At the end of January, I participated in the Winter 10 x 10 Wardrobe Challenge. At the surface, it's an exploration of the creative possibilities of the clothes you already own. That said, there are many other lessons (and questions) that came up for me during the process. I highly recommend you try it! Here's what to do:   Pick out 10 of your favorite items of clothing (or little worn, or thrifted, or handmade – you choose the criteria) and one pair of shoes, and mix and match your chosen items for the next 10 days. You can choose to include shoes or not, and accessories are not inclu ..read more

Welcome, new readers! You can find more of my fiber philosophizing over on my Instagram account, and I'd love to offer you a 20% discount in my pattern shop for joining my newsletter community here. I strongly believe that sewing is self-care, and should be viewed through a lens of mindfulness. I'm glad you're here! I've come to think of my body as an artistic canvas. I get to drape it with fluid fabric of any colors of my choosing, I get to form that fabric into shapes that I find interesting, flattering, and comfortable. I recently expanded the canvas to include tattoos that hold deep emoti ..read more

One of my favorite slow fashion practices is also my one of my most creative – figuring out how to make use of small bits of leftover fabric from my own clothing projects to make dresses for my daughter, Sadie. She only wears fancy dresses, of course. ;) I'm always smitten with the results: truly unique pieces of wearable art. The canvas for Sadie's dresses is almost always the Geranium pattern from my dear friend, Rae Hoekstra. It's my tried-and-true Sadie pattern, and when Rae released the Geranium XP a few months back, I was excited to add sleeves, bows, and collars to the mix. Sadie is ..read more

The Carrie Cardigan shown layered over my upcoming pattern, the reversible Metamorphic Dress, which drops on November 1st! Be sure you're on my mailing list to get the 30% release discount.    When I first see a sewing pattern, a few questions pop into my mind:   Is this a good shape for my body? (Wondering what works for YOUR body? Stasia's Style School is a transformative experience in self-love and acceptance via the art of getting dressed in the morning. Sign-ups for the new session are today!) How can I layer this and mash it up with what is currently in my closet? Ho ..read more

One of my "things" is helping everyone feel capable of sewing with knit fabrics, especially sewists who don't own a serger. There are just so many benefits to sewing with knits - forgiving fit and blissful comfort to name a few. Some kids (my boys included) will often balk at wearing anything else.    I highlight some of my favorite sewing-with-knits tips in my latest pattern, the Stasia Dress. But this time, I have something else up my sleeve. Literally. It's called Eloflex, an elasticated thread from Coats that has really blown my sewing-with-knits mind. This stuff acts like reg ..read more

I mother three little people, which means my leisure time is, well, rather skinny. The LAST thing I want to do with my precious sewing time is assemble and tape together 42 pages of a print-at-home PDF pattern. It makes my knees hurt just thinking about it. Fortunately, I'll never have to do it again, thanks to a new printing option I discovered recently. While print-at-home patterns have their place, particularly with smaller children's patterns, most independent pattern companies have started including larger-format copy shop files in their digital patterns. The idea behind the copy s ..read more

A knit dress that feels like wearing secret pajamas. Optional pockets. Multiple sleeve and length options. A close-fitting tee perfect for layering. A pattern-hacker's canvas. Tons of tips for sewing with knits. And a lot of love - wrapped up into one amazing pattern! Find your PDF pattern here for 20% off with coupon code: STASIALAUNCH. Friends, this dress is so close to my heart.  Many of you know that I was designing patterns and very active in the sewing blogger community before we learned that my second son, Lachlan, was to be born with ..read more

Growing up, it was understood that my dad would spend a certain amount of time in front of the television during football season. My mom supported it (he needed to relax after busy work days). The same football ritual was upheld and supported by countless females in the family. The women tended to household responsibilities and children while the men relaxed. I'm not writing to pass judgment on sports. As my mom recognized, it is a valid way to wash away the worries of the world and engage in some fun. What I'm wondering is, does society bestow upon me, a mother of young children, the same un ..read more

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Sadie's "unicorn dress," made with Coffee and Thread's Eleena Dress pattern, has fast become a new favorite. She asked to sleep in it as soon as it was done, right before bedtime, and refused to wear anything else for two days. (Which, as you know, is the highest compliment a three year-old can pay a sewing mother.) I loved sewing it - the instructions are concise, the design is flawless, and it produces an sturdy and lovely finished product.    I'm honored to be part of the Coffee and Thread blog tour, featuring a panoply of design inspiration from all around the sewing blogos ..read more