My Creative Process: around the world blog hop

My lovely friend Julie from Our Chez Nous invited me to join the Around the World Blog Hop. The participants are sharing a bit about their creative process or what they’re creating. I love getting a little behind the scenes look at how other designers and seamstresses work!

I love Julie’s style and attention to detail. She was one of my Bottoms Up Pants testers, and I just loved having her as part of my testing team!  You can see her blog hop post here.

I’m a list maker. I like to put pen to paper, brainstorm, and plan, plan, plan. I write lists of ideas, patterns, blog posts. And then I make more lists for what I need to do for each of those things. I seriously love lists. Anything goes when it comes to brainstorming – no idea is too crazy. I write it all down and then choose the project that I’m most excited about sewing. Sometimes I sketch out my ideas as actual pictures next, but usually I just dive in and start cutting.

If I’m drafting a design from scratch, I draw out the pieces and then just try it. I’m pretty hands-on when it comes to designing, so I really don’t know if something will work unless I actually sew it and look at the final product. Then I tweak and make changes. I like to lay five or six different fabrics out at time before deciding which ones I’m going to use together. But sometimes I abandon that plan, because as I’m going through my fabric, I come up with a better idea. Suddenly it’s all I can think about, my excitement takes over, and I throw myself into that new project with all my creative energy!

I get ideas everywhere I go – I’m inspired by clothes I see people wearing (anyone else find themselves distracted by pants construction during church? no?), architecture, art, books, everything. Being the list lover that I am, I keep a running list in my phone so that no matter where I am, I won’t forget my idea. I also snap quick photos of things that inspire me when I can. Sometimes I even wake up in the middle of the night with a crazy idea that I need to write down. Ah, the life of a creative. ;)


I’m not super organized when I’m mid-project, and I’m pretty easily distracted by pretty fabrics (who isn’t?!) and new ideas. But if I have something in mind, I’ll obsess about it until it’s been sewn. Right now I’m working with this lovely pile of Riley Blake knits that are so incredibly delicious. I’ve been playing with different design combos for this fabric, and I’m super excited for the direction I’m going with this project.

I’m passing along the blog hop baton to the lovely Laura of Craftstorming! She’s a fellow boy mama and I just love her designs – they’re fun, practical, and unique, and she always has a fresh take on everyday garments. So make sure you head over there next week to see her post!

Happy sewing!