Welcome to my sewing blog! My name is Rachel, but you can call me RED. I’m born and raised in New Orleans, but spent over a decade living in Tucson, AZ and Japan! I’m back to my roots and am setting up what is hopefully a permanent placement in New Orleans. 🙂
Now, how did I get into sewing?
The sewing bug bit me during a sewing summer camp when I was 10. Making tote bags and pillow cases out of silly ’90’s cat fabric was such a thrill! As I got older, I moved on to sewing a few costumes for Halloween and anime conventions, using my parents’ old rusty Kenmore from the 60’s. Fast forward to my birthday 2011 when my loving husband (herein after referred to as DD) gave me a sewing machine – mostly to sew curtains and house related stuff, which I completely ignored for sewing clothes for myself. I’ve been sewing nonstop since!
Meet the gang:
Odin is my Husqvarna Viking Opal 650. Together we pillage the seas of fabric and conquer the world!… I mean, um, projects. He’s actually my second machine (the one DD gave me bit the dust 1 1/2 years later due to my insane amounts of sewing… RIP Brody McBrosephson). I named him after the Norse god whose name means frenzy and inspiration. Fitting.
Freya was a gift and she is an awesome little serger. She’s a Singer Merritt Lock 14U244. Freya is the Norse goddess of fertility, among other things. Together we up production and multiply the amounts of finished projects, woo!
Meet DD – my husband, photographer, and sewing enabler. He’s a pretty cool guy and enjoys making his own beer, which I gladly help him drink.
Meet Boudin on the left (pronounced “boo-dan”) and Tasso on the right (pronounced “tah-so”). We’re a Cajun family, so of course we had to name our babies after Cajun food. They’re a total of 35 pounds of fluff, love, and nonstop hi-jinks.
Sew RED-y 
Great start in the blogging world! Can’t wait to see more of your projects. Your kitty and chickie pictures are near and dear to my heart… please post more of those too. 🙂
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Hey Diana! Thanks for checking out my blog! Oh, you know there will be more pictures of my babies for sure. 😉
By the way, I totally destroyed that box of chocolates and I’m gonna hit up SAS this weekend… thanks again for the b-day presents!
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Great blog RED! Looking forward to many more posts!
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Yay, thanks! ❤
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i literally laughed out loud while i read this. i love your sense of humor! and i love that i found another friend who sews! i need to start posting about the things i make (but first i need to make something that doesn’t turn out like complete crap!)
i love you already and i look forward to seeing what else you post!
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I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog! So much love all around! And isn’t it great to meet (well, in this case, “internet meet”) people who sew? We’re all so cool and supportive of each other. 🙂 I’ve never met a jerk or butt hole who loves sewing.
Yes, post sewing things! I actually enjoy seeing the flops as it makes me feel OK when I have flops of my own. We’re also our own worst critics, so your stuff is probably actually pretty good! Keep on rocking!
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everyone that i’ve “met” is super nice too!! i shall post about my stuff after i move and make more. i just put in the zipper of the fress i was making and its like 6 inches too big. its basically like a mumu. and i loved the fabric on the bolt…hate it as a maxi dress…oh well. its going in the “maybe i can make this into something else so its not a complete waste” pile.
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i have nominated you for the liebster award!
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Oh, YAY! How sweet! 🙂 I’ll have to get on answering those questions soon… thanks for thinking of me! 😀 Bloggy love all around!
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you’re welcome! i can’t wait to read your answers! 😀
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I love your blog, it’s full of personality and feels like talking to an old friend! I have chickens too, although sometimes it’s odd to admit it😀 And I love the whole “introducing the gang” idea. Maybe I should start naming my machines.
Abigail
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Thank you for checking out my blog! And I LOVE that you have chickens! People are very intrigued when I tell them I have chickens and I’m constantly asked at work how they’re doing, hah! What kind of chickens do you have?
I checked out your blog and I am super impressed! I, too, am a freckled fashionista (although most of the time makeup covers them). I first learned how to sew around your age and I think it’s a great skill to have. Keep it up and I can’t wait to see more from you. 🙂
Freckles and chickens forever! ❤
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Ok, you might be my new favorite blog. You sew, you have chickens, AND your sewing machines are named Odin and Freya and such! ♥
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LOL thank you SEW much! I’m happy my weird little sewing family has pulled in another sewing blogger friend. 🙂
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Hi Red! Love your blog. Especially love that you name your machines and your chickens. Love your your projects. Keep it up. Barb C.
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Thanks, Barb! So good to hear from you again. I hope you’re enjoying retirement and getting to sew a little now. I miss you!
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I love your blog! So inspiring! I want to learn to make my own clothes. I have a bunch of sewing materials that I inherited from my husband’s grandmother. So far I’ve made a doggy jacket and an elephant stuffed animal.
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Aw, thanks so much! If you have any questions about apparel sewing, just holla! If I don’t know the answer (I’ve only been sewing for 5 years, so there’s a good chance I might not know!), then I can try to point you in the right direction. But making a doggy jacket and a stuffed animal… it sounds like you’ve got a good leg up to start sewing your own clothes!
That’s great that you inherited lots of sewing stuff. I love how sewing can be passed on from generation to generation – I acquired one of my machines from my husband’s parents and it’s one that’s going to last me my life and beyond. 🙂
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Hey, RED! I found your blog on Cali&Co. I live in the SW corner of Tucson. Over the years I’ve developed several workarounds for our “one and a half seasons” climate. My latest fave is lace inserts, applied to the back neck of almost any garment. I can send you a couple of snaps if you like. I’d love to see you explore and blog this idea.
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Hi, thanks for stopping by and commenting! Yay, another Tucsonan! Lace inserts are an awesome idea, especially for our climate! I pinned a few inspiration photos on Pinterest, but then I always get distracted by other things and forget about doing it. I’ll need to make a conscious effort to incorporate that – I think the newest Seamwork pattern Winona might be my first foray into sewing lace bits. 🙂
But I would love to see what you’ve done! You can send them to me at sewredy(at)gmail.com. I’m always open to new inspiration and ideas for the blog… and testing my own sewing skills, too! ❤ ❤
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I’ve always wanted to have a record of those projects.I will photograph them and send to you. Not sure when… big projects butted their way to the front of the line.But soon!
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Last fall, I promised photos of one of my favorite sewing hacks. I forgot about it until this month’s Threads touched on the subject. I put the inserts in the back. It’s good for modesty, and is amazingly cooling. I wanted to send a photo but can’t post it here… search eBay for “lace embroidery applique”
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