Hello and welcome to my brand spankin' new website and new little corner of the internet!
I'm Emily, and I'd say most of you will know me from my other website / blog Em Makes Patterns.
As some of you may already know, I recently decided to take the plunge and start my own business. I had somewhat idealistically imagined spending each day working on a new task - one day making a pattern, the next sewing, the day after that working on my website and social media. But I have found out very quickly, that it is not like that at all. Things that I had imagined would take a few days, take weeks (hello grading a pattern into 10 sizes - I'm talking to you!). So a pattern that I had thought I would launch two months ago, is only now, ready to go. But I am learning to enjoy the process, and to respect and appreciate the time that it takes to make something beautiful. As it's all about the journey, right? (yes, year 10 English taught me something!)
I thought that a good way of starting my new blog, would be in a Q & A format - getting a few of the questions out of the way that I am sure some of you may have, before we get onto more exciting things (like the release of my first ever sewing pattern! Yay!)
Why did you start a new website to release you patterns?
Whether or not to start a new website (with new name and branding etc.) has been one of the biggest decisions I have had to make related to my business so far. After all the hard work and long days and nights spent creating tutorials for Em Makes Patterns, (EMP) it seemed at first that it would be crazy to start again somewhere else. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that this is a new business, and although it will have similarities and common threads in common with EMP, it needs its own home. My goals and mission have somewhat changed since writing my first blog post on EMP, and for me to fulfill these goals, I knew I needed a new website. EMP gave me an opportunity to learn, and experiment and get to know what this whole blogging thing is about. And I learned A LOT. But now, I feel it is time to take all those lessons and create a space for this new venture.
What is going to happen with 'Em Makes Patterns?'
That is a good question (she says to herself)! And one I am not entirely sure of. When I first made the decision to create an entirely new website, I also decided that I would continue blogging over at EMP (because we all have so many hours in the day, right?). I have since learned that this may be too difficult to manage . So for the moment I am playing it by ear. Many of the tutorials on EMP are going to be relevant to the patterns I create, so at this stage, I plan to slowly bring the tutorials across to the new site.
What can we expect from 'In the Folds?'
You can expect many things from In the Folds! To start, I will be releasing my first sewing pattern (of many). Alongside each pattern release, I will be doing a sew-along, as well as showing you as many pattern hacks as I can possibly come up with. One of my main missions for this project, is to get people pattern making, and realising how many things you can create from a single pattern.
Patterns will be drafted with the following things in mind:
· Always beautifully drafted and available in a broad range of sizes
· Design will be very thoughtful, and will always include unexpected detailing, to make it an interesting sew for makers of all levels
· Patterns are designed with room for you to make them your own
· The pattern will teach you a new technique (or hopefully two)
· Instructions that will help you get a beautiful store-bought finish and encourage you to push yourself into unknown territory
· Step by step tutorials and sew-alongs that will give you helpful hints and tips that will not only help you with this particular pattern, but will help you become a better sewer in general
· There will also always be a lot of pattern hacking inspiration with every pattern release, so that you can transform a single pattern into as many garments as your imagination will allow
As for the future of In the Folds, I also plan to start producing a small collection of garments each season to be sold online and at local markets, but that will be a little later on down the track, as I really have my work cut out for me at the moment!
Who is this website for?
This website is for anyone interested!
Although I do think that if you are interested in learning and developing your pattern making skills, this will be a good resource for you! I really want to show people that pattern making is nowhere near as scary as many people think it is, and that you just need to know a few simple processes to get yourself started. There will be a lot of sewing goodness, as I firmly believe that a good understanding of putting clothes together is critical to being able to draft patterns well.
I would rather spend my precious hours sewing instead of pattern-making, is this site still for me?
Yes! It definitely is still for you. I will be sharing both pattern making and sewing tutorials, so there will be enough sewing inspiration to keep you going! And maybe after a little while, I will sway you to spend some of those hours pattern making too!
Do I have to be good at maths to be good at pattern making?
It helps, but no, you don't have to be good at maths to be good at pattern making. All you need is a little bit of patience and a lot of imagination (and maybe a calculator) and I am sure you will surprise yourself with what you can do!
I have a specific pattern making question, can you help me?
Yes, of course I can help (well, at least I can give it a go)! Please get in touch and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
So I think that pretty much sums up In the Folds for the moment! But please, do watch this space, there is a lot of content coming your way very soon!