THREADSTACK Interview with Kaitlin of I'm Making It
"My two main loves are sewing and knitting but I have begun dabbling in spinning, embroidery, quilting, and crochet."
I love learning more about the amazing creatives in the THREADSTACK community through these interviews, and I hope that you do, too!
Today we get to know more about
of:
I'm Kaitlin! I write about how mainstream fashion culture influences the handmade space, as well as share project journals and inspiration.
I can’t wait to learn more! What are the crafts that you enjoy?
I'm a tech editor in training, freelancer copyeditor, and homeschooling mom of 3 living in Texas. My two main loves are sewing and knitting but I have begun dabbling in spinning, embroidery, quilting, and crochet. I love the outdoors and also spend a good amount of time growing fruit trees and the occasional flower garden.
A multi-crafter. Love it. When and how did you learn to sew?
I learned to sew in 2022. My kids were of an age where every time you turned around they were wearing a hole in a favorite lovey or article of clothing. They were constantly asking my mom to mend things for them. She didn't mind, but when I also found myself adding things to her mending pile, I decided I wanted to learn to mend our things for myself. I turned to YouTube for instruction and the algorithm took me down the handmade wardrobe rabbit hole. I decided that for Christmas that year I would make myself a holiday outfit and never looked back.
I love that you made something for yourself. Do you do that often?
I usually make things for myself but am often making things for my children and my mom who is one of the most handmade gift worthy people I've ever encountered. I've taught a few sewing classes to the kids in our homeschool group as well, but until recently my makes have been very personal.
In addition to sewing, you’re interested in lots of other crafts. What would you say are some things you really want to try?
Honestly, I'm a bit of a craft and technique collector. It's really difficult to pin down one! While weaving is high on my list, I am really working hard at becoming a better spinner. I am currently using a drop spindle and reading Respect the Spindle and Yarn-i-tec-ture but would love to invest in a spinning wheel soon.
Oh that sounds fun! Is there a craft or technique you’ve tried and don't really enjoy or haven't tried but really don't want to?
I'm not that into knitting socks. I've made quite a few & need so much recovery time afterward. I'm not sure why, they just aren't for me!
And when did you learn knitting?
I learned to knit in 2023 while recovering from surgery. I wrote about that complicated experience here:
I love the part in there about how creating brings a sense of belonging. I definitely find that to be true as well.
Can you say a little bit more about how it’s connected you to others?
Philosophically, I feel incredibly connected to the world, past and present, at large when I craft. Crafting has been a necessity for humans since we began and continues to be necessary for many around the world. It's a tradition that transcends race, religion, geographic location, and in some instances, social class. I love participating in an ancient activity that binds us all together like this. I know it's a little meta, but these are what I think about when I pick up my project.
It’s beautiful. And resonates for me.
What is one of your favorite projects ever and why?
My absolute favorite project ever are the Joss pants by Seamwork. I accidentally purchased the wrong sized version of the pattern and didn't realize it until I decided to sew them up 6 months later. Instead of repurchasing or contacting the company, I decided to try my hand at grading the pattern down to my size myself.
I thought I could measure the distance between the size lines on the pattern, trace it off, and create lines of my own down to the size I needed, sew it up and that was that. I was deeply, deeply wrong and ended up with a pair of pants that were clownishly large. I drafted and added darts to the front and back. They were still a bit too large so I graded down the pattern again, until I got a perfect fit.
I wear these pants 3 or 4 times a week when the weather is right (they are a cotton/linen blend and you can believe what you want about Texas but they are still not winter appropriate). Not only because they are the literal perfect fit, but because I am so proud of how I was able to fit them myself with the knowledge I've accrued over my time sewing.
Way to stick with it! Sometimes those projects go awry and just never get finished.
Do you have a story of a project that went wildly wrong?
A few years ago, a close family friend was tying the knot. My husband was in the wedding party, I was not, but I still wanted to look like I belonged on the arm of someone in the party. I had strict parameters: it needed to be fancy enough for a wedding, but simple enough to be used more than the one time, I wanted a very specific half black, half champagne color combo, and if I could swing it, I wanted it in silk. I settled on a two piece outfit: a gorgeous half and half tank top, and a midi-length gathered circle skirt (yes, gathered AND circle). I decided on a silk noil, since that would be the easy to dress down when the wedding was over. I couldn't find the exact shades I wanted so I decided to purchase it undyed and dye it myself (I knew, and still know, very little about dyeing). When all my supplies came, I set to work. Knowing as little as I did about dyeing, the deep champagne color I was hoping for, came out as a sunset orange. It wasn't at all what I wanted, so I overdid everything black. No worries. I moved on to making my top. I misread the measurements on the pattern and made the entire top about two size too small in the chest area. Running out of time, I ran for a ready made wrap sweater in a shade semi-close to what I was hoping to dye my silk and moved on the the skirt. After 1,000 hours of calculations, I realized there was just no way I would have enough fabric for my skirt to be gathered AND circle. I settled for circle only and got sewing. This is when the timing belt on my sewing machine started to get out of time. I struggled along, for several days of sewing, until, it was the day of the wedding. I found myself at my sewing machine, stopping every 10 seconds or so to fix the jumbled mess my out-of-time machine was creating. I sewed for hours that day until I realized about 1 hour before I needed to leave, that I was sweaty, disheveled, and hours away from having a finished skirt, if I ever could finish the skirt with a broken machine. I admitted defeat and went to the wedding in clothes I already had. I did eventually finish the skirt and it is in frequent rotation in my wardrobe, but the tank top has remained balled up in the back of my fabric stash, never to be touched again.
You’re not the only one with stories like these, where the determination just isn’t enough to make it work the way you wanted. And yet, we continue to craft. We do that for many reasons, of course, but I deeply believe that a strong reason is that craft heals us.
How has it been healing for you?
Crafting has really healed my belief in myself. I have always been a person who was afraid to fail, especially if there was a chance that someone else would know about it. As a result, I missed out on a lot of life experience when I was younger due to fear. Crafting has helped me not only face failure, but to learn from it in a way that helps me move forward vs wallowing in inadequacy and shame.
I've also gained quite a bit of confidence in my personal style. It takes a bit of self-assurance to wear something (or multiple) things me-made out into the world where you may not only be judged for the choices you made regarding how you dress but also for the work you've done. I have never in my life felt as sure in my choices as I have since I began crafting my own wardrobe.
I have found again and again that craft serves as a place where we can practice things (failure, risk) in a way that is generally tolerable even if uncomfortable and the more we do it, the more we’re able to do it in other areas of life as well.
It also allows us to explore our identity in some ways.
What do you call yourself - crafter? artist? maker? creative? knitter/sewist?
I prefer fiber artist. Mainly because it encompasses the multitude of thread focused crafts I partake in, but also because I think artist is a word that makes people (including myself) take what you do a little more seriously. It's more than “just a little hobby” for most of us. The word artist honors and acknowledges the passion, knowledge, time, and effort put in to creating the things we make.
Absolutely! That’s something I’ve written about over the years:
What has brought you to the THREADSTACK community?
Crafting can be a wonderful way to connect with yourself, but you run the risk of becoming isolated. I'm so thankful for the growing online communities that allow both connection and introspection.
I also feel that there is a bit of a gap in the garment making world, where we often discuss making clothes, styling them even, but truly exploring aesthetics & fashion in light of the handmade space is lacking. I'd like to find others who are deeply interested in personal style, fashion as a whole, & how that influences how we craft.
Yes, definitely. Let’s start bringing some people together right now. Who are some of your favorite crafters and why?
Ali of Ali Makes Everything on Youtube. I love her energy, if I am inviting some extra “noise” into my day I need it to be uplifting. As someone with finite time & budget, I also really appreciate how candid she is about the amount of time and money spent per project.
of here on Substack. Honestly, Sam’s hobby basket idea had revolutionized my home life. If you are home care taking, homeschooling, or working from home & find yourself with pockets of time you could use to craft but not enough time to hunt down wherever you last left said craft, you should check out her introductory post on hobby baskets.
Charlie Nebe of The Stitchery on YouTube: the way Charlie just dives into a project with nary a pattern or tutorial in sight is inspirational. I love how she just makes what she wants to make, sometimes it’s practical sometimes not, she’s just there for the love of making.
of here on Substack: Trish marries reflective writing with fiber craft in a way that makes me feel more deeply connected to my own projects.
What else would you like to share before we end this interview?
I'm open to collaborations - especially if you're a pattern designer considering hiring your first editor. Since I'm new to pattern editing I'm very open to swaps and trade in exchange for mutually beneficial work. You can get in contact with me here: https://pressandpurl.my.canva.site/
Make sure to say hi to Kaitlin!
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Thank you so much for having me, Kathryn!!!