Hey everyone!
The time to reveal our latest AGF Makers Spotlight winner is here! As you all know, every time we have to pick a winner it’s extremely difficult because all of your submissions are great. After long deliberation, the chosen winner is Sherri from @mamidesofiona! Let’s give her a warm congrats!
Sherri caught our attention with the blissful summer dress she made for her daughter. We felt that everything from the cute dress pattern, to the fabrics chosen, and the spectacular sunset in the background captured the essence of summer perfectly! To bring this project to life, Sherri used Boardwalk Delight fabrics by Dana Willard and the Molly Dress by Simple Life Pattern Company. We simply wanted to run away from our desks and go to the beach!
We had a chance to chat with Sherri to find out about the things that inspire her and how she first ventured into sewing. Check out her interview!
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1. Hi Sherri! Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Hi! Absolutely! I’m a mom of 2 girls and wife to a pretty spectacular guy. I don’t deserve any of them, but because they’ve been given to me, I will make a point to be thankful. The comment is always that we got one mini-me and one mini-he and that’s exactly what I wanted!
I don’t understand the word “bored”. I keep myself very occupied with home-schooling my girls, teaching piano lessons, co-teaching a kids sewing class, I’ve run a few half-marathons and I currently sit in an elected seat on our town council which is funny to me because I do NOT like politics. I do, however, love my town and that’s why I ran for that position. All this is what I do before I squeeze in my sewing time.
I live in a small northern town in Manitoba, Canada about a 12 hr drive north of our capital city (depending on who’s driving.) If I want fabric or even thread I have to wait for the next trip south or be ok with waiting for on-line orders, which is how I get most of my fabrics. It has it’s pros and cons. Because of this on-line shopping I only refer to cuts in yards and not meters like a good Canadian should. When I go to an actual fabric store there has, at times, been confusion.
2. What inspired you to create your project and how does it feel to win the AGF Makers Spotlight contest?
I have to be honest. If I work from inspiration, it wasn’t on purpose. An exception would be the most recent Project Run and Play season that I sewed along with. Because of where I live I simply buy the PDF patterns that intrigue me and the fabrics that I fall in love with and the challenge becomes how to bring the two together knowing I can’t run back to grab an extra yard. For example, this dress by Simple Life Patterns was on my wish list for awhile. I love the collar on the back. This fabric was a no brainer buy for me, but I only had 1 yard cuts so I needed to find the best way to put it together. My sewing partner in crime, Trish, brainstormed with me one day when we were having a sewing day and this is what came out!
How do I feel? A little like it’s not real. Like I should be standing at a podium with my golden spool of thread giving an acceptance speech. And I’ll give the appropriate thanks!!! If it wasn’t for Eleri at Sew and Tell Project I wouldn’t even have know what the AGF Makers Spotlight was! For someone who has only recently joined the on-line sewing community, this is a big deal to me. I am truly excited.
3. When did you start sewing and what are some of your favorite things about the sewing community?
I started sewing when I was quite young, but can’t remember exactly when. Sewing was just so normal around us. My mom made most of our clothes growing up. Back when it was actually more cost effective! Both my grandmas are extremely talented seamstresses, but in different ways. One Gramma taught me how to quilt and I cherish the quilt we made together before she passed. My other Grandma sewed denim jackets and overalls like nobody’s business! She was a seamstress by trade. On the farm, Grandpa was always wearing a jean jacket made by Grandma.Now she’s a tech savvy Grandma following me on Instagram!! I know she’s proud.
My earliest memory of my own sewing was when I took apart Mom’s drapery sample books and made a couple skirts. I even taught myself how to insert the zipper and that, dear folks, was WAY before YouTube!! Someday I would love to take some classes and develop some of my drafting skills. Being that so much of what I do has been self-taught, I know there must be better ways of doing some things.
When it comes to the online sewing community, I still sit in awe. I feel like the new kid who is just watching and seeing what everyone else is doing. And when someone recognizes my work, I don’t know if they realize how much it means to me. I’ve gained confidence from their kind words and I’ve gained a much larger pattern collection…
4. Your instagram is filled with beautiful childrens clothes. What do you love about sewing garments?
Yes, it is pretty much clothes, isn’t it? I used to make a lot of bags/purses and the odd time I’ll do something else, but there’s something about seeing my art on someone and seeing how much they enjoy it. Add to that a tremendous sense of satisfaction when I’ve tried something new. I rarely do any pattern twice though it has happened. I just want to keep trying new things.
5. Do you ever do a little selfish sewing for yourself?
I have done sewing for myself and when I think about it I actually have quite a few pieces by now! I’ve been trying to get a picture of myself for Instagram in a spring coat I made, but I can not handle myself in pictures!! Especially when I’m asking my daughter to quickly take a picture with my phone before anyone drives by and sees us. It just ends up looking like a well-dressed deer in the headlights. Hence the odd picture of me in a group. Those outfits are probably "me made". I currently have some fabric set aside for a dress for myself. Leather on top and AGF voile “Wandering Lands Mineral” for the bottom. I have no pattern chosen, but I know what I want it to look like. Hopefully I’ll get to it before too long. I do not consider myself a fast sewer so things for me often take the back seat.
6.How did you find out about AGF and what was your first thought when you started sewing with our fabrics?
I first found AGF on Etsy. It was/IS always the fabric that I’m drawn to first. But when I added the rising shipping costs to Canada it would come out of my cart. Except somewhere along the line I slipped up and bought some. And now I’m hooked. There just something about it. From the gorgeous colours and designs to the feel and knowing that the clothes I make with AGF seriously do last longer.
The biggest impact on me was the first time I made anything with the knits. I had huge disasters when trying to sew knits before that. Really bad. And knits are one of the most difficult fabrics to buy online since you really need to feel it. Now I know that if I find AGF knits I know it’ll be what I want and will stand up to lots of runs through the wash. I did see just last week that there’s a new collection by @maureencracknell and I can hardly wait!!
Thanks again, so much, for all of this. I can’t wait to see what comes in the mail. That never gets old.
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I hope you all enjoyed getting to know Sherri. To see more of her wonderful creations make sure to follow her at @mamidesofiona on Instagram. Make sure to keep sharing your projects under the hashtag #AGFmakersspotlight for a chance to win a bundle of fabrics and a feature here on the blog.
Till next time!
Stephanie
A Guide to Sewing with Voile