Dear readers, I hope that you had a good start into the new year. I’m not really a fan of thinking of the new year as a new start, after all, you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to start something new. However, it feels like one for me this year, because from January on I will take the step into full self-employment. Like probably some of you, I lost my job over the course of the pandemic. That gave me a lot of time to think about what is really important to me and how to proceed. For a long time, I was no longer happy to work for others and the loss of my job gave me the necessary push to tackle self-employment again. I am very lucky that I can join my partner’s zero waste online shop, which he has built up over the past 5 years. We have already tested the cooperation during the last few months, and it works very well, above all we complement each other excellently in terms of our skills.

A lot has also changed for me in my private life in the past year. I moved in with my partner in May and living together is astonishingly uncomplicated. I am particularly happy that I now have a dog in my life again every day. Every 2 weeks for 14 days my partner’s son complements our small family. Of course, it was quite a change to suddenly have a child in my life, but things are getting better and better and we are growing together more and more as a family. Of course, this means that I have significantly less time to sew and also have to mend pants and other things more often instead of being able to sew for myself. But for such a nice reason, I like to make these compromises.

I also used the last few months to make plans for Sewionista. For a long time, I was no longer satisfied with my pattern concept. I still have a lot of fun developing new styles, but to be honest, I don’t enjoy all the work that follows. I would also like to share more of the knowledge I have gained during my dressmaking training with you. From this the idea arose to only offer basic pattern blocks from now on, which also cover a significantly larger range of sizes. The basic cuts are offered from size 32 to 48 (XXS to 4XL, US 2 to 18, UK 6 to 22) and you will also find a lot of information on the blog on how you can adapt the basic blocks to your individual body perfectly. This is supplemented with instructions for pattern construction, so that you can learn how to create a variety of new patterns from a basic pattern. Every month there will be a new sewing project where you can learn new things about pattern construction and get lots of tips from choosing fabrics to sewing techniques. I would be very happy if I can inspire you to take the step towards pattern construction. The next Sunday, by the way, the presentation of the first sewing project starts. 😄

In addition, the topic of sustainability will be brought more into focus here. Last year I already started buying clothes and fabrics only second hand or from organic and fair production. I’ve been buying 2nd hand clothes for some time now, but the one or the other fast fashion item has ended up in my closet every now and then. The inhumane behavior of the well-known fast fashion companies during the pandemic, in terms of the cancellation of current contracts and not paying for goods that have already been delivered, has led me to no longer support this broken system. Buying used clothing is no longer a problem thanks to a large number of online shops and with the huge selection there is something for every taste. I will soon be putting together a post for you with my tips for second-hand shopping and my favorite shops. On the other hand, it looks completely different with fabrics, here I couldn’t find any secondhand shops in Germany. I was only able to find used fabrics through private sales platforms. I certainly went on a shopping spree there and bought entire packages to save postage. 🙈 That’s why you can now find vintage and second-hand sewing materials in my Etsy shop. In 2021 I will certainly try out even more sustainable sources of material and will also to share them with you here. If you have tips for sustainable sources of material, please share them with us in the comments.

Are you looking forward to 2021 as much as I am? What are your plans for the new year?

Dear readers, I hope that you had a good start into the new year. I’m not really a fan of thinking of the new year as a new start, after all, you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to start something new. However, it feels like one for me this year, because from January on I will take the step into full self-employment. Like probably some of you, I lost my job over the course of the pandemic. That gave me a lot of time to think about what is really important to me and how to proceed. For a long time, I was no longer happy to work for others and the loss of my job gave me the necessary push to tackle self-employment again. I am very lucky that I can join my partner’s zero waste online shop, which he has built up over the past 5 years. We have already tested the cooperation during the last few months, and it works very well, above all we complement each other excellently in terms of our skills.

A lot has also changed for me in my private life in the past year. I moved in with my partner in May and living together is astonishingly uncomplicated. I am particularly happy that I now have a dog in my life again every day. Every 2 weeks for 14 days my partner’s son complements our small family. Of course, it was quite a change to suddenly have a child in my life, but things are getting better and better and we are growing together more and more as a family. Of course, this means that I have significantly less time to sew and also have to mend pants and other things more often instead of being able to sew for myself. But for such a nice reason, I like to make these compromises.

I also used the last few months to make plans for Sewionista. For a long time, I was no longer satisfied with my pattern concept. I still have a lot of fun developing new styles, but to be honest, I don’t enjoy all the work that follows. I would also like to share more of the knowledge I have gained during my dressmaking training with you. From this the idea arose to only offer basic pattern blocks from now on, which also cover a significantly larger range of sizes. The basic cuts are offered from size 32 to 48 (XXS to 4XL, US 2 to 18, UK 6 to 22) and you will also find a lot of information on the blog on how you can adapt the basic blocks to your individual body perfectly. This is supplemented with instructions for pattern construction, so that you can learn how to create a variety of new patterns from a basic pattern. Every month there will be a new sewing project where you can learn new things about pattern construction and get lots of tips from choosing fabrics to sewing techniques. I would be very happy if I can inspire you to take the step towards pattern construction. The next Sunday, by the way, the presentation of the first sewing project starts. 😄

In addition, the topic of sustainability will be brought more into focus here. Last year I already started buying clothes and fabrics only second hand or from organic and fair production. I’ve been buying 2nd hand clothes for some time now, but the one or the other fast fashion item has ended up in my closet every now and then. The inhumane behavior of the well-known fast fashion companies during the pandemic, in terms of the cancellation of current contracts and not paying for goods that have already been delivered, has led me to no longer support this broken system. Buying used clothing is no longer a problem thanks to a large number of online shops and with the huge selection there is something for every taste. I will soon be putting together a post for you with my tips for second-hand shopping and my favorite shops. On the other hand, it looks completely different with fabrics, here I couldn’t find any secondhand shops in Germany. I was only able to find used fabrics through private sales platforms. I certainly went on a shopping spree there and bought entire packages to save postage. 🙈 That’s why you can now find vintage and second-hand sewing materials in my Etsy shop. In 2021 I will certainly try out even more sustainable sources of material and will also to share them with you here. If you have tips for sustainable sources of material, please share them with us in the comments.

Are you looking forward to 2021 as much as I am? What are your plans for the new year?