Substack's Burgeoning Sewing Community
The Crooked Hem, Sewing With Numbers, Craft of Clothes, Garbie, and More!
Greetings everybody,
Today I want to shine light on a handful of Substack publications adjacent to The Sewing Machine Newsletter.
From my perspective, the online sewing community can be a mixed bag. While there is plenty of inspiration and knowledge to be found on the internet, spaces like Facebook groups and Reddit threads often devolve into negativity, gatekeeping, or unhelpful discourse. That’s why I’m excited about the growing number of Substack newsletters dedicated to sewing. These publications offer thoughtful, long-form content that informs, inspires, and strengthens the sewing community as a whole. If you're looking for a place to deepen your skills, engage with like-minded sewists, and escape the toxicity that sometimes plagues other online spaces, these newsletters are the perfect antidote. I highly recommend checking them out!
The Crooked Hem | by Stacey Taylor
Stacey is one of the first people to ever share my Substack with her community, a deeply encouraging moment for me, and for that I am forever grateful! She is a self-described scientist, sewist, and teacher who writes on a variety of sewing topics, from garment-making and fitting, to quilting and crafting. She is truly a wealth of knowledge, and I highly recommend following both her Substack and Instagram.
Sewing With Numbers | by Beth Wood
Sewing With Numbers is one of the most consistent, informational sewing publications that I am aware of. Simply put, author Beth Wood is dedicated to sharing ways that you can use math to draft, design or alter your own sewing patterns. Because she is super organized and detail oriented, Beth is an extremely helpful resource for anyone who wants to learn how to make their own garments.
Every 6 to 8 weeks, Sewing With Numbers features a different "Project". Beth publishes a few posts about drafting and designing certain elements of the project, and then concludes with how to draft the full pattern and project variations. Occasionally, she’ll also share an essay on sewing, design and small business. You can expect an email once a week or less.
The Craft of Clothes | by Liz Haywood
Liz Haywood is the bona fide OG of sewing Substack, posting consistently on here since 2019. Based in Australia, she is focused on sewing, fashion, making, and zero-waste pattern cutting.
Liz has written a book titled A Year of Zero Waste Sewing, which can be purchased on Amazon, or from a variety of other online book sellers.
![A Year of Zero Waste Sewing: A Year of Exploration, Making and Musings on Zero Waste Patterns and Clothes [Book]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4448446a-3c0a-4601-90e0-1aa274f43f20_907x1360.jpeg "A Year of Zero Waste Sewing: A Year of Exploration, Making and Musings on Zero Waste Patterns and Clothes [Book]")
COUNTERSTATEMENT | by Tom Greene
I met Tom at a bar in San Francisco, where he told me the story of how he sold $75,000 of clothing to the daughter of a Chinese diamond manufacturing billionaire by drawing parallels between Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra and John Galliano’s Fall Winter 2021/2022 collection for Maison Margiela. His Substack publication, COUNTERSTATEMENT, merges fashion and philosophy is a manner that is truly unique. He is the best dressed man I have ever met.
Well Pressed | by Alex Estrada Cline
Well Pressed is up and coming quilting-focused publication by Alex Estrada Cline. I’m a big fan of her style and aesthetic, and I hope she continues to publish consistently! Subscribe and receive a couple essays each month on craft, reflections on modern culture, and monthly inspiration.
The Sewing Lounge | by Kehinde Oni
The Sewing Lounge is a publication I only recently discovered, but I am very impressed by author Kehinde Oni’s clear and detailed step-by-step articles on garment construction. Keep it up, Kehinde!
Soft Crafts | by Ella Emhoff
Ella Emhoff is a textile artist whose Substack publication, Soft Crafts, focuses on knitting, crochet, knit painting, weaving, beading, pottery, embroidery, clothes customization, clothes mending, and general home DIY. As far as I can tell, she mostly makes things by hand and does not use a sewing machine, but I suspect a good portion of my readers also dabble in her arena and would enjoy her consistent posts!
Thank you for reading!
If there are any other Substack publications that I missed, please feel free to share them in the comment section.
—Cale
Don’t forget Ithaca Maven, written by the creator of the top-down center-out method of fitting trousers.
I believe Ella Emhoff is also the daughter of former First Gentleman, Doug Emhoff.