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Transcript:

Helen: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Caroline: Join us for today’s show. It’s our fourth anniversary Q&A!

Helen: Woohoo!

Caroline: Happy four year anniversary, Helen.

Helen: Happy four year anniversary, Caroline.

Caroline: We’re a little late celebrating this, uh, because our anniversary was in August, but we were on a break, okay? Let us live.

Helen: Yeah, since we switched to seasons, we’ve been off during our summer anniversaries, but I’m so excited to do a more fun and chatty, just the two of us episode. We’re actually going to bring Sam and Shea on a bit later in the show for a bit of a throwback for our longtime listeners. Um, but it’s mostly going to be just us here. And you may have noticed that we’ve moved a lot of our catch-ups and, kind of, silly banter and things like that over to our Patreon bonus episodes. We’re not doing so much of that on the regular show, trying to get right into the content for you all. But since we started our Patreon episodes, we haven’t focused as much on our friendship here in the main podcast, but we are still friends. Promise.

Caroline: We are?

Helen: Yeah, right?

Caroline: No, of course we are. We are totally still friends, and we still, you know, get to work on the podcast all the time together which is such a gift because it means that we get to keep in touch, even though we live far away from each other now.

Helen: Yeah. So in this episode we thought we’d do a good catch-up and then answer some questions from listeners and then, of course, at the end, Sam and Shea are going to join us for a few questions from us and we’re going to play a little game, but first we have a voicemail from Beverly.

Beverly: Hi, this is Beverly and I’m calling from Baltimore, Maryland. And I’ve been wanting to make this comment for awhile. People always say that they can’t tell Caroline and Helen apart, but I have a tip for you, if that’s you. So when they’re talking about clothing being against the skin or moving something against the grain, um, Helen says it like I do, uh-ghenst, but Caroline says, uh-gain-st. So if you get the opportunity to hear them say those words, then you’ll know who’s who.

Caroline: Thank you so much for calling in with this, Beverly. I love this comment, and I imagine that there are several examples of this, where we say words differently. I can remember, um, early on in the show we used to pronounce contribute, or I would say con-trib-you-t or no, you would say, con-trib-you-t. I would say contrib-you-t. I don’t know.

Helen: Both acceptable.

Caroline: Little things like that, where we say things differently could be a way that you could figure out who’s who, if anyone has any ideas of, of ways that you’ve been able to tell us apart in the past, let us know.

Helen: We always tell our guests that they can just imagine us as one, big, happy person because during the interview, it can also be challenging to tell us apart and figure out who’s asking the questions. So we’re like, don’t worry about it.

Caroline: Yeah. We’re just one person. Oh my gosh. Well, thank you so much again, Beverley, and yeah, let’s get into this anniversary episode, Helen. I’m really excited to catch up.

Helen: Me too. It’s so fun every month when we catch up on Patreon, and we share things that are going on in our personal lives and also, like, how our businesses are going. If you run a business, you might find that part of our Patreon episodes really interesting. So, Caroline, what’s been going on? I feel like we need an update over the last like year or two.

Caroline: I know. It’s been so long. I thought it would be fun to, kind of, share just some highlights of, like, what life is like lately for Caroline, for me. So, okay, well, on the personal side, um, just over a year ago, Shea and I moved out of the city. We were living in, uh, like, East Van Mount Pleasant area in an apartment. And we decided to move into a rental house in West Van, near Horseshoe Bay in this area called Caulfield. It’s really cute and quaint, and it feels like its own little community, but it’s still, like, a 30 minute drive from my office, even less some days. Uh, so still very much commutable. And this was, like, mid-pandemic, and Shea was working from home full-time, he’s still working from home full-time, so it just felt like the right move for us.

We were craving more space and more outdoors-y-ness. And yeah, we love this house so much. It’s big enough to have guests stay with us and big enough for all of our hobbies. And it has this amazing garden with space for Pepper to play fetch. It’s really a dream, and we love it so much. We feel really lucky that we found this place. Right now, we’re, kind of, like, hoping to stay here until we can save enough money to maybe buy a house some day. So we’ll be here for a while, hopefully, if all goes well, cause we really do love it here.

And then I don’t think I’ve actually shared this on the regular show, but Shea and I actually got engaged last year. He proposed on Christmas Eve 2020, and it was super lovely. He wrote me a song and then we went out and picked out a ring together, and it’s, like, a really beautiful, simple, emerald stone in a gold setting, and I’m super obsessed with it. And green actually reminds me of Shea and, like, living in the Pacific Northwest. So it, kind of, has a special meaning to me, too. But if anyone’s wondering, which you probably aren’t, but I’ll just tell you, we aren’t planning the wedding yet, but it’ll probably happen sometime in 2023. So that’s another little exciting development.

Helen: Yay! Congratulations! I know I’ve said it before.

Caroline: Thank you!

Helen: But it’s awesome. I’m so happy for you. And it makes sense to put off the planning a little bit, what with everything being up in the air right now. So wait, and then you’ll just be calmer.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Yeah, I’m definitely not ready to dive into that yet. We’ve got a lot of other stuff going on and also just, you know, who knows? I don’t want to postpone a wedding, so we’re going to give it some time. And then yeah, over the past year and a half, I have fallen hard for pottery and ceramics. I have, kind of, mentioned it in passing on the show before, but Shea and I actually do this together. This is one of the reasons why we wanted to move into a bigger place so that we could have space for, like, a home pottery studio.

Uh, we took a class together in February 2020, January/February, 2020. And then we joined, uh, that studio for a little while, and we just were, like, completely in love with pottery. And, uh, Shea is amazing at it. I’m, like, okay at it, but Shea really is, like, so creative, um, and he’s an artist in his day job, so it just translates really well to pottery, and he just loves it so much. So we have a studio at home now which is awesome, and it’s just been really fun to do a hobby with our partner, like, with my partner, I don’t know.

I’ve never had something like that before where we can sort of work together, but we’re working on different things, and we can relate on this new level. And we’ve also, like, learned a lot about each other through the process because when you’re going through a creative process, sometimes it can be frustrating. Sometimes it can be challenging and hard. Sometimes it can be really fun. And we’re, sort of, like, seeing each other through those different phases in this creative process. So it’s been really fun to support each other through this.

Helen: Yeah. And you guys have made some really cool stuff. Like, I’ve been so impressed.

Caroline: Oh yeah. It’s so fun. We even have our own, like, little kiln setup now. So we can do it from, like, start to finish, the whole process. We don’t have to take our pieces anywhere to be fired. And Shea is really into mixing our own glazes, so that’s, like, a whole other world. And that has been, it’s been really fun to experiment with that. A lot of trial and error. Uh, pottery is definitely not a hobby where, like, everything you make turns out really well. We have a whole box of things that we don’t like that we’ve made that whenever people come over, we’re like, go check out the box. See if you want anything. But yeah, no, it’s, it’s been such a fun and, like, enriching hobby for our lives, so we’re really happy.

Helen: You know, my mom was a potter for many years and still does pottery and what she does with the things that don’t turn out is she smashes them and uses them as, like, drainage in pots for her garden.

Caroline: Which is so smart.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: I’ve heard, I mean, so many people do different things with these pieces, and at the end of the day, like, sometimes you just, if it’s really bad or unusable, you can just throw it out. It’s, you know, it’s not the end of the world, but we try to recycle as much as we can.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: But yeah, no. And your mom is so, it’s been so nice to connect with your mom a little bit, too, through pottery. She gave me a few things from her studio when she was cleaning out her studio and some really awesome books. So I’m really grateful that she was willing to chat with me about pottery and connect with me on that level, too.

Helen: Oh yeah. She was so excited. It’s amazing when new people want to take up pottery. it’s such a, like, vast hobby and the, like, there’s a lot of barriers to entry as far as getting a studio set up, so it’s amazing what you guys have accomplished already.

Caroline: Oh, yeah, it’s been really fun. And aside from that, um, home life is, like, a lot of Pepper and Fraidy snuggles. Shea’s also learning to play piano which has been really fun. And I continue to love cooking, elaborate meals for Shea, right now, but also family and friends when they come over. And obviously I fit in sewing whenever I can. So that’s, kind of, just been life lately, is just being at home, hanging out, living, like, a bit of a slower life. It’s been really nice.

Helen: Aw, that sounds great.

Caroline: Yeah. And then at Blackbird, um, I wrote down, I’m still learning and growing each day.

Helen: Wow. It’s a little cheesy.

Caroline: I know, but it’s true. I mean, like, I, we just celebrated our seven year business birthday, and, uh, I’m definitely proud of how far we’ve come. I have a team of 20 people working with me now, and my role has changed so much over the last couple of years. You know, instead of leading my whole team, now I have managers handling different departments and key functions of the business. And I feel like I’ve really come to this place where I’m wearing, like, the quote-unquote CEO hat which is, kind of, wild, but it’s true.

Like, I make the major decisions, and I handle the finances of the business, and I do, like, the big picture thinking, planning, strategizing, and making sure everything is functioning well overall, but I’m not so much, like, working in the day-to-day grind of the business anymore. It’s, like, much more removed from that which is different and nice and comes with its own set of challenges, but it’s been a really interesting, uh, couple years of my role just, sort of, changing and evolving.

Helen: Yeah. I cannot believe you have 20 people working with you and that amazing new space that you moved into a couple of years ago, it still looks gorgeous, and you’ve expanded even beyond that to the place next door. It’s just…

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: …it’s so fast. It’s happening so fast.

Caroline: I know! Sometimes it feels like a bit of a runaway train, but I’m working on that because one of the things that I want to work on is just feeling a little bit more grounded, like, in my personal life, because I think that having this business that’s growing so quickly and the stress that goes along with that has made me feel, like, a little bit reactive and not just, like, stable, you know, in my day-to-day life, so I’ve been working on that.

I actually recently hired a leadership coach to help me figure out, like, what the next five years looks like at Blackbird. I, kind of, see her as like my life slash leadership slash executive coach because she does a lot of things. Um, and she helps me in a lot of different ways. She’s also, like, helping me to feel more grounded in my purpose and manage my, sort of, stress and anxiety in a more sustainable way, so working with her has been a huge game changer and really, really helpful for my mental health and just for, like, my day-to-day, kind of, managing all of my responsibilities and stuff, so that’s been really, really cool.

But I don’t want to lie. Some parts of running this business have been really hard. Like, I feel so passionate and connected to my business, but that also, for me, means that I take a lot of work home, and I get stressed and anxious if something isn’t going well or going perfectly. So I don’t want everyone to think it’s just, like, sunshine and roses over here. I know, like, sometimes, especially on social media, everything can look so great. So yeah, I know my struggle is not unique, and I’m really thankful that my business is thriving. Don’t get me wrong. We have the best customers at Blackbird and just like we have the best listeners at Love to Sew, um, I love you guys so much, but yeah, it’s been, it’s been a challenge, but it’s also been really fun. So yeah.

Helen: Yeah. It’s so, again, just incredible how much the business has grown, and it’s been so fun to watch, and I think you’ve made incredible strides in the last two years. Like, truly amazing.

Caroline: Thank you. You’ve seen me through it all every month on Patreon. We get to catch up, and you get to hear all of my updates and stories.

Helen: I love it. It’s like an audio journal. I feel like it’s something that you’re probably going to look back on, and it will be very interesting to hear how you were feeling in those moments, you know?

Caroline: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I thought I’d give a little sewing update, too, because I have really been pushing myself to wear and sew with more color in the last year, and it’s been such a source of joy for me. Like, I used to be all about the muted, like, rusts and greens and denim blues and blacks and grays. And I mean, I still love those colors.

They’re definitely still in my wardrobe, but now I also wear purple and bright red and white and chartreuse and royal blue. And I’m really, really loving it. I love, kind of, expressing myself a little bit more through color and based on my mood and what I wear every day. And I just want to say it’s never too late to redefine your style. I think it helps for me that all of the birdies at Blackbird wear amazing handmade outfits on the daily, and they are definitely a constant source of inspiration for me to, like, push myself a little bit out of my style comfort zone. But yeah, wear more color. It’s really fun.

Helen: I do feel like working at Blackbird would be so fun just for the fashion inspiration and the encouragement to wear some of those more statement pieces that you might not necessarily feel comfortable wearing in a lot of work settings. Uh, but when we see the behind the scenes at Blackbird, I’m like, oh my gosh, I want to be on this team just so I can also wear, like, a bold, floral print, floor length dress to work, you know?

Caroline: And I mean, we have a lot of different people working for us and different styles, so it’s really fun to see how different individuals play around with our fabrics and yeah, totally, like, constant source of inspiration every day, so it’s a, it’s a real fun place to work in that way. But that’s my catch up, Helen. I want to hear how you’re doing and, yeah, catch everyone up on, on life lately in Helen’s world.

Helen: Yes, okay, so life update: some of you may know this, but a couple of years ago, Sam and I moved to a new town on Vancouver Island. We’re about five hours journey away from Vancouver, and we’ve been really loving it. Like, this change of scenery and change of pace has been great in so many ways for us. We were able to get a dog. Our dog, Emma, she’s a six year old Rottweiler, and she’s very sweet.

Um, and that’s meant that we’ve been spending a lot more time outdoors in the past year or so because we take her for walks every day. And we’ve just been doing more exploring, like hiking and going to various beaches and stuff, trying to find new places to hang out with her. And we’ve also taken up more water sports like paddleboarding, um, a little bit of kayaking, thanks to our proximity to the beaches here, and swimming and being in the water is, like, our top tier activity for both of us. So any chance we get, we just want to be in the water.

There’s lakes, there’s oceans, there’s rivers here, and they’re all within 30 minutes of our house, so we’ve been taking full advantage of that. And we even got wetsuits so that we could go swimming in the off-season, too. And it’s so much fun to go on, like, a blustery, November day down to the beach in your wetsuit and just, like, get in the waves and just, like, bounce around for, like, half an hour and then go home.

Caroline: It’s so awesome, and I have to say, Emma is amazing. Just to go back to Emma for a second.

Helen: Of course.

Caroline: I love your dog so much. She’s so sweet, and her and Pepper have met a few times, and they get along really well which is such a bonus for us.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: But yeah, water’s amazing, Helen. I agree.

Helen: Yeah, I know, and I, you know, we used to live in Vancouver which is also a coastal city. There’s tons of beaches and lots of water access around Vancouver, too. But it’s just one of those things where we were just, like, that much further from the water, and there’s that much more traffic ,and things are busy, and we didn’t even have a car for most of the time that we were living in, in East Van in our apartment, so it just wasn’t that feasible to go to the beach on the day-to-day. But these days, we try to go, like, once a day, if we can, and it’s just been such a really positive change in our lives. Lots of nice relaxing beach strolls, you know?

Caroline: And what’s it been like living in, like, a smaller town? I feel like I would love not having to line up for brunch. That would be, like, a huge one for me, but what, what has it been like for you?

Helen: Um, it has been really nice. I do miss certain aspects of the city, like the variety of cuisines that you can get. Um, we definitely don’t have as many options here for food, like going out to restaurants and also groceries. But other than that, it’s been amazing. And particularly, I found just the people here to be so friendly and welcoming. And a lot of folks here are from Vancouver, Victoria, like, larger cities that are nearby, so we’ve connected with lots of people who have similar stories to us, like, wanting to move to a smaller place and, and just, like, have a smaller community.

And I’ve connected with some local sewists here, too, and that’s been amazing. That’s, like, kind of, the source of how I got to meet people when I moved here which is pretty cool when you think about it. Like, otherwise, I wouldn’t have known anybody, but because of this wonderful hobby that we share, I ended up meeting up with a few people and become good friends, so that’s been really awesome. But yeah, I do enjoy the less traffic. When people complain about traffic here, I just laugh. It’s, like, nothing compared to Vancouver which has notoriously bad traffic, but yeah, it’s just been really nice, a little bit of a change of pace and change of scenery and to switch things up a little bit.

Caroline: Oh, good. I’m glad. You definitely, you guys were an inspiration for us when we were thinking about moving, we were like, oh, it seems so nice. Helen and Sam have so much more space. And that’s, kind of, like, was one of the things that inspired us to look for a house to rent so that we could have that, too, because it seemed so nice.

Helen: It is really nice to have extra space. And speaking of that, we’ve actually taken up some new hobbies since we moved, too, because we now have a garage, kind of, workshop space. So I knew that I wanted to take up woodworking. I’ve always wanted to. My dad does a lot of woodworking, and I did some in high school, and I worked with him on a few projects. And so as soon as I had the garage space, I got myself a miter saw and, like, built a miter saw bench and a table and some shelving. And then I started building, like, trellises and planters for my yard. I haven’t done any indoor projects yet, but I am excited to try making some, like, legit furniture which involves a little bit more polish and finishing. But I’ve been enjoying doing the outdoor projects where you can just, kind of, screw boards together and be like, yeah, I did it.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Yeah, it’s been so fun. I’ll definitely share some pictures of the miter saw station I built cause I’m pretty proud of that. Um, and then I also took up spoon carving because Sam got me a spoon carving kit for Christmas, so that’s been really fun. So I’ve been enjoying working with wood. It’s, sort of, similar to fabric and sewing in that you’re assembling something from pieces, but the, the actual thing, like wood versus fabric, even though some fabrics are made of wood pulp, they’re pretty different when you’re actually handling them and the tools that you use, so it has been really interesting to, kind of, switch gears and try a different hobby.

And then I also started gardening in a major way because we’re on about a third of an acre here, and there’s a lot of garden beds and a lot of beautiful, established plants which I’m very grateful to have inherited, and I just want to make sure that they don’t die. So I’ve been learning a lot about how to care for all these plants, and I’ve been having so much fun playing around and learning all about the different plants that you can grow in our climate. And I have a very shady garden, so that’s been a fun challenge, just figuring out, like, what I can put in my garden that will actually thrive in the shade. Um, so if anyone has any fave shade plants they want to share, please do.

Caroline: Awesome.

Helen: Yeah, and, of course, I haven’t stopped sewing. I’m still doing loads of sewing for the business and personally, and I’ve actually taken up quilting recently, so that has been another great creative outlet for me that’s sewing, but it’s not related to work, so for me, it really does feel like a personal sewing thing that I can do, and I’ve kept it pretty separate from my business, and I’m just enjoying working with cottons that I wouldn’t normally get to work with in my business and the process of sewing. We actually have an episode coming up all about quilting. So the process of quilting is just a little different, and I’m really enjoying that, too.

Caroline: Yeah, and tell everyone what you’re making for your first quilt.

Helen: Oh yes. I’m making a bed-sized, we’re laughing because this has been a struggle. I’m halfway through, but it’s a lot of blocks. It’s 40 blocks in this quilt. I’m making the Nova Star Quilt from Then Came June, and it’s going well. Yeah, I’m over halfway done with the blocks, and I have really been enjoying it. I’m mixing and matching loads of different, fun colors to keep myself interested and excited about the project.

Caroline: It’s so beautiful. I mean, I am so impressed with you and your quilting journey because you’ve gone full on with the bed-sized quilt, and the blocks that you’re doing are so intricate looking. Like, I can’t imagine how much time it takes to put together a block, and it just seems, like, really hard to me to wrap my head around all those points.

Helen: I tend to do this when I get into a new hobby, like when I first took up knitting, I was like, I’m going to make a color work sweater.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Out of fingering weight yarn, like, and I did it, and it was really, really hard, but it’s almost like I like to dive in, like, literally to the deep end and then swim to the shallow end after.

Caroline: I mean, that’s, if that’s what you enjoy in a creative hobby, then that’s absolutely what you should do.

Helen: Thank you. I’m really, I’m committed to finishing this quilt. I’m going to do it.

Caroline: Oh, you 100% will do it.

Helen: Yeah. It may take years, but it’s going to happen.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And then at Helen’s Closet, it’s been a pretty exciting past year because it’s been all about getting more help with my business. I did feel like I hit a bit of a wall about a year and a half ago where I was feeling so overwhelmed, and like, burnout was, like, right around the corner. Like, I’m like, if I keep feeling this way on, like, a day-to-day or week-to-week basis, like, I’m going to get to a point where I don’t want to do this anymore.

And that’s obviously not where you want to be because I do love making patterns, and I love sewing, and I love my community and my customers, but it was just all of the things, like, having to do all of the development and marketing and social media and administration, accounting, and like, I didn’t really have anybody helping me with anything other than Sam, of course, my support system and helping me with emails.

But this year I’ve brought on so many more people to help with the business, and it’s been a really positive experience. So I am super proud of the changes that we’ve made in the past year, and I’m really thankful for the freelancers that I now have helping me out regularly. It’s been a total game changer.

Caroline: Good Congrats. That is so awesome that you made those changes. You, like, saw the problem, you figured it out, and now you’re in a better place.

Helen: Yes. Yeah. So now, if anyone’s curious, I have a social media manager, uh, I have a pattern developer, a customer service person, that’s Sam. If you email us asking for your pattern files, he’s the one who will get back to you. Um, a sample sewer and a newsletter and blog content creator/curator person. So in addition to our pattern drafter that we work with to draft our patterns. So it’s a lot. There’s a lot of people involved now, and I do spend more time touching base with all those people and meeting with them each week.

But, it doesn’t feel too much like I’m managing a bunch of people. It feels more like I actually have a team, um, and that’s really exciting, and I’m really enjoying that feeling and not having to, like, bear the full load myself, um, and spreading the responsibilities around and just having other people to weigh in and pitch ideas and, and get excited about things that we’re doing in the business. So I really look forward to seeing what more we can do with all these people in the next year and potentially hiring more help as well. I’ve really seen the light of what can be, so I’m just really excited about the prospects.

Caroline: Aw, congrats. You have also come a long way in the last couple years. So, congratulations on where you’re at.

Helen: Aw, thank you.

Caroline: It’s a good place to be.

Helen: I also feel grateful that there’s been such a boom in sewing. Like, I do think that that, sort of, stereotypical like, I made a mask, and now I make my clothes. This thing happened for a lot of people. Like, it was a real thing, and we’re still seeing new people coming in every day and buying patterns and discovering the podcast and fabrics. And it’s just so fun to have new people coming in. And I’m so grateful for, like, the boost in the business. Um, and I hope that’s a trend that continues.

Caroline: Aw, yay.

Helen: Yeah. So currently we are working on patterns for release in 2022, but taking a little bit of a break from releasing things this fall, um, so that we can get ahead. I’ve always wanted to be working a bit further ahead, but I’ve never really been able to achieve that. And I’m often, like, developing patterns down to the wire, but in order to get ahead, I, kind of, need to take a breather and then start working on things off-season. So right now we’re working for, like, the end of winter and spring of 2022, and I’ll tell you what we have planned if you’re curious.

Caroline: Uh, yeah.

Helen: We have a classic button up shirt with the collar stand and the plackets, and I’m just so excited about the instructions for this one cause they’re going to be amazing. We are also working on a pair of jeans. Ah, jeans!

Caroline: Ah! My gosh!

Helen: I’ve always wanted to do jeans in the collection, and it’s a little intimidating, but I’m so excited with the direction that these jeans are going. They are tapered but loose fitting still, and they have, like, a high waist, nineties’ style, I don’t want to call them a mom jean cause I’m not a huge fan of the term, but I would say they’re more, like, an original cut.

Caroline: Mhm. Okay. I feel like this is right up my alley.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: I cannot wait to make them.

Helen: I think you’ll really like them.

Caroline: I’m so excited.

Helen: And then we have a wrap top coming out as well as a pair of undies that I’m really excited about. These have been a long time coming. I’ve teased them on the show previously, and I just did not get around to them in 2021, so those are still on the docket. And then we started doing a new overalls design which I’m really excited about. I love my Yantas, but these ones are going to be a little different, a different direction. Who says you can’t have two overalls in your collection?

Caroline: Oh, nobody. I mean, I would never say that.

Helen: Right? Why not have three? Anyways, we’re so excited for all the new patterns, and I can’t wait to share more, and thanks for listening to me ramble.

Caroline: Yeah. Well, thank you to everyone for listening to both of us ramble. Hopefully, that was fun for you to get a little catch-up. Um, but we did ask our listeners to send in questions, and you guys definitely delivered, so let’s get into some questions.

Helen: Yes. The first one is very much for you, Caroline. @weedstowildflowers asked, “What are your favorite recent recipes?”

Caroline: Uh, yes. Well, they, they actually said, “What is your favorite recent recipe?” but I could not pick just one, so I appreciate that reframe, Helen.

Helen: I knew this would happen.

Caroline: Um, I share recipes a lot on Patreon, as well, cause I’m always trying to make different new things, and I love sharing my favorites. So I have three today. The first one is so good and adaptable. It’s not the most seasonal because it includes tomatoes, but, um, or fresh tomatoes, but I had to mention it because it’s one of my new favorites. It’s bon apétit’s Falafel-Spiced Tomatoes and Chickpeas on Flatbread. And this recipe actually has you make flatbread, but I’ve done it with, like, thicker pita bread or, like, a naan bread, um, any kind of flatbread that you can buy in the store totally works.

I think the star of this is really the yogurt, and there’s, like, a spice mixture that you’re putting on top of the tomatoes and chickpeas and, and, kind of, layer it on top, and you, sort of, eat it like an open-faced sandwich or something. Um, but it’s so good. It has, like, warm spices and, like, a really fresh, tangy yogurt. And I really like mixing the spices into the chickpeas and almost making, like, a chickpea salad. This is where it comes, the adaptable side comes in. Like, you can have it as, like, a flatbread, but you can also have it almost deconstructed in a bowl. And it’s just so, so good. The flavors are amazing and just really, like, refreshing, a great vegetarian meal if you’re looking for veggie meals. So had to plug that one.

Second recipe I need to share, because Shea and I are obsessed right now, is Smitten Kitchen’s hot fudge. We’re living, like, a hot fudge lifestyle right now, okay? We both love ice cream, and we have, like, our little bowl of vanilla ice cream with hot fudge almost every night, and it’s so, so good. This recipe makes, like, a tub of it, and then you can keep it in your fridge, and you just warm up, like, a scoop and it’s delightful. So I need to, need to tell everyone to try it.

Helen: Cannot stress this enough.

Caroline: And then finally, I recently made the Strip Steak au Poivre recipe from Molly Baz which is in her cookbook, Cook This Book, but it’s also online, so we’ll link it in the show notes. Really good, like, fancy steak recipe if you’re looking for something to make for guests or for a loved one, or just for yourself, if you want to treat yourself. So, so good. It has, like, cognac and onions and, like, lots of pepper in it. It’s delicious. So those are my three favorite recipes, but I have to say, it was practically impossible to choose. I could go on.

Helen: I really think you need to start a food blog, Caroline. Come on. Give the people what they want.

Caroline: Shea keeps telling me I need to, like, have, like, a cookbook, like, write, eventually release a cookbook.

Helen: Aw! That would be so great.

Caroline: Alright, our next question is for you, Helen. And it’s from @selenatothemax, “I know Helen’s mentioned playing board games in the past. What is your and Sam’s current favorite?”

Helen: Oh, I love this question. Yes, we still very much enjoy board games. I mean, there was a little bit of a lull there during the pandemic where we were just playing two player games all the time, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Two player games can be awesome, um, but it’s exciting to be able to play in person with people. And one of our favorite games right now is called Wingspan, and it is a bird collecting themed game. So you have a habitat, and then it’s a card-based game where you get to, like, put, play birds in your habitat and then you lay eggs on them, and it’s just so satisfying. We’ve really been enjoying it. It’s absolutely beautiful, too, which is something I always gravitate towards in a board game. So definitely recommend Wingspan.

The next one is called Gans Shon Clever, and that’s a German game. Translates to, “That’s Pretty Clever.” And it’s a dice rolling game where you fill out a chart as you roll the die, and it’s super satisfying. Great two player, but it scales upm and it’s a fast one, too. Fast and small, so a good travel game.

And then lastly, for the people out there that love a long haul strategy game, the game Scythe. I feel like this is one of the best games ever made. It is just so good. Sam’s actually currently painting all of the minis that come with this game, and I think he’ll be done by the time this comes out, so we’ll get a picture for the show notes, but he’s been working really hard on that. And it’s one of our absolute favorite games. Uh, I think it plays up to nine if you get the expansion. So that’s a, that’s a big one if you have that many people, it can take, like, five or six hours. So it’s a commitment…

Caroline: Wow.

Helen: …but thoroughly enjoyable, like, area control, kind of, game.

Caroline: Sounds awesome.

Helen: I know I am such a board game nerd.

Caroline: What is an area control game? I have no idea, but I’m sure there are people out there who will know what you’re talking about.

Helen: Well, you know, like, Risk or something, like, classic, like, I got this area, you have that area, and then we’re trying to, like, get more areas and take over each other’s spaces.

Caroline: Cool.

Helen: Yeah. Cool.

Caroline: Awesome.

Helen: Is it though? It is, yeah, it is.

Caroline: It is. It totally is. Oh my gosh. Okay. This next question is a difficult one to answer, but we have to try. It’s from @faithmonster93, and they wrote, “What is your favorite garment you have ever sewn for yourself and why?”

Helen: Oh, I missed the “and why?” part. I don’t know if I can do ever sewn. I had to go back and look at my blog to, like, see what I’ve made over the years and try to pick something. But I just went with this year because I couldn’t narrow it down. So, um, this year, my favorite two makes have been my boiled wool Pona Jacket. It’s, like, a long, almost floor length, gray boiled wool Pona Jacket, where I did all the exposed seaming, and I made some modifications to the pattern to have some really cool style lines happening. And it is just so luxurious. I feel like I am like a queen when I’m wearing this jacket, and it’s just perfect. I don’t wear it often. I’ll admit that. But when I do, I feel so…

Caroline: It’s so chic.

Helen: …so chic. And then second is my railroad striped Yanta Overalls because these make me feel so freaking cute. I just love wearing them. I’m, like, walking on cloud nine when I’m wearing these overalls. And I really like the belt loops that I added to the pattern to, like, cinch it in at the waist. So we’ll put pics in the show notes. How about you, Caroline?

Caroline: Oh my gosh. This was really hard. I also, like, went back and looked at my Instagram and I went to my closet and I, like, stared at my closet for a while. I was like, what is my favorite? And it, sort of, depends to me, like, what I’m weighing, you know. Is it, like, my favorite in a sentimental way? Or is it my favorite in the sense that it gets the most wear?

So I’m going to say more on the side of, like, a garment that has served me super well, and that I still love to wear, like, even a couple of years after making it. And that is my black Yanta Overalls. And I would say the reason is because they can take me from, like, a cute outfit at work to the pottery studio, and I always feel really adorable in them. I always get compliments on them. People always ask me like, where I bought them or what the pattern is if they sew. They just, like, are really comfortable. They’re really easy to throw on. And now they’re mostly just, like, my pottery studio overalls. And I just love them so much. They’ve seen, like, a lot of life out of life, a lot of my life.

Helen: They’ve seen some stuff.

Caroline: They’ve seen some things. Yeah.

Helen: This is a thing I find with Yana Overalls and I’m, I know I’m tooting my own horn right now, but every time I wear them, people ask me where I got them or compliment me on them. They are, like, very comment-able. And I’ve heard this from other folks as well. Like, every time I wear these someone inevitably asks me about them.

Caroline: Yeah, no, absolutely. Absolutely. They’re such a good pattern.

Helen: Alright, Carolyn from [@covestitchworks] wants to know, “Favorite indoor plant?”

Caroline: Oh, this one is really hard, too, because my house is brimming with plants, and they’re all my babies. It’s, like, really hard to pick a favorite, but if I have to pick a favorite, uh, it would be my dwarf fiddle leaf fig. I got it recently, and I have not killed it yet. It’s actually quite happy right now, and it’s so cute. It’s, like, a fiddle leaf fig but mini.

Helen: Aw, I want one.

Caroline: I love it so much, so that would be my favorite right now. What about you?

Helen: Ooh,, I have to say I have a Ctenanthe, which I had to look up the pronunciation of because it starts with a C, surprise C, but it’s commonly known as the Never Never Plant. And the leaves on this plant are so beautiful. The underside is, kind of, reddish and then the front side is, like, a sage-y green with, like, a forest green outline. It’s, like, stripey almost. Just gorgeous.

And I have to mention, also, that I have a very large fiddle leaf fig that I had at my office in Vancouver, and it almost died in the move. Something fell on it in the truck and snapped one of its, like, main branches off.

Caroline: No!

Helen: And then it was, like, wilting and, like, dropping all its leaves for months, and I, like, persevered, I just, like, kept watering it, and I was like, you’re gonna be okay. And it’s finally bounced back, so that has been so much fun to watch. It’s about, like, nine feet tall, and I’m just really glad it survived because I think it’s so awesome.

Caroline: Oh, it is no joke that plant. It is huge.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: And very happy. Last time I was at your place, it looked very happy.

Helen: Yes. I think it has finally come around, and it’s enjoying its new spot.

Caroline: Congrats. You brought it back to life. @e_sassyflower asked, “Favorite animal?”

Helen: Oh, I love this question. I love octopuses, and I loved them before the Octopus Teacher came out. Although, that was a really great little bit of television. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Caroline: Isn’t it octopi, not octopuses?

Helen: Oh yeah. You’re right. Helen, how can you love octopi if you don’t even know how to say octopi?

Caroline: That’s okay. I totally, um, did not do this question right, I don’t think, because I put Pepper is my favorite animal.

Helen: Like choosing between your pets?

Caroline: Yeah. Or just, like, generally fav-, she’s just my favorite animal in the whole world.

Helen: But you, you and Shea have been very honest that, like, Pepper is your favorite, and Fraidy is Shea’s favorite, so they both get love.

Caroline: Yes, they do. Yes. Yes. Fraidy is Shea’s boy, and Pepper is my girl. Absolutely. And I think that they, it’s, like, a mutual feeling. Like, Fraidy definitely loves Shea more than me, and Pepper loves me maybe a little bit more than Shea.

Helen: Fair.

Caroline: So, it’s okay. Oh my gosh. Okay. What’s this next question, Helen?

Helen: @thelyristitch asks, “If you could bring back any fashion trend, what would you pick?”

Caroline: Okay. I did some Googling for this one cause I was like, I, I feel like fashion trends recycle often, and so a lot of the ones that I was thinking of are ones that, like, already are being brought back or already are, have been brought back out.

Helen: Or the ones I could think of that came to mind is, like, things I wore when I was, like, early teens, I would, I don’t want them to come back.

Caroline: Yeah. Like, I don’t want the low waisted jeans to come back from my, from my high school years.

Helen: I feel like there was a couple of, there were everyone had, like, a sweater and a sweatpants that had, like, cute written across, like, the chest or the butt.

Caroline: No, but I was thinking don’t you think that, like, really lovely, fancy gloves would be fun, especially right now?

Helen: Yes!

Caroline: At the time that we were living, I was looking it up and in the early 20th century, gloves were worn practically everywhere, regardless of the occasion. So I feel like we should bring that back.

Helen: It makes so much sense. I was just thinking the other day that I would love to have a pair of, like, well-fitting leather gloves that, like, molds to your hand, even, like, a faux leather that would just, like, I don’t know, grow into your hand and, like, become super comfy, and I think that would be a step up from my, like, dollar store gloves that I usually wear in wintertime.

Caroline: What is your fashion trend that you would like to bring back?

Helen: Well, I don’t know if these are out of style necessarily, but bandanas because Sam has been wearing these a lot lately, like, tying them around his forehead and wearing them under, like, a ball cap or just, like, cause to, you know, to keep the hair, because he’s growing his hair out, so to keep that out of his eyes, and they look so cute. You can tie them around your neck, or you can tie them around your pets. I mean…

Caroline: Oh, it’s so cute. Shea used to wear bandanas when I first met him, like that, like across his forehead like that.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: So cute.

Helen: It is adorable.

Caroline: I love that look.

Helen: I think that’s awesome. So bring back the bandana.

Caroline: Yeah, bring it back.

Helen: Okay, now we have a few questions about our businesses. Maya wrote, “Hey Helen and Caroline! I recently started a small business, and I am wondering if you have any advice or things you wish you’d known or realized in your first year. Much love!”

Caroline: This is a good question that I actually get asked a lot, and I feel like it’s hard to say because I wouldn’t necessarily change how things went with my business. I feel like I learned a lot and yeah, just, like, every experience that you have as a business owner buil-, you build on that, and you learn from that. And so I probably wouldn’t be where I am today without all of the things that happened before, including all the mistakes that I made.

But one thing I did think of is that I wish I had sought out a quote unquote board of directors early on in my, like, personal/professional life. I’m using quotes because I’m not talking, like, board of directors, like, you know, shareholders or, or, you know, like a, an official board of directors. It’s more just a group of people that you really trust and you can talk business to and use as, like, a sounding board support system, and that will give you honest feedback.

So not necessarily, like, your partner or your best friend, but somebody who maybe has a little bit of a business background or maybe extended family or friend of a friend, just people who you can connect with. And sometimes you can find that person or those people through, like, a small business group. And I know I joined a small business group a few years into my business, and that was amazing for me to keep me accountable and keep me moving forward. So I wish I had done that sooner, like, joined a small business group or done something to try to connect with people that are in the same stage of their business as me.

Um, because in my first couple of years I was quite isolated. I was working from home. I was doing everything myself, and that was really hard. And I think it, sort of, meant that things moved a little bit slower in those days. And I was really hard on myself, and I think it would have been helpful to connect with other business owners at that time in my business.

Helen: Yeah. That’s a really good piece of advice, and it can be challenging when you feel like you don’t have all the answers or you don’t know what you’re doing, to walk into those spaces and share with other business owners, and you feel intimidated about, like, what are they going to think of me if I don’t know how to do my accounting properly? Or, like, things like that. But you learn so much, and people are generally very supportive in those kind of environments. So that’s great advice.

Caroline: Yeah. What about you?

Helen: I thought about this for a while, and the one thing that kept coming up was that I wish I had, like, let myself appreciate where I was at, rather than thinking about where I wanted to be so much. And I know you want to, like, think about your goals and that can help to push you forward, and it’s really great to have, like, a vision for where you see your business and where you see yourself, but that can sometimes take away from all the amazing stuff you’re doing when you’re small, and being small is so awesome. Like, you have more chances to connect one-on-one with people and your customers. You have more freedom to explore ideas and take your time. You might have less time pressure in the early days of your business.

Um, and there’s so many firsts to celebrate. So I also want to say, like, don’t skip the celebrations. Like, you only do things first once. You’re only going to launch your first product once or get your first customer once or make your first dollar once. And like, yes, you know, if you make $10, you might think to yourself, like, well, that’s fine, but obviously, I need to be making way more than that to, like, support myself and sustain myself and be where I want to be in five years.

But you made $10, it’s so cool. Like, you made that money. Really need to stop and appreciate those small wins and, like, take pictures and document because it’s so cool that you’re doing this, and you are going to want to look back at those early years. So I definitely recommend taking your time, enjoying being small, and documenting and celebrating the small wins.

Caroline: This is such good advice, Helen. This is something my leadership coach is trying to have me do more, even right now at this stage in my business, because I feel like as a business owner, you focus so much on the challenges and that’s, like, what, kind of, occupies your brain space most of the time. So when something goes well and something is worth celebrating, it’s so important to take that time to acknowledge that, as a business owner, even if it’s just, like, a toast with your partner that evening or doing some kind of a self-care act for yourself and recognizing, like, I’m doing this because I’m celebrating this success that I had or this milestone that I reached. So that’s such good advice.

Helen: Yay. I love giving out business advice.

Caroline: Okay. Elizabeth @poppinselizabeth wrote, “I am wanting to start my own pattern making business and want to ask Helen how you got the skills needed to draft and sell patterns and how you got started.”

Helen: Ooh, perfect. More business advice. Okay. I do recommend Pattern Workshop. It’s an online course that you can take, and it is specifically about indie pattern design in this niche industry. It’s, kind of, the only course available right now of its kind. It’s quite good. So I would recommend checking that out. We’ll link it in the show notes. I also recommend the book Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Helen Joseph Armstrong, fellow Helen. Um, just a great book. They often use this book in fashion design school. Um, it outlines how to draft lots of different things. Um, so it’s a really great learning resource if you want to just start playing around with drafting stuff for yourself.

And then there are some cheaper software options out there. There’s Seamly2D which I believe has a free option. And then there’s Wild Ginger which is fairly affordable. A lot of drafting software can be really pricey. So before you get too far into it, maybe check out these cheaper alternatives first.

And then my last piece of advice is to sew all the indie patterns you can get your hands on. Of course, you can do the big four as well. You’ll learn lots from that experience, too, but sew lots of different companies. Take notes as you’re going along. What do you like? What do you don’t like? What are they doing well? What trends are you seeing? Um, how do you want to approach it?

Think about all of these things as you’re sewing these other indie patterns. It’s, sort of, like, competitive analysis, if you will. And you’re also gonna learn so much about sewing and lots of different techniques that you might want to incorporate in your patterns, too. So I think that is, like, the biggest thing that you can do right now if you’re interested in starting a pattern,making business and doing indie patterns, is just sew lots of indie patterns.

Alright, @iamacraftymama asks, “How do you balance your jobs, podcasts, and sewing life? What does that look like?”

Caroline: Ooh, it’s a, it’s a fun, fun thing to balance what we do.

Helen: Balance is an interesting word.

Caroline: No, honestly, I feel like I have become more balanced in recent years. Um, and part of that is just putting less pressure on myself to do it all. But in terms of my day job, which is Blackbird, uh, generally I work, like, a standard schedule of nine to five, Monday to Friday. Wednesdays, I work from home to give myself some, like, really focused work time and a little bit of flexibility in my schedule. I find having that break, working from home in the middle of my week, really helps with my, kind of, stress, anxiety, mental health, so that has been really great.

With the pod, so we used to meet a lot more often, but we’ve, sort of, managed to streamline things quite a bit with the podcast in recent years. So we batch record the pod four to five times a year for about two to three days straight. Is that, that’s probably accurate, right?

Helen: Yeah. I think that’s what we’ve been doing lately, and it’s been working so well. And yeah, those two to three days are great cause we take time off from our regular gigs, and we just get together on Zoom and we record, record, record.

Caroline: Exactly, and then we also meet monthly to record our bonus content for Patreon. And every week, especially during the season, uh, we have a call with our assistant where we can just, like, connect and catch up on everything that’s going on and, sort of, touch base on different projects and episode preps and all the different things that go into making this podcast run smoothly.

And I would say, like, the podcast is just, kind of, part of our routine now. It doesn’t feel like too much work. It’s, like, just enough. We’ve really managed to make some changes over the years to make it, like, a really sustainable side hustle for us, or I’ll speak for myself, I don’t know if you would agree, but, um, it feels very sustainable and just, like, part of my life now.

Helen: Um, I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you, Caroline, about…

Caroline: I thought you were serious for a second there. I was like, you’re going to do this now, Helen?

Helen: Now? Really? No, some of you may know we’ve switched to seasons in the last year, and that has been really great for both of us, just giving us a bit more time to prepare for the show and to work with our assistant to do that. So that has been a really great shift in making it more sustainable. I’m so glad we made that change because it did, sort of, reinvigorate our energy for the podcast.

Caroline: Yeah, definitely. I’m happy, too. And then in terms of my sewing life, um, I’m definitely in, like, a low pressure season of sewing. So I’m thrilled if I sew more than one garment a month, and I try to fit it in in, like, little chunks when I feel up for it. And I try not to worry too much about finishing a project, and I just, kind of, make small progress. So I sew a couple of times a month, I’d say, and I’ll just fit in whenever I can.

And then other life stuff that, kind of, balances between it all would be, like working out. I do a morning ritual now where I meditate and I gratitude journal, so that happens every day. I cook a lot. I go for walks with Pep. I do pottery. Staying grounded with my morning ritual has helped me so much to, like, focus and feel like I can, sort of, balance it all. So if anyone is feeling, like, ungrounded or out of balance, try a little, like, 15 minute morning ritual. It has really changed my life.

And yeah, sometimes, like, being able to balance it all just means, like, letting some things go and listening to my mind and my body when I need a break. Um, and really becoming more in tune with that has helped me to feel like I can balance all the things I have going on.

Helen: Yeah. I love hearing about your morning routine over on Patreon.

Caroline: So tell me, how do you balance it all, Helen?

Helen: Well, I will say the balance has improved a lot in the last year thanks to all of the help that I was talking about earlier. So for my work day, I work about five hours a day on Helen’s Closet stuff, usually, um, from about eight to two, so more in the morning time, and then I’ll take a bit, a lunch in there somewhere, and I’ve found this to be, sort of, my max hours for the day. Sometimes I do go over, but for the most part, I can’t work for more than, like, four or five hours without, like, I just can’t, it just doesn’t work. My brain stops working.

Caroline: And that’s fine.

Helen: Yeah, exactly.

Caroline: That’s awesome that you have a job where you can do that, right?

Helen: Totally, and I think a lot of other folks would probably be in that same boat, but the structure of the, sort of, nine to five workday that has become the standard is challenging when, like, you can’t mentally do more than that successfully. So in, you know, times when I have had day jobs, there’s definitely been, like, trying to balance that throughout the day.

And, like, there’s moments when you’re, sort of, sitting there refreshing your inbox, trying to, like, force yourself to work more. So being an entrepreneur, it’s been nice for me being able to scale back and just be like, I’m just going to work for four hours straight, like, deep, dedicated work and then have the afternoons off.

And sometimes I do sewing in the afternoon, as long as it’s not screen time, that’s fine. It’s just a lot of computer time, uh, with what I do, surprisingly. You’d think I’d be sewing all the time, but it is a lot of computer time. So I do try to balance that, and sometimes I’ll do more sewing in the afternoon, um, and even into the evening for the business.

But I do try to take evenings and weekends off as best I can. And then when I’m not working, the rest of my days are primarily spent with Sam. We’re, kind of, joined at the hip. We both work from home and live at home together, so we’re spending a ton of time together, um, and that’s the way we like it. We take Emma for walks, we work on house projects together, do hobbies. We love to hang out in our kitchen. We’re almost always in there, cooking and listening to records. It’s another thing that changed when we moved to our new home is that we got a record player and started a record collection, so that’s been growing over the past year or two, and it’s been so much fun, um, to listen to music via records instead of via Spotify. I’m really enjoying that.

Caroline: That is awesome. Yeah, you guys do have quite the record collection. When Shea and I came to visit recently, we had, we’ve spent tons of time in your kitchen, and the records are playing in the background, and the vibes were just so good.

Helen: There is something about spinning a record while you’re hanging out, having a cocktail and a little appetizer and yeah, I just love it. It’s great. Um, I’ve also been going to my local gym regularly. My friend Morgan owns and runs a gym here, and it is so much fun there. I’ve been doing kettlebells, um, which I didn’t know was actually a sport that people compete in, not just, like, a bell that you use during workouts.

So I’ve been going to these kettlebell classes where I’m learning the sport techniques that they do, um, and it’s been so much fun. Maybe I’ll join the club and compete one day. We’ll see. That would be cool, but that’s a great way for me to get out of the house and the studio because I do spend so much time at home. So I need things like that to just force me to leave and go and interact with other people in other spaces. Uh, that can be a challenge sometimes.

And then I do larger, personal sewing projects on the weekends. And I prefer to sew on rainy days when I know I’m not missing out on any sunshine that’s happening, or I feel like I should be out in the garden or something like that. So if it’s pouring rain, I’ll often be in my studio on the weekends, and I’ve been pretty good about not working on weekends these days. It’s something that took years to prioritize and figure out, especially in the early years when business was a side hustle, so it was only happening on the weekends. So to adjust, to taking evenings and weekends off can be challenging, but I think I, I’ve got that down now.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s something we ha-, we could probably work on for the podcast a little bit cause we find ourselves sometimes recording on a weekend day or evening once in a while. And when we’re there, we’re like, why are we doing this? We should do this during the day. But sometimes, um, schedules don’t necessarily allow it, but we should try.

Helen: Yeah, I know. It’s one of those things where you’re looking at a calendar you’re like, oh, future Helen won’t mind if we just record on a Sunday. It’ll be great.

Caroline: Okay. Our next set of questions is all about sewing which is obviously our favorite thing to talk about, think about, and do. So let’s start with this question from Sylvie, “As a sewist planning a trip to Vancouver, I would like to know your favorite shopping spots for fabric and yarn shopping! Thank you for the best sewing podcast!”

Helen: Ooh! Perfect. Okay, so you’ve got to go to Dressew. Absolutely hands down, number one, got to go there. There’s also Spool of Thread which is really great. There’s Atex which is right across the street from Dressew, so you can hit them up. Button Button right around the corner from Dressew and Atex, so there’s, like, a little nexus of shopping and all in one area. Um, and Button Button only sells buttons. It’s a store dedicated to buttons. They have so many buttons, and it’s amazing. Um, and then for yarn, I would check out Baaad Annas in East Van. Uh, that’s where I used to buy all my yarn, and I miss it there.

Caroline: And all of these places are in really good areas of this city where there’s, like, yummy food and other things to check out like good bookstores and shops and stuff. So definitely worth visiting all of those places.

Helen: Yeah. You’ll have so much fun. Okay @katelearnstosew asks, “What are you planning to sew as Christmas gifts?”

Caroline: My reaction to this was like, I don’t sew Christmas gifts.

Helen: If anyone’s getting a gift from me, they are very lucky.

Caroline: Yeah. That was what I wrote down. So my answer is nothing. What about you, Helen?

Helen: I am planning to make some aprons because we are actually working on a free apron pattern. It’s coming your way very soon. Hoping to get it out, like, mid-November so that people can get started on it for the holidays. But I know we have aprons in our collection already, and I love aprons. So this one is a classic chef’s apron. It’s going to be called the Sam Apron. It’s named after Sam because he is chef extraordinaire. Uh, so that’s gonna be out soon, and I’m so excited to make a bunch of them as holiday gifts. So, yeah.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Okay. That’s exciting.

Helen: Yeah, you gotta try it.

Caroline: Okay. What’s a mistake you keep making over and over, like a sewing mistake?

Helen: A sewing mistake. I was like, oh no. I always try to cut stripes and plaids on the fold because I really don’t want to cut things flat and, like, have to flip the pattern piece over and go through that rigmarole and, like, spread things out on the table, and it takes up so much more room. So I always try to cut stripes and plaids on the fold, and then they’re always wonky.

Caroline: Yeah. I’m, I’ve been there.

Helen: How about you?

Caroline: Um, my thing would probably be that I don’t always read through instructions before I start sewing, and sometimes I pay for that later, which is fine, but that would be the mistake that I tend to make over and over.

Helen: It’s like when you flip back in the booklet, and you’re like, oh, oh…

Caroline: My most recent one would be, um, I’m working on a Granger Coat from Muna and Broad. And you were, like, if I had read the instructions, I would have known that I was supposed to cut out the pieces with, like, an inch of extra around because when you quilt it shrinks, and then you, like, then trim it down to the pattern piece size after it’s been quilted, but I cut my pieces to size and then quilted them. So it’s not as oversized as maybe it was designed to be because everything just shrunk down a tiny bit, um, but it’s fine. It’s going to be fine.

Helen: Yeah, it’s, kind of, an oversized jacket. You’ll, you’re good.

Caroline: And that question was from, uh, @bethkalexander. I forgot to say. Thank you, Beth, for your question.

Helen: @karenmiliemcbride asks, “What is your most disastrous make?”

Caroline: I had to think back for this one cause I haven’t had any major disasters recently. I would say probably the time I burned a hole in, like, the boob area of my brand new top. I was finished sewing it and just doing a final press, and it was a polyester satin, that was my first mistake. And then the iron just totally burned a hole. I was, like, very shocked at the time, definitely cried, but it was almost 10 years ago. So I’m, I’m over it. I swear.

Helen: You also mended it and wore it. So…

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: …good for you.

Caroline: Yeah, it’s not in my rotation or wardrobe anymore, but I d-, I did wear it. Yes.

Helen: I cut a big hole in a dress when I was serging it in high school. I was running it through this, it was, like, basically done, and I was running it through the serger to finish the seam, and you know how sometimes fabric can get caught up underneath, and it, like, went through the blade. I wasn’t being careful, and it went through the blade, and I cut this, like, big gash in the front of this dress. Uh, I’ll never forget that feeling. Like, just like, like, you know, when the world just, sort of, stops, and everything’s like, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. What did I do? No! Yeah. Terrible, terrible, terrible.

Caroline: Okay. @thelilacelk asked, “If you could sew only one pattern for the rest of your life, what would it be?”

Helen: Ooh. Um, I mean, I’d love, like, a jumpsuit pattern with, like, a zillion views that had everything I could ever need.

Caroline: This is cheating. It has to be a pattern that exists, Helen. You can’t just conjure up a non-existent pattern.

Helen: I mean, I’m a pattern maker, so I can do that. Thank you very much. Probably the Ashton top. I mean, it’s got the sleeve expansion. You can turn it into a dress. I could probably hack some legs on there if I need to. Uh, it’d be great.

Caroline: Yeah, I’m, sort of, in a similar thought process. I think I would do the Wiksten Shift Top and Dress, and I would just hack the crap out of it.

Helen: Perfect. @queen_ambrosia_ asks, ”Is there something about sewing slash fabrics that still has you mystified?”

Caroline: Ooh, I couldn’t think of one for this, but yours is pretty good.

Helen: Yes. I would like to know which is the warp and which is the weft.

Caroline: I have a trick for this one.

Helen: Oh, good.

Caroline: The weft goes from left to right.

Helen: Oh, wefty lefty.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Okay. That’s actually very helpful. I think I will remember it now.

Caroline: Okay. @lalu.bymaria asked, “If you could magically do one sewing thing at the snap of your fingers, what would it be?”

Helen: I put taping and cutting patterns. Often, we’ll print copy shop these days, but sometimes I’ll still print and tape if I’m really jazzed, and I just want to get going. So if I could just snap my fingers and have that part all done, the paper part done, that’d be great.

Caroline: That’s a pretty good one. I wrote welt pockets because they just stress me out so much cause you’re cutting in to your fabric before you’ve, like, completed the thing and, like, so many things can go wrong and yeah, welt pockets, I’d love to snap my fingers and have that be done for me.

Helen: Totally. I just snap my fingers and skip it. I’m like, nope. Patch pocket.

Caroline: Okay @sewing.at.no99 asked, “Do you have any unfulfilled sewing ambitions? Example, types of garments or techniques you want to try?”

Helen: Oh, I love this one. Most of mine involved fancy fabrics. Like, I’d love to make, like, a see-through organza top or dress, or, like, a lace top or a velvet jumpsuit or, like, a sequined gown. Like, I want to work with all of the fancy, shiny things that I don’t wear on my day-to-day, and I don’t prioritize those projects for that reason cause I won’t wear them, but it would be so fun to do those kinds of things.

Caroline: Oh yeah. I love the idea of an organza top or dress that you can, like, layer. So cool.

Helen: Yeah. I wasn’t gonna layer it.

Caroline: Oh, okay, cool. Al-, Also, cool. I support you. Okay. I dream of, like, a gumdrop pink linen blazer and trouser set.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: I have the fabric, Helen. I have the patterns. I’m going to make this.

Helen: Which patterns are you going to use?

Caroline: Heather blazer and the pants I want to, like, muslin a couple different versions to see which one I want to do best. The Fabric Store has, um, a trouser pattern that I really like, but it has welt pockets, so I’m, kind of, avoiding it. I could also do, like, an elastic waist pair of pants. I think that would maybe, like, make me wear them more. But I just love the idea of, like, a really chic matching, like, bright pink linen pantsuit.

Helen: You have to do this. You have to. It’ll be so cool.

Caroline: It’ll be so cool, right?

Helen: It’ll be so good.

Caroline: Yeah. It’s going to happen.

Helen: Spring 2021.

Caroline: Okay. There were some listeners who wanted to know a bit more about the podcast. So let’s start off with @studio.sarchelle. They asked, “How have you each personally changed or evolved through your podcasting journey?”

Helen: I love this question, and I think that the show has really taught me how to be more open to feedback. Like, running a business and putting ourselves out there for this show has been a real whirlwind, a huge learning curve, and it’s still early days. I mean, four year anniversary, amazing, but who knows where we’ll take it from here? And we’ve heard lots of different opinions and points of view from our listeners over the years. And that has been really helpful in not only guiding the show but also our respective businesses. And I think I’ve learned how to take on feedback, and even criticism, with a more open heart and open mind, not take it so personally and being respectful of other people’s points of view and trying to see things from other people’s perspectives, and that has been so valuable, not just with the podcast, but my personal life as well.

Caroline: Mhm. Yeah, it’s so true. I’m, kind of, my answer is pretty similar to yours. I wrote that the podcast has really opened up my world, like, in ways that I don’t think I would have experienced otherwise. And I’ve learned so much from our listeners over the years and from our guests. I think we’ve learned a lot from our guests. And even some of these things have been, like, hard lessons to learn, but it’s definitely kept me on my toes. And while it has been, you know, challenging, sometimes I know that I’m a better person for making this podcast, so…

Helen: Yeah. So cool. Also, like, global friends, you know?

Caroline: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Those connections have been amazing. @sewnotapro asked, “What has been the most rewarding part of hosting and working on the podcast?”

Helen: Oh, well, similarly, it’s connecting with you, like, our community episodes are always so much fun, the ones where we ask for your feedback on certain topics and we read it on the show, and we feel so lucky to be able to connect and share about sewing with you all and make this show all about sewing for people to listen to who love sewing. And we love working with our team members and with each other. It’s a really fun part of our week. We are quite busy in our usual businesses, and the podcast is just, like, a nice, sort of, almost quiet space where we get to, like, celebrate our love of sewing and come together and hang out, and it’s, it’s really, it’s really nice.

Caroline: It is. I’m so happy to be doing this with you, Helen.

Helen: Me, too.

Caroline: Well, speaking of how much love there is in this room, we just have invited our partners, Shea and Sam, here. Thank you guys for being here.

Shea: Hello.

Sam: Hi.

Helen: That was adorable. Unison hello.

Caroline: Yes. We have gained quite a few listeners since you two were last on the pod. We did a couple of episodes with you early on. One was super early on Episode 20, and then the second one was three years ago. So can you reintroduce yourself to our listeners?

Sam: Hi, I’m Sam. I am from Vancouver Island, and I like to paint miniatures, and I like to play board games, and I love to cook.

Helen: Our listeners might recognize Sam from the outro of the show because you used to edit the podcast, too.

Sam: That’s true. I did used to do that.

Helen: We let you off the hook.

Caroline: We used to say, “Thank you, Sam” at the end of the show. Okay, Shea, tell everyone what you do, where you’re from, and what some of your interests are.

Shea: Hi, uh, I I’m Shea, uh, I am an animator in video games. I have a lot of random little hobbies, uh, pottery, music, all sorts of things. Uh, yeah, and, uh, I live in Vancouver with Caroline. Originally from Kamloops, BC.

Caroline: Awesome. Okay, Sam, I have a question for you.

Sam: Yes.

Caroline: What is your favorite thing that Helen has made for you?

Sam: Ooh, right now, my favorite thing is a robe. She made me a terry cloth robe cause it’s cold in the morning.

Caroline: Is it like a housecoat vibe?

Sam: Yeah, exactly.

Helen: Yeah. I think I used a Butterick, like, a vintage Butterick pattern years ago, and that robe has gotten a lot of use over the years. It’s still going strong.

Sam: Still going strong.

Helen: Yeah.

Sam: I really like that one, and we have a long history of Helen making me really nice shirts that then don’t fit me because I changed size by the time they’re made.

Helen: It happens.

Caroline: This is why I don’t sew for my partner. Speaking of which…

Helen: Yes, Shea, what’s your favorite thing Caroline’s never made for you?

Shea: Uh, well right now, actually, I think it’s the same answer as the previous years is, uh, sweatpants, uh, which I’m currently wearing. I think the most recent version. And at this point, now with work from home, they’re pretty much my, like, the uniform, uh, my work attire, uh, my going out on the street to walk the dog pants, my everything pants.

Caroline: They’re not just for sweating in sweatpants.

Shea: Yeah. If Caroline made me a robe, uh, the danger would be, I would end up going to work in a robe, walking the dog in a robe, and just getting a little too comfortable.

Sam: Yeah.

Shea: Yeah. So I love the sweatpants life, so I’m very happy to have the ones I have and potentially more in the future.

Helen: Oh, potentially more.

Shea: I can dream.

Helen: And that brings us to our next question: what is a dream project that you would love for Caroline to make for you?

Shea: Aside from more sweatpants?

Helen: Dream big, Shea.

Shea: I think, uh, like, a winter coat would be cool. Something, something nice, something fancy.

Caroline: What is, like, what is a fancy winter coat? Like, what makes it fancy, honey?

Shea: I don’t know. Buttons?

Sam: Gold piping.

Helen: Yeah. Gold piping.

Caroline: Buttons.

Shea: Okay. I know. Yeah. Tassels and all that sort of, no, uh, I think most of my jackets are function over form, so it’s meant to just be, like, poofy and warm and not necessarily be the best looking, so it wouldn’t be bad to, you know, Vancouver’s winters are pretty mild, to uh, have one that just looks a little nicer.

Caroline: Okay.

Shea: Rather than be ready for, you know, a snowstorm.

Caroline: Okay. Okay. Noted, noted.

Helen: I can see you in, like, a classic peacoat. I think that would look great.

Shea: I think that’s the…

Caroline: Oh, yeah. A peacoat is totally Shea’s vibe. Okay, Sam, what is your dream project for Helen to make you?

Sam: Uh, you think I would’ve thought of something while I heard Shea being asked. Um, I’m going to go with sweatpants. So, I do have my favorite pair of sweatpants that Helen first made for me was finally just, like, removed from the closet, like, a week ago, and they were in tatters. Um, so maybe a new pair of those, and then I wanted more button up shirts.

Helen: They’re coming your way. Sam has already agreed to model our upcoming button up shirt pattern.

Caroline: Ooh, exciting.

Helen: So you’re going to get some shirts from that photo shoot, for sure.

Sam: Right.

Caroline: That is awesome. And it needs to happen because it’s, like, part of Helen’s Closet work.

Helen: Exactly. It will happen, and then maybe you’ll sew one for yourself, too. Sam’s currently making some Arden Pants.

Sam: Yeah.

Caroline: Ooh, love it.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Shea, would you ever make something with me in my sewing room?

Shea: Yeah. I mean, I have so many random little hobbies and stuff that sewing could definitely be one. It’s just. uh, I have to keep it to simpler. I don’t think I could have a project that requires, like, a whole bunch of extra days or weeks or something to focus on. I need to, I need to be in and out so…

Helen: Mm, quick wins.

Shea: Uh, yeah, like dishcloths.

Helen: Sweatpants are surprisingly fast. I think you could do it.

Caroline: That’s, kind of, how I sew regardless, so I think that could work, in and out. Helen, do you have, like, a dream project that you want to make for Sam?

Helen: Ooh, that’s a good question. I’m into this jacket idea. Like, I could also see making you a coat. How about you? Do you think you’d make something for Shea?

Caroline: Yes. I do think that Shea has more gifts in his future, potentially, of things that I’ve made him. But I, I feel like I’m into the housecoat idea, Sam.

Sam: It’s pretty great.

Caroline: Um, I think Shea would really appreciate a housecoat. We’d have to have some rules about where it can be worn, but I think that, that would be a fun one. Also, just, like, a suit would be a fun project. If I’m talking about, like, dream of dreams, like, making Shea a suit.

Shea: Yeah, I didn’t even want to say that.

Caroline: Yeah, like, a linen suit. Like, something that’s, like, breathable cause…

Shea: Custom tailored suit. There you go. Sleeveless suit.

Helen: Sleeveless suit?

Caroline: Shea gets really hot.

Helen: Actually, I would love to make you a vest, like the Belvedere Vest from Thread Theory. I feel like I’ve had that on my sewing list for you for years, and I think that you would look so cute in a vest, so…

Sam: I love a vest.

Helen: He does, he does love a vest. It suits you.

Sam: A vest and jean shorts.

Shea: Yeah, that’s a dream I’ve had, too.

Sam: Everything cut off.

Helen: Yeah. Perfect.

Shea: I’ve never owned a vest before.

Caroline: Do you want a vest, honey?

Shea: Sure. Yeah.

Caroline: Okay. Okay.

Shea: Can we have matching vests?

Caroline: The list is getting longer.

Sam: We should have matching vests.

Caroline: This is right after I told everyone on the podcast that I’m not making anyone Christmas presents this year. Okay. It has become a tradition now to play a game where we come at you guys with some really specific names of garments and you have to guess what those garments actually look like. So are you two ready?

Shea: Yeah, just let me grab my phone.

Caroline: No, no phones allowed. Okay. The first one is shacket.

Shea: Is that a shirt jacket? Whatever that might mean. A very, very thin jacket.

Sam: Yeah. That seems the most plausible.

Shea: Is it a shoe jacket? Shacket, it’s like a…

Sam: It’s like a jacket you wear in your shack.

Shea: Yeah or a shack made of a jacket. It’s a tent, I think.

Caroline: Ok, you guys were on the right track early on. It is a combo of a shirt and a jacket. I would say it’s more like a jacket that has the lines of a shirt cause it’s not necessarily, like, a super light jacket. I think shackets can be substantial.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: But they just look like shirts.

Shea: You could wear it inside, and it doesn’t look like you’re wearing a coat.

Caroline: Yeah. Or you can wear it outside.

Shea: And it looks like you’re wearing a hefty shirt.

Caroline: Yeah, exactly.

Shea: Oh my god. It’s, like, the spork of shirts.

Caroline: The spork of shirts. Perfect.

Helen: Ok, this is a good one.

Caroline: Yeah. I feel like this one’s a good one.

Helen: Dickey?

Shea: I feel like we were asked that before, weren’t we? Isn’t that the, uh…

Sam: …overalls?

Shea: Yeah.

Helen: Nope.

Sam: Oh, okay. Well, I was so confident.

Shea: Or is that the little, like, flappy thing?

Sam: Oh, like…

Shea: Yeah. Uh, like, in, uh, you know…

Sam: Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s the dickey. And it curls up.

Helen: Yeah, I think that is what it is, like, a fake shirt front that you tuck into a sweater or a suit.

Shea: Ok, I think we only know of it because of the Simpsons, and it’s a novelty dickey that curls up on itself. I guess they’re not supposed to do that probably.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Okay. I love this. Um, how about handkerchief hem skirt?

Shea: Well, let’s re-hem a handkerchief under the end of your skirt.

Sam: Is that it? For boogies?

Caroline: No.

Helen: So handy. You can wipe your nose.

Sam: Is it a skirt with a, like, voluminous, fluffy hem.

Helen: This is close.

Shea: What are you talking about?

Caroline: I think that’s, that’s pretty close. It’s a skirt that falls on the bias and has points instead of being hemmed evenly. So it, kind of, has, like, a handkerchief effect.

Sam: Right.

Helen: It’s like, if you took, like, a handkerchief and held it in the middle, and then it all draped down.

Sam: And then you put a little ball at it and you tie it off and it’s a ghost?

Helen: Exactly.

Caroline: Yes. Okay.

Helen: Perfect. Full points.

Caroline: Okay. I don’t have high hopes for this next one, but, um, petti-pants?

Sam: Is that, like, underwear? Like, petticoats?

Helen: You’re on the right track.

Shea: They’re very petty.

Sam: You guys are being all cagey. Is it period underwear?

Helen: We just don’t want to give it away.

Sam: Oh, is it like, like bike pants? Like, peddling pants?

Shea: Is it like knickerbockers?

Caroline: What are knickerbockers?

Shea: Knickinbockers.

Caroline: I have to look that up.

Shea: Is it knicker- or knickin-bonkers?

Helen: I think it’s knicker.

Shea: Knickerbockers. Yeah.

Caroline: Oh yeah. Knickerbocker. No, it’s not really that.

Shea: Old timey pantaloons?

Helen: I mean, I think you get the idea. They’re like a slip, but pants. Uh, or shorts instead of a skirt. So they are a form of undergarment that you wear underneath pants.

Sam: I think I was right the…

Helen: Yeah.

Shea: Bigger underpants?

Helen: Okay. What about an infinity scarf?

Sam: It’s, like, a scarf that, like, drapes off the edge of a balcony.

Helen: No. Like an infinity pool?

Sam: Yeah.

Shea: Is it just a scarf that’s a big loop?

Helen: Yeah.

Sam: Mobius strip?

Shea: No, that would be if you, like, twisted the one end where you attach it, then you could have a Mobius scarf.

Helen: Yeah which is a thing.

Sam: What’s in? What’s out? Ooh.

Caroline: Okay. Just a couple more. Um, Palazzo Pants?

Shea: Mm, I don’t know what they are, but they sound cool.

Sam: Yeah. Are they similar to culottes? They’re, like, thigh, wide legged, or not thigh, like, thigh high, mid-calf, wide legged pants.

Helen: Typically, they go all the way to the ground.

Sam: Oh, is that the difference between a culotte and a Palazzo Pant?

Helen: Mhm.

Sam: That makes sense.

Helen: Yes. Very wide leg.

Sam: Like raver pants.

Helen: Yeah, totally. Less pockets usually, but…

Sam: Pockets and chains. Very utilitarian.

Helen: I really need to do a raver pant hack of the Winslow Culottes.

Sam: Yeah, put some soothers on there.

Shea: Glowstick holster.

Helen: What are you guys doing on the weekend?

Shea: Look, I only know raves from TV.

Sam: Can we go back to that dream project answer?

Helen: Yeah.

Sam: Palazzo Pants.

Shea: Raver pants.

Helen: You would probably love Palazzo Pants.

Sam: Yeah?

Helen: Okay. Bolero?

Shea: Not a clue.

Sam: Uh, is it a bolo tie? Is it a, like, scarf tied around your neck? Like, a bolo tie? Is it a, I don’t know man.

Shea: A hat?

Helen: It does sound like a hat, doesn’t it?

Caroline: Yeah, it kinda does.

Sam: Like a bowler? Is it a place? I think, I don’t think we have this one.

Caroline: Okay. It’s a cropped open jacket.

Sam: Oh.

Shea: Oh, sure. Oh, now I remember. That’s not fair. It doesn’t have any keywords in it.

Sam: That sounds like a fancy jacket that’s not too warm.

Helen: That’s true. You can make Shea a Bolero.

Caroline: True. It’s, like, a tiny project. Smaller than a jacket. Okay. What is the difference between a button down and a button up shirt?

Shea: It’s all in the eye of the beholder.

Sam: A button down shirt has, like, buttons up for the collar, like, an Oxford collar as well as buttons, and a button up shirt just has a free collar.

Helen: Ooh. Correct.

Caroline: Ooh, Sam, you must be, uh, dating someone who’s working on a shirt pattern. I love it.

Sam: I edit a sewing podcast.

Caroline: Okay. Let’s move on because I’m really excited about this part. It’s something we do every month in our bonus episodes on Patreon iis name the three things that we are loving right now, so this can be anything. We usually end up sharing recipes or things we’ve bought, new experiences we’ve been trying out, media recommendations, that kind of thing. But this time we thought it would be fun to ask you guys, what are three things you’re loving right now?

Shea: Wow. Do you want to start off, Shea?

Helen: I wasn’t, I didn’t prep Sam for this.

Caroline: I’ve been bugging Shea for the last, like, two days. Like, what are your three things, Shea? Gotta think of your three things.

Helen: Okay, Shea. You go first.

Shea: Well, Caroline and Pepper and Fraidy.

Caroline: No.

Shea: No, I said I wouldn’t do that. That’s cheating. Uh, let’s see. It’s going to be nothing sewing related I’m afraid. And Caroline’s the chef, so my recipe’s on the back of a Kraft dinner box. Uh, well lately I’ve been, uh, learning to play piano which I’m really, really into. I, I’ve played guitar and stuff for years and other instruments and stuff and always been pretty musical, but a piano is, we never had one growing up, never had one around or anything, so I’ve always wanted to play around on them, and, uh, we got a free one from someone’s basement a couple months ago, so I’ve been learning that and just loving it.

And I can also recommend a video game I’ve been playing a lot called Mini Motorways for anyone who likes, uh, or has a partner or a friend maybe who likes video games. It’s a fun little one where you’re managing traffic in a town. It’s very relaxing and then suddenly frustrating and stressful.

And, uh, the third thing that I’m absolutely loving is I’m, uh, for my work, uh, I’m learning, like, branching out, I mentioned I’m an animator and, but I, I have a lot of interests in all the different departments and fields, and I’m getting more and more opportunities to try the stuff, so I’m learning all about shaders. If anyone knows what a shader is in, uh, computers.

Sam: Yeah.

Shea: So it’s, how do we even explain it? The basic, most basic way, it’s, kind of, like, how materials show up. So say I made a, a cla-, a shirt in a video game. It’s the, the way light refracts upon it, the way reflections happen, uh, all the different things. You can branch off into, oh my gosh, so much stuff. A lot of math. Uh, so it’s a little hard as an artist, but, yeah, send any shader tutorial recommendations if you got them. Thank you.

Caroline: Okay. We’ll report back on that one. Thank you, Shea.

Helen: Yes. Thank you. Alright, Sam, you had a solid five minutes to think about it.

Sam: Um, I also like shaders, and I also love Pepper. Yeah. I can’t say the dog. I have been really, really, Helen can attest, into a podcast called With Gourley and Rust, which is a horror movie, cozy, podcast. A long form discussion of horror movies and mostly just random junk. And they’ve been going through a lot of mediocre to okay horror movies, and I’ve been watching along and listening and laughing a lot, and I enjoy it thoroughly. If there’s any horror and comedy fans out there. Helen’s nodding at me like she knew I was going to say that.

Helen: Well, it’s just that it makes you so happy. You’re, like, always smiling and laughing, walking around with your headphones on. I know you’re listening to Matt Gourley and Paul Rust talk about, like, Halloween 8 or something.

Sam: Yeah, that was a good episode.

Shea: Oh, I know. Uh, Matt Gourley from, uh, Conan O’Brien’s podcast, which I’m also loving.

Sam: Absolutely. He did the James Bonding podcast, too. There’s so much Matt Gourley out there for us. I’m also loving making pho from scratch. I feel like maybe Helen’s talked about this before.

Helen: Possibly but not this episode, so…

Caroline: Yeah, I think on Patreon, but this is the regular show, so…

Sam: I, yeah, I’ve been working on my pho broth and making the bone broth really perfect. And it takes all day, but it’s worth it. And then have the vermicelli noodles and the toppings. And then for the, like, sliced beef, I don’t have a beef slicer or a meat slicer, but I do have, but so I’ve been, like, freezing, half freezing, like, steak for, like, 45 minutes to an hour, depends on your freezer. And then when you can, like, slice it off in really, really thin like they do in the restaurant. Good little, good little tip.

Helen: Mhm, that’s a great tip.

Sam: Yeah, it’s been great since there was no good pho restaurants in our new town.

Helen: Uh, shade.

Sam: I stand by it, and finally, I have been loving…

Caroline: Well, we painted miniatures together the other day.

Sam: Yeah. I have been loving painting miniatures in general, both with Helen and the other project I’m working on, which is the board game Scythe, and I’ve painted, like, 35 tiny robots and people with their animal companions, and it’s going great. It’s a big project, but I’ve been enjoying it thoroughly. And then I’m going to make Helen play it with me over and over and over again.

Helen: Gladly. I’m very excited.

Sam: It’s been getting cold again, and I don’t feel as compelled to go outside and do yard work. So I’m really digging into, uh, rainy day painting.

Helen: Fall is always great for hobbies.

Caroline: It really is. Oh, well, thank you so much, you two, for joining us. It’s been really fun. We love you each, respectively.

Shea: Aw, thanks.

Sam: Sorry if we were, kind of, slow on the draw. I feel like we might have to tighten this up a bit.

Caroline: That’s okay. You’re perfect. Just the way you are, you two.

Shea: Aw.

Caroline: Alright, Helen, I guess we should wrap up this episode. It’s been a really good time. I can’t believe we’re at four years of podcasting. My gosh.

Helen: I know it was so fun to just have an episode where we chat about personal lives and business and answer some questions and get to chat with you guys being on the show.

And if you enjoyed this episode, you might want to check out our Patreon because we do monthly bonus episodes there. You get access to those if you pledge $5 a month. And that’s where we do all of our regular catch-up and hang out and talk about what we’re sewing and things like that. So please come join us over on Patreon. We would love, love, love that. Patreon.com/lovetosew.

Caroline: Yeah. Alright. Bye, everyone.

Helen: Bye.

Sam: Bye.

Shea: Bye.

That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find Caroline at blackbirdfabrics.com and Helen at helensclosetpatterns.com. We’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Sam: Go to lovetosewpodcast.com to find the show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. If you’d like to get in touch with us, send us an email at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com.

Shea: If you love to sew and want more, you can sign up for Patreon. For $5 a month, you get a full-length onus episode and weekly behind the scenes pics. For $10 a month, you can get all that plus a mini episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics. Patreon is the best way to support the pod so that they can keep making quality sewing content. Go to patreon.com/lovetosew for more info.

Sam: We have Love to Sew swag. Visit our shop to get tees, pins, and tote bags with art by Josie Adams of Hey Miss Designs. Tell the world you’re a stitch witch, that you can make anything, or that you’re a Love to Sew listener. Go to lovetosewshop.com to get yours.

Shea: Thanks to the amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is the creative assistant. Jordan Moore is the editor. Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening. Talk to you next week.

Caroline: Bye.

Helen: Bye.

Caroline: We’ll talk to you next week. Thank you, boys.

Shea: You can find me Caroline. Should read this ahead of time. That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, wait, what, what do I say? You can find Caroline. I was going to say, you could find me Shea at blackbirdfabrics.com.

Caroline: Just say you can find Caroline at blackbird…

Shea: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I should have read it a third time.

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