Trying Something New.

Hey y’all, well another week has passed in the mountains! It’s been incredibly eventful in the Appalachia Sews world. If you follow us on social media, you already know that we have, had some exciting news. We made our first pattern, and had a tester call! And y’all, if you ever want to test how thick your skin is, ask people on the internet to criticize you. Now our group of testers, are amazing people. But taking criticism on your ‘baby’, well it’s hard y’all!

But on the other side of that, is having some amazing people, so willing to help you get your dream, out of your mind and into this world. I know we talked about this a bit, but y’all this has literally been Samantha’s dream for years. And I am so grateful for those people helping her make this a possibility. Don’t get me wrong, I am part of it, but the dream is hers. And as big sisters, y’all know we gotta help them reach that goal. It’s in the fine print of the big sister handbook. What was not, was the amount of steps you go through to make a pattern from a mental picture!

It starts with a vision, for this particular pattern, that vision appeared in June of 2022, Samantha had hacked a couple of patterns, to make a dress that tied in the back, but that you could still wear a bra with. Because we were taught, you don’t leave home without a bra. And I know there are strong opinions on both sides of that argument, but it’s just how we were raised. And her original vision she wanted to add tiers, but kept running out of fabric. So when she couldn’t find any more, she decided to forgo the tiers. The revisit of that pattern came in late May when she saw a beautiful dress online and fell in love, only it was $300! Do y’all know how much fabric we could buy with that?

So she made it herself and made a pattern that you’ll soon be able to buy here! Now that being said, this has been a long road down in a short time. We went from visual drawing to figuring learning how to use, not one or two computer programs, but three in a very short time. Then there were all the lists and sewing, and sewing, and again more sewing. Between us, I think we’ve made it eight or nine times. And I currently am working on a hack, with a full back if it works, you definitely hear more about it. I am really loving it so far, though.

And y’all want to know the most difficult part of Pattern making? The instructions on how to sew it. The part you think would be the easy part is not. Isn’t that how it usually works out on things? I think the most interesting part of sewing is how, everyone has different ways of doing the same thing, but when you try to explain it, it just turns into a jumbled mess. And watching her and I try to write the instructions with two different techniques is almost comical at times, but I did learn a new technique by doing so. So I won’t complain at all!

This leads me back to the wonderful pattern testers, those ladies are amazing. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to do this. I don’t know if any of y’all are reading this, but you are so appreciated! This has definitely been a learning experience for us, and I know you have to start someplace. I think it has been exciting and fun, mixed in with a lot of confusion , but we have enjoyed it. And met some some fantastic new people online! We hope to see you again on the porch next week, hopefully with some exciting news . Have a blessed week y’all!