STITCH COLLECTIVE

PINSTRAVAGANZA // As a sewist who doesn’t sew with pins, I have a surprising number of them!

This week, I gave a tour of my collection in Stories to show the different styles and talk about their uses to help folks pick the best ones for their sewing practice.

I’ve saved the series as a highlight under ‘Pins’ on my profile page!

What are your favorite pins to use?

Or are you like me and sew pin-free?

I used to avoid using my seam ripper at all costs. If I messed up sewing a seam, I felt like I’d made a permanent mistake!

If you feel that way - I’ve got good news - it’s (usually) not true!

One of the most freeing lessons you can learn in sewing is that most mistakes in sewing can be undone! If it’s not perfect the first time, that’s OK! If you’d like to undo it and try again, just grab your seam ripper and be transported back in time to before you made the goof!

I also avoided seam ripping because I thought it would take a long time and wouldn’t be worth it. In most cases, it really only takes a few minutes.

Several years ago, I started timing myself to see how long undoing seams that I’d estimated would take a ‘long time’ actually took. My average time is 6 minutes. That was pretty eye-opening! Knowing I was vastly over-estimating the time involved helped me stop avoiding fixing mistakes that bothered me.

Once I learned to stop fearing my seam ripper, it opened up so many more possibilities for me!

I could refashion existing clothes I’d purchased, I could undo a seam or topstitching I wasn’t completely happy with. In short, I gave myself so much more control by embracing my little seam ripper. My confidence improved along with my skills, because I knew I could always try again until I was happy with the result!

The latest project I took my seam ripper to is this skirt I bought on eBay last month. I’m planning to refashion it for by shortening it and adding pockets.

The only thing my seam ripper can’t undo is the fact that this skirt reeks of White Diamonds perfume. I’ve hand washed it in Sard soap and a bit of oxiclean and given it a good airing, which usually does the trick for smells, but it’s still pretty strong. While I have positive memories of my grandmother wearing White Diamonds, feeling like Elizabeth Taylor is personally burning my lungs every time I get near the skirt is not my idea of fun.

Have you embraced your seam ripper? Or do you avoid it at all costs?

Also - please send me your tips for getting perfume out of clothes!

WEEKLY WINNER TIME! // This week’s giveaway winner is ! Congratulations, Coco! You’ve won a pack of any in-stock labels of your choice!

On the sewing front - I’ve slowly been chipping away at this robe I started at the beginning of summer. It’s made from a gorgeous, squishy jacquard from .

I drafted a back neck facing that’s underlined in muslin to help support the upper back, neck and shoulders.

I thought about sewing a label onto the facing itself, but decided to keep things simple and added a subtle ‘handmade’ tag at the bottom of the facing. Happy with how it’s coming along so far!

WEEKLY GIVEAWAY DETAILS // Each weekend, I randomly select a follower and they receive a free pack of any in-stock labels of their choice!

ELIGIBILITY // Besides being a follower, there are no entry requirements!

If you want to help spread the word about the giveaway series, tag a sewist or maker who inspires you!

WINNER SELECTION // I will notify the winner via DM. If there’s no response within 24 hours, a new winner for the week will be drawn.

This giveaway series is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram.

@ Seattle, Washington

// .podcast had an episode last week all about pins and needles, which I thought was a great prompt, so I thought I’d share how I manage my used machine needles!

There’s a lot of common advice to replace your needle after every project, but I think that’s needlessly wasteful for most projects. If I’m troubleshooting a sewing machine issue, sewing with silk or an expensive or precious fabric, I’ll switch to a new needle; but otherwise I use my needles for several projects before replacing.

Because of this, I needed to find ways to store my used machine needles until I needed that type/size again.

My primary method is using this tomato pincushion that I customized. I took a sharpie to it about 10 years ago and marked each segment with the most common types and sizes of needles I use. When I’m done with a needle I can just stick it in the relevant section and it’s safely stored until I need it again!

The method I used previously was to use a sharpie and mark the flat side of the needle’s shank when I was done with it and put it back in the case with the flat side facing out, so I’d have a visual cue the needle was used.

I definitely prefer the tomato pincushion method, as it’s easy to keep within reach of my sewing machine and I have access to 20 needles all at once and I instantly know their type and size, vs sorting through cases!

I love DIYing sewing solutions!