As this new year begins, I have a question...
Why do you read my blog?
There are millions of blogs to choose from, with tons and tons of chatter., so what draws you here?
As I move forward, it would be interesting to know what you really like. I'm not asking for what you don't like. There's so much negativity in this world and I would rather focus on the positive. Besides, I think that in finding out what you do like, I can then figure out on my own the rest :) Remember, you can catch a lot more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.
I so appreciate that you do drop by, and I especially love hearing from you.
Thank you :)
I am envious of your pattern making skill and love when you show examples on a theme (like yesterday's post on cartridge pleating).
ReplyDeleteI love all the inspiration you share, your knowledge that you share. I also greatly agree with a big lack of negativity!
ReplyDeleteYour creativity, your intro to other bloggers, and your (free) tutorials.
ReplyDeleteTo see the lovely clothes that you make!!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely inspiration and the generosity in what you share. I might not comment often but I read every post!
ReplyDeleteAdmiration at your innate talent, creativity and willingness to share. Patience when teaching. Inspiration to think beyond the patterned lines.
ReplyDeleteAdmiration for your innate talent and creativity as well as your willingness to share. Inspired by your energy to maintain a blog as well as opening the door to help me see beyond the patterned lines.
ReplyDeleteI read your blog because you are clearly an experienced and talented seamstress, and I like to be inspired.
ReplyDeleteI like Monday Morning Inspiration, Free Pattern Friday and Sunday Reflections. Your patterns are also inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI love your passion. I think you are an original. Your post on cartridge pleating was fantastic. I've never seen that before. So many sites are derivative. Even if you highlight a project that I am not at all interested in, I can appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing all the clothing you make and I love the drafting since I learned to draft years ago, I love all the wonderful bloggers you introduce us to, its nice to see what others are doing and I love all the inspiration and eye candy you send our way. I send that on to some of my friends that sew also.
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog recently and have been really enjoying it so far! I love your inspiration posts where you share interesting design and construction details. I don't know where you find these photos, but I always enjoy browsing through them. It's great to think about adding interesting details to future projects, and to think about how to construct and sew them. I also enjoy your blog because you very clearly know what you're talking about, and I want to learn as much as I can. :)
ReplyDeleteAlways an eye opener, be it the wednesday showcase where I get to discover other blogs, or the inspiration mondays where I get to dream about all the techniques I would like to master someday, or the sleeves on sats and free pattern friday where you show that drafting ain't rocket science. I love your blog.
ReplyDeleteI love the inspiration posts, the recipes, the reflection posts and all the great sewing advice. I really appreciate that you want to share your incredible knowledge and talent with us and never fail to learn something new every week. Thank you as I know that it must take a lot of effort and your time. Xx
ReplyDeleteSo many reasons! Your enthusiasm, your sewing skills, your generosity, your wonderful recipes, your teaching skills, and it doesn't hurt that you have lived in Texas (LOL). I always look so forward to your posts!
ReplyDeleteYour blog is very inspiring! The sleeve project was amazing, your inspiration posts are great and they do make me want to sew and learn more! I love seeing how you wear your clothes you made and I love the fact that it is clear here that sewing and your blog are your passion! Keep it up Rhonda!
ReplyDeleteI love your pattern drafting skills and the design features you include in your designs. I learnt to pattern draft five years ago but it takes practise to become confident to try different things and you simplify the things that I sometimes struggle with. Also the inspirational activities that you provide....like the accordion pleats that you blogged yesterday. Most of all the time and generosity you give to your blog.
ReplyDeleteCathy.(New Zealand).
I like Monday Morning Inspiration, Free Pattern Friday, Saturday Sleeves and Sunday Reflections. Your weekly soup recipe is just the right amount of cooking for me.
ReplyDeleteI like the variety you present and that sewing is not all about garments. I came across your blog late last year, read the post on the potholders and sewed enough of it as a giveaway for Christmas. Thank you so much for that.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest draw card for me is your beautiful positive spirit. Everything you write is full of it. And I like almost everything you write about- your pattern making, your inspiration posts, your intros to others, the Sunday night reflections.
ReplyDeleteI am always amazed at your pattern making abilities. I also really enjoy your inspiration days and I like how you take one technique or style or fabric and show us all the amazing possibilities. And, I've been known to enjoy a recipe or two that you have posted. You do inspire me and I thank you for that and that is why I visit.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your unusual creativity.
ReplyDeleteI like your friendliness and positivity. You are also so creative and I love to see what you come up with. Not always what I would want to make but fun to see anyway. I always feel welcome here and you include everyone. I enjoy just about all the posts - drafting, patterns, other bloggers, inspiration etc.
ReplyDeleteI alos happen to love soup :)
ReplyDeleteI am so inspired by your blog whether it be for an outstanding detail, a tutorial or a pattern that I could never possibly use, but tremendously like !! I have dreams and hope they will be a reality but in the meantime, I can use all the inspiration I can gather.
ReplyDeleteI read your blog because I really like its content; you are a caring and giving person and I really appreciate all the information and inspiration. Whatever the subject I am interested in what you have to say :)
ReplyDeleteI love your high quality instruction. You illustrate everything so well, and I'm inspired by the new perspective and spin you put on garments.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your inspiration posts and high quality tutorials and pattern making concepts. I am less interested in Sunday night inspiration or recipes, but that is entirely a personal preference.
ReplyDeleteWhile there may be many sewing blogs, there are very few that feature advanced content and that is why I enjoy your blog!
ReplyDeleteI like your tutorials, pattern making posts and the round ups of other bloggers. I also like your other posts because that is Rhonda, and gives me more of a feel of you as a person, but I wouldn't comment on those, I don't have time.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your positive approach to life and your own creativity. Your tutorial a very clear. Your willingness to share is an object lesson for us all.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, where to begin. Sunday night soups! Seriously, that recipe you posted awhile back with the chicken sausage, pesto and white bean soup, super yum. I now have several containers in the freezer to make sure I don't run out. You truly are an inspiration through your personal sewing, charity work, tutorials, and that you share your life with so many people that you haven't met. Even though I don't comment on every post that has touched me in some way, you really do open my eyes to parts of the world and issues that I would otherwise be ignorant to otherwise. For that, I thank you. .
ReplyDeleteI like you.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds silly, but there are folks who post wonderful garments and who write marvelous tutorials and such...but I just don't click. I read your blog because you are a real person talking to me.
AND you post fabulous garments, great tutorials and introduce me to new people. ;-)
What do I like? I'm tempted to say, "Everything," but that wouldn't be very helpful. So here is an incomplete list, not necessarily in order (except the first one).
ReplyDelete1. You are incredibly generous with your talent, knowledge, and blog space. You share what you know, and you allow other, less well-known bloggers a space to share their talent and creativity.
2. I love your 'Monday Inspiration" posts. Not only are they eye candy, you point out details that I might not have noticed but that may make great additions to my sewing.
3. Your tutorials for making patterns for tops, skirts, etc not only provide the suggested pattern, but teach me ways to make changes to other patterns.
4. Did I mention your generosity? It seems you have made it your mission to help your readers be better sewers and, through your example, better people.
I'm feeling "flu-ish" and need to go to bed, but I hope you continue your blogging.
I love seeing your creative garments & your tutorials & your free patterns, your soups, and the Wednesday showcase.
ReplyDeleteAs an amateur self taught pattern drafter I love that you show how to change patterns in ways that I wouldn't think of and ways that I have thought of but didn't exactly know how. I like Inspiration Mondays and when you feature bloggers. There's not much I don't like about your blog.
ReplyDeleteI see things on your blog I never see anywhere else: the fashion photos, the healthy recipes, your original pattern drafting. Your kind, generous spirit is inspiring to me. The links to other blogs is a nice bonus.
ReplyDelete1) exposure to inspiration pieces, 2) you sew much better than I, and 3) your generous and uplifting spirit. You feel like a friend. I'm reading fewer sewing blogs lately, but I always look forward to reading yours. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWhy do I read your blog? Well, I only came back to sewing a few years ago, and I have a lot to learn. I find your blog inspiring. I don't read every series you post, but I love Monday morning inspiration, and any post that features the work of others. But you also show how outfits go together (like the post on that amazing plaid wool skirt). I learn from you - as a mentor. I think many people can master the fundamentals (tho we can use those tutorials), but the things that you add are what make the item special/unique, not home-ec, but hand-made special.
ReplyDeleteI like all of your blog, but my favorite parts are Monday Morning Inspiration and Wednesday Showcase. You give so much to the sewing community. Thank you for your generosity. I really appreciate you!
ReplyDeleteI love the creativity you share with me. I really enjoyed the ruffles post you did a day or so ago. I can't remember the term for the ruffles, but I spent a lot of time looking at the detailed photos of how the embellishment was attached to a garment and all the other examples you shared including a website. I am a new follower. I attended a recent American Sewing Guild neighborhood group where a participant told us about your site. The particular blog she shared was the little owl. So I've been following you ever since.
ReplyDelete1) you are very talented and EXPERIENCED. And full of interesting ideas that you execute well.
ReplyDelete2) even though I have never met you, you seem very nice...full of positive energy, willing to share your talents, encouraging others. I like that positive energy.
3) you have so many varied ideas, that even if one thing doesn't interest me, I know there will be nine more that do.
I follow your blog for many reasons, including your positive outlook; your creative bent; your ability and willingness to teach complex things in the simplest ways; the time you take to search out those bloggers who deserve a little light shined on their output; and most of all, those amazing Monday Morning Inspiration posts! I never miss reading your blog, even though I don't often comment, and even when you're posting about something I'll probably never sew.
ReplyDeleteBTW, in case I failed to say so at the time, thank you for your instructions way back when on the Amy Butler Beautiful Belle Handbag. I don't think I would have had such an easy time making my first bag without your help!
i was brought here by one of your drafting entries.
ReplyDeletei love the pictures you post for inspiration..
i love it when you do recipes.
i love free patterns that are interesting.
i don't comment, but i read every blog post.
You've always got something interesting to say and you put a lot of care into how you present it. You're kind and you're thoughtful. I know this sounds very general and perhaps vague, but that's kind of how we readers think of you------- your very question bears this out. You care about what would make US more creative sewists. Thank you for the time and energy you use on our behalf. I learn an awful lot from what you write and show.
ReplyDeleteFrom the first time I read your blog when I was getting back into sewing, I was given a sense of inspiration and excitement to wanting to pick up something I use to be passion about sewing! You are such a loving and caring person, that we adore!
ReplyDeleteYour energy to bring something new to the cyberworld. Your tutorials are delightful and precise.
ReplyDeleteYou are so generous of your time to put this blog out there for us in cyberland .. Thank you for that !
Making clothing is like transformational magic: taking a static two-dimensional object and transforming it into a creatiive dynamic four-dimensional garment (the fourth dimension 'ease'--the ability to wear and move in the garment over time). I enjoy reading your blog because you show all sorts of fun projects and tutorials that show that these garments are within reach. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteRose in SV
Would it sound too personal if I said, reading your blog gives me a since of peace in the horrible "busy" world of internet chatter. Not a negative observation, but reading your Sunday post and Monday morning inspiration helps to take my spirit back home to the days of old, when my grandmother always had a special soup or meal on Sundays. Your free pattern Thursdays and Saturday sleeves, as I mentioned to you before, your post help me in my quest to rise to a higher personal level of growth in my own pattern making skills. Although, I don't post this stuff on my own blog, I have grown tremendously just by following your pattern making post, and have become more confident in my own skills when I teach pattern fitting and alterations in my city.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all you do. I know it is a great deal of work to post updates, but even more time consuming to post such insightful and inspiring material that isn't shallow, yet is well thought out and edifying.
Kay, in her comment, said it all - but I will add my two cents. I love your blog because of your generosity of knowledge and spirit. You inspire!
ReplyDeleteI came across your blog by the tutorials you posted. so I hung on. Later you became one among the few people who reply personally to what bloggers ask and mails. so this was another reason to continue reading and knowing more about you :)I feel I can get to learn advanced sewing from experienced sewers l like you. Thanks for the q;)
ReplyDeleteI think I originally found your blog through looking for tutorials/ideas for sleeve variations - I stayed for the amazing variety of drafting instructions and the regular round-ups of interesting features and details on real garments. I'm not an especially advanced seamstress and have yet to incorporate anything I've seen here in an actual project, but as inspiration it's spectacular.
ReplyDeleteWow. There are so many reasons I am here! First of all, I was blessed to randomly discover you at the ASE in Novi last year when I signed up for a sleeves class. I had no idea what an inspiration you, the instructor, would be, showing all those different sleeves that you brought and how to make them!
ReplyDeleteOn your blog you are always sharing your gift, whether it is a design, tutorial, or a generous offer. I look forward to viewing what you have to share on a regular basis because it is always something to uplift my creative spirit somehow. Thank you very much. You are a blessing.
I LOVE your Monday Morning Inspiration posts, and also the Wednesday showcase :-)
ReplyDeleteI was told about your site at an Anerican Sewing a Guild conference after attending a session on sleeves. After I saw all of the information and tutorials you had about how to draft various sleeves, I continued to wonder around and saw that you post some really valuable information which has inspired me, guided me and improved my sewing and creativity. So I check your blog daily. And I love the inspiration on Sundays
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the inspiration posts, the tutorials, the blogger introductions and the way you so generously give of your expertise and talent. Your recipes are often a hit ( this week's kale and beans recipe was popular in my non vegetarian household!). I really enjoy the way you shed light on what might seem like small details in sleeves, collars and also provide instruction so that we can replicate the ideas. I also enjoy seeing you wear your creations as it lovely to see our own garments beautifully styled for everyday life.
ReplyDeleteI love all your creative ideas. I found your blog several months ago and have read all the archives! You mentioned Gayfeather, I am fortunate enough to live very close to that neat fabric shop!
ReplyDeleteI love your pattern inspirations, like your recent focus on pleats. And I am also inspired by your positive attitude.
ReplyDeleteI'm fairly new to your blog, but there have been a number of things that I enjoy. I love the recipes (yay, soup!), the profiles of other bloggers, your makes and the additional craft items (owls). I enjoy your writing style and the obvious care and consideration you use when posting.
ReplyDeleteGood day,
ReplyDeleteI tuned in initially on a humble. Some time ago I ran into a skirt tutorial of yours; made it, got beau coup comps. Then with a new computer I lost you.
I continue to tune in because I am on a quest to be a better sewist. You teach me to do just that. Recently, I learned of Sewaholic and just when I was going to tackle the Robson, lo and behold you were hosting a sew-a-long. Again, a learning opportunity.
You interact with your readers; not just suck up comps, comments and not respond. I like that.
Cheers,
Lyric
As always I am the Johnny-Come_Lately with my response, and as usual, it's because of my schedule; however, that does not take away from all the incredible things you do in your blog (and, of course, in your sewing studio) that draw me to your blog daily. I love the inspiration you give me and the wonderful patterns you so generously share. Truth is there is nothing about your blog that I don't like. I look forward to it every single day, even though I don't get there every day.
ReplyDeleteI read your blog for many reasons. I love how insightful your posts are. Your work is exceptional and you have such a love for sewing and what you do and it shines through your posts. I often find myself inspired by your blog posts and I also enjoy the Wednesday Showcase where you introduce new or unknown bloggers to add to our blog feed.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for everything you have done and keep up the good work! :)
Most of all, because you are genuine. One of your 1st posts that I read was the one where you flew to pick up a rescue dog and take it to it's new owners. Even though everything you make is perfectly sewn and beautiful, you never criticize those of us who are less perfect. You encourage us!!! Thank you for all you unselfishly do!!!
ReplyDeleteYour sewing & tutorial skills. I became a fan seeing you on sewing shows & reading your tutorials in Sew News.
ReplyDeleteYours was the first blog I found, with the upcycled sweatshirt to skirt. You are very inspiring and I really appreciate that you are willing to blog. The post that resonated the most with me is called "cracking the shell." My first response to "did you make that?" is "why do you ask?" I hardly ever wear anything I make, I've made a lot of wadders. But you're pulling me out of that. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYour exceptional expert skills!
ReplyDeleteI read your blog because you are a nice person. I feel like if we met in person for lunch you would be just the same in person as you are on your blog. You share the good and the bad, the success and the failures. I like that. I do not enjoy blogs that are all 100% positive all the time, everyone has a sewing mistake and needs a seam ripper from time to time. You are also super nice and aren't preachy when you share a new technique. You are very generous with your blog. I love the Sunday night quotes, Wednesday showcases and the Free pattern Friday. But I would still read your blog no matter what you posted on these days. Thank you for being so nice and generous.
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of knowledge that you showcase in the weekly sampling of sewing techniques. You are from Chicago (yasss!). Your blog exemplifies your generosity and compassion. You are a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteInfo, technique, beautiful inspiration and soup!
ReplyDeleteWhy do I read? For your kindness, generosity and skill. I love the inspiration posts, especially the way you share such a range of images. Btw, I made couple of couple of little faux fox scarfs as Christmas presents thanks to the the post where you focused on inspirational plaids. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI found you looking for Sleeves on Saturday. I wanted to find ALL of them! I like everything you do, Rhonda. You are a very generous blogger. You post so many pictures, and I know how much work that is. The recipes you post look so healthy, and one of these days, I'm going to remember to print one out and make it! Love you lots! Joy
ReplyDeleteBecause we share our love of sewing and I love to see what you are doing. Your generosity is amazing and I don't want to miss out on learning anything new.
ReplyDeleteI love it all - but must give special mention to your tutorials, the wonderful garments you make and your introductions to other bloggers.
ReplyDeleteHi there Rhonda,
ReplyDeleteI love your blog as you help me out so much in terms of your posts on pattern drafting which inspiree. More than that, I get it the way you do it. I have basic skills, but you have helped raise my confidence levels. As soon as I see your pictures it makes sense to me.
Also love your sense of style and the postings with pictures showing how to use various techniques. It helps me to think around how could I recreate this or that technique, to make a unique, wearable piece.
Your varying fabric choices are also inspirational................the raincoat being a perfect example. I have no fabric shops and have to shop online and am hoping to find the time, at some point to source some interest fabric to make my own!! All down to your wonderful enticing and inspirational blog.
Thank you for all that you share and give every week.
Hola,
ReplyDeleteYo sigo tu blog porque me enseñas todo lo que eres capaz de hacer. Y me haces descubrir todo un mundo de sensaciones porque siempre me sorprenden tus inspiraciones.
Yo sigo tu blog porque compartes tus conocimientos y experiencias.
Yo sigo tu blog porque aprendo.
Muchas gracias desde Barcelona.
I love your creativity,tutorials, pattern drafting and overall your generosity, willingness and time to share all this information.
ReplyDeleteYour inspiration, optimism, creativity and skill. Oh, and your active involvement, sharing and those little insights into your life that proves you are human.
ReplyDeleteWhat do I like about your blog? You. You are a very real, interesting person, you post about things you are interested in and knowledgeable about, you are always learning and sharing. You are so generous with your knowledge on these subjects. But, most important, it is not a 'look at me and what I can do" blog; you share and lift up others and bring everyone and everything together in a wonderful welcoming way. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteWell said Mary! Faithful followers would agree.
DeleteHeart felt thanks to both of you :)
DeleteI love your inspiration posts, tutorials, pattern drafting and introduction of other bloggers
ReplyDelete