When feedback stings: Behind the seams of the Darlow bag

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There’s something about receiving negative feedback that really gets me. My stomach drops, my heart races. I know I’m not saving lives — I make sewing patterns! — but I care deeply about the work. People trust me with their time, money, and fabric. I want them to walk away from an In the Folds project not just with a beautiful garment or accessory, but with new skills and confidence.

And yet, one piece of negative feedback can take up more space in my mind than a dozen glowing reviews (thank you to everyone who takes the time to share those, by the way — it truly makes my day!). 

Today, I want to share a story about one of those moments — and how it ended up teaching me a lot about process, collaboration, and letting go of perfection.

When a gift becomes a bigger idea…

When we started designing the Darlow bag, we thought it might be our December 2024 pattern — something fun, thoughtful, and giftable. A fun, giftable project that could be made in a few evenings. But as we worked on it, it grew into something else entirely. It was more involved, more skill-focused, and definitely more demanding — not the kind of project we could throw at folks during the December overwhelm.

So we reshuffled our schedule, gave it the time and space it deserved, and dived into the details.

Collaborating across continents

If you read our blog post about making this pattern, you’ll know Alys and I worked on this project across continents. When one of us hit a hurdle, we’d pass the project back to the other to troubleshoot — just like we used to when we worked side-by-side. After lots of back and forth, we landed on a version we both loved. It ticked all our boxes:

• Reflected the In the Folds aesthetic

• Offered a thoughtful, skill-building experience

• Felt exciting for our community

We felt good. Ready. Almost done.

An unexpected setback

To be extra thorough, I decided to get a fresh set of eyes on it — our editor, Lee. She usually edits the instructions each month, so I asked if she’d sew a version of the bag while reviewing the instructions.

Honestly, I thought of it as a precaution — I didn’t expect anything major. Then I got the email:

Hi Emily,
I've made a version of the bag and have a lot of feedback — unfortunately, it's mostly negative. I've made a video to explain my thoughts — it seemed like the easiest way. Have a look and a think — I'm happy to chat further.

Overwhelm hits

I opened the video and almost instantly felt my chest tighten. Lee went into detail of the hurdles she had faced, including recreating the zipper troubles in paper to better explain her point.

But the illustrations were done. The pattern was done. The sew-along was done. I lasted ten minutes before I had to stop. I knew I was too emotionally close to process it clearly.

I sent the video to Alys, who’s excellent at setting aside emotion and focusing on what needs to happen. The next morning, she sent me a Google Doc summarising the key points.

Here’s what stood out:

• It wasn’t clear how the bag was intended to be worn.

• The zipper opened toward the bottom of the bag when worn on the back and rotated to the front.

• The zipper installation was overly complicated and didn’t yield a clean finish.

• The strap construction felt unnecessarily complex.

Seeing it written down helped. I could start tackling things, one step at a time.

Small fixes first

The first issue was a simple one: we hadn’t made it clear that the Darlow bag was designed to be worn on the front. Alys and I had always just put it on the “right” way when sampling, without giving it a second thought.

I updated the product description and added technical sketches to show how it’s intended to be worn. I also loaded up my own bag and tested different ways of wearing it — and was relieved to find it still worked well if worn differently.

Rethinking the zippers

The zipper feedback was harder to hear, but totally fair. We’d tried a few different methods during development, and although we liked the result, it was fiddly — and the finish wasn’t quite as clean as we’d like.

With other projects and teaching commitments piling up, I knew I couldn’t take this on solo. So I called in reinforcements.

Enter Melanie

I asked Melanie — a brilliant maker and patternmaker I teach with (and now a dear friend) — if she’d be up for the challenge. She agreed to troubleshoot the pattern from start to finish.

Melanie reworked the zipper installation in a way that kept the spirit of our original design but made the process cleaner and easier. We added fusing strips to help things remain stable. 

She also streamlined the strap construction, added a topstitching detail to anchor it better, and helped us realise we’d overcomplicated things trying to make the bag adaptable for all body sizes.

She also suggested adding a pocket to the lining to make it even more functional.

She took photos of every step and made detailed notes — a true lifesaver at a moment when I just didn’t have the brain space to take it all on.

She was also ecstatic about the bag. She wore it to a gig the night she finished it! Having her enthusiasm about the project when I was wading in the messy details of it all gave me a boost of confidence. All was not lost, it just needed some fine-tuning.

Testing it all again

Once I had Melanie’s notes, I started working through the updates. I don’t do the final illustrations, but I can edit them, which comes in handy during tight deadlines or small changes.

Still, I hit wall after wall. I couldn’t tell if the updates worked without sewing them myself. So I did a pocket sample. Then I made a full bag. Sewing the new zip method a second time — especially after the pocket sample — made everything feel smoother. (Even I need the reminder sometimes: doing a practice run is always worth it.)

I photographed the process for the sew-along, updated the instructions, and sent the new version back to Lee for a final check.

What we learned

I’m not going to sugar coat it — this was a slog. It’s disheartening to redo work you thought was finished. But I was also grateful. Grateful we got the feedback in time to fix it. Grateful our customers wouldn’t have to wrestle with the issues our editor faced. And grateful for the chance to reflect on our workflow.

We probably jumped ahead too quickly — the sew-along shouldn’t have been finished before the pattern had been fully tested. That’s a lesson I’m taking forward.

I still hate receiving negative feedback. I still get that stomach drop. But I’m learning that it doesn’t mean failure — it means we’re still in the process.

The Darlow bag is stronger now because of that hard moment. And our systems are a little stronger too. Sometime growth doesn’t feel graceful, but it’s worth it. And, I’ll take that over “perfect” any day.

Thanks for sticking with me, and thanks (always) for supporting In the Folds.

Happy sewing!

Emily

Spotlight: Creating a bag inspired by the Darlow pants

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Following the success of our Hove tote pattern release last year, we decided to continue our foray into accessories in 2025. We loved how our community received the idea of new patterns inspired by old, and so we decided to look to our pattern catalogue for inspiration again.

And, because our beloved patternmaker, Alys recently moved back to the UK, we thought we’d share what it’s like to create a pattern design across continents with the help of modern communication channels like Zoom, Google docs and Whatsapp!

HOW THE DARLOW BAG DESIGN CAME TO BE

I had been thinking for a while that I’d like to do a twist on a bumbag or crossbody bag, and Alys suggested we use the Darlow pants as inspiration. She thought the curved seams would make for a really interesting design with the panels twisting around the bag, and I agreed.

Following this, I shared some inspiration images I’d found scrolling through Pinterest and we discussed which elements we liked. We to’ed and fro’ed with inspiration for a bit, and eventually realised one of the main features we were drawn to was interesting strap details connected to the main body.

So with this, Alys got to work playing around with the Darlow pants pattern to see what she could come up with.

Firstly, she arranged the main curved pieces of the Darlow pants pattern and scaled them down to 75% so they were the right proportion for a bag compared to a torso.

She then assembled the three curved pattern pieces of the Darlow pants, and played around with them to see what shapes she could create that might resemble the body of a bag.

Through this process, Alys considered how the bag would look on the body, checking shape, proportion and scale. As you can see, Alys was still working with paper when doing this! 

After this, Alys felt it was time to get some feedback from me, which happened to be via Whatsapp very late at night! (One of the difficulties of working with a team on opposite sides of the world!)

After we decided to add some length to the pattern, Alys went ahead and began converting her paper bag into a pattern and sewing up the first sample.

We went back and forth after this via videos and photos to fine-tune the design, making decisions like adding some volume to the pattern and moving the bottom seam so it sat towards the back rather than be visible on the front. 

After working on the strap panel, our initial bag pattern was complete!

But this is just the start of designing a sewing pattern. The next stages were finalising the bag construction, which involved many more toiles and samples between both myself and Alys as we continued to fine-tune the design. It ends up being months of work, because we’re always working on a number of patterns at one time.

But we can definitely say that we loved working on creating the Darlow bag pattern together (albeit digitally and on different continents!), and we hope that you enjoy making it as much as we enjoyed designing it!

Happy sewing,

Emily

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH EMILY: teaching at university

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About three months ago, what felt like simultaneously, my daughter started sleeping better and going to daycare 4 days a week. As the fog lifted, it felt like a missing part of my brain returned. Suddenly I had time and space to breathe. I started exercising again. I started being able to see beyond the moment in front of me and became excited about what the future held. 

I hadn’t slept properly for over 2 years. Pregnancy had turned my sleep into a mess of acid reflux and millions of wake-ups to pee. I had hoped that not being pregnant would improve things, which it did, until a newborn got in the way! So many people had warned me about how hard the lack of sleep would be, but nothing could have prepared me. Also, nothing prepared me for how long it would go on and how lonely it would be as the only one who was able to settle my daughter when she woke at night. The photo below was taken right in the thick of it!

Everything I tried to do became a struggle and I found myself doing the bare minimum. But being so deep in it that I didn’t really realise that I was only barely functioning. And then, as I said, my daughter started sleeping better around the time she turned 2 and things drastically changed. 

But this post isn’t about baby and toddler sleep. Enough has been written about that and we’re not here for that, are we?! This post is about what has been happening since I started getting a bit more sleep.

When the fog lifted I suddenly felt capable again.

Capable of working on new and bigger projects.

Capable of moving house. (We had outgrown our one bedroom apartment a long while ago but the thought of moving never even dawned on me because I was so exhausted.)

Capable of exercising and socialising. And when I was offered two subjects to teach and UTS this semester, I thought, why not?

I probably should have realised that I could say yes to things, but maybe not all at once! But, there is something so exciting and liberating about feeling parts of my pre-motherhood life return and watching how my new and old life integrate together - sometimes smoothly and sometimes not so smoothly.

And although I am now feeling spread a little thin, and having to say no to some things for the moment while I ease into this new season, I also feel excited and inspired and more connected to my practice than ever before. 

I am now teaching first year construction (sewing) at a Sydney university and have loved being forced to go back to basics. Being questioned about how to do things that my hands committed to muscle memory many moons (in fact multiple decades) ago is humbling. It is allowing me to practice my teaching skills and my ability to simplify information. Teaching has reminded me how important clear, step-by-step instructions are—just like the ones I strive to create in my patterns. How many steps make sense to sew an invisible zip? Will my students get overwhelmed if I baste it and then sew it with an invisible zip foot in one demo or should it be split? These questions feel ingrained in what I do for In the Folds. Although I don’t teach face-to-face with In the Folds, my mission is to design instruction booklets and content that feel like I am there with you in the room, so it does feel as though it’s using the same part of my brain. 

The other subject I am teaching is Advanced Technologies in fashion, which is a 3rd year university subject. For this subject, I’m teaching CLO3D (a pattern design and visualisation software) and enjoying working alongside the students to make their ideas a reality. What’s really been lighting me up in this subject is the lecture series. I’m sure I must have attended countless interesting lectures when I was doing my degree, but probably by the end started taking it for granted. Now going to these lectures leaves me feeling blown away by all the information. I often think about how thrilled my fellow sewists would be to be in the room with me, so I thought I’d compile a list of some of the interesting things I’ve heard about recently. 

university LECTUREs i’ve loved

We had a great lecture about zero waste fashion by Timo Rissanen. He co-wrote Zero Waste Fashion Design. Although I think about the environmental cost of fashion often (and it’s the reason I work in the home sewing space instead of the fashion industry), I enjoyed going back to basics as well as being introduced to some new designers in this space. It’s quite disturbing that the global fashion industry produces more than 100 to 150 billion items of clothing per year. Australians buy an average of 56 new clothing items a year which I found both shocking and disturbing.

Some of the work he referenced in his lecture:

• Holly McQuillan - TWINSET: War/Peace: 2010

• Make / use (open source zero waste patterns you can access)

• Holly McQuillan: Weaving Multimorphic Textile-Forms - video here

• Zandra Rhodes - Chinese squares

• Timo Rissanen - Designing Endurance (check out those pattern pieces! I am in awe of the placket shape. I asked him about it and he said sewing this shirt is not for the faint of heart!)

• Yeohlee

• Pablo Alejandro Maas - traditional suits meet zero-waste pattern cutting. Scroll to the bottom to seYeohlee Teng's "Zero Waste" Philosophy: Thoughts on her roots, the future of fashion and Japan - TOKIONe an amazing layplan!

• zww.fi - a website where you can download free zero waste patterns

Timo ended the lecture on a high note, asking the question, “How can fashion be joyful without overconsumption?” I’d like to think that by sewing our own clothes, we are doing a pretty good job of that. Bringing joy to the making process as well as the wearing process.

Martina Ponzoni told us about her d_archive project where she and a small team are digitising patterns from inside fashion archives so that these artefacts can be cared for, but also so that people from all over the world can gain access to them. I was blown away that these images are actually created digitally, rather than photographs of the original. What’s cool about this project is they make the patterns accessible for people to use! 

Wajiha Pervez talked through her PHD research area, which is on circular economy innovation in athleisure clothing. She uses AI to help generate the most exquisite knitwear.

What I enjoy about teaching is how it pushes me beyond my usual routine and into new ways of thinking—engaging with ideas, techniques, and perspectives I might not have encountered otherwise. It challenges me to break down my own knowledge, question assumptions, and find clearer ways to explain concepts. In many ways, it reminds me why I love learning, and why I love sharing that learning with you—whether through the patterns I create, the instruction booklets I write, or the behind-the-scenes insights I share here.

The more I teach, the more I realise that learning is never a one-way street. Just as I guide my students, they also push me to see sewing in new ways, keeping my passion for this craft fresh and ever-evolving.

Happy sewing,
Emily

New images : The Rushcutter

When I decided to do a shoot for the release of the Acton dress, I thought it would be a good time to get some images of the Rushcutter too! So today I'd show some of them too, as you may have missed the updates to the product listing.

For View A I chose to use a beautiful mid-weight denim. Really, since I made my own denim Rushcutter, it's just hard to think about using anything else!

It really holds the shape beautifully - especially the pockets - and it shows all the details really well. And I knew it would work beautifully with my model's (Caz from Useful Box) lovely red hair. So that was just a no brainer!

For View B it was a little trickier. I wanted something summery, but also something that wouldn't overtake the details. Enter cotton stripe! I am really pleased with how this one turned out. I had lots of fun playing with the stripe direction and I think overall it works really well.

The only problem was that I din't realise how sheer it was until I got it home, which meant I had to omit the in-seam pockets and my model (my sis') had to wear a nude slip underneath. Lesson learned for next time!

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Talking about : Transparency

My working pace has slowed down as the end of the year fast approaches, and the pace of my personal life has increased as I madly get prepared for Christmas (I left it to the last minute as usual). So there will be no new tutorials until the new year. I wanted to take this opportunity to post about something a little different today, giving you a little peak at what is going on behind the scenes at In the Folds (and chat about the potential of hearing a little bit more in the future).

I am spending a lot of time at the moment thinking about transparency, and it's place in business. Specifically, its place in my business. When I had the crazy (but great) idea to go into business, transparency was something I really wanted ingrained in my practice. Transparency about my thoughts, values and processes (and maybe even more).

Though, that is much easier said than done. Six months into my business venture, and I have revealed very little about what really goes on on a daily basis (okay, there was the time I told you I was eating rice cakes for dinner on instagram). There has been no sign of the struggles (and there have been many), the thought processes or even the small wins (and thankfully there have been a few of those too) that have come along the way. 

So that is what I'd like to talk about today - transparency, why I think it's important, why I haven't been very transparent (yet) and who inspires me in this particularly conversation. 

What do I mean by 'transparency'?

When I use the term 'transparency,' I am referring to a business model in which I would be open about what is going on at In the Folds HQ, in terms of processes, practices, thoughts (and maybe even finances), in the hope that my journey could help or inspire others who are on a similar journey (or those that would like to be on a similar journey, or are just interested in other peoples stories).

Why I haven't been transparent (yet)?

I guess there is a few reasons why I haven't been as open or transparent as I initially planned:

1. Number one has to be fear. When my business was an imaginary thing, the idea of opening it up to the world for judgement and scrutiny seemed totally fine. Now that it is a thing (albeit a very small thing), exposing myself on that level terrifies me a little (okay, okay, it terrifies me a lot).

2. Time is another huge reason why I have avoided a more transparent business model. I have not had the time to think about how I would like to do it, let alone actually do it. 

3. And the last thing that has been on my mind, when debating this concept internally, is concern that it will have a negative impact on my business. Will people judge me negatively if they know what my business looks like on the inside (as surprise surprise, my world doesn't really resemble the lovely shininess of my Instagram feed)? This is not to say that my business has any dirty little secrets! Just the reality that social media feeds are curated, and life is not! Which is something we all obviously know, but it is really easy to fall in love with the fantasy.

Why I would like to be more transparent

So now that I have highlighted the cons of introducing more transparency to my business, let's talk about the pros, and why it is on my mind at the moment. 

I just love businesses that are transparent about their processes. And I have learned so much from other entrepreneurs and small business owners opening their doors. I feel it is important to share some of that love and add something to the collective learning pool and conversation. 

I am constantly energised and inspired by other peoples stories, and it is often what keeps me going, particularly at the times when I am feeling low, or totally alone on this crazy journey. It is on my mind at the moment, as fantastic examples just keep on popping up around me.

Who inspires me?

Bjork + Lindsay Ostrom - Pinch of Yum / Food Blogger Pro

Although many businesses are now embracing transparency - which is absolutely fantastic, the first business that really stood out for me in this area is Pinch of Yum. If you know of this blog, you will know that it has absolutely nothing to do with sewing. It is a cooking blog. But the way they share (Lindsay and her husband, Bjork) the ins and outs of their business is truly inspiring. They publish a monthly income report, which details the ins and outgoings of the business, but it is not a way to show how successful they are (although they are very successful) but a tangible way to see where their income and traffic comes from, and how they have managed to grow these numbers, since the very early days. I was first introduced to the blog when I heard Bjork interviewed on the 'While She Naps' podcast by Abby Glassenberg, and was instantly mesmerised by his openness and frankness about growing a business. I was also very interested in his idea of '1% to infinity,' which has definitely become my business motto since hearing it mentioned. It was such a relief to hear someone say that the steps you take don't have to be massive, for you to see progress over time. Just keep moving forward each day, even if you are only improving by 1% each day, over time the improvement grows exponentially. That to me, makes perfect sense, and is something very tangible I can use to keep my business growing. Bjork also has his own podcast now, which although mainly focuses on guests from the realm of food, I find very interesting and relevant to my life as a small business owner in the online world.

Heather Lou - Closet Case Files - 'Make Boss' series

In the sewing world, there are some bloggers who show snippets of what goes on behind the scenes. I love the 'Make Boss' series by Heather Lou of Closet Case Files. These days I have very little time to read blogs, but I must say that I always take the time to read these posts when they pop up in my Bloglovin' feed. And I literally inhale them, and find so much of the information relevant to my journey. I loved this recent post, when Heather Lou discussed all the thought (and work, of course) that went into designing the cover art of her newly released paper patterns. This is true testament to how much thought goes into decisions like this. 

Start Up podcast by Gimlet Media

Over the last couple of weeks I have become totally addicted to the Start Up podcast. I have no idea how I didn't know of this podcasts existence (because I am an avid listener of the other Gimlet Media podcasts), but somehow I missed the memo. When it was mentioned twice in one day, by two different people, I knew it was time to play catch up. And boy, did I play catch up. I finished the first season in two days. And in another two, I was totally up-to-date. Which is sad, because I was absolutely loving binging on this incredible podcast.

Okay, back to the point (I am beginning to sound like a groupie), listening to a first hand account of starting a business, was absolutely fantastic. Hearing that many of the feelings I have had, were consistent with others, made me feel a little less alone in this venture. Obviously there are many differences between starting a huge podcasting company or an online dating company, and me, starting a business from my teeny tiny studio, but I was also surprised by how many similarities there are.

Reyna Lay Designs Podcast

I also stumbled upon the Reyna Lay Designs podcast recently (what can I say, I am a podcast addict) and was so heartened to hear her interview with Elisalex from By Hand London. She was so candid and honest, really laying out the struggles of what it is like to be an independent pattern designer. I had been following Elisalex on Intagram and on the By Hand London blog, but this interview just revealed much more of the story. There are many more great interviews in the archives, but this is the one that stood out for me.

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These are a few things I have been following for a while, but transparency has once again come to the forefront of mind lately for a number of reasons.

Why now?

So why, after six months of business am I talking about this now? Firstly, 2015 is coming to an end, so with that I am consolidating my thoughts about the year. What worked? What didn't? What needs improvement? And also start thinking about 2016 and what my goals are for the new year.

I think 2015 was about me just getting this business started and releasing my first pattern. Hopefully 2016 is about building on that foundation, but also bringing much more into the mix, and creating the kind of business that I dream of.

Over to you lovely people!

So, what I am wondering dear readers, are you interested in knowing what goes on back here behind the sewing machine and the screen? Or are you thinking as you read this, 'No, no, no, I just want tutorials!' (which is totally fine) I am still not sure exactly how I would like it to look, but before I put pen to paper, I'd love to know if anyone is even interested in listening?