We are finishing up our kids patterns: reviewing tester feedback, making tweaks, getting excited. It’s been so fun to see all the pictures of the tester group kids wearing them, and hear how some of the kids participated in the projects: choosing fabrics, fit preferences, etc.

Amy has been sewing samples for a photoshoot, and we thought it was so cute seeing the little flower print bias tape on necklines. As a fun contrast, and because you don’t need to buy/use as much fabric if you use a different fabric for binding. Plus you can use a thinner fabric than your main body of the shirt, to make the binding easier! This flower print is a cotton lawn that Amy made a big batch of continuous bias binding with — so nice to work with, and fun to see it appear in different projects across time.

The patterns are coming in the spring, for the northern hemisphere crew: a good time for shorts and the short sleeve top. Or the pants/long sleeve for if you’re sewing for fall in the southern hemisphere. We’re excited to share them with you!

A M Y: I brought my long-standing needleturn applique project out again to cut a few more blocks to take out and about with me. I am pregnant for the third time (!) and have needed lots more downtime than usual. I needed a good sit in a comfy chair and stitch project, and applique always scratches that itch for me. I want to make a special quilt for this baby too, so planning some patchwork projects too. All the quilty ideas are flowing! The applique quilt I’m making will likely take years, and I love it for that. I keep one block at a time in a little zip pouch that I keep in whatever bag I’m schlepping everything in that week, and pull it out to add a few stitches as often as I can. Still, it’s very slow-going and soothing in its inefficiency. Much like growing a baby!

Third pregnancy has been exhausting, and it’s been hard to get down to the studio. I’m due in September, so I am dreaming up some dresses for late pregnancy in the summertime, things that will be easy breezy and have space for a big belly. Any favorite patterns to recommend? I might just make another few of our box top wrap dress hack — that’s been a fave in pregnancy and postpartum for me and for a friend I loaned it to for her postpartum this past year! Traveling dresses are so special, homesewn ones especially!

A M E L I A: This winter has been about making creative space functional after moving house. My current studio/office is a room where I do computer work, writing, art and illustration, and sewing. I’m fitting in a lot of different ways of working, and a lot of stuff: art supplies, computers, sewing machines, notions and fabric, reference books, wooden spoon carving supplies... A few weeks ago, I reorganized the studio in a big way. Moving tables and desks and bookshelves around, and bringing a new table in to make an L-shaped sewing workspace. I moved the standing desk (I’d had it so I was facing the darkest corner! lol why!) to a better spot. Now I’m standing with windows to either side of me, a sunbeam in the morning and afternoon. Glorious. And we swapped out the overhead light and added a dimmer switch. It all feels way better!

My latest sewing project was hacking a thrifted t-shirt into a cropped (raw rolled hem) tank top, and used the fabric I cut off the sleeves and bottom to make a facing for the low, deep armholes. Sewing the under-stitching was my favorite part (besides wearing it). So satisfying to wear it to yoga and be like, yes, this feels exactly right.

I’ve also been inventorying fabric and notions as part of the big re-organize. I pulled out all my fabrics into piles on the floor. I’m grouping them by color, type, and by uncut yardage, big scraps, and little scraps. It was a lot of fun gathering the littlest scraps into color groups, for stuffed animals and/or doll clothes. And I’ve been making lists of the things I want to sew, in Obsidian. And drawing little sketches of them on paper cards too, and moving those around on my sewing project pinboard — which I wrote about here! I’m focused on prioritizing what I really want to wear, what’s almost done, and what we need for the house. By energy/excitement and practical need!

Amelia and Adam’s newest zine-making software from ANEMONE is here! It’s called Layout Department, and there are versions for Mac and Windows. If you have access to a home/office/library printer, it gives you many options for turning PDFs into the print files for making books/zines, printing double sided on letter/A4 sized paper. For example, you could use it to shrink down A4/Letter sized sewing instructions into a printed half-letter/A5 size booklet — we do this all the time for instructions we want to reference repeatedly. (Here’s our video on how to bind a booklet/zine.)

Amy is hosting a virtual writing workshop called “A Poetics of Birth” on March 28th, and there are only a couple of seats left! Here’s the link for more information and to sign up!

People who like risograph/zines… Ripe Ink Press in Atlanta is organizing a Southeast USA regional catalog (a companion to the West Coast and Midwest versions). → Submit yourself or other riso-related things. Also new+fun: ​​artbookfairs.com!

Reading… Pseudo Press newsletter, out of Berlin. Transformed by Birth by Britta Bushnell — best pregnancy/birth book out there in Amy’s opinion. Amelia is starting to read The Wizard of Earthsea.

Listening…. Wild by Tourist. Eric Bibb’s One Mississippi. Electrelane’s The Power Out was the soundtrack for the focused work of exporting all the tester files for the kids patterns. Thich Nhat Hanh meditations and qigong self-massage videos from the Plum Village app.

Eating…. flatbread pizza, vanilla ice cream, other pregnancy cravings. Pita from Good Things. Frozen soup dumplings from costco, along with snake/accordion cut mini cucumbers with salt, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Momofuku-style soy sauce eggs.

Looking for… maternity friendly sewing patterns to try for Amy — please leave a comment if you have recs! :)

The weather is… finally shifting toward spring in Pittsburgh, with some wild wind. Worryingly warm springy in the Washington mountains for a bit, but then we just got two feet of snow, and it sounds like floods next as it all melts off with a heat wave. (How’s your weather? Do you also need some climate emergency reading recs?)

Links… The inside info on sewing machine brands from a sewing machine shop. Why zines are popping up at protests. The loon square! Instead of a diet, try sewing. 21 hours over 8 days to sew a pair of jeans. Amelia’s dream. The Cloth Purpose. Rage and rules. A tip for turning sharp corners. State the label’s pattern hanging method. GENDER FREAK: a queer quilt collective (organized by the St. Louis Trans Quilt Project).

And a quote from an essay on sewing pattern history:

In recent years, the meaning of sewing has shifted again. Within slow fashion spaces, making your own clothes is often presented as a feminist and ethical act, a form of resistance to fast fashion and mass production. While that reframing has helped elevate the cultural importance of sewing, it also risks keeping it in the realm of ‘hobby’ or personal virtue. The skill, knowledge, and labour involved can still be softened or overlooked, just under a different set of ideals. The paper pattern industry has always depended on women’s expertise and effort, even when that work was minimised or taken for granted. And that raises a bigger question: when something is associated with the home, with women, or with pleasure, why do we find it so easy to stop seeing it as real labour?

Yours,

Amelia & Amy

P.S. — Should Amelia write a “hack your own cropped tank top” tutorial? Leave us a comment if you think that’s something you’d find useful. Or, if you’d like, just leave us a comment with what you’re sewing right now / sewing thoughts. :)

We’re looking for people to test-sew the first all well kids patterns: the Little Box Top (12 month to age 10) and/or the Toddler Play Pants + Shorts (12 month to 4T). All the details in the call for testers, if you’re interested!

A M E L I A: Finally feeling like I’m getting my studio spaces (sewing/creative work, and also the ANEMONE printshop) set up and working after the move. It took a few months of trying different arrangements, moving tables and chairs and equipment around. After two and a half years of travel and mostly not sewing at all (!!), it feels so good to be back at the sewing machine, working with fabric, getting going on all well patterns and new zines in earnest. This week’s big studio progress: I used a staple gun and drop cloth to re-cover three thrifted cork boards (with their wooden frames removed) to make pinboards. Here’s a picture of the one for sewing projects, above the ironing board:

I made little drawings of the things I want to sew and design and started to group them by type, by excitement, by how soon I need them. Visual thinking helps me a lot, I need to see all my projects and be able to move them around and group them — and just be reminded that they exist.

A M Y: I impulsively made a pair of Dance Pants, a new pattern by Thread and Sprout, and I really like how they turned out. I made a pair in linen that had been sitting in my stash for far too long, and cut out a second pair right away. I think I need to shorten the rise a little for future pairs, but otherwise they’re roomy and great! A fun quick sew. Otherwise, I’ve been making a lot of pattern diagrams for the Little Box Top and Toddler Play Pants, which is always nice cozy and focused work. Since the beginning, all of our diagrams have been hand-drawn on an iPad, a slightly unusual approach in the pattern world that has become something that we see as a sort of all well signature. We love our illustrative diagrams and hope you do too! All the cuter for kids patterns, little tops and pants are so fun to draw!

A M Y: I’ve been having a big knitting resurgence. Knitting feels like the perfect soothing winter nervous system reset. It was kicked off by some gift knitting. I made this balaclava for my sister for Christmas. Then I decided that the time has come to finally finish my ozetta traveler’s cardigan. I’m down to the last sleeve now, so close! I also cast on a small wool Sophie Hood because I couldn’t resist (and I felt jealous of my sister’s new balaclava!). I’ve enjoyed taking that project out and about with me since the increases are so easy to remember. It’s nice to have hand work to pull out whenever I need something to soothe my restlessness. Everything is heavy right now — some wool to hold feels good.

A M E L I A: I’ve been sewing soft and padded covers for electric heating pads. Since we’ve moved to the mountains where there’s snow on the ground for months at a time, I thrifted a second one to keep at the foot of the bed. This one had that classic weird polyester cover, insultingly made with just one snap so that the inner plastic part inevitably sticks out and scratches you. I’d also recently thrifted a cerulean blue Eileen Fisher silk shirt with an oil stain on the front, with the idea that I’d sew something with it if the stain couldn’t come out. The stain was quite set, so now it’s covering my hot pad. I also pulled a holey sweater from my sewing fabric collection to make an inner liner, since the silk was thin. And man, the silk and cashmere hot pad at my feet in the cold winter is so nice. I don’t think you can buy one, but you can make one for yourself. :)

This sensory luxury inspired me to make a NEW cover for my original heating pad, which had I had covered in cream and navy windowpane print wool years ago. Cute, yes, the fabric was just ever so slightly too scratchy, so I un-picked the seams to save the wool for something else, and repurposed some cotton woven navy and white gingham from a box top I’d made. The top was in the “to reuse” pile because I’d made it a bit too small, and then compounded the issue by using french seams which weren’t good with that thick of a fabric… so I cut off the neckline and french seams, and incorporated the hem. I ended up with envelope type cover that also had a slit in the side for the cord to go out, and a patchwork to make the fabric pieces big enough:

Both these were great projects for picking up sewing again after my long break. No pattern, re-purposing shirts and sweaters with oddly sized bits of fabrics to add to the design constraints. The good feeling of making things work. And then they immediately became things I use every day. I also mended the hem of a wash cloth, hand sewed some rips on a pair of Adam’s gloves and sweater-shavered the fluffs off of wool gloves and several sweaters, and re-sewed loose buttons on two pairs of pants.

The pinboard has me excited about researching my next sewing projects… On my mind: various pants. A silk robe. Bolster pillowcase. Most immediately next up: window seat cushion covers out of deadstock Kvadrat wool from ebay. And I’ve been learning projector sewing.

Regarding the ICE occupation and abductions in Minneapolis and elsewhere… “get organized now” and “ICE made a classic Nazi mistake: they invaded a winter people in winter. […] The entire city, it seems like, is rising up against the kidnappers.” and rapid response networks. Stand With Minnesota has links for places to donate and non-monetary ways to help. Solidarity with the general strike today. Last, a poem.

Reading… revisiting Matrescence by Lucy Jones, savoring The Salt Stones by Helen Whybrow. Back issues of Apartamento magazine. Impulsively selected thrillers, detective novels, cookbooks, and gardening books from the library.

Listening…. Tame Impala. Random recs from qobuz (finally got off Spotify – the ICE advertisements and not paying artists, yikes). Taylor Swift’s Opalite is Amelia’s ladies cross country ski group’s warmup song. The new season of the Articles of Interest podcast, Gear.

Eating…. corn tortilla and egg tacos with guacamole + watermelon popsicles. Batch making dumplings with Taxonomy Press – TVP, incredible meat, chanterelles and shitake filling… amazing. Still obsessed with Samin Nosrat’s sesame ginger dressing (minus the jalapeno) that we mentioned in the last newsletter. Lots of tofu, and soondubu.

Looking for… Recommendations for coverstitch machines (Amy and Amelia both want to get them this year). More ways to continue to fight back against the escalating fascism/authoritarianism/autocracy here in the US…

The weather is… a 50s F heat wave melting several feet of snow and causing mudslides; living in the climate crisis. XC skiing in the misty cloud. Hibernate-y in Pittsburgh, brrrrrrr.

Links… Fun knitting patterns to peruse \ Winter Happiness Plan making time \ Amelia and Adam will be at the Sea Slug Animation Festival in Seattle — check it out if you like independent animations \ Other Virtues \ Soup Library \ discovering aphantasia \ honestly, we wouldn’t be surprised…

Sending care to everyone,

— Amelia and Amy

P.S. — Here’s that link to the call for testers for the all well kids patterns!

Coming back to working together with more regularity has offered the chance to decide what it is we really want to do. The way forward is to slowly work on projects that we feel interested in. And to narrate that process, photograph it, notice the beauty and moments where we experience flow, and feel excited. We are digging in: to the nature of creative collaboration, and cultivating our own practices in solitude. This is an opportunity to remember and discover anew why we love sewing, still like sewing, and how we do it.

We have been working on a collection of kids sewing patterns, a kid-sized box top, and kids shorts/pants. It is taking so long to make this kids sewing pattern, with lots of big life changes this past year. We are trying to release our expectations of what we should be capable of and return to what feels possible now. Great, it’s taking a long time, that’s fine.

Talking together, we settled on a mindset shift that all well is (and always has been) a creative sewing studio, not a pattern company. A project where we occasionally make sewing patterns and other things. A collaboration, a relationship, and an outward-facing expression of our personal sewing practices. That’s our why, and will be the undertone of anything we put out from now on. There are places folks can go for cool and trendy new sewing patterns, and that probably won’t be all well. We will be out here making things, big and small, that delight us, and talking about how it feels to sew. Everything we offer is shared as one way to do things, not the only way. There are many places to turn to for sewing patterns, sewing information, etc. The trick is finding the teachers and projects that mesh with your mind, goals, and how you learn.

To do any creative project at all is amazing. There are so many steps, it requires so much knowledge, you learn and grow so much. To make a zine, to sew something, to make anything.

Making something others can use is even more amazing. Offering something is a cool use of your time. So we want to continue offering things you can use. Sewing patterns, publications, newsletters — making things and putting them out into the public. We have almost too many ideas right now, a good buzzy feeling, but also the feeling of not wanting to get ahead of ourselves or neglect projects that could benefit from some follow-through. Our general goal for moving forward is to follow whatever threads feel fun and possible, and to let there be different levels of things we put out. Tutorials in the newsletter, a short and more casual pattern in a zine format, and then, more occasionally, fully graded and tested garment patterns.

Not everything has to be super polished! Like this old tutorial Amelia made about sewing a climbing rope bag, with just pencil drawings and no photos at all! Or like the limited edition risograph print of the Half Moon Zip we made a few years ago.

So fun, so simple. We’re excited to experiment more with things that feel like that.

A M E L I A: Recently: Sweater shaving. Mending pants with sticky fabric tape. Unpacking after we moved house and figuring out how to set up the sewing space. Taking inventory of what I have (fabrics, notions, patterns).

This is the current todo list:

1. Mending: mostly sweater elbow holes; a few buttons need to be sewn back on, and there’s a rip in the inside of the elastic waistband of some linen pants.

2. Sew a new cover for my heating pad; the one I made before is out of wool that turns out to be just too scratchy. Also, I just thrifted a second heating pad (we live somewhere with cold winters now!); need a cover for that too.

3. Re-thread the serger.

4. Cushion covers for the new window seat bench we just built. The foam is cut and ready!

5. Silk robe, out of precious fabric. Self draft the pattern.

6. Sew some pants!

7. I want to dye over some pillowcases of living room cushions that are looking a bit dull.

A M Y: I hope to pattern out the knitting project bag I made years ago as a zine.

Returning to knitting in fits and starts (and wrote an essay about knitting and novel writing) — I really want to finally finish this cardigan!

Sewing some clothes for myself when I can carve out the time. I recently really enjoyed sewing Merchant and Mills’ Clover Top.

My husband carved out space in our basement for me to have a dedicated cutting table and it has been a huge positive change for me! So nice when someone who loves you can tell what you need before you can even articulate it.

Still sewing many versions of the little box top, and doing some test fitting with real kids! Feels good! :)

listening to… Country music: the Twisters soundtrack; Vincent Mason’s There I Go, John Prine, Chris Stapleton. Matt Beringer’s Get Sunk. Mapache. Lots of Tourist for ambient background for hands-on work. Lily Allen’s new album West End Girl feels like the divorce pop-musical I never knew I needed.

eating…. Six and a half minute eggs. Cooking through Samin Nosrat’s new Good Things cookbook, and making multiple batches of the Sesame Ginger dressing (here’s the recipe on NYT Cooking, and on a non-paywalled blog) and pickled red onions. Plus sugar cookies, with toddler assistance. Lots of sourdough (made Tartine book style).

drinking… smoothie life, costco everything: smoothie blender, frozen berries, protein powder, bananas. And tea lattes with frothed milk every afternoon, plus the sparkling water flavors I can only stock up on when I make it out to Trader Joe’s (40 minutes away!)

reading… Outlander series (so many! so long!), Lily King’s Heart the Lover (and revisiting Writers and Lovers too!). Automatic Noodle (robots running a restaurant set in SF in the post-civil-war country of California) — sort of A Psalm for the Wild-Built vibes. Everything She Touched, a biography of Ruth Asawa.

the weather is… sun behind clouds, crystals of rain on the branches and power lines lit like jewels, the last yellow leaves on the trees. First snow flurries, and lots of rain. Big moon slowly getting smaller.

Print some booklets of your own work! Amy has been making her google doc diary into a zine (printing just 1 copy!) and wrote about how you can do it as well; and (same process, way more detail) Amelia and Adam recently published a free zine about making a zine or book from a PDF, and how to risograph print it too if you want.

At Short Run, Amelia got a copy of Kacy McKinney’s Mourning Attire, a zine about navigating grief with drawings, quilt photos, and remaking clothes. It’s not on sale online yet, but Portland people can find it at a release and reading event on 12/4 6-8pm at the NW Museum of Cartoon Arts.

The textile color-sculpture works by Tomislav Topić.

Amy is working as a birth doula in Pittsburgh, and published a new zine about weaning this summer for her publishing project Imaginary Lake!

Lots of fun tools for making sewing patterns for outdoors gear.

Picked up this new book about hand-sewing clothes from the library. I didn’t know some of the finer details of handsewn clothes, so fun to learn.

Mary Cassat’s Young Mother Sewing.

Madison Moore on starting to sew clothes.

Harriet Powers pictorial quilt stamps are coming next year!

If you’re looking for small-press gifts (or something to put on your own wish list), we recommend these publications (risograph printed and assembled by hand) by friends of ours: The Domestic Partner, the 2026 Floral Observer Subscription, and Tomato Diary.

Thanks for reading!

— Amelia and Amy

We’re coming to you from a month of more travel (for Amelia) and more homebody-ness (for Amy). We are making sweet, slow progress on new all well projects. Here are some things we are thinking and working on, news from the all well studio, and links & recs!

A M E L I A: I’m drinking chai at a cafe in Oslo, it rained overnight and the street is damp and the sky is grey light. Adam and I are in Norway for three weeks, here to visit with artist peers, to teach workshops about making zines, and install a Climate Emergency Reading Room at Bergen Art Book Fair.

This month we’ve been visiting the Netherlands, Berlin, and Copenhagen and I’ve been capturing little sparks of creative inspiration in a photo journal for you all:

Textile prints as scarves and tapestries, hanging on the wall at Colorama / down booties in Utrecht.

Louise Bourgeois, always (Self pity, 2009, woven textile, pillow mounted in frame, at the incredible Louisiana Museum) / We dropped off some ANEMONE books for sale at Zabriskie in Berlin.

At the Living Structures exhibition there were natural dye tests, and a 3d-knit + sewn pavilion space by architect and researcher Jenny Sabin.

A M Y: The thaw happened suddenly in Pittsburgh. One day we had a few inches of snow and the next it was 65 degrees and sunny. We are used to boomerang weather around here, but it seems like the year has really turned, and I’m so glad. This winter felt long and dark, too much being stuck inside with two little boys with soooo much energy. Every member of our family thrives when we can be comfortably outside for a few hours a day. Now, the robins are hunting worms in the backyard, and we spotted the first bees finding the snowdrops and crocuses. Not so many freezing temperatures — so now it feels like it’s suddenly garden time!

I have three trays of seeds started in my kitchen, mostly flowers and tomatoes. I have lots more I’ll just sow straight into the garden once it’s warm enough, but I wanted to get a head start on some things to extend the season a little. Pittsburgh is in Zone 6b, and last year was a difficult growing season — the relentless heat made so many plants unable to proliferate the way I know they could. It wasn’t until September that things really started taking off. I don’t know if this summer will be the same or different. My garden feels like my hobby with the lowest-stakes, and I love it for that. It gets me outside, it roots me in time, it feels like an exciting experiment. Last year was my first year really trying to grow things, and I was surprised by how much joy it brought. Just looking for more of that joy. Failure can be part of that.

Here’s last year’s late season garden / this year’s kitchen seed set-up.

A M Y: One of my favorite afternoons lately was a few hours sitting on the bench on my porch outside in the sun slowly stitching an ongoing needleturn applique project I’ve been working on off-and-on for a few months. I’m just accumulating quilt blocks and trying not to plan too far ahead toward how the project will look when it is finished. It is enlivening to keep a sense of play as part of this project. Because sewing is no longer just my hobby, it’s important to me to find ways to keep it feeling personal and juicy.

And, I’ve been sewing so many toddler shorts! More Play Pants prep (the kids pants pattern we are developing). This is my favorite part of pattern drafting, I think, repeatedly sewing pattern samples. I’m a very tactile learner, so I don’t quite know how my edits to a pattern have panned out until I’ve sewn it. This kind of iterative design is so satisfying for me, though labor-intensive. Some designers may not need to sew so many samples, but I would miss it if my practice shifted away from it. And it’s helpful too, because now my toddler is fully ready with shorts for this summer!

A M E L I A: I texted Amy “I see box dress hacks” about these two 1920s Kees van Dongen paintings at the Pompidou. I’m not a big dress or skirt wearing person, but I’ve been feeling that sewing a lightweight dress might be nice this summer for lake swimming picnic days.

And I saved this bakery bag from Meyers Bageri in Copenhagen for construction inspiration for sewing bags. The single vertical seam and cute fold at the bottom! Saving an oily, cinnamon-flecked piece of paper in a ziplock for later deconstruction and measurement is totally a sewing thing to do, right? (I’m thinking it could be fun to scale it up to a tote size, and change the proportions a bit.) We went there and to Hart on the recommendations of our friends BearBear; the bakery scene in Copenhagen is excellent.

I wanted to share a picture of the smyth sewing machine in the basement at Knust, which sews book signatures together. (Here’s an animation of how smyth sewing works.) Just sharing this for when you’re having trouble threading your sewing machine or serger… we can all remember… it could be even more complicated, haha!

More inspiration for hacking the Bucket Bag (the very first All Well pattern, from 2019!!) into a tool bag.

So excited to listen to the new Lucy Dacus album, and have been enjoying reading all the press interviews she has been doing. Lucy’s thoughtfulness and emotional honesty feels refreshing in this era of polished media training. This interview was great, and there are many others!

Who has the right to have rights? / “a new threshold has been crossed”

Reading recs: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy, The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger, Shopkeeping by Peter Miller, Christopher Brown’s Tropic of Kansas trilogy, and Lifehouse by Adam Greenfield.

For Norwegian people: here’s a list of the four public events and workshops Amelia and her husband Adam will be part of as ANEMONE, at Bergen Art Book Fair April 3-6. There are even book readings at the sea pools and sauna! And after the fair, we’re traveling to Gloppen to install the reading room at Trivselsskogen, where there will be an opening presentation on April 12th at 14:00, as well as a Do Plants Feel? drop-in workshop with CC and Issue Press.

Just finished reading Making Time by Maria Bowler, and this sewing related quote stood out in the chapter called Making Abundance:

Puttering around my sewing space, I fretted over wasting fabric. I started piecing one project together, then switched lanes before cutting into any fabric. I changed my mind over and over again about what to make, so I committed to nothing. I ironed. I mended an older piece. My doing self told me, “Danger! You might run out of fabric, or time, or energy. Make sure you know what you’re doing before you commit so it’s done correctly. It is so interesting that my doing self knew that throwing “waste” at me would stop me in my tracks. It sounds like such a mature thought, though it’s really a lie about scarcity in fancy clothes. It appeals to a false sense of prudence and morality. Waste fabric? How, by using it? I have piles and piles of fabric in my studio. Most of it is thrifted, some of it I bought over the years. […] I’m not exactly working with priceless artifacts. All that unused stuff I’ve hoarded for this exact purpose, and there I was, afraid to make a real piece out of it.

And this too:

“How dare you create when the world is on fire?” All your compassion, sensitivity, and imagination twists itself. “How dare you create [goodness, truth, beauty] when it doesn’t fix all this?” I say this with love: How dare you not. [...] Don’t use the fact of evil, of war makers and legislators of injustice, as a reason not to create what was not there before. Do not reject the way your humanity throws off sparks of light because there is always darkness. Truth and beauty are not frivolous. Creating is responsible, and responsibility is not grim. It is a gift to be alive. You do not serve the world with frantic action, but with your highest intelligence. You do not serve the world by withholding.

— Amelia and Amy

We hope your February has been soft wherever you are — with moments of happiness and ease. Spring is coming slow and steady — that promise feels important to us right now! Here’s a little update from each of us, news from the all well studio, and links & recs!

A M E L I A: It’s been a very travel, fabric, and artist publishing filled month for me. NYC and Brooklyn, then Paris: I went to Toast and Buck Mason felt all the fabrics! Admiring the simple homegoods at La Trésorerie and Merci – pot holders, napkins, tea towels. The feel of the Labo Art shirts is incredible. It's all about the fabric.

Sewing and textiles feature in small press publishing too; I’ve been thinking about that so much. Paper is a fabric, it has a grain that dramatically influences what you make. You cut it and fold it and press it. We did studio tours with Lucky Risograph and Parsons New School, who both have amazing collections of paper swatch books. Browsing them felt like being in a fabric store, imagining what you could make, how it would feel. And with books and zines, you can sew the bindings by hand or with machines: at Quintal Atelier, I was struck by the fluorescent threads hanging above their industrial sewing machine.

It feels creative in a different way to write to our governor and state representatives about defending civil rights for queer and trans people, for undocumented people, abortion access, healthcare, and voting rights. This ongoing constitutional crisis / authoritarian, oligarchical coup / dismantling of the government we have going on in the US right now is so horrible, in so many ways. I’m finding energy in the growing economic boycotts, protests and demonstrations, like the economic boycott coming up on Friday 2/28. (Basically, don’t buy stuff! Boycott Amazon, Walmart, Target, fast food, gas; small business ok.) We have power together. And making things, mending things, and making art, is extra vital as fascism is on the rise.

A M Y: Snow and sickness all around this month, with bursts of sunlight and happiness. My younger son suddenly says dozens of words — it feels like magic to know now what he is thinking about! “Dump truck” features heavily. I haven’t been getting out much, but saw a few plays for the first time in a while, and visited a new-to-me library location with beautiful stained glass windows and big stone columns.

Cooking simple meals at home every night is grounding. I’m realizing we hardly ever eat food from restaurants anymore. Latest satisfying revelation is that I like cooking a huge pot of dried beans in the instant pot (very easy, no soaking!) and then freezing them in 1 cup portions — for some reason defrosting beans in a pot feels easier than opening a can, and I like that it includes onions and spices already! Life at home raising young kids feels like a spinning globe with strong centrifugal force, especially in the winter. I feel pinned to the house, like gravity — but there’s a comfort in that groundedness, especially now. Escaping to the studio feels really good, though I have to remind myself that it isn’t an escape, it’s my work! Amazing the way slowly sewing through a tiny pair of pants can feel like a treat. I play comforting music on the bluetooth speaker and try not to think. It’s glorious.

I also had a burst of creative happiness this month turning my long running google doc diary into a print zine! I like typing my diary, but once I had zine-ified the doc it felt so good to hold my words in my hands — so I think I’ll do this every few months now! I wrote a post about it over on my substack with a tutorial for how you can make a zine out of pretty much anything (using ’s Spectrolite), check it out if that sounds fun!

A M Y: The new kids play pants pattern has gone through a first round of grading and is well on its way! It’s been so fun to sew a bunch of new pairs of pants for my kids as I finalize the design. And helpful to have willing and committed wear-testers in two separate sizes right in my house! More testing still to do, so more pants to sew. And then, moving on to the kids box top.

I also sketched out and tested a first draft for a new adult pants pattern. Grown ups need play pants too! Shooting for a very comfortable around-the-house pant with lots of ease that still feels polished enough to wear out and about. That’s basically all I want to wear these days, anyway! Cute home clothes!

I’ve also been thinking about sewing another cross-back apron based on the yellow linen one I drafted many years ago now so that I’m not apron-less when the yellow one is in the wash. Who knows, maybe that will become an all well pattern soon too! I’m thinking a pink apron would be nice, and it would match my kitchen. Or, maybe red? I recently organized my very overstuffed fabric stash and I have so many beautiful fabrics waiting to be used! The secondhand fabric sale in Pittsburgh is truly the gift that keeps giving.

A M E L I A: Not much studio work for me, since we’re in travel mode. Some writing with Amy in the instructions google doc for the play pants, and spreadsheeting for the new kids size chart. I laid out the first test print of the graded play pants for Amy to print using the blueprint printing at Staples. The kids pants fit on 30x42" paper, and at $6.75 it’s not a bad price in trade for the time it would take to print at home and tile the paper together.

I felt most enlivened during a writing session where I wrote up some sparks of inspiration for what will (possibly!) be one of our next adult clothing patterns. That felt like good energy, even though it’s far off. Envisioning the fabrics, the hacks, the instructions, the ways to teach, and all the ways to wear it and layer it. I’ve also been noticing homegoods as we’ve been out and about, and spotted these two beautiful curtains in Paris. The one made of bubble wrap, what an amazing choice for a street level fabric. The noticing is part of the work, too.

Some local-ish recs first:

1. If you’re in Seattle, the Sea Slug Animation Festival—a new Pacific Northwest hub for independent animation—is March 7–8 at SIFF Cinema Uptown! The inaugural festival will showcase local and international short films, a new and a retrospective feature, an Artist Alley of local artists, and mixers for audiences and artists to connect. (And Amelia’s friend Alex Barsky made an incredible riso-printed animated poster for the festival!)

2. Are you or anyone you doing Risograph printing related stuff in the Midwest? Artist, press, publisher, book shop, community space, educational hub, book fair, zine library, event organizer, or any other connection to RISO... please fill out and share the form! (There’s a companion to the RISO West Coast catalog in the works!)

3. The big spring secondhand fabric sale in Pittsburgh is coming up on April 12th! Best advice is to show up early — people start lining up way before the start time, and some good stuff goes quick. Get some coffee and enjoy the frenzy!

Some things to read:

Daughter Judy on why you might want to get a coverstitch machine as you get into sewing knit clothing. Charlie Porter’s book What Artists Wear, and Alex Leach on the fashion industry right now. Notes (and photos!) on Louise Bourgeois' relationship with clothes and Georgia O'Keeffe's curated wardrobe by Sasha Zavyalova. From even\cleveland: "this is our first action" with more details about the economic boycott, and “NO ONE WAY WORKS, it will take all of us shoving at the thing from all sides to bring it down. Diane di Prima”

Other assorted recs:

• Amy: I was surprised by how much I liked Cocoa Berry Tea from Trader Joes. It’s different from any tea I’ve had before, and really smooth and satisfying!

• Recommending two novels about cataclysm and its aftermath: Small Rain by Garth Greenwell and The Wall by Marlen Haushofer.

• Burda has three free bike-related sewing patterns up that look cute!

• Love the idea of keeping a dinner diary.

— Amelia and Amy

My, how time has passed! We have been away for a while, enveloped in each of our lives. A little bit of sewing here and there, but mostly other projects and places and people and things. The good thing about time away is that it makes space for the feeling of yearning — or “missing” at least. It feels like the time has come to work on sewing projects again, and that is a good feeling. We are wading back in.

What have we been up to in the meantime?

A M E L I A: The Pacific Crest Trail hike with my husband Adam that I wrote about in summer 2023 turned into an even bigger adventure: when as we were walking we decided to sell our place in Seattle, put our things in storage, and keep traveling. (!!!) We walked 2,200 miles of the PCT, marveled at lichen, and then had lots of other adventures in cities and deserts and mountains — camping, biking, seeing friends and family, eating a lot of good food. We’ve mostly been taking a break from working, but I have been writing about life, travel, art, and the risograph prints and zines we’ve been making as ANEMONE.

I wrote about artist publishing vs. self-publishing, and made a risograph printed zines Notes on Artist Publishing and Taking Care of Yourself as an Artist Publisher. We exhibited at Short Run and Seattle Art Book fair, and made the RISO West Coast catalog. And with Alex Barsky, we co-organized a Climate Emergency Reading Room + Community Altar, and are planning installations in Detroit and Norway this year. It felt so good to have these conversations and a space for hope, grief, anger, and beauty about the climate destruction we’re in the midst of, and the community and good things we can all continue (or start!) building as we’re making creative things with sewing, publishing, cooking, community.

Writing has been my main creative outlet in the travel era, always carrying a notebook (or three). Daily morning pages and bullet journaling sometimes, other times just adding little notes and sketches. We added a bunch of new things to Spectrolite, the free Mac app that Adam and I make to help people lay out PDFs into printable booklets, and do color separation for risograph. I added some pages to my personal website: a /uses page with tools and things I use (including for sewing!), and a page for things I’m looking for. I’ve been reflecting on what I want to write in 2025 — more personal writing!

A M Y: The main hum of my days for the past few years has been caregiving. My two sons are four years and 18 months old, so I have my proverbial hands full. Over my four years (so far) of parenting, I have learned so much about surrender and humility. I had thought I would be able to continue my creative career without missing a beat. Haha! I can see now that my work needed to change in the face of the demands of parenting and, maybe even moreso, the ways it is changing me.

I took a definitive break from sewing for a bit. Writing has been the biggest throughline for me, workwise. It’s the thing I never fully set down. My second book of poetry, Broken Waters, was published this past summer! It’s the book I wrote when I was pregnant with my first son, almost five years ago now. I’m so happy it’s out in the world! I’ve also been steadily writing and sharing essays via my Substack newsletter, My Candle Burns. I’m nearing the completion of a new poetry manuscript, which feels exciting and scary (will it become a book?). Writing never really leaves me, even when life is overfull.

I knew I would want to write my way through my second son’s first year, so I decided to give myself some goals and a container to put that writing into. Inspired by Amelia and Adam’s work with ANEMONE, I started a small press of my own, Imaginary Lake, to publish a print zine series called A Year Postpartum. It was such good work for me to make these zines — I’m so glad I committed to the project, probably biting off more than I could chew, but the result is so beautiful. The first year after a baby is so joyful and hard and strange, and writing zines as touchstones of change over time really helped me process all I was experiencing. It was an added joy to share the zines with readers, and, in doing so, connect with so many people who really understood what I was sharing.

I loved writing and publishing that zine series. Along the way, I also made a few poem prints for Imaginary Lake as well, along with some standalone zines, and one “pattern for writing” — a writing workbook inspired by sewing patterns — all revolving around birth and early motherhood. But, after the series ended, I felt pulled back to sewing, a good shift I was finally ready for. I don’t have any new publications in the works for Imaginary Lake right now, because I’m finally sewing again, making a dent in the wildly huge collection of secondhand fabric I’ve amassed! (Many thanks to the Salvation Army Fabric Sale in Pittsburgh, I’d be nothing without you! Haha.)

Studio

KIDS CLOTHES!

For a long time, we have wanted to make kids’ versions of our classic garment patterns. People have asked repeatedly for this over the years, and now that Amy has two little boys (who keep growing!) to dress, and Amelia is getting close to settling down again after lots of traveling, the time has arrived. We are focusing on two pieces — Play Pants and the Little Box Top, enjoying iterative design and experimentation to find the perfect proportions (in our opinion) for comfy, cute, and sturdy play clothes. Our goal is to make these super streamlined and quick to cut and sew, and very economical of fabric to keep cost-per-garment down! Both of those things are important to us for all of our patterns, but for kids clothes especially, it’s exciting to make something so cute so quickly! So, watch this space!

For the longer term, we’re thinking about H O M E G O O D S !!! More on that later!

What we’ve been sewing

A M E L I A: It’s been incredible to be on this travel adventure, but it’s also meant that I haven’t really sewn anything in the past year and half. (Sewing, alas, not the most portable.) It is kind of wild noticing how many “oh I could just sew this” thoughts I have when I can’t easily sew, and need to write the idea down for later, or find a different solution. So it was really satisfying when I dipped my toes back into sewing on my mom’s machine on a long visit with family this winter. First I helped draft a simple two-piece pattern for covers for the sun-tattered arms of bucket seats of my parents’ vehicle. We sewed them out of upholstery vinyl, with double layers of stitching so they’ll hold up to use over the years.

My mom and I went to a creative reuse store called City Sewing Room in St. Louis, and I found pale grey silk twill, navy cotton, and a stack of small scraps from the free shed in the parking lot. (What an amazing place! I love creative reuse stores.) Then, my sister and I thrifted bunch of cushions ($1-4 each) with tired covers but good quality feather inserts, and I made her a big set of new cushion covers. Three of the grey silk, one of the navy cotton, and one out of nubby blue upholstery fabric from my mom’s chest of scraps. And then I deconstructed some slightly wonky arm covers of a vintage green velvet chair to make a little matching lumbar pillow.

Pillowcases are one of my favorite homegoods, because they blend in so quickly. Do you know that feeling? They feel just right for your space, but also you forget you made them — it’s like they’ve always been there? (I love when I forget I’ve made something I’m using/wearing.)

I also helped out with hemming some sets of curtains, and Amy and I were laughing about how commercially made curtains are often not the same in a pair, and also curtains stretch out from the weight of being hung up. So you need to actually measure down from the top to get the length you want — if you measure up from the ground you often get wonky curtains with two different lengths and uneven hems. Ah, the perils and delights of sewing!

I sewed a cat doll from an Ann Wood Handmade pattern, and drafted a little dress and apron by putting scraps on top of it to guess at sizing. I’ve been slowly working on an all well stuffed animal pattern, and over the years I’ve been sewing from different patterns/books to see different approaches to construction and process. This one is so cute, and the tubular arms and legs make it a lot more delicate than the bunnies from the A Year Between Friends book that I make for friends’ babies. Even something as small as stuffed animals have so many layers of process and function and utility and preference to play with!

A M Y: In the midst of slowly drafting the new all well kids patterns, I’ve been enjoying some bursts of personal sewing. I made a long-stashed pattern, the Merchant and Mills Swing Top. While I was sewing it, I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but in the end I found I really loved it! I might even make another. This pattern has a very limited size range, only up to a 41.75”/106cm bust measurement, something I really wish Merchant and Mills would address. But since I’ve owned it for a while, I’m really glad I gave it a try. It reminded me how much I love “swingy” tops and gathered back yokes — something we might riff on in a future garment pattern, who knows!

I’ve also super slowly been knitting a cardigan — the Traveler’s Cardigan by Ozetta. I got it pretty much halfway finished last winter, then put it away for the summer, and now I am slowly adding rows here and there. I’m not a very focused knitter, probably because I don’t have much idle time, and I’m too exhausted at the end of a long day of taking care of my kids to even knit! But I really enjoy the process. Knitting feels like a true hobby to me, whereas sewing is sort of wound up in work even when I’m doing it for pleasure. I really want to knit a hood, but I don’t think I’m up for two knitting projects going at once if I can barely make progress on the first. Maybe that’s a goal for next winter, or, even better, a summer knitting project to prep for next winter. I love the new Sophie Hood by Petite Knit. The Weekend Hood by The LongWeekend looks easier though, and I think I already own yarn that would work for it. Mulling.

I had a lot of fun making hats this Christmas! That was a surprise! The pattern is Bala Hat by Allotment Clothing. It is very fast and satisfying to sew, I made like four in just an hour using fabric I had sitting around. Some sherpa and some golden yellow polar fleece. I made the longer version the first time around, and now I’m thinking about cutting out the shorter version, which I think may work better for my head. This was great for gift sewing — fast, fun, warm, useful!

Links & Recs

This reddit thread asks: where are you getting inspiration besides IG now / what are your thoughts on IG? We’ve been wondering the same. Newsletters? Are.na? Threadloop?

Indoor exercise recs since we’re in deep winter here: Amy’s been into Range, a movement platform by Kara Duval with new live and on-demand classes every week. Kara’s warmth and commitment to creating challenging but nurturing (and very poetic!) classes has been just the invitation Amy needed to step back into a very needed movement practice. Amelia’s been repeating these two particular peloton obsessions: a 10 minute core strength, and a 10 minute barre, both where you’re laying on the mat the whole time. Plus lots of yoga.

Music without words. Gia Margaret, Adrianne Lenker’s “Music for Indigo”, Hermanos Gutierrez, Thom Yorke “anima”, others. Plus Beirut, Andrew Bird: which technically have words but the same vibe.

Mutual Aid LA — It is horrifying to watch the climate crisis taking families' homes, endangering so many people and wildlife, and causing catastrophic damage in a place so many hold dear. This is a great resource for supporting people in need.

Drinking London Fogs and rooibos chai. It’s tea season! Embrace it!

Amelia’s essay from last year about how to make a winter happiness plan!

25 things to do instead of buying new clothes in 2025

Milwaukee folks: Amelia (and Adam!) will be part of Ruth Foundation for the Arts (325 W Florida) “Happiest Hour” event with 10+ Risographers from the Midwest and beyond. Join us tomorrow (Thursday, January 16th!) from 5–7 pm for a showcase of Risograph art books, prints, and ephemera! Meet the artists and enjoy cocktails by She Was a Public House and tacos and tamales provided by Las 7 Estrellas. Free, just show up. More details on Instagram or online.

Thanks for reading, sewing friends!

Feels good to be back! See you next month!

— Amelia & Amy

It’s been a while since we’ve sent a newsletter. Since we last wrote, our book came out! We did some celebrating, and then some resting! It’s been incredible to hear from folks who’ve been enjoying reading the book and sewing the projects — thank you to all who have bought, gifted, and read the book! We’re still just so thrilled that it’s out in the world and on library shelves and in home sewing studios and on coffee tables next to treats and at book stores!

We wanted to share a short update from each of us as summer sets in. We (Amy + Amelia) are having a bit of an ~offline summer~, each for different reasons. Amelia and her husband are hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, and Amy is due with her second baby in just a few short weeks! Lots of life, lots of journeying, lots of not-sewing. Long walks and long nights! Here’s a short update from each of us!

AMELIA:

Amelia + Adam (photo by Nick Tierney)

hello from the a California desert section of the Pacific Crest Trail! My husband Adam and I are about 400 miles into our hike so far, and pretty much all I've taken pictures of are all the desert wild flowers. Such beauty! Here are a few for you!

AMY:

As I write, I am exactly 37 weeks pregnant, and creeping into any-day-now territory with my second baby! My first was born the day after his due date, so if this little one sticks to second baby code he’ll be a little earlier! But you really never know. The end of a pregnancy is such a strange and overwhelming time — physically, mentally, emotionally. I find myself overcome for one reason or another at least once an hour, if not more often. Lots of big feelings in our household, mostly from me + the toddler, and lots of big changes and long nights coming!

I’ve been working steadily on a few special all well sewing patterns specifically for new babies! I think it’s unlikely that I will have any of them ready to release before baby’s arrival, but that’s somewhat by design because I want to be able to test them out with my real newborn! And I’m trying to remind myself to move very slowly, not rushing any good things, and following whatever flows. I’ve been finding a lot of creative energy in other places right now, mainly making zines! You may be familiar with some of All Well’s zines (Modern Patchwork, and Patchwork Alphabet!). Zines are another common interest and creative practice Amelia and I share (Amelia has an incredible risograph publishing project called Anemone!), and I’ve been using this time of rest after the All Well book release to slowly start the (very) small press I’ve been dreaming of for years! In addition to running All Well and designing sewing patterns, I’m also a writer, with a book of poetry out and another on the way, and I write lots of essays for my newsletter. Writing is the thing I would do if I couldn’t do anything else, even if no one ever read it. It’s my most essential and innate creative practice.

The tiny press is called Imaginary Lake. I’m thinking of it as a place to slowly build a little body of work like a little body of water, publishing projects like plants and animals forming a calm and verdant ecosystem, supporting quiet life. Most of the works I will publish for Imaginary Lake in this season will center around my experience with motherhood because that’s the thing looming largest in my own environment right now. It is the water around me, so to speak. Basically, I finally bought myself a nice laser printer that can print two-sided and a big guillotine paper cutter, so now I’m in business making whatever zines I set my heart to! And the zines are flowing!

I’ve just published Imaginary Lake’s first zine from my home studio. It’s called I’m Learning Waiting Like It’s a Skill. The 36-page zine is a short essay collection comprised of essays written while I was pregnant the first time and edited while I’ve been pregnant the second time. If you’re interested in pregnancy, birth, matrescence, and caregiving, and how these things intersect with art-making, running a small business, and existing as a sensitive person, I think this zine will resonate with you! It’s available in print (currently u.s. addresses only, sorry!) and and as a digital/printable zine. It has meant a lot to me to work on editing and designing this zine during this second pregnancy, and I’m really thrilled to share it!

Buy I'm Learning Waiting

I’m also excited to share about another upcoming Imaginary Lake project that, though somewhat ambitious, feels exactly right for this season of life. I’m introducing a zine subscription called A Year Postpartum! This subscription will include six brand new print zines written and published over the course of my first year postpartum with this second baby! The first zine for the project will be a birth story, whatever that birth story turns out to be. You can buy the subscription here, and I’ll send each zine to you as they are published throughout the year. (They’ll also be available individually in the Imaginary Lake shop as they’re published). More to come about this project, but subscribing is an incredible way to help make it happen!

Buy A Year Postpartum

I’m planning to take a loose maternity leave once baby arrives, but all of All Well’s patterns with still be available and I’ll still be reachable for customer service needs! I’m really looking forward to slowly regaining energy to design new sewing patterns and release new All Well treats! All in good time.

Happy summer to you, wherever you are! If you’re enjoying warm weather like we are, we hope you’re soaking up flowers, slowness, and new winds and waters! Maybe you could sew a new box top in a delicious fabric for romping in the sun! Your sewing machine will still be there when you come back inside. :)

xoxo!

Amy (+ Amelia)

How to Sew Clothes will officially be out in the world so soon — next Tuesday! And, until then, you still have time to PREORDER! Authors tend to make a lot of noise about preordering, and for good reason! Pre-ordering books, though sort of an unusual practice, is a huge deal in the book world and does a lot to both support the authors of that particular book and to ensure that other books like that book get to be made in the future! Strong pre-orders show a publisher that people like this kind of book! All pre-orders count toward the first week of sales for any given book, so they can make-or-break a book’s presence on bestseller lists, indicate how much publicity heft the publisher should put behind a book, show booksellers that this book is worth stocking on their shelves, boost internet rankings, and lots more!

You can also make a difference in whether a book can be found locally! Popping into your local bookstore or pre-ordering from their website can help booksellers know to stock it in advance of publication, and then more people around you will be able to find it. (New local sewing friends?!) There are some great twitter threads all about this if you’re curious (here and here), but, in short, preorders are hugely encouraging and can help this book and others like it reach more people in the world! More cozy sewing! That’s what we want! 

Preorder here!

We have a few perks waiting to sweeten the preorder deal, to make it more fun and to say a huge “thanks!”

A bonus for everyone!

If you preorder How to Sew Clothes, you’ll get a link to download a free copy of our new pattern, The Daily Tote, in your email on release day, February 28th, 2023! There’s really nothing like a great simple tote.

Make sure to fill out the pre order bonus form to make sure this brand new pattern (it isn’t in the book!) will land in your inbox on the book’s release day! 

A Risograph Art Print!

We made some very special sweet risograph prints, and if you add your mailing address to the pre order bonus form, you’ll be entered into a drawing to get one sent to you as a postcard. We’re sending 25 out! (In addition to EVERYONE getting the DAILY TOTE pattern!) 

If you pre-order from one of our two local independent bookstores, White Whale in Pittsburgh or Elliott Bay in Seattle, you’ll get the risograph print tucked inside. Both bookstores ship in addition to doing in-store pickup!

It’s a small, postcard sized art print that Amelia’s risograph printed at her studio, ANEMONE. Here are some photos from the printing process, in fluorescent pink, bright red, yellow and black inks! Poppies! Flowers! Stitches and thread!

Make sure to fill out our preorder form to join in the perks!

Preorder Form

And, there’s a special book launch event that you can be a part of! 

Join Amy in conversation with special guest Emily Anderson at White Whale Bookstore in Pittsburgh for an in person event (also streamed virtually with live closed captioning/live transcription) on March 4, 2023 at 7pm EST.  RSVP here for all the details and the link to join virtually. And if you preorder your copy from White Whale, you’ll get the postcard sized risograph art print included with the book!

MASKS ARE REQUIRED FOR IN-PERSON EVENT ATTENDANCE. * Attendee Code of Conduct: We aim to have our events be stress-free spaces for our authors and attendees. Racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and any other forms of disrespect, harassment, hate speech, intimidation, and abuse will not be tolerated. We have a zero-strikes policy for purposeful disruptions. 

EVENT NOTE FOR SEATTLE PALS: 

We canceled the Elliott Bay event because they would not allow a “please wear masks!” requirement. We didn’t feel cool about organizing a big in-person event unmasked for a lot of reasons, especially when our county health officer (and the WHO) are calling for indoor masking in public. If you had that on your calendar, we’re sorry for the change and hope you understand! You will still get the riso print with your pre-order from there, with in-store pickup or shipped.

Where to find the book!

Pre-order from our local Seattle or Pittsburgh bookstores and you’ll find a special risograph print tucked inside your book as a little all well thank you!

You can also find HOW TO SEW CLOTHES at Amazon, Bookshop, Powells, IndieBound, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Book Depository, Indigo and bookstores near you. Finding How to Sew Clothes outside of the U.S. is totally possible! You can get the book through Amazon (for example, the UK and Australia) as well as other major retailers with international reach. Book Depository, Waterstones, and Bookshop ship internationally. Or try asking at your local bookstore! They should be able to get a copy for you. (The ISBN is 9781419762024!) Measurements in the book are given in inches and metric.

If you pre order, don't forget to fill out the preorder bonus form so we can email you a free pattern on release day!

— SEE YOU SOON! Books in the bookstore! In the library! In the mailbox!! —

Amelia & Amy

Why we like sewing bags: We (Amy and Amelia) are both huge bag lovers! One of Amelia’s earliest sewing memories is making zip pouches with her friend C. out of pink fabric with tiny polka dots. We used them to carry around our art and stationery supplies and reveled in having matching! zip! pouches! They couldn’t have been more perfect, because we’d designed and sewn them ourselves.  

Likewise, for a brief but impactful few months, Amy worked sewing bags in big batches for a marketing firm in Chicago. It was a bit of a weird job, but it was a very fruitful learning experience — learning the mechanics of how different kinds of bags are sewn, exploring various materials, and getting to practice sewing bags over and over again on an industrial sewing machine! It was fun! And rewarding! And made Amy want to sew the kinds of bags she really liked and wanted to carry around in the world. A lot of daydreaming while working that job helped plant the seeds for some of All Well’s bag patterns. 

With the patterns in How to Sew Clothes, you can make bags worthy of daily use, that are up to the challenge of whatever you need to carry. To start, there’s a whole chapter that talks about all the little things that go into the process of planning and sewing bags. We’ll tell you about choosing fabric and materials for bags, and how to source sturdy canvas and specialty fabric. There are notes for how to customize bags for you, and pocket ideas for bags, and ideas for how to make your bags fancy! And our best bag tips! 

Then, we get into the bags themselves! We designed seven new bag patterns just for the book! Seven! Plus our classic Half Moon Zip is in there too—with a fun new size!

The bags in the book (read on for more on each of them!) include:

1. Open Top Pouch 

2. Drawstring Bag Set  

3. Fold Over Pouch  

4. Book Bag and 3D Book Bag  

5. Flat Pouch  

6. Stand Up Pouch  

7. Party Purse  

You also get the Daily Tote for free if you preorder the book before release day (2/28!! so soon!) and fill out your email address in this quick form! 

get your preorder bonus!

simple pouches

These simple pouches are good for practicing your sewing skills like sewing in a straight line, pivoting at corners, pressing a double fold hem, and cutting and placing pattern pieces. They don’t need a lot of fabric, and most of the dimensions don’t need to be so exact—very forgiving! Try an Open Top Pouch for things you need quick access to like a phone or notebook or computer, try a Fold Over Pouch for containing soft things, or use the Drawstring Bag Set to keep things secure. A bag for your earbuds inside a bag for your electronics inside your backpack, on your back! So cozy! To some it could seem a little over-the-top to have bags inside bags inside bags, but for us it’s a truly happy feeling to tuck things away just-so. You too? 

Making bags yourself makes them that much more satisfying, that much more fine-tuned for exactly what they will hold. The simple pouches are perfect for just that. 

totes with straps

Basically a big simple pouch, this Book Bag and 3D Book Bag will showcase beautiful fabric and carry whatever you need to lug around! (In our case, usually books!) Make it 3d to carry a little more with just two extra seams. A quick sew, perfect gift, wardrobe companion (match your tote to your outfit?). The possibilities are endless!  

If you preorder, you can get a third tote with straps pattern for free, the Daily Tote! In this pattern, you will get to use rivets (or chicago screws) and add leather straps. You will also learn how to insert a cool hanging interior pocket! 

zip pouches

Welcome to zipper town! Zippers everywhere! First, try the Half Moon Zip, a tried-and-true simple zip pouch in our favorite shape, or a Flat Pouch that’s a total classic! Then make a Stand Up Pouch that easily packs a lot of stuff, and stacks flat when you don’t need it.

A note for those of you who are early in learning to sew: It might sound like sewing zippers is hard, but don’t fear! We’ll show you how to make a basic zipper pouch, and the rest will be history! Sewing a zipper can definitely be intimidating the first few times. If your seam is wonky, you can always seam rip; if your needle runs into the zipper teeth and breaks, you can replace it. It’s super normal to be nervous! There’s a whole “no fear zippers” section for advice and encouragement if you need it, and lots on where to source good ones. Zippers in bags are a way in: you’ll be set with skills to use way beyond this book, for making bags of your own design, cushion covers, adding zippers to coats and tops and PANTS, etc! 

party purse

The Party Purse is a boxy zip with a shoulder strap and interior pocket: not too big but still surprisingly roomy. We like it in a thick dark canvas. Something sturdy! It also is quite nice made out of an old quilt: a bit softer but still fun and structural. You can leave the strap off to use it for anything else—like toiletries or pencils or keeping small things together within a larger tote! 

Yay! A bag for so many different kinds of things to carry — and the chance to make bags you really like to take with you out into the world! 

—Amelia & Amy, ALL WELL

Find HOW TO SEW CLOTHES at Amazon, Bookshop, Powells, IndieBound, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Book Depository, Indigo and bookstores near you. Get a free risograph print with your order from White Whale in Pittsburgh and Elliott Bay in Seattle!

Finding How to Sew Clothes outside of the U.S. is totally possible through Amazon (for example, the UK and Australia) as well as other major retailers with international reach. Book Depository, Waterstones, and Bookshop ship internationally. Or try asking at your local bookstore! They should be able to get a copy for you. (The ISBN is 9781419762024!) Measurements in the book are given in inches and metric.

ALL WELL: allwellworkshop.com, @allwellworkshop, etsy, spotify, pinterest, youtube. 

AMY: amybornman.com, @amybornman, her newsletter My Candle Burns.

AMELIA: ameliagreenhall.com, ANEMONE, @anemone.es, the ANEMONE newsletter.

Sewing patterns are amazing, but there’s only so far they can go on their own. The whole point of most sewing patterns is to help you make a specific garment that will turn out a specific way. But, what about all the other ways you could sew something, all the other ideas that come to mind? We (Amelia and Amy) dreamed up the first Hacking Guide with the All Well Box Top sewing pattern simply because we both love to hack sewing patterns! We love endless possibilities, considering all the options, thinking about what we really want to make.

When you buy a ready-to-wear garment at the store, there’s no opportunity to customize. But, when you’re sewing, you have opportunities at every turn! Why not seize those opportunities! Take them and run! There are ordinary sorts of customizations. These are the type of thing that you might end up doing every time. For example, Amelia is quite tall and generally adds 3-4 inches (7-10 cm) to pant legs, makes the rise higher, and adjusts the waist and hip circumferences so it fits just right. For shirts with long sleeves, the sleeves get adjusted to be longer. She makes those type of adjustments to almost every pattern — you’ll probably find your own type of adjustments you like to do. Adjusting patterns to you is a super common, ordinary part of sewing, and also amazing — you get to have pants that truly fit, or a box top with just the right arm opening for how you like it. And that feels SO GOOD! 

But there are things you might want to do beyond just adjusting the pattern: You might want to hack the pattern into something new. You can do that! Maybe after sewing the pattern once, you have the idea to add some fun pockets, or to change the sleeve. Or, you want a different kind of collar for your jacket. A lot of the time, if you come up with an idea for a hack, you’re sort of on your own, and you get to figure out how to do it. The patterns in this book are different: Our patterns are designed to be hacked into dozens of unique garments!

Unlimited ideas without guidance can quickly become overwhelming, especially when you’re learning to sew, and sometimes it feels good to be told exactly what to do, to be given specific instructions to follow. That’s why we decided to make hacking more simple — with fully fleshed-out and illustrated instructions and hand-drawn diagrams. There are prompts within the pattern’s sewing instructions that invite you to notice when there is a choice to be made and consider what it is you really want.

What if I finish the seams this way? Add a pocket here? The pattern says this, but I think I’d really like this. Do I want a little more room at the wrist, do I want it way longer or way more cropped? Here are some of the instructions in the book that you can mix and match:

• split hem

• high-low hem

• box dress

• belt

• patch pockets

• extra-deep hem
  cut the sleeves separately

• shawl collar

• crewneck-ish front

• simple collar

• curved hem

• wrap closure

• buttons and snaps

• ties

• hanging loop

• flat-felled seams

• make it reversible

• special touches

• pre-quilted fabric

• thick or fluffy fabric tips

The hacks in the all well book, How to Sew Clothes, are really a possibility guide. It’s a collection of really good ideas for the Box Top and Cardigan Coat, and how to make them happen. It’s taking lots of the options (the ones we could fit in the book, though there are of course more) and laying them all out on the table. As you sew and hack, you’ll probably naturally find yourself learning more self drafting. Maybe you’ll find yourself looking up how to draft the poofy sleeve you dreamt of for the box top, and then you’ve already got your toe into designing your own patterns. There is something thrifty in hacking, with money and time and also mental energy. There’s a comfort in building on a base of knowledge, taking what you’ve already learned by sewing a pattern one way, and then making it again but hacked into something satisfyingly different.

Hacking, and sewing in general really, is ultimately about abundance and choice: out of everything in the world you could make, what will you make and how? The answer to those questions is entirely in your hands — we’re here to help you get to the bottom of it. 

Event at White Whale in Pittsburgh!

Join Amy in conversation with special guest Emily Anderson at White Whale Bookstore in Pittsburgh for an in person event (and streamed virtually with live closed captioning/live transcription) on March 4, 2023 at 7pm EST.  RSVP on Facebook here for all the details and the link. It will be posted at whitewhalebookstore.com/events!

—Amelia & Amy, ALL WELL

Find HOW TO SEW CLOTHES at Amazon, Bookshop, Powells, IndieBound, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Book Depository, Indigo and bookstores near you. 

Finding How to Sew Clothes outside of the U.S. is totally possible! You can get the book through Amazon (for example, the UK and Australia) as well as other major retailers with international reach. Book Depository, Waterstones, and Bookshop ship internationally. Or try asking at your local bookstore! They should be able to get a copy for you. (The ISBN is 9781419762024!) Measurements in the book are given in inches and metric.

order How to Sew Clothes

ALL WELL: allwellworkshop.com, @allwellworkshop, etsy, spotify, pinterest, youtube. 

AMY: amybornman.com, @amybornman, her newsletter My Candle Burns.

AMELIA: ameliagreenhall.com, ANEMONE, @anemone.es, the ANEMONE newsletter.

It’s one thing to sew something that you can wear, it’s another thing to sew something that you really really love! Something that fits well, is in fabric that really feels good, that feels like a companion to the other clothes in your wardrobe, that makes you feel awesome when you wear it! Those are the kinds of clothes we want to sew, and probably the kinds of clothes you want to sew too!

Simple clothes!

We’ve always liked sewing simple clothes best, probably because we also have always loved wearing simple clothes best. How to Sew Clothes includes instructions and printed patterns for our two best selling garment patterns, the All Well Box Top and the All Well Cardigan Coat. (Bust circumferences 32-62” / 81-157 cm.) When you unfold the pattern sheets, you will notice that the patterns are decidedly uncomplicated. 

Simple shapes, not very many pieces to cut, a pared-down sewing method, as straightforward as possible.

Just because the pattern is simple doesn’t mean that it can’t become a nuanced and complex garment, part of a cohesive wardrobe. That’s really why we like simple clothes so much — because the garment doesn’t tell you how to make it down to every last button, it is more like a building block or blank canvas, adaptable and customizable. Simple clothes really quickly become super personal and interesting. And by virtue of being simple, they’re a super good place to start learning to sew any kind of pattern, or to design your own!

Box Top + Variations 

The Box Top is the ultimate building-block sewing pattern. Think of it like a blank canvas to show off beautiful fabric, and a wardrobe workhorse that can complete any outfit. You can make dozen box tops, all different and wonderful. The box top comes with a few variations: long sleeve box top, ruffle top and dress, and box dress, and a bunch of hacks.

〰 The original all well box top is easy-wearing, breezy and comfortable, perfect for summer days or layering. Tuck it in, or wear it cropped with high-waisted pants. 

〰 The long sleeve box top will be your chilly weather uniform! The same box top silhouette with a perfectly tapered sleeve for a comfortable but polished look. A perfect layering piece! 

〰 The ruffle top is for times you need some flounce! Perfect proportions and so many opportunities for color-blocking and creativity. Easy to hack into a ruffle dress too! 

〰  The box dress (paired with the simplest belt, if you like) is easy and comfortable and looks incredible! Wear it to work! Wear it to brunch! 

A lot of people have told us that the box top was the first garment they ever made — that makes us so happy! It could be your first garment too! You can make versions for different seasons, different activities, different moods, and keep learning and adjusting and changing things as you go.

Cardigan Coat + Quilt Coat 

The Cardigan Coat is the ultimate versatile layer to make a dozen different ways. This pattern is like a template or springboard — a carefully designed base waiting for you to take it and run with it. You can sew it ten different times and produce a totally different garment each time, and you can hack it nearly effortlessly just by following a scrap of an idea or letting the fabric take the lead. We love it so much for this — with its endless versatility and possibilities, this pattern always feels new! Make it out of sweatshirt fleece, chambray, boiled wool, or a vintage quilt, every version will be cozy and wonderful, and totally itself. 

〰 The original Cardigan Coat is an understatedly elegant layer to pop over any outfit. Sew it long or crop it to the waist, add a simple collar, or buttons, or leave it open and airy. Try one in linen or chambray for a summer layer, or boiled wool or sweatshirt fleece for winter warmth. So many possibilities from one simple starting place! 

〰 Use the Quilt Coat variation to transform a vintage quilt, pre-quilted fabric, or other bulky fabrics into a one-of-a-kind heirloom-quality garment! 

How to Sew Clothes — out now!

a book like a sewing lesson!

How to Sew Clothes has patterns AND it’s about the process of sewing the kinds of clothes you really want to wear, from idea to choosing fabric to making it happen! 

That’s a big part of what we wanted to read in a sewing book when we were learning: all of the steps of garment sewing that come before and after the instructions on which seams to sew. (You can read the full table of contents!)

First of all, we talk about What you might want to sew, and how, and why. Picking a project can be surprisingly hard, and emotional — we’ve got lots of advice and thoughts for you there. 

Get your Workshop Set Up talks about all the things you do in a sewing workshop, and helps you think through where you are going to sew, and cut patterns and fabric. (On the kitchen table? on the floor? a desk in the corner of the living room? a whole room?) There’s advice on choosing a sewing machine, a list of tools you definitely need, and a more advanced tools list. And some thoughts on “notions” like elastic and twill tape and thread—all the other little things you might use besides fabric. 

How a Garment Is Sewn, and Washed, and Worn gives a top-of-the-mountain view of the process of sewing clothes, and talks about the steps of sewing, pressing, washing, and learning from what you sew. 

In First Seams, First Seam Rips, you’ll meet your sewing machine, practice sewing a straight line, learn how to sew a seam and backstitch to keep it strong. And try out all the steps of pinning and pressing and seam ripping that you’ll use all the time. You’ll practice just enough about how to sew to get started!

If you’ve sewn a few things but haven’t gotten to that I truly love this thing I made place yet, It’s All About the Fabric dives deep into the mechanics of fit and fabric selection and hacks and how it all fits into what’s already in your closet — all the ingredients to find your way to making something that feels just-right!

If you’re already making clothes you love, we’ll come alongside you as companions for the feelings that inevitably come up along the way, and offer lots of info and resources to keep handy so you can continue to sew your dream clothes, and get deeper into your practice! 

How to Begin is all about the process itself. Even if you’ve never touched a sewing machine, you probably know that there are sooooo many steps, so many little choices that go into a handmade garment. It can quickly become overwhelming to contemplate. Frequently, patterns assume you know all of that already, and just need to know the specifics of that particular pattern. But there’s so much you do before and after: measuring yourself, reading size charts, deciding on ease, getting the pattern pieces ready and adjusting them, gathering the fabric, prepping, and so on. 

Sewing is centering, giving you small goals to achieve slowly and in your own time, a place to solve problems with low stakes, and a way to practice mending, both literally and figuratively.

As you sew through the box top, the long sleeve box top, the ruffle box top or ruffle dress, the box dress, the cardigan coat or jacket, or the quilt coat, you’ll be able to reflect and build on what you learn each time. You can adjust the pattern to change the fit, add some of the variations or special touches, or hack the pattern to make something else. (More on hacking in this weekend’s newsletter!) Things that seemed hard will get easier, your sewing will be more steady, you’ll start to get new ideas.

—Amelia & Amy, ALL WELL

Find HOW TO SEW CLOTHES at Amazon, Bookshop, Powells, IndieBound, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Book Depository, Indigo and bookstores near you. 

Finding How to Sew Clothes outside of the U.S. is totally possible! You can get the book through Amazon (for example, the UK and Australia) as well as other major retailers with international reach. Book Depository, Waterstones, and Bookshop ship internationally. Or try asking at your local bookstore! They should be able to get a copy for you. (The ISBN is 9781419762024!) Measurements in the book are given in inches and metric.

order How to Sew Clothes

ALL WELL: allwellworkshop.com, @allwellworkshop, etsy, spotify, pinterest, youtube. 

AMY: amybornman.com, @amybornman, her newsletter My Candle Burns.

AMELIA: ameliagreenhall.com, ANEMONE, @anemone.es, the ANEMONE newsletter.

How to Sew Clothes will help you start from scratch or reignite your excitement for sewing—so you can make clothes that are personal, well-fitted, and versatile. Today, we want to give you a peek inside the book! It has:

• 60k words, 600+ images and diagrams across 208 pages

• Lots of thoughts about making clothes as a practice and process 

• Specific instructions and tutorials for learning how to sew for the first time

• All our thoughts and experience about choosing fabric

• Meditations on keeping sewing for a long, long time

There’s an envelope of printed patterns in the back (!!!), and full instructions for two of our classic garment patterns— the Box Top and the Cardigan Coat — and seven brand new bag patterns!

order How to Sew Clothes

a sewing book like a cookbook!

This book is a little bit different: it has 60,000 words (that’s a lot for a sewing book!), and 600+ images between photos and hand-drawn diagrams. It’s packed with information! From the start of our collaboration, we couldn’t stop dreaming about a sewing book that’s like a sewing lesson, the kind of thing we wished we had on the desk beside us when we started learning to sew clothes. A sewing book like our favorite books about food: we’ve both long loved the works of M. F. K. Fisher, Tamar Adler’s An Everlasting Meal, Samin Nosrat’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. There are so many connections between the way those books talk about food and the way we feel and think about sewing. A book that teaches you how to sew, but that also connects sewing to the life you already have. A book with a good mix of writing, of skill-building, and patterns. 

box top! cardigan coat! 

The center of the book is the instructions for how to sew our two most popular garment patterns: the All Well Box Top and the All Well Cardigan Coat! We’ve included all the variations (Long Sleeve Box Top, Box Dress, Ruffle Top/Dress, Quilt Coat), and most of the hacks from the hacking guides for each! 

In the envelope in the back of the book, you’ll find two pattern sheets with all the pattern pieces to trace (bust circumferences 32-62” / 81-157 cm) for the main front and back pieces of the box top and cardigan coat, as well as all the extras you can mix and match: the long sleeve, different shaped pockets, the ruffle. 

These clothes are really fun to wear, and designed with learning to sew clothes in mind — with simple shapes and so many options and ways to customize these building-block patterns, you really can use them to make clothes that you, personally, love! 

seven NEW bag patterns!

An outfit isn’t complete without a bag, and there are SEVEN new bag patterns for you in the book. Plus a new size of our classic Half Moon Zip.

Bags are great — sewing them, using them, putting them inside other bags! The bags you really like to use become a part of your wardrobe in the same way favorite garments do. Sewing bags is a great way in, approaching sewing clothes from a different angle, building sewing skills in a low-stakes way that often takes less time and material than a garment. Like: sewing straight lines! tracing and laying out pattern pieces! finding fabric! 3-d shapes! small projects!

(Stay tuned later in the week for newsletters that talk about the bags and clothes more!)

for beginners!

If you can sew a straight line, you can sew anything! (And we’ll teach you how to sew a straight line, and give you lots of advice on how to find a sewing machine and the tools you need to get started.) 

Learning how to sew clothes can feel a bit overwhelming, so we really wanted to create a resource that makes beginners feel accompanied — like a good sewing class or learning from a friend! Before you even get into the sewing clothes projects, the whole first third of the book is full of special tutorials and sections to really help beginners feel confident working on their first sewing project. We will introduce you to the sewing machine, help you get your studio set up (whether it’s a whole room or a temporary spot at your kitchen table!), and give detailed advice on what different sewing tools are used for and which ones you might want to get! You’ll learn how to sew straight lines, pivot at corners, make seams, backstitch, and do simple troubleshooting when things go awry.

There’s a section about fabric (it’s all about the fabric!) and a chapter that goes in-depth on the process of how a garment is sewn and washed and worn. There are handy checklists and lots of explanation of all the steps, from prepping a pattern to cutting to sewing to pressing. After reading these chapters and trying out the exercises guiding you through sewing your first stitches and seams, you’ll be ready to sew a box top or a cardigan coat or any of the bags!  And there are so many hand-drawn diagrams — the instructions are really detailed!

for long-time sewists!

The all well book is about how to cultivate sewing as a practice — how to start, yes, but also how to continue, how to weave it into your days. The book isn’t only for beginners, this book is for everyone interested in sewing clothes! Our approach to sewing seeks to give all the power to the sewist — we want you to make what you want to make, and we want you to feel confident making fabric, style, and fit choices. Sewing is an art form. We approach it as artists and invite you to do the same. How to Sew Clothes is full of choices and opportunities: variations, hacks, fit adjustments, and quick-reference instructions that you’ll want to keep handy anytime you’re sewing.

There’s lots of writing about a variety of feelings and issues that may come up once you’ve been sewing for a while: what to do with a project that just didn’t work, how to use scraps, thoughts on fabric stashes, feelings about the climate crisis, how to deal with ambivalence and discouragement, thoughts on art and process, and lots more! This book is written to be a resource and companion to sewists at all levels! 

abundance! and Sewing!

How to Sew Clothes is about sewing clothes and bags — but it’s also about something else, a thing that is bigger and ultimately more important (dare we say) than sewing. It is about abundance first, and sewing second. The book is about using sewing as a way to practice and gather up abundance, to wear it on your body or over your shoulder out into the day. It’s about sewing because it means something to you. It’s about learning something new without a lot of expectation of how it will turn out in the end, about sinking into a process and seeing what happens. It’s about clothes and wearing them, and about fingers and eyes and minds and souls. It’s about community, and the things you do when you’re all alone at home, quietly huddled over a sewing machine. It’s about abundance — and sewing! And we really hope you’ll love reading it. 

—Amelia & Amy, ALL WELL

Find HOW TO SEW CLOTHES at Amazon, Bookshop, Powells, IndieBound, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Book Depository, Indigo and bookstores near you. 

Finding How to Sew Clothes outside of the U.S. is totally possible! You can get the book through Amazon (for example, the UK and Australia) as well as other major retailers with international reach. Book Depository, Waterstones, and Bookshop ship internationally. Or try asking at your local bookstore! They should be able to get a copy for you. (The ISBN is 9781419762024!) Measurements in the book are given in inches and metric.

Order How to Sew Clothes

ALL WELL: allwellworkshop.com, @allwellworkshop, etsy, spotify, pinterest, youtube. 

AMY: amybornman.com, @amybornman, her newsletter My Candle Burns.

AMELIA: ameliagreenhall.com, ANEMONE, @anemone.es, the ANEMONE newsletter.

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fabric you’re done with

Clear out your stash and make a nice little stack of usable yardage to give to a sewing friend! Tie it all up with a scrap of fabric, a ribbon or some twine and you have a wonderful present.

Gift your scraps to your favorite quilter! Take a few minutes to sort your scraps to find a nice assortment of big-enough pieces. Maybe fold, and/or stack by color, make them into little rolls or bundles, or even fill up a cute basket or wrap them in a bigger scrap!

a hand drawn “coupon”

One of my family’s standby gifts is to make a hand drawn “coupon” to do something nice with or for the gift recipient. Write and draw on the thickest paper you can find: describe what will happen, write their name, and make some cute doodles. It can be extra fun to make it look like a fancy ticket, or raffle ticket, or trim it into some other fun shape.

Some sewing-related “coupon” ideas:

1. go fabric shopping together

2. help take each other’s measurements and/or project brainstorm sesh

3. they can choose of a piece of fabric from a selection of things you’ve noticed are unused in your sewing space

4. you’ll sit, drink tea, and help and/or chat while they clean and organize their sewing room (this is fun IRL or on video chat!)

5. a friend date to go to the library or a bookstore and look at sewing books together

6. invite them over to sew something with you

a good zipper pouch

Order five or ten nice zippers online, and buy a half yard of sturdy canvas or denim. (This etsy shop is our favorite place to buy sets of nice ykk zippers.) Good zippers and nice sturdy bag fabric are often tricky to find locally, so this is a great category to order enough to share. Once you have the supplies, so many zip pouches are possible!

Making zip pouches is a really good group activity + present — you could have a couple friends over to all make matching bags! Or prep a “sewing kit” with the zipper and pre-cut fabric rectangles (or half moons!) for everyone to sew their own at home.

a bag you’ve sewn, or a bag to sew

Speaking of bags… Sew a simple tote, zip pouch, or drawstring bag. (Somehow I never get tired of sewing and gifting bags. A bag for everything! Bags in bags!) A bag is a great gift on its own, or put other presents inside and the bag can be both wrapping and gift!

If you’ve always wanted to sew our free pattern, the full moon bag — sewing it with a friend is even more fun: print out out the pattern, prep the materials, and set a date to sew it together! Give them a coupon that’s an invitation to sew together for an afternoon or evening or two.

sewing books & prints

The children’s book Chirri & Chirra On the Town includes visiting a small shop with spools of thread and yarn in every color, and a weaver’s workshop (and a garden, and a neighbor for tea and soup…) it’s the sweetest adventure.

For a friend who loves sewing, and words: PDF digital download of the new All Well zine Patchwork Alphabet includes special print files that let you make your own booklet at home. Using colorful paper for the cover makes it even cuter.

For taping or tacking up on the wall above your sewing machine: a handy reference for how to sew flat bias binding. Or the all-printshop prints bundle could be gifts for several friends.

How to Sew Clothes, the book!

Pre order the new All Well book, How to Sew Clothes, and give your gift-ee a little hand written note that says they’ll get the book on release day, February 28th! The book has a lot about how to sew in general, in addition to full instructions and printed patterns for the All Well Box Top, Cardigan Coat, and a bunch of new bag patterns. We think it would be a nice present for a friend who has been wanting to learn to sew!

Also, no matter where you buy your books: save your receipt somewhere handy, because we’re going to have a fun digital download of the Daily Tote pattern to give to everyone who pre orders the book, no matter where you get it it! Find the link on the book page and fill out the form before 2/28 to get it!

Thanks for reading the gift guide! Hope you have a good few weeks as the calendar year draws to a close, with rest and reflection and people you love and good food. I’m looking forward to some sewing, taking walks with friends, reading books and drinking tea, and lighting a bunch of candles for the solstice. — Amelia

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Today is the last day to preorder the risograph print zine version of Patchwork Alphabet! It will come back in stock in January, once we can produce a batch to keep on hand, but the preorder ends today! If you’ve been eyeing the print zine, or thinking about giving it to a friend as a holiday gift, today is your last chance! The preordered zines will ship the first week of December. The printable/digital version of the zine will still be available after the preorder closes, though, so don’t worry! Still lots of alphabet-ing to be had!

preorder riso zine

It’s been so amazing to see all the love and excitement for our new Patchwork Alphabet zine. I wasn’t sure how much this idea would appeal to sewists — all well is primarily known for our garment patterns, and patchwork is a totally different world and skillset. But people are excited! And already planning what phrases they want to sew! Already piecing letters! That’s so cool, and reflects the way I feel about this pattern and process. Patchwork Alphabet banners remain one of my very favorite things to sew, to plan to sew, and to dream up. The ones I’ve made over the years are still some of my favorite things I’ve ever made, surpassing many of my favorite handmade garments. There’s something so satisfying about seeing the words come together to say something that is meaningful to me. Every time, it gives me a little thrill!

Now, a little walk down memory lane, visiting some of my favorite patchwork alphabet banners I’ve made!

“Joy is not made to be a crumb”

This one is the most recent, and the most immediately meaningful to me. The quote is from Mary Oliver’s beautiful poem, “Don’t Hesitate”. I have the full poem printed out and hanging above my sewing machine so I can read it often. Joy has taken on new meaning for me since I had a baby in 2020. The transition has not been easy for me, but it has brought a lot of joy alongside the struggle. I want to remember that the joy is big! The joy is important! It’s not a crumb, it’s the whole loaf! I might be repeating myself saying that, but it’s something I tell myself often.

“Come to the circle”

I studied theater in college, and I got to be a part of a close-knit ensemble of actors. It was a really special time of my life. At the end of our ensemble sessions, my favorite teacher, Mark, would say “Get two walls and come to the circle.” We would walk and touch two of the room’s walls before all assembling in the center of the room in a circle together. I felt such belonging and wholeness in that circle. I always want to be coming back to the circle where I belong, even if the circle is just my little family, even if it’s me all alone. It’s a good reminder for me of where I come from and where I’m going.

“Wax and Wane”

I made this banner for my little sister to hang in her college apartment way back in 2017 or 2018. She came up with the text for the banner, but reflecting on it while I was sewing it meant a lot to me. I think about change a lot, always trying to remind myself that change is one of the only true things. That change is good and inevitable. I want to keep waxing and waning like the moon, celebrating the parts of me that are cyclical and changeable. The moon’s patterns guide our world, and they depend on change. I want to depend on change too. I know this meant a lot to my sister in the season of her life it found her in, but it meant a lot to me too! Also, I love this color scheme, the two different tones of green.

“Abundance”

Just after the Covid-19 lockdown began in March 2020, I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I sat down and made an abundance banner from start to finish one day. The one in the picture actually isn’t the one from that time, but they were similar. The one I made in 2020 was pink and green. It felt really good to soothe my swirling worries about the world by making something centering and affirming. Like a way to remind myself that there was still abundance to be found, though scarcity felt bigger and in the way. I don’t know what happened to the pink and green abundance banner, and I don’t have any pictures of it, but I know I made it! And maybe the making it was all that really mattered!

What phrase will you sew? Have you decided already? Are you still mulling? Do you have colors in mind? It’s so fun to dream and think and plan it out. I hope you’ll enjoy the process of sewing patchwork alphabet banners as much as I have. I hope they will help you remember the things you need to remember! That’s what they so often do for me!

Grab a riso zine here, on the last day for preorders, or head here for the printable/digital version, which will remain available after preorders close for the print zine! More info about both here on our website. Happy sewing! Wishing you lots of joy in the process!

- Amy

There’s a new All Well zine out now: Patchwork Alphabet!

A M Y: When I’m not sewing, I’m a poet, so words are essential building blocks in my interior world. I couldn’t help but mash text and sewing together! I’ve been making patchwork text banners for years now, and I want to share the process so others can work though the tactile double-poetry of sewn words too. It’s made me so happy, to slowly build letters out of little bits of cloth! I’ll teach you how! It’s slow and lovely and meditative and wonderful.

Patchwork Alphabet is available now, just in time for you to sew holiday presents if you want to (or something special for yourself!). You can preorder a physical zine (risograph printed by Amelia’s studio ANEMONE) that you can get in the mail in early December. A digital file is included with preorders so you don’t have to wait to get the print zine to get started.

Preorder the Print Zine

Or, you can buy the Print-at-Home version of the zine to make your own booklet (in whatever fun colors you like), or sew straight from the digital version!

Print at Home Zine + Digital File

You can learn more about both versions of the zine on our website!

Take me there!

This idea has been in development for a long, long time, and it’s so exciting to get to share it with you now. We hope you’ll enjoy choosing the words you want to sew and piecing them together with care! Share your patchwork alphabet banners on Instagram with the #allwellpatchworkalphabet hashtag! We really love to see what you make. Happy sewing!

(photo taken in Amy’s studio on the rainiest day, in all its grainy glory)

At long, long last, something new! We are so excited to share a special November goodie, the new Flat Bias Binding Risograph Print! Maybe you already have our Continuous Bias Binding riso print, so you already know the joy of a special art print that’s ALSO sewing instructions. If not, you are in for a treat!

buy the print

The print features full instructions for how to sew flat bias binding, aka our favorite finish for curved edges on garments. It’s featured in the All Well Box Top pattern, and we use it every chance we get. Repeat sewists of the Box Top may only need to pull the instructions booklet out to get a refresher on neckline binding specifics, so we thought we’d make it one step easier and make a print to keep on the wall just above your machine! Beautiful, functional, fun!

This print was risograph-printed in violet ink on cream paper by Amelia in her Seattle studio, ANEMONE. Risograph printing is similar to screenprinting, where ink is pushed through a stencil onto paper, but it’s done with a machine. A very fun printmaking method! We wanted to tell our Pacific Northwest pals: Amelia will be tabling at Short Run in Seattle, with a bunch of new publications (how to pizza night! climate zines! seattle adventure map! raccoons!) AND copies of the All Well art prints and zine. Plus, seconds copies of the new Flat Bias Binding print that are just a smidge imperfect, and a deal.

Short Run is this Saturday, Nov 5th, 11am-6pm, Fisher Pavilion at the Seattle Center. Amelia will be at the table 47, ANEMONE—come say hey to All Well’s west coast half, and talk sewing and books and zines!

Lots of good stuff happening these days, albeit slowly, slowly. The next few weeks we’re doing printing and assembly for our All Well Patchwork Alphabet Riso Zine. Keep an eye out for a preorder — it will be ready to go in time for holiday gift sewing! And remember that you can preorder our book! Also: finding How to Sew Clothes outside of the U.S. is totally possible! You can get the book through Amazon (for example, the UK and Australia) as well as other major retailers with international reach. Book Depository and Waterstones ship internationally, and Bookshop has international options too. Measurements in the book are given in inches and metric.

More soon!

Amy + Amelia

P.S. — You can also buy all three of our riso art prints together as a bundle!

buy the print bundle

It’s called How to Sew Clothes and it’s about sewing clothes — basically everything we think and feel and have to say on the topic. The book has lots of info about sewing clothes, lots of pictures and diagrams, many new bag patterns, and our classic garment patterns in print for the first time! We poured a lot of ourselves into this book, and we are really, really excited to share it with you!

Studio Process

A M E L I A \ Seattle

Besides a pair of black linen wide leg pants and some mending, I’ve barely been sewing the past few months. Very much in the ideas percolating stage of things. I found some golden knit fabric and now I want to sew a riff on a long sleeve box top with skinny sleeves and a wider neckline, very cropped, sleeves and hem left raw. I’m pinning up little rectangles of paper with notes of what I’d like to sew, and rearranging them. Technical climbing bags, a bike bag, backpacks and totes are on my mind. And some jeans and pants. Looking through patterns, making plans, thinking about what I want to wear. Feels good, like cleaning up and getting ready, knowing a party is coming.

Mostly, I’ve been spending a lot of time at the ANEMONE studio (our risograph printshop / sewing studio / workspace), and it feels like I’m working on about twenty projects at once—mostly zines and small press books. We’ll be tabling at Short Run (my favorite zine fest) on November 5th and Adam and I are making two big new projects: a Seattle Map (all my favorite places to explore) and a zine about How to Pizza Night.

I’ve been assembling the second printing of Climate Emergency Reading Recs, making 1,000 copies (!!!) and getting absorbed in the physical work of loading print drums, moving paper, cutting, collating, binding and trimming. This week we printed a comics collection called Raccoon Fantasy, and I’m working on another zine about climate, some art prints, maybe a calendar, a few collaborations. Actually, twenty projects might be an accurate count, ha. I had a lot of ideas and projects build up while I was focusing so much on the work of the How to Sew Clothes book!

* * *

A M Y \ Pittsburgh

Life with a toddler is really different than life without a toddler, so I’m trying to embrace the change and allow creative projects to unfold much, much more slowly, with less of my brain and energy in the mix. It’s hard, though, because there are so many things I want to make and do! I’ve been trying to focus my studio time on the things I really love to make, that come naturally to me, and that feel exciting and fun. Nothing exhausting, or hard to figure out, or beyond my current skill-level. That means that I’m having a big quilt renaissance! I love making quilts, piecing patchwork, and doing hand-work. It’s been really enlivening to develop the instructions All Well Patchwork Alphabet zine (coming soon!), laying out the process for a creative format I’ve been working in for years, and slowly developing other patchwork projects too, some for fun and some for all well. I want to make so many quilt-y things!

I’ve also really been enjoying working out new hacks for our most tried-and-true patterns. I wrote a free tutorial for a wrap dress version of the All Well Box Top, and, more recently, I’ve been making a couple of vests using the All Well Cardigan Coat as a base. All of this is driven by the holes in my wardrobe and my desire to keep returning to the things in the studio that make me feel alive: that means taking a pattern I’ve sewn a million times and turning it into something new. For me, that’s always a sure way to feel very creatively energized and satisfied. And it’s helping me feel better in my clothes — post-postpartum dressing is an adventure!

My favorite thing I’ve been working on recently is a patchwork banner of the last line of one of my favorite Mary Oliver poems, “Don’t Hesitate.” The banner reads: “JOY IS NOT MADE TO BE A CRUMB.” In this sleepless season, where I so often feel out of my depth, out of energy, out of ideas, out of space, I need this reminder — that joy is a big thing, meant to be abundant, more than enough. Not a crumb but the whole entire loaf!

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Printshop News!

The Continuous Bias Binding Risograph Print is back in stock! (You can also get it in a bundle with the printed Half Moon Zip pattern.) And we have a new print to share with you soon—the guide to our flat bias binding method for necklines, printed in lavender ink!

If you’re looking for prints and Modern Patchwork zines IRL, Amelia will be at the Art Book Pop-Up at ACmE Gallery on Capitol Hill, Oct 23rd from 12-2pm (followed by a panel discussion 2:30-4pm about independent printers, publishers, makers of art books and pamphlets and zines). And at Short Run on November 5th at Fisher Pavilion in the Seattle Center. If you’re around Seattle, come say hi to Amelia at the ANEMONE table! (Both events are free!)

Speaking of printed things, we invited artist Katie Hafner from Chatterbox Press to take over the All Well instagram stories last week to talk about sewing clothes, enjoying a self-satisfying wardrobe, and her artist-publications. We’re still thinking about some of the questions she asked:

Are you happy with what you wear everyday?

Disregarding cost, what would your ideal daily wardrobe consist of?

Where do you get wardrobe inspiration?

What colors and color combinations do you enjoy wearing?

How do you spend most of your time?

Do you like what you wear during this time?

Do you express your creativity through clothing?

How is self expression related to your personal happiness?

Katie’s indie subscription advice column has been an All Well favorite this past year, getting the beautiful risograph printed publications in our mailboxes each month, like issue 15, about the joy of knowing your taste and understanding your relationship to the objects you surround yourself with, and issue 18, on sewing clothes and Georgia O’Keefe. We love The Talking Mirror!

That’s all for now! Excited to start to share more about the How To Sew Clothes book with you, and also more soon about a new publication showing you how to make patchwork alphabets. And we’re REALLY excited to get back to sharing more studio process again, now that we’re out of the deep book writing focus. We have a lot of ideas! We have a lot of clothes and bags we want to sew! More later!

-Amelia + Amy

allwellworkshop.com

P.S. — If you’ve missed us in your inbox/RSS feed, we have been writing newsletters about our various personal projects at anemone.substack.com + amybornman.substack.com

P.P.S. — In case you missed it this summer, we wanted to introduce you to the wrap dress hack! It’s deceptively simple — once you take a look at the tutorial, you’ll see. Especially if you’ve sewn the Ruffle Dress version of the All Well Box Top, sewing the Wrap Dress will be an absolute breeze!