About Me
I’m Robin. I grew up in San Diego and now I live in NYC. I’m 35, and I work as an architect. I love making things!
My Sewing Journey- The Early Years
I always liked making things with my hands as a kid. During the summer in elementary school, my parents would send me to a summer day camp in San Diego called Gateways. I looked forward to this camp all year. I remember taking classes in stained glass, paper marbling, puppet making, even biology class where we got to dissect a frog and a cow eye (anything hands on was great to me!). As a 4th grader I took an Intro to Sewing class at Gateways. You had to bring your own machine, and I remember my dad helping me carry our family sewing machine to class. It seemed to weigh a ton.
Here’s the family sewing machine, it still has my name and phone number in sharpie on the side from Gateways days
Our final project was sewing a skirt from a pattern. My skirt was made out of a sailboat print fabric. I remember having a hard time sewing straight lines because I didn’t remember to turn down the presser foot on the machine.
Through high school and college I would sew occasionally. Sewing was a social activity for me, whether it was a bunch of friends having a crafting party, or piecing together a pattern with my grandma, or sewing tote bags for a holiday gift exchange.
Three Serendipitous Moments in NYC that Renew My Interest in Sewing
1- It is 2014 and I am living in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. One morning on my walk to the subway, I see a sewing machine in a trash heap in front of a large apartment building. It’s just the machine without the accessories. It has a broken needle, but thankfully no dog has gotten to it yet. Maybe the broken needle is why someone threw it out, but I take it home and I’m able to pull the needle out with a wrench. I have to order a complementary power cord and set of presser feet online for the Trash Machine (this is my official name for the sewing machine now). It ends up sitting in the back of my closet for a while, and I occasionally use it to make tote bags.
Me and the Trash Machine
2- In 2018 I am hanging out with my friend in the Garment District in Manhattan and we are browsing inside Spandex House. If you haven’t been there, it’s floor to ceiling full of spandex fabric in every color and print. I have the idea to make some crazy leggings to wear to dance class, since most New Yorkers wear chic black athleisure to class. I make some impulse spandex purchases and when I get home I look for a leggings pattern.
3- While looking for a leggings pattern I discover Seamwork Magazine and the Seamwork Aires pattern. I didn’t know that small, independent sewing pattern companies existed. Seamwork also had articles about sewing techniques for stretch fabric, and their patterns had really clear instructions. I was confident that I wouldn’t forget to put the presser foot down, and that I had the resources to troubleshoot any issues that would arise.
My spandex puppy leggings. Actually I’ve only gotten a comment from a fellow New Yorker once. We are a stonefaced bunch in exercise class.
Why I’ve Started a Blog
Creating is part of who I am; I want to document and share my designing and making process.
Garment sewing has been my main hobby since 2018. I’ve enjoyed challenging myself with more complicated patterns, difficult fabrics, altering patterns, and fitting garments better. I’ve started sewing accessories like bras and shoes. I like diving into projects and learning by doing.
Here are some things I’ll be blogging about:
Making stuff!
I’ll be writing about some clothes I’ve made for myself- the fabric selection, fitting, sewing, and alterations to the design I’ve made
I’ll also post some techniques and tutorials that have worked well for me
I’ll share my current works in progress, and show you some of my design sketching
I might also occasionally post some things that I find inspiring to my craft