We (Amy and Amelia) haven't sent an All Well newsletter in months! That feels sort of nice though! To stay quiet when there isn't much to say, and to show up when there's news! And, there is news! After editing the book all spring and summer, now it’s at the printers, and it comes out (with Abrams) early next year!
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!
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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!
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!