Liola Archie Skirt

Well it’s been awhile, again, since I blogged about anything. I know 2020 has been a tough year for pretty much everyone, but for me 2019 was much worse. I didn’t sew really at all, I started a graduate school program 90 minutes away from home, and my dog passed away. There was a lot going on. But back in March of this year (remember March?), along with most of the rest of the world, we were put under lockdown, so I started sewing again. People asked for masks, so I churned those out. Then I got back into garments and quilting, and pattern testing! I’m excited to share this pattern I just tested because it’s really fast and super cute!

Penfield Pocket Tote from Radiant Home Studio

In early January, I received an email about testing a new pattern for Radiant Home Studios. Funny story though, I read the email as I’d been chosen to test the pattern, so I responded  saying “Yes, I’d love to! Thanks for choosing me!” I then received a response from Sara, the designer saying, more or less, “Um, thanks for your interest, but who are you?” Turns out that back in the day, I had signed up to be on an email list for those interested in future pattern testing. Once you get one of those emails, you then “apply” by expressing your interest and going from there. In my case, Sara asked for my ‘credentials’ (sewing experience, photos, Instagram feed), and after that it was all good. I expressed apologies about being such a noob first though. 

Long Time, No Post.

It seemed like it had been awhile since I wrote a blog post, so I decided to check. Yep, it’s been three months. Woops. I think it was a combination of things; the outcome of the US election, then the holidays, then the inauguration, then just wanting to hide from the outside world and the internet. I still can’t watch the news. My husband and I also took a trip to Ontario for five days in January, and in February we both got the flu, which laid us up for a couple of weeks. But, just because I haven’t been writing, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been sewing! It feels as though my “to-sew” list is never ending, so I’m sharing what I’ve been working on. 

Winslow Culottes

Back in early-ish May, I saw that one of the bloggers I follow, Helen from Helen’s Closet, had issued a call for pattern testers. She was working on putting out a pattern for culottes and was asking for testers to get it to that final stage. I’ve always thought testing a pattern sounded fun, but I never seem to get chosen! Apparently it’s kind of a prestigious community, so I wasn’t sure what the outcome would be. In any case, I decided what the heck, I’ll throw my name out there and cross my fingers. And lucky me, I was chosen!