Top Stitchers - An Interview With the "Opponent"

Season three of Top Stitchers is starting soon and I’m so excited to be participating again! We top stitchers already have our prompts and know who we’re up against, so believe me the wheels are churning behind the scenes. check out the amazing prompts and other match ups at Sewing Stadium

I am participating in a hacker challenge the first week of November with Starly of Sew Starly, and as a part of this season of Top Stitchers we are supposed to interview the person with whom we are matched. This just emphasizes one of my favorite parts of Top Stitchers, which is that it’s truly a sewing competition where the stitching is what matters. We are “pitted” against each other, but for sport and the love of the prompts and encouraged to ENCOURAGE each other during the process. This team interview set up was super fun because I’ve been in a bunch of groups with Starly and followed her blog, but this was the first time our paths had officially crossed. We had a great conversation and here’s a little portion of it so you can hopefully get to know her a bit better.

Starly’s little muse

Are you a self taught stitcher? How long have you been sewing?

“I honestly don’t know, I think I was born this way. I do not remember not knowing how to sew. My family has sewn for generations. Mainly upholstery and home decor; I was raised in a drapery shop. I did not sew much as a young adult though, and didn’t get much into sewing clothes until I was pregnant with my daughter.”

Now that you’ve re-caught the sewing bug, do you sew for yourself at all, or just your daughter?

“I never got into paper patterns much, so I did sew for myself, but it was stuff like simple bags or skirts; things I could figure out on my own.”

a sweet Allspice dress

Our challenge this season is a hacker challenge. Do you do a lot of hacking?

“I have done quite a bit of hacking. Before I blogged and before I sewed from PDFs, I read a lot of blogs and used tutorials. I think you end up hacking quite a bit that way because it’s not all laid out. You use bits from different tutorials. Now I often take a pattern I have printed and add details to it, or alter it to fit better. Occasionally I’ll mash some together.”

Why did you decide to do this season of Top Stitchers? I know you did season 1, but what made you come back for season 3?

“I enjoy challenging myself. I like sewing what I want, but I think some of my best work has come from working within some parameters that were ‘assigned’ to me and using that as inspiration to add some ‘me’ to it.”

a back to school Fawn Lily

How long have you been blogging and what is it about it that keeps you coming back?

“I’ve been blogging about a year and a half, but I’ve been reading sewing blogs for about 8 years. I like being on the blogging end because it gives me a way to participate more socially in the sewing community. It also gives me deadlines which help my motivation. It’s so easy for sewing time to get eaten up. If I have committed to a project, I will make time for it.”

Speaking of social, where is the best place to find you around social media?

“Outside of my favorite Facebook groups, I am most active on Instagram @sewstarly.”

Now that our interview is over, I’m even more excited about Top Stitchers season 3! I think Starly and I are a great match up and can’t wait to see what comes of our Word Play prompt. Season 3 starts next Tuesday at Sewing Stadium, so clear your Tuesday schedules for the next 9 or so weeks, cause you won’t want to miss out!