Our guest for this episode is Sydney Graham! She designs comfy, stylish patterns and makes amazing sewing content on social media. We chat with her about her fascinating career journey, creating work/life balance, and her dreamy DIY sewing spaces.
The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.
Show Notes:
Find Sydney Online:
- Website: Syd Graham Patterns
- Instagram: @hisydgraham
- Youtube: @HiSydGraham
- TikTok: @hisydgraham
- Discord: Sewing Besties
- Facebook: Sydney Graham
Sydney’s Personal Style:
Sydney’s Sewing Spaces:
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Sydney’s Patterns:
Other Mentions:
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
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.
Caroline: Hello and welcome to Love To Sew. I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns.
Helen: And I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co.
Caroline: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew and it’s literally all we wanna talk about.
Helen: Today’s guest is Sydney Graham. She designs comfy, stylish patterns and makes amazing sewing content on social media. We chat with her about her fascinating career journey, creating work-life balance, and her dreamy DIY sewing spaces. Oh, and it’s Sydney’s birthday today. Happy birthday!
Caroline: Go wish Sydney happy birthday! If you love to sew, this is your show.
Helen: Hello, Sydney. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Sydney: Hi. Thank you for having me.
Helen: We’re so excited to get to know you a little bit more today. Can you please introduce yourself to our listeners?
Sydney: Sure. So my name is Sydney and I am a sewing pattern designer and content creator for the most part. And just general fan of all things crafty.
Caroline: Amazing. And a question that we ask all of our guests is: how and when did you learn to sew?
Sydney: Oh boy. So when my husband and I were dating, on my 19th birthday, he bought me a sewing machine. I had, sort of, just offhand mentioned that it might be fun to learn how to sew. He tucked that away, bought me a sewing machine, and from there, my mother-in-law, his mom, showed me how to set it up and the general beats of how to use a sewing machine. But I didn’t really use it much for the first, like, year or two after that. It kind of just felt overwhelming. I sort of half-started some projects and never really finished them. But the first project that I really made, that really was like the gateway drug to sewing for me, was my daughter’s baby blanket. I made her a quilt out of just some flannels I got at Joann and it was super easy. It was just squares pieced together. I backed it with that, like, really soft minky fabric. And from there is when I realized, like, “Oh, we’re just sticking pieces of fabric together with thread. Like, this is not intimidating.” If you just think about it from that perspective, then, then I could make a ton of things. And from there, my love of sewing ignited.
Caroline: Yes. And that’s such a cute story for your first sewing project. And you still have that blanket today, right?
Sydney: Yes. It’s so not made well. Like, when I look at it now, I’m like, oh gosh. But yeah, she kept it for a super, I mean, we still have it, like I said, but when she was a baby, she’d like, use it. She used it to death. She ran it into the ground. So we do still have it. I’m going to hang onto it forever. It’s a special memory on, like, many fronts.
Caroline: So special. So for those who don’t know, you have an amazing collection of sewing patterns and you create a lot of sewing content online. But we actually wanted to take it back to the beginning, because you have a really interesting career journey. Your first business was a children’s clothing brand. Can you give us a bit of a sample of, like, what a day in the life was back then?
Sydney: Yeah, so I had that business for five years and it changed a lot throughout the years, from what my days looked like. In the very early days, I was really just, like, fiddling around with my sewing machine because, I mean, part of this was that I had not…since making that baby blanket, there was no in-between before I started my business. Like, I made that blanket and then pretty soon after was like, “I’ll just make more blankets” and started a business with it. So while I was building that business, I was also learning to sew. So in the early days it was a lot of just, like, tinkering around with things, guessing how to make things, coming up with new ideas. It was very, like, chill and fun. I was not super busy with it. Didn’t have a ton of sales for the first, like, year or two. So it was a lot of, like, getting things done during nap time. And, you know, my daughter was a baby, so. It was, you know, a lot of, a lot of that early, early mom life. And it was just, like, fun and relaxed.
But the last couple years it was a much different story. My business had grown a lot, which was great, and it was very, like, exciting and fun, still. But because the business had grown, but I was still doing everything myself, it was pretty miserable. So every day I would sew anywhere from, like, 12 to like 20 hours a day. It was crazy. There was so many days that I would not sleep at all. And I feel like sometimes that’s an exaggeration of, like, “Oh, I didn’t sleep much,” but like, genuinely, I was not sleeping. It was very unhealthy. So really, it was just long, long, long days, no sleep, my back hurting, you know, making all the clothes, doing all the website stuff, doing the social media, taking the pictures of everything, fulfilling all the orders. I didn’t ever hire anybody or get help for the most part. So it was just really intense, I would say.
Helen: Yeah, it really sounds intense. I can’t believe you were doing all that while raising a child at the same time. I’m impressed and also a little scared.
Sydney: Yeah, no, it, it wasn’t great. It wasn’t great and, I mean, that’s why I stopped doing it, is because it got to a point that was like, “I can’t sustain this anymore.”
Helen: It is also interesting to hear about your journey of starting to sew and then immediately turning that into a business. Did you think that that was gonna happen? Did you want to start a business? Did you have kind of an entrepreneurial mindset, or was it just on a whim, “I’m just gonna go for it?”
Sydney: Yeah. I mean, at the time, I don’t think that I would’ve considered myself entrepreneurial at all. I mean, I don’t, I don’t really come from that sort of background or anything. But now, like, knowing myself better, I mean, I was 20 at the time, so now that I, like, know who I am more, I do feel like that is very much a trait of mine, of like, anything I do, I want to do it to the max and, like, you know, make it as big as it can be, which I’m working on. That’s not always the best thing to do. But yeah, I didn’t necessarily, when I started sewing, think, like, I wanna make this big business. I wanna make this a big thing. But I was, sort of, also, at the same time, kind of just in a space where I have a young kid, I had, just, the job that I had before she was born was I was a nanny and that family didn’t really need me anymore. So I was kind of in between, like, career stuff and school stuff and just sort of like, “I don’t really know what I wanna do with my life but I need, I need some sort of outlet. Like, I can’t just sit.” I mean, obviously, having a baby, being a young mom, it’s, like, a lot of work, too, for sure. But I just was like, “I need something else to have as an outlet.” And so it sort of was born from that. And I did not think it was gonna turn into anything big at all. So just taking it one day at a time, one step at a time, it kind of just grew organically.
Helen: I mean, it’s amazing that you experienced so much success with that first business and I’m sure you learned a lot and we’ll get into what you’ve taken into your new business. But tell us what happened after you decided that you needed to close this business and move on.
Sydney: Yeah, so when I decided to close, I felt like a huge failure. Which was crazy to think, you know, ’cause like I said, the business was great. I was getting a lot of orders, which was amazing. But I felt like a failure ’cause I was like, “Even with this, like I couldn’t make it work. Like, I couldn’t hack it.” And I also felt like, “I have no skills,” you know, because I didn’t have a four-year degree. I didn’t have, like, all this work history. So who’s gonna hire me? Like, “I have nothing to offer,” is kind of how I felt. And so, for, there was, like, a summer between when I decided I was gonna close, before I officially got hired, where I did a bunch of job interviews and none of them wanted to hire me. And it was things that you don’t need a lot of experience for. And I was like, “Yeah, I am a failure. No one wants to hire me. I have nothing to offer.” Whatever. It felt very affirming of all of these negative thoughts that I had had. But once, you know, I had gone through all that and actually I had two job offers at the same time. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about this. One of them was for the company I got hired from, which was a women’s hat company. But the second job offer I had was actually at Riley Blake Fabrics. Are you guys familiar?
Caroline: Oh yeah.
Helen: Mmhmm.
Sydney: And I always think about, what if I had chosen them instead? ‘Cause I kind of had to pick, like, which one I wanted to do. And the Riley Blake job that they were offering me, it was about cutting fabric for quilts packs, I think, like quilt patterns. Like, anyway, so they needed someone to cut the fabric, but also, like, organize the process of how they did that. Anyway, so that was an interesting thing to me. And I, you know, I knew of their fabrics and their company, but eventually I decided to go with the other business which, like I said, was a women’s hat company. And the role that I was hired as was the administrative assistant, which was great because it allowed me to, it was a very small company and I was able to really work hands-on with all of the different departments and managers and whatever. It was a pretty close-knit team and close-knit group. And so I could take my experience that I had, you know, in all parts of my business, which was very, very small scale, and then also see all parts of this business that is a bigger, obviously bigger business than mine, but another small business. And it was really interesting and fascinating and I learned a lot doing that. And then, through the years that I was there, moved on to the marketing team and eventually, to be the social media manager for them.
Helen: Ooh, amazing. I can see a lot of parallels from that to what you’re doing now.
Sydney: Right? Yeah, definitely.
Caroline: Both of those jobs seem like they would’ve been great fits. Or the Riley Blake one seemed like it would’ve been a great fit ’cause there are parallels there, too, with what you were doing in, in your business. But yeah, hindsight is 20-20, see, what you did, ended up doing, and how that sort of led you to where you are now. I’m also thinking about, like, those early days, like, what was that like, going from working for yourself, so hard, so in your business, to working for someone else again?
Sydney: Yeah, it felt great. I really loved it. Because when you’re doing everything yourself and for yourself, it’s like, you have to hustle every single day or you can’t get groceries. You know what I mean? And like, working for somebody else, there is that comfort that, even if it’s a slow couple weeks or whatever, like, your salary is the same. Like, if you’re showing up to work, if you’re doing what you’re supposed to do, it’s all the same and there’s not as much variable. So it did feel very nice to not need to, like, run a sale because we had, like, an unexpected car payment or something like that. So that was very nice. And it was very nice to socialize with people. That’s something that, you know, that first business, it’s just me doing everything. And then, even now, for the most part, it’s just me. And so it was very nice to have a team of people to work with. And there were several people there that I became close with and a few that I’m still in, in touch with that, I really miss having that now. Like, having a team of people to celebrate your wins with and talk through the things that aren’t working. And yeah, for the most part, I really, really loved it.
Helen: That sounds great. I could totally relate to that, like,wanting a little bit more human interaction in my day and I have to force myself to go out to get it. Were you sewing during this time? Did you take a break from sewing when you started working a regular job again?
Sydney: I did take a long break. I, like, shut my machines away in a closet. You know, I was so burnt out. There was a lot of, like, trauma, really, around sewing for me. So I took a long break, and it was probably about a year or more before I cracked my machines out again. And one thing that’s nice is that, when I was doing my business, it was all baby stuff and kid stuff. And so I had never really sewn for myself. And so that was something that helped reignite that for me, is that I had a new frontier to explore even though I had done so much sewing up to that point. The whole arena of sewing for myself, I had not even started yet. So it definitely motivated me to kind of get into that.
Helen: Oh, that’s amazing. So when did you have the idea to step into the online sewing world?
Sydney: So I think I probably just started on Instagram, like, searching for different things and, and to this point, I had never followed a sewing pattern. Like, all of the things that I made in my business were just stuff I self-drafted and sort of had guessed my way through. And so I started seeing, on Instagram, people were, like, making patterns and talking about pattern designers and, like, this whole world that I had no idea how it worked, what it was. At the time, let’s see, it was like 2021-ish. So the things that were popular then, Helen, one of the first patterns I ever used was the Gilbert Top from you.
Helen: Oh, really? Oh, that’s awesome.
Sydney: Yeah. So I feel like there were a few patterns around the time that were really popular and I started sort of dipping my toe in that. But also, like, my true love and what I always go back to is just self-drafting, making things up. I sort of have a hard time following instructions. I’d rather kind of just go with the flow. So I dipped my toe in some patterns just to see, like, what’s all the fuss about over here. And then I also would do basically what I did with my kids’ clothes, which was take something that already existed or a picture I saw of something or whatever and see if I can remake it, but better, or tweak things or make it my way or change this and that. And yeah, that’s still what I love to do the most, for sure.
Caroline: When you discovered the sewing community and started getting into making clothes for yourself, did you kind of have an inkling that you maybe wanted to pursue a career in content creation and sewing pattern design, or did that come later?
Sydney: It wasn’t like a fully formed thought. I did have requests for my patterns for my kids’ clothes. Like, even when I was fully running that business, people would ask if I had patterns to sell. And it was an idea of like, “Oh, I guess that could be cool.” But again, what I had at the time were just, like, stuff I was sort of making up. Like, like my really shoddy, not well-made, like, traced printer paper pattern pieces, you know, that I was using. I didn’t have, like, files to send to people. It was like, “Okay, that could be a fun project, like, making a pattern for this. But I have no idea how to do it.” So I never really thought that I was for sure gonna pursue that. And then as far as the content creation side of things, that’s something that I really enjoyed with my first business and really took off. And it was, my only marketing was Instagram, really. And so I enjoyed that and I liked it. And then when I was working for the hat company, I definitely gravitated toward the social media part of things and the marketing side of things. And those were the people that I worked alongside the most. And so social media is just fun to me. And it also comes quite naturally. Like, it just makes sense to me. And so I would sort of post for myself, just for fun, not really with any sort of agenda of building anything or getting anywhere. But I found that my love for sewing and my love for content creation was quite a good marriage. Like, those things work well together, for sure.
Caroline: Yeah. Heck yeah, they do. And you’re so, so great at it. Your content feels so relatable and natural, and I just think there’s a reason why people love you and follow you. Your creativity really comes through and it’s, it’s just, you’re very fun to watch. Can you take us from, you know, you’re working for someone else, you’re in this marketing position, to, sort of, where you are at this time, where you’re kind of working for yourself again. How did that happen?
Sydney: Yeah. And I think it probably was always meant to get back to me working for myself. That’s definitely what I gravitate toward, I guess. But I needed that break of a few years of working for somebody else, both for, like, my own mental health, but also to learn other things. Like, there are things I learned working at that job that I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to really learn those things or get that perspective just working for myself. So I’m very grateful for that time. But you know, after I sort of healed a little bit and learned more, I started getting that itch again of like, “Oh, I just feel like I could really do this. Like, I feel like I could build something. I feel like I could do it better this time because I learned so much from the, my first go around of working for myself and things that I just wasn’t really thinking through.” And I mean, that’s why I got to the burnout. And now that I’ve had a little bit of time to reflect and a little more experience, I thought, like, “I think I can, I think I can do it in a way that is, is more sustainable, healthier, and just all around more fun.”
So yeah. About at the three year mark of working there, I had been sewing more for myself. I had kind of started posting, really just on TikTok. TikTok was growing a lot. I mean, it had grown a lot by that point, but that’s when I was really getting on it. And it was so much fun. Like, TikTok felt like what Instagram felt like in 2015, like all the excitement and like, “Oh, what’s this new thing?” And it feels so, like, organic and fun. That’s what TikTok felt like to me. And so I was having so much fun sewing and posting things there that it just got to a certain point where I was like, “I really, like, I can’t stop thinking about this. I just really, really need to do it. Bite the bullet, figure out how to make patterns. ‘Cause I feel like this could work.”
Helen: Well, yeah, and I’m sure having that feedback from the community asking for the pattern, seeing the things you’re making and saying, “I want that too! Can I have it too?” was really motivating for you. So how did you learn how to get that printer paper pattern into a digital file?
Sydney: Right. So that is where I was. I was like, “Okay, I know how to make something for myself and have it fit fine in, in the weird roundabout way that I’ve figured out. I do not know how to make, like, a professionally made, good pattern that I could sell to somebody.” So I was sort of aware of some people on Instagram, right? Peripherally. And I came across a post from Jessica Capalbo from Jessilou’s Closet where she had talked about how she had a handmade, like, made-to-order business and she had kind of switched over to the patternmaking side of things. And I was like, “That’s basically what I’m trying to figure out how to do.” So I DMed her, just like, “I don’t know where to start. Do you have any advice at all? And she was so nice and we started chatting and she was talking to me about the Confident Patternmaking course that she had taken and was now helping with. And, you know, she was talking, talking through the options with me and giving me advice and whatnot, and I thought that maybe that’s something I could do eventually. They didn’t start their next class for like several months and it was a big chunk of money. Especially as someone who I had never in my life had a big chunk of money sitting around. It was very much paycheck to paycheck, and so I thought, well, maybe I can do that in a few months but, I don’t know, like, we’ll have to see how it shakes out. And Jessica offered that, for maybe my first pattern or two, I could outsource some of the work to her. Things that I didn’t know how to do, like grading the patterns or digitizing them. Like, I didn’t know any of that stuff. So if I could make a pattern for myself that fit me on paper and send it to her, she could help me with the rest of the process and kind of give me advice on even, like, instructions and things like that, things I didn’t know how to do.
So my first pattern, which was the Lane Pants, she helped me do the grading and the digitizing of it. And then I did, you know, I patterned it on paper and I did the instructions and all of that stuff and the video tutorial and whatnot. And it was kind of just like, “I don’t know, we’ll see how this goes” because I, I really didn’t know what to expect.
Helen: Aw, that’s so nice. I love this story of comradery in the sewing community. It’s really heartwarming and I’m so glad she decided to support you in that way because those pants are popular. So it really did work out.
Sydney: It did. And it’s funny, when they launched, like, yes, it went well when they launched. But, you know, I was, I mean, I still kinda feel this way. I’m, I’m nobody, like, I was nobody. And so it’s like, I guess I’m launching this thing into the world, but it’s not like I had, I mean, even though I had had my business before, it’s not like I had hundreds of thousands of followers or anything like that. And so they did okay. Like when they came out, like, I was very happy about it, but they really didn’t take off and, like, gain the popularity that I feel like they have now until like six months to a year after they were launched.
Helen: I mean, that’s interesting to hear and, I’m sure, helpful for other pattern designers just getting started, that it’s not overnight success every time you launch a pattern. Sometimes they do grow on people.
Sydney: Totally. And I also think, this is actually something that I think about a lot is, you know, we don’t always have to be putting out something brand new to, like, get people talking or get traction or traffic or anything like that. I mean, one thing that I try to do with my patterns that comes naturally, really, is just like, “How many things can I make out of this one pattern? Or how many different ways can I interpret it?” And so that’s sort of when the pants actually took off is, like, I made them, I put them out there, but then over the next few months, like, every time I thought of a new thing I could do with them, like add a ruffle or make shorts out of them or crop them or whatever, and then I’d make a new piece of content about it, then it got more traffic. And gave people more ideas. So that’s definitely advice I would give to somebody who was looking at making patterns, is: once something’s out, that’s not it. Like, keep talking about it, keep sharing it, keep making it and, you know, I, all of my patterns, I love, so I keep making more versions of them. It’s not like you put it out and then you never talk about it again.
Caroline: Yeah, you never know what’s gonna resonate with somebody in the sewing community. And also, the longer a pattern is out, the more versions are gonna be out there by community members and word can spread that way. So I’ve loved seeing all your versions of the Lane Pants over the years that they’ve been out. I love the ruffle hack. I love the shorts. I love the, I think you did a tapered version at one point. But it’s such a great pattern and it really transforms depending on the fabric that you use. It’s definitely a Birdie fave at the warehouse. I’ve made a couple versions and it’s a great, great pattern. So kudos to you for your first pattern being such a success.
Sydney: Oh, thank you. Yeah, I love getting tagged in, obviously anytime anybody makes anything, but the Birdie team, for sure. I’m always like, “Ooh, so excited.”
Caroline: Yeah, we love you over there. I wonder, you kind of alluded to this already, but I, I wonder if you could give us some examples of things that you kind of learned from your first business that carried over into your current business and made it better.
Sydney: Yeah. I mean, the biggest thing that I think I learned from my first business was that I’m really not scared to try anything or any, anything that comes up that I’m like, “Oh, I’d want to do that, but I don’t know how to do it.” I know from experience and from practice that I’m gonna figure it out. Sure, I don’t know how to do it right now, but if someone else can do it, I can do it. So I think that that’s something that I did not have when I started that business. I very much felt like, you know, some people are either just, like, naturally skilled at certain things or naturally know things, or you have to, like, go to certain schools or take courses or whatever to do things. You can’t just like make it up and, and that’s something I think I’m, is a strong suit of mine now and something that helped even when I was working at the hat company. I think that’s why I was able to kind of move through the different departments and, and help out with a lot of different things, is because the team around me knew that they could pass me something and, even if I didn’t know how to do it then, that I, I would figure it out. So that’s probably the biggest thing that I’ve carried over to now, but also something that I very much learned the hard way in my first business was just piling on, piling on, piling on, never delegating anything, never thinking like, okay, what’s the smartest way to do this? I just felt like, “Well, I can do anything, so I’m never really gonna strategize too much.” And now that’s something that I think about a lot and that I’m willing to drop things, or, you know, if, if it’s not the smartest way to do it, I’m willing to, to stop doing it entirely or to delegate it to somebody, or, I’m, I’m a lot more thoughtful about processes now because I know what it looks like when, when you just say, “Ah, I can, I can add that to my plate.” And you do that 20 times and then you’re in a pickle.
Helen: I thought you were gonna say you’re at a picnic. You have so many plates, you’re at a picnic.
Sydney: That’s, yeah. That’s true.
Caroline: So you talked about 20 hour days in your previous business. Can you take us behind the curtain and, and what does a workday look like for you right now?
Sydney: Yeah, my days are very different. I feel like it’s not like a typical, maybe, nine to five. I’m sure you guys can relate to this a ton, too. Some days I do sew all day long. Like yesterday, I was working on a YouTube video, so I was making a few different sewing projects, and so I literally sewed all day long. So like some days looked like that, and then there are some days where I’m just fully at my computer doing admin things that you don’t even think about, like trying to figure out a sales tax thing or trying to, like, figure out website functionality or there’s an issue with, you know, the way that your Instagram’s connected to your Meta account or like, whatever. There’s a bunch of weird things like that that you would just never think of that do sometimes suck up a whole day. So there’s a lot of variety. Sometimes I feel a bit bogged down by the admin stuff. I’ve tried to set a New Year’s resolution this year that, instead of starting off my days answering emails and getting to the admin stuff, ’cause I always tell myself I’ll do that for a couple hours and then I’ll get into the creative stuff and, before you know it, it’s like five o’clock and I didn’t do anything creative that day. So I’ve been trying to, first thing in the morning, start off with the creative stuff, whether that’s sewing things or pattern design or whatnot. And then after lunchtime, I allot myself time to dig into the more boring stuff.
Helen: Mmhmm. I use this strategy, too, because I was finding the same thing, or I was getting really bogged down in the mornings doing all the boring admin things. Also, because sometimes those tasks seem easy and like they’re gonna be quick and then you just do a bunch of these little tasks, but then they turn out to be not easy or quick and it takes up a lot of time. So I have a strategy where in the mornings I work on the patterns. I’m like, “What I do is I make patterns. So in the morning we’re doing pattern work and we’re gonna focus on that for, like, the entire morning and then afternoons are for everything else. And it’s made a big difference, for sure.
Sydney: Yeah, definitely. I feel like I’m in the exact same boat.
Helen: Well it sounds like you have a much better balance now, so I’m very happy to hear about that. But let’s talk a little bit about your patterns. They’re so stylish and they’re so wearable, and we are wondering what your design process looks like for making those comfy, but cool and kind of trendy designs.
Sydney: Yeah. So usually it starts with an idea that I see either somebody else wear, like on TikTok I see somebody wear something or I see something on Pinterest. Or even, like, I have an item of clothing that I love 90%. And from there I take that, try to make it myself, try to, like, tweak things, try to improve it, try to make it better. And that’s, I feel like that is the recipe that works the best for me. When I try to just think up, like, a bunch of random elements of a garment, it never seems to quite come to fruition in a way that, that feels, like, wearable and feels like my style. I would much rather be inspired by things that I see out in the world.
In fact, another New Year’s resolution for me, this might seem crazy, but it was to buy more clothes because in the past couple years, I’ve really found that, anytime I see anything, I’m like, “Well, I’ll just make that.” Like, “I can make it myself and I’ll make it better.” But then you don’t actually end up making everything you think to make, right? And so I was really in a rut of like, I don’t know how to phrase this, like, never engaging with clothing that was different or new. Like, basically I just would wake up and be like, “What 12 pairs of Lane Pants do I wanna wear today?” And it was getting a little bit stale of like, “I need more inspiration.”
And so I, instead of buying clothes, ’cause I also don’t want to contribute to waste, obviously, but I’ve started, like, a subscription rental service where I can, like, try out some different clothes each month. And that’s actually been already, like, it’s gotten my creative juices spinning a ton of, like, trying out silhouettes that I might not have thought that I liked or, you know, experimenting with different things. And I have already, from that service, like, I’ve gotten an item of clothing, sort of liked it and just, like, remade it in a way that I liked way better. And now I have, like, a handmade version of that that is like 10 times better than the original. So yeah, I just find a lot of inspiration from, you know, things I already have or, or things I’m seeing out in the world.
Caroline: Oh, I love this idea. I feel like, as sewists, it’s hard to buy things ‘ cause we’re, we are, we’re always convincing ourselves we can make it. I have found it freeing in the past to give myself permission to buy things once in a while. But I love this perspective of, you know, shopping ready-to-wear or, you know, your technique of borrowing, that’s also so great, thrifting is another way to do it, as, like, almost like a fuel for your creativity so you’re not just always sort of feeding into those same things that maybe are available in the sewing community or in your pattern stash. So that is great. I love this idea. Like, I wanna do some clothing rentals.
Helen: Yeah, so smart.
Sydney: The one type of garment that I used to, like, let myself buy was knitwear. Like sweaters and stuff. But then I started knitting a few months ago and now I won’t even buy that. And it’s like, ugh. It’s so funny, ’cause especially with knitting, it’s like, I can, it’s so slow. You can only knit like a couple sweaters every winter and it’s like, I’m never gonna, you know, I, I, I need to allow myself, like, like you said, give yourself permission to, sometimes it is okay, you, you can wear things that you didn’t make with your own hands.
Caroline: Yeah, it really is. You have mentioned before that you quit wearing hard pants and underwire bras, which is something, personally, that I can relate to a lot. I think a lot of our listeners can relate as well. So can you just tell us a little bit more about what was behind that decision for you?
Sydney: Yes, totally. So, I really hate being uncomfortable, which I think most people would probably agree. But I sort of had a realization like three, four years ago, specifically about pants. Like, I just hate jeans. I’ve always hated jeans. And I think this is something that also draws me and a lot of people to sewing is you, there are certain things that you feel like just never fit you right. And it, it makes you feel like your body is the problem. Right? And like, with jeans, especially, or really any pants with, like, a zipper and buttons, I have such a large waist-to-hip ratio that I have never worn a ready-to-wear pair of pants that was, like, a hard pants, right, that didn’t have a huge gap in the back. And so it’s like you have to pick: are you going to be wearing pants that are super, super tight on your hips and have a big gap in the waist? Or are you going to have something that fits your hips and then you’re just, like, swimming in them?
Anyway, it was just never great and it made me feel like, it just made me feel like my butt was huge and I hated it. And so a few years ago I came to the realization that actually I don’t have to wear jeans. Like, there’s no rule that says you have to, and if you wanna wear elastic waist pants every day, you can totally do that. So I put all my jeans in my closet and I thought, “I’ll stick these up here and I’ll just see how long it takes before I, like, want to wear them.” And I never reached for them ever again. And so it’s just like, why? Why was I keeping these around? So, yeah, I mean, it is all about comfort and it–same thing with bras. Like, I hate wearing bras, so I just don’t.
And another thing that I think about is: so many people talk about wearing…what they wear is about being flattering. Or like, “Oh, I could never wear big pants and a big shirt ’cause then I’ll just look like I’m wearing potato sacks.” And for me, I’ve sort of come to a place, this is not always how I thought, but I’ve sort of come to a place in the last couple years that’s like, I never think about what’s going to be flattering. I never, I’m never gonna be thinking about, like, what’s gonna make my body look the best? Pretty much all I’m thinking about is comfort and confidence. Because there is, there are certain things you wear that you feel confident in, like, you feel nice in. But I really never, ever think about, you know, dressing for what, what’s gonna make my body look the best. And I think that that’s been really freeing and has played a huge role in the whole, no hard pants, no wire bras. It’s just all, all big, flowy and comfortable and it’s totally fine if I look like a potato sack.
Helen: Well, the thing is, you don’t, because a potato sack is boring and you look cute, so it’s actually quite different. I do love, also, the, just the direction that fashion is taking at the moment where more voluminous silhouettes are more in style and volume on volume is very in. So it’s fun to play around with being ultra comfortable and seeing if that fashion style works for you. Big inspiration you are, Sydney.
Sydney: Oh, thank you. That’s sweet.
Caroline: Your social media obviously is so much fun to watch. So we wanted to talk a little bit about that. My first question is just: do you have a favourite platform? I know you mentioned TikTok earlier, but where are you at right now with that?
Sydney: Yeah, I would probably say TikTok is my favourite. If YouTube counts, that might be a close second or maybe tied for first. I’ve been really enjoying long form content, especially on YouTube. There’s, like, certain vloggers and stuff that I really like just kind of peacefully checking in with their lives, you know? They feel like my friends. And so I’ve been loving YouTube, for sure, but TikTok I think is probably still number one. It just feels so much more creative and organic to me. I mean, I know it’s changing a lot. I feel like a couple years ago it was maybe a little, maybe, maybe a little better. But yeah, I just think TikTok has so much more opportunity for creativity and growth and, yeah, just like giving your perspective organically. Whereas Instagram still has its positive sides, for sure, but I, I tend to feel a lot more bogged down, overwhelmed, bored on Instagram.
Caroline: Mmhmm.
Sydney: I don’t know if that’s bad to say.
Caroline: Yeah. No. If, if it’s possible to feel both overwhelmed and bored, Instagram will do that. Yeah.
Sydney: Yes. Yes.
Caroline: You are just so natural in front of the camera, and I also am loving your long form YouTube videos, so it’s fun to hear that you’re enjoying making them, because I hope you continue to make them because it’s so fun to watch. But how do you get comfortable in front of the camera? I need to know.
Sydney: Oh man, it’s gotta just be exposure therapy. I mean, at this point, I’ve been doing it so long that it just feels really normal and natural to me. But, you know, I guess when I think back, like when I started my first business is when I sort of started showing up on camera and on social media. At that time it was, like I said, just Instagram and really Instagram stories for the most part is where, like, I would show up. But yeah, like, the businesses that I would follow around the same time, in 2015-ish, were all one person or very small team. And, and they were all sharing, you know, Not just the things they were making, but the stuff they were up to in their day-to-day lives. And that was always really interesting to me. And I found it very fun to follow along with them. Again, they felt like friends. They felt like people I knew. And so when it came to my own business, it just felt sort of like, yeah, this is normal. This is how you do it. And it does help that when you’re starting out, it’s like, yeah, 50 people are seeing this, so like, who cares if it’s dumb? And then, just over time, it just became more normal and more natural. I think that the way that I’ve shown up, at least, like, my life and, like, the behind-the-scenes type of thing has changed a bit.
Like when it, it’s interesting. I hadn’t really thought about this but, like, I don’t really show up on Instagram stories too much anymore. But I do document a lot of behind-the-scenes random stuff on YouTube. So, you know, the platforms change and, and where I want to be present changes a little bit, but overall it just feels sort of, like, normal and no big deal at this point to be on camera. Although I do share things about my life. I do talk through things that are happening, but there is a lot that I, you know, don’t really share. And specifically, like, I don’t share my kids online or even, like, my husband. Really, like, family life stuff I don’t talk a ton about just because that feels like mine, I guess. I don’t know. And it, it doesn’t feel like something that I super wanna share or, or talk about. I, I would never wanna be like, like a family of vloggers or we’re like, all like, everybody knows my whole family. Like, I don’t know. That feels a little bit invasive to me.
Caroline: Mmhmm.
Helen: Yeah, I mean, it’s good to set boundaries around social media, for sure, and decide what things you wanna talk about and what things you don’t. And we’ve also seen you take some social media breaks, which seems like a great idea for mental health and just letting yourself live your life instead of living online. So tell us a little bit about taking social media breaks.
Sydney: Yeah. You know, it’s not always intentional. In fact, I think most of the time it’s unintentional. One that comes to mind is a couple years ago I built a shed in my backyard. The home we were in at the time was just teeny tiny. I had no space to work, really. So I built a shed in my backyard and I did most of the labour on that. And so during that, like, seven to eight week period when I was building the shed, you know, finishing all the inside, putting in flooring, doing the ceiling, building benches, all sorts of stuff, I just, like, forgot to post anything. I was just so, like, I’d wake up in the morning–I literally was like Bob the builder. I’d wake up in the morning and just, like, go in my backyard with all my power tools and be a carpenter for a while. And so I kind of just forgot to post. And there were times where I’d be like, “Oh shoot. Like am I going to lose everything that I’ve been working on? Am I gonna, like, is everyone gonna forget about me?” Whatever. There would be, like, moments of that, but for the most part it was like, “I’m liking this, like, I’m enjoying this and I kind of just wanna focus on this for now.” And it turned out that it was totally fine and I came back when I wanted to and it felt like a great break. And, and I even felt, came back with more ideas, more creativity, more momentum than I would have if I just, like, forced myself to post every day.
Which is one thing that working in, you know, the corporate world, even though it was small business, that I did kind of get burnt out with social media, because, you know, it’s not all up to you. You have a boss who gives you posting requirements of like, you, you have to post this many times a day on this platform and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so it gets to a point where it doesn’t feel very organic. And I am a big believer in: just post when you want to. And if you don’t really feel like it for three weeks, that’s totally fine. And actually, there is no, like, algorithm god that’s going to strike you down. Like, you’re gonna be fine. So just do what you wanna do and don’t get too stressed out about what you’re supposed to do.
Caroline: Mmhmm.
Helen: Oh my gosh. It literally just felt like you were talking directly to me. No, thank you though. I needed it.
Caroline: Yeah. Well, and I think it is one of the things that makes you so relatable as somebody who is, you know, the face of your quote-unquote business, but you’re also creating content and sharing behind the scenes. Like, you’re not tied to this, like, daily posting. It can feel more organic. It can feel more just like whatever’s going on in your life. And I think people relate to that and they like to see that. And I certainly support social media breaks. I think it’s important. And it’s encouraging to know that it didn’t, you know, make you lose followers or make people stop following along. Everyone’s gonna be there when you get back.
Sydney: Yeah, totally. And I’m also a believer in, like, if they’re not…lik0e for example, when I closed my shop, I had built up, like, a moderate social media following. I was, like, happy with that. I think I had, like, maybe 16 or 17,000 followers at the time, and I closed my shop and, like, I told everyone, “Right, like, I’m closing, this is why,” whatever. Lost a bunch of followers. Totally fine. And then over the next few years, I kept that same account. And so I’d post things that, like, I was sewing for myself or, you know, just random things that had nothing to do with sewing. It was just, like, my personal account now, like, whatever. And I had, like, a huge exodus of followers. I think I’ve, I lost maybe six or 7,000 of them. And it’s like, that’s totally fine. That’s completely understandable. Like, they signed up for one thing and then I changed the script on them so they’re totally allowed to leave. And even now, like, if I did have a bunch of people intentionally choose to unfollow me for a certain reason, like, I genuinely feel completely fine about that because if they don’t wanna be here, like, I don’t want them around. So I don’t know. I feel like a lot of times people think of social media, like, as having one goal. And the one goal is to get as many followers and as many views as possible. And I don’t really have that mindset. My mindset is more like, I’m going to share when I want to and what I want to, and if people are interested in that, great. And if they’re not, that’s totally fine.
Helen: Because you’re gonna find your fans and your people and people who align with your values and people who like your design aesthetic and all those important things. And there’s people out there for everybody.
Sydney: Yeah, 100%. Yeah.
Caroline: So you mentioned your shed and we definitely need to touch on your home decor. You moved into a new house recently and you’ve been sharing that process a little bit, of setting up your sewing studio in there. And we just love your style. It’s very calming and you have these, like, little cute creative touches throughout. It definitely has that, like, crafty vibe. So can you just tell us: what are your, like, essentials for creating that beautiful and practical crafty sewing space?
Sydney: Yes, I have really been loving my sewing space. I really have the goal of letting it evolve over time. I really didn’t want to move in, buy a bunch of, like, Target furniture all at once, you know, just to fill the space. Like, I want it to kind of be something that grows and builds and I try to, as much as possible, kind of look out for, for the right thing, maybe like secondhand or like at vintage shops. Keep my heart open to, like, what is intended to be in this space instead of just what’s the cutest thing online at the moment or whatever. So I feel like, you know, bringing in a lot of those older features or older elements and designs is something that’s important to me in my whole house, too. But yeah, just thinking through colours. I have a lot of Pinterest boards about my sewing room and my whole house.
But yeah, I, I guess, sewing-specific, I have sort of come up with my ideal layout, and I think that’s something that was born very much in my first business, is figuring out the most efficient and ideal sewing layout, which I feel like everybody sort of has. I’m sure you guys have the same thing where it’s like, I definitely want, like, a really big standing height table that I can, like, cut everything on. And I really want, like, for me, it’s really important to have a really big ironing board. I hate the, I hate the really, like, skinny ones that have the, come to a point. So I have, like, a really, really big ironing board. And I like to have, you know, a lot of natural light, which isn’t always an option. I’m very grateful that my sewing room has a lot of natural light. Big desks, big surfaces to put things on. And I recently got a kind of comfy chair for my sewing room so that I wasn’t, it wasn’t either standing or a desk chair were the only two options. So now I have a comfy chair that sometimes, at night, I just go in there and, like. knit on my own and, like, hide from the rest of my family, which has been really nice. So, yeah, it’s like a very cute, comfy, cozy space that I’m very happy with. And I hope, you know, I hope it looks different in six months and I hope it looks different in a year and in five years. And it just keeps evolving and becoming more of, like, I want it to be like a little witch troll cave full of trinkets.
Helen: I love that. You do such a good job of incorporating the DIY elements into the space. I loved the little floral elements that you painted on your cupboard doors. Those are so cute and whimsical. And you were telling us before we hopped on the recording that you just sewed a bunch of stuff for your kitchen, right?
Sydney: Yes. Yeah, I have an area of my kitchen, it’s sort of like a nook where we have a little teeny table and it’s something that’s sort of just been neglected since we moved in. It hasn’t been a priority. And for some reason…my whole house is very, like, mid-century. It was built in the fifties, so there’s a lot of, like, really warm, rich wood and, like, a lot of wood paneling. And for some reason, whoever did the kitchen said, “Let’s make this whole kitchen gray and cold and just depressing.” And so that’s been something that, you know, long-term, maybe we’ll redo, but it’s not a priority to, like, overhaul the kitchen right now. But there’s this corner of my kitchen that’s very just dead and gray and cold. And I wanted to add some kind of warmth to it and some more, like, texture and colour and whatnot. And so I made curtains for the windows. We have, like, a really pretty, like, corner window in the spot. So I made curtains for that. And then I made some cushions to go on my little folding chairs that are really, really cute. I used some, like, Merchant and Mills stripes that I’m, like, completely obsessed with. And then I made a little quilted table runner that I did a little bit of patchwork on that I think turned out really cute. So now that space is, like, really warm and cozy and inviting and I can eat my breakfast there and not be, like, super depressed.
Helen: It sounds lovely. I can’t wait to see your video about all of these decor items.
Sydney: Yeah.
Caroline: So we wanted to talk a little bit about your personal style as well, which we absolutely love. And we have an episode called What’s Your Me-Made Style, where our listeners shared, like, their style phrase, which is a few words that encapsulate how you like to dress. So we were wondering if you could tell us what your me-made style phrase is?
Sydney: Yes. I just listened to that episode yesterday actually, and it was so fun to hear everybody’s ideas. Everyone’s so creative, like, I was like, “Oh my gosh, these are all so good.” Okay, my style phrase, I feel like I’m just totally ripping it off from a different character, but have you guys seen the book Little Witch Hazel?
Helen: Mm, no, I don’t think I have.
Caroline: No.
Sydney: Okay. You have to google it and I hope that, when you do, you’re like, “Oh yeah, that totally is her.” ‘Cause I feel that way. I do get comments sometimes from people being like, “Oh my gosh, you look just like that character from Little Witch Hazel. So she’s, she’s like a little, I think she’s a witch. Pretty sure she’s a witch. And she almost looks like a little gnome and she has, like, really big pants and sweaters and she has braids and, like, a cute little red hat. And it’s like, yeah, she looks so comfy and she’s just like living in the forest, living her best life, being a cozy, crafty witch. I love it.
Helen: Oh my gosh.
Caroline: Okay. I’m googling it right now. And it is, it’s you.
Sydney: Yes.
Helen: Yeah. It’s so cute.
Caroline: It’s so cute. I love the colours, too. These are like the colors in your wardrobe, in your home. Like, it totally works.
Helen: There’s some shots of Little Witch Hazel in her house and her house also looks like your house, so.
Sydney: Okay, perfect. Yeah, no, that makes me so happy. She is. She’s a style icon, so I’ll take it.
Caroline: Yeah.
Helen: She is, I think you need to go full Little Witch Hazel for Halloween, though, and make a whole outfit.
Caroline: Oh my gosh.
Sydney: Oh, for sure. Oh, I love that idea.
Caroline: So where do you find inspiration for your sewing projects when you’re just making clothes for your, for yourself?
Sydney: Yeah, I feel like, I mean, kind of same with my patterns, really. I mean, it, it all kind of is married together. My patternmaking process and making things for myself looks very much the same because, like I said, I really don’t use a ton of patterns. My go-to is very much self-drafting. So, you know, I’m, again, just looking to the things that I have in my closet that I really love, but maybe wanna tweak, or things that I see other people wearing. I have a lot of saved folders, like on Instagram and on TikTok, where I’ll see somebody wearing something and I’ll be like, “Oh my gosh, I totally want to make that.” So yeah, inspiration from the community and, and my own closet, I guess.
Helen: How do you feel about fabric? Does fabric play a big role in your pattern development and sewing things for yourself?
Sydney: I feel like I might have a sort of non-traditional way that I use fabric or…I don’t, I didn’t think that I did originally, but now that I have patterns and, you know, I hear from people who are making my patterns–I never really realized that people buy fabric specifically for projects, which maybe is crazy, but I’ve always kind of just, anytime I see something, like, see fabric out and about that I like, I’ll grab it and I won’t have a plan for it. Like, I basically never have a plan for fabric I buy. And so I just kind of shop my own closet. And like, for example, the stuff I made for my kitchen this week. I knew the items that I wanted to make. I knew I wanted to make curtains. I knew I wanted to make cushions, whatever. And I knew the colour scheme I wanted. Like, I kind of had a mood board of the colours. And then I just went to my closet and I was like, “Okay, what makes sense? Like, what would fit into this?” And if I don’t have something that fits exactly the vision, then usually I’ll patchwork it. Like that’s why I made my table runner a patchwork kind of quilt thing, is because I couldn’t find a fabric that I already had that was checking all the boxes. And so I was like, “Well, I could just patchwork something that would, that would work.” So fabric definitely plays a role, but less around, like, I have a specific garment in mind that I wanna use this specific fabric for. It’s more like, there’s a vibe of fabric that I like. I really love, you know, like, ginghams. I mean, I love all..basically, go to Blackbird. All of that stuff is the stuff I love. But like, I just, there are, like, certain things that I love and gingham stuff, geometric stuff, whatever, linens and, and yarn dyes and all of that stuff. But for the most part, I just kind of work with what I have instead of, you know, trying to find the exact perfect fabric for a specific project.
Caroline: Mmhmm.
Helen: That makes a lot of sense. And I love the way that you incorporate patchwork into your makes and into your patterns. You have several patterns that encourage people to patchwork scraps together and make use of what they have, which I think is really wonderful. And I noticed you’ve been doing some quilting lately. I’m very excited about that.
Sydney: Yeah. I sort of dabble. It’s so funny. I would definitely consider myself, like, not, I, like, I wouldn’t say like, “Oh, I’m a quilter.” Like, I don’t feel like I’m a quilter because there are, there are quilters who are, like, so hardcore great at it, like have all these techniques. It’s like, quilting feels like such a specific niche part of sewing that I, I don’t wanna claim that ’cause it’s like, I don’t actually really know what I’m doing. All my quilting is kind of just made up. But it’s definitely something that I’m drawn to. Like, I love the look of it and I love to play around with it. But yeah, I’m not, I’m not a pro quilter by any means. Those people are such artists.
Helen: There is definitely a wide range out there, but I like to say: if you quilt, you’re a quilter, because we can’t be gatekeeping quilting. Come on.
Sydney: You’re, you’re probably right.
Caroline: So it doesn’t have to be a future pattern, but do you have a dream sewing project that you would like to make for yourself?
Sydney: Ooh, dream sewing project. So many of my projects are kind of like, they come to me one day and then I make ’em the next. And so there aren’t a lot of things that it’s like, “One day I wanna make this.” But one thing that comes to mind is that, this isn’t really, like, garment sewing, so I don’t know how relevant it will be to people, but I really, really, really want to reupholster my couch. I don’t know if this counts as a project. But we got this, we got this couch on Facebook Marketplace that I really love the bones of, and I love the frame of it. It’s kind of like a, there’s probably a technical term for it and I just don’t know it. But the frame is like a wooden frame and it’s kind of open and then there’s, like, cushions on top of it. Like, it sort of almost looks log cabin-y. Anyway, and I really, really love the look of the couch, but whoever made the cushions made it out of this, like, brown microfiber, like it looks like the type of fabric or upholstery fabric that you would see in like a frat house and not on like this really gorgeous, like, mid-century wood frame. And I hate it. I hate it so much and I really want to reupholster it. I’ve never upholstered anything or made couch cushions for anything. So that’s something that I’ve sort of had. I mean, we have the couch. We got the couch and I thought–see, again, this is something where I see it and I’m like, “Well, like, I’ll just make cushions for that.” And it’s been like six months and I don’t, I haven’t gotten any further. So I guess right now if I could snap my fingers and have a, have a sewing project be done, that would definitely be the one.
Helen: Oh, I think you can do it. It’s nice that the cushions are separate, so it’s definitely doable. And I’m sure you will eventually do it, but yeah, it’s hard to work on those bigger projects, especially when you have to learn some new skills, too.
Sydney: Yes.
Helen: Okay, before we wrap up, Sydney, we know you have a busy work life. You have a family, you’re knitting, you’re crocheting, you’re quilting, you’re hiking, you’re sewing, you’re decorating. Um, how do you do it? What’s, how, what’s your secret?
Sydney: It’s so funny. I think it’s such a great perspective that, like, you, you list all those things and I’m like, “Oh my gosh. Yeah. Like, that’s a lot of stuff.” To me, I, every single day I feel like I didn’t do enough stuf. Like I am, I could be doing so much more. And I think that that’s probably how everybody feels. Like, I see all the people that I follow and I’m like, “Oh my gosh, they’re doing, they’re doing all this stuff. Why don’t I have time for all of that stuff? Why don’t I have hours enough in my day?” So yeah, I think it’s, it’s helpful that I’m on both sides of it to kind of give myself that perspective that, like, they probably feel like they’re not doing enough, too. So I guess that’s one answer, is that, like, I’m really not accomplishing as much as it seems, I guess. But then on the other side of it, I am in a very fortunate time in my life where I’m, like, young enough that I have energy to do things and, like, I still have so much ahead of me that I can do and I’m hustling every day and whatever. But then at the same time, like, my kids are older. My, my oldest is 11. And so they’re in school all day. You know, I don’t have little teeny babies strapped to me anymore, running around my feet. I’m able to have, like, full work days and I have, you know, a partner who takes care of a bunch of house management stuff and, you know, I’m not, I’m not kind of like a one, a one person team with teeny tiny babies anymore, which, you know, has definitely, there are seasons of my life that, that’s been more, more of a time suck than it is now. So yeah, I, I think that I’m in a really fortunate time of my life and I’m really enjoying having older kids. At the time when they were younger, it felt like it was never gonna end. You know, babies are just so much work. But yeah, I guess I’m, I’m on the other side of it a bit now and I’m very grateful for that.
Helen: Aw. Well, I think that your attitude comes across in your content because you do seem really happy and like your creativity is really flowing these days, and we’re loving watching every second of it. So thank you for sharing.
Sydney: Thank you. That’s sweet.
Caroline: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show. We, one last thing we wanted to ask you was just if you wanted to tease any future projects for our listeners before we wrap up.
Sydney: Sure. I do have like 10 ideas in my head right now of, potentially, patterns. I mean, this is, another thing I’ve sort of been trying to work on is, instead of creating things with the intention of them becoming patterns, I want to work from a space of like, I have an idea of something I want to make for myself and maybe it will become a pattern one day and maybe it won’t. Because that’s how my first few patterns came to fruition. I think that that definitely allows creativity to, to flow a bit more when, when I’m thinking about it from that perspective. So a few things that I really want to sew for myself that may become patterns and may not: I definitely want to make my perfect shorts pattern. I know that I’ve made a hack for the Lane Pants to become shorts, but there are just certain limitations with that. And, you know, it’s, it’s more of a hack and less of a pattern, for sure. Like, it’s just a video of, like, if you wanna do it, here’s where to cut and whatever. But I have so many ideas for really, really cute shorts, and it would probably be my most, like, versatile pattern because I’d wanna make versions, you know, with ruffles and stripes on the side and a split hem and blah, blah, blah. So I’ve been thinking about shorts a lot lately. I need to get on that because we’re coming into spring here. But then I also really want to make a pouf for my sewing room to store scraps in. And I think I’m gonna try to make it a fun shape, like a star or something like that. You know, that, like, zips open and you can keep little things in there. So that may become a pattern. It may just be something that I have for myself and my sewing room. But those are the two that are really, really on my mind right now that I’m probably going to start, like, really making in the next couple weeks here.
Helen: Ooh, I love these ideas. Very exciting. Well, thank you, again, so much, Sydney. It was a pleasure chatting with you and hearing all about your business and your lovely patterns. Where can our listeners find you online?
Sydney: You can find me on any social media at @hisydgraham. I’m mainly on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Caroline: Awesome! And we’ll link up everything we talked about today and your socials in the show notes. Thank you so much, again. It was so great chatting with you, Sydney.
Sydney: Thank you. It was so fun talking to you guys. I’m, like I said, big fans of you guys and big admirers of both of your businesses and your style and your sewing and, yeah, I’m just happy. Happy to chat with you guys.
Helen: Aw, thank you. Okay, well, we’ll talk soon. Take care.
Sydney: Thank you. Bye.
Helen: Bye.
Caroline: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Caroline, at Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns, and Helen at Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co. We’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.
Helen: You can support Love to Sew and get access to bonus content by subscribing on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. You even get access to the back catalog of bonus episodes. That’s over 75 hours of Love to Sew. Go to patreon.com/lovetosew or check out our podcast page on Apple Podcasts for more info.
Caroline: You can head to lovetosewpodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, leave us a message at 1-844-SEW-WHAT? That’s 1-844-739-9428. or send us an email at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com.
Helen: Thanks to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant and Jordan Moore of The Pod Cabin is our editor. And thank you for listening. We’ll talk to you next week. Bye.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
