-making resources she's written in the past to make sure we all have as much information as possible before diving into our projects. She basically wrote the show notes for me with all of the bonus information she provided, so check them out, they're extra good this week. Gee, I need Morgan to come help me do this every week ;) In addition to selling patterns, Thread Theory also has plenty of supplies for sale to help you make beautiful menswear pieces. If you need any fabric or notions, I would recommend you give them a peek. The gorgeous fabrics in the photo above are all hers!