Organizing my sewing life: why I love (and NEED) my sewing journal

Discover the benefits of a sewing journal! Learn why I can’t live without mine, and how it's become an important part of my creative sewing process, organization, and growth over time. This simple tool can be a game-changer for your focus and motivation. Peek inside mine and get inspired to start your own sewing journal! 📖

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📕 SUPPLIES SHOWN: 👇🏼

(The larger notebook size I love is harder to find than it used to be. 🫤)

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🧶 MY KNITTING PATTERNS:

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📱FIND ME elsewhere:

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Music: YouTube Audio Library

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro
00:20 Benefits of a sewing journal
01:26 Showing off my sewing notebook
02:25 Look inside my sewing journal
07:41 How I document extensive projects
09:03 Why a sewing journal can help you

#sewingtools #sewingtips #vintagesewing

[tashacouldmakethat]

Check the description if you love the look of my notebook, I linked the ones I use and love. 🥰🥰

[ajbartholomew]

I love my notebook I really like to include pictures of the pattern and the finished project along with my notes and fabric swatch

[diannnec]

Thank you for this! I was intrigued when you gave us a glimpse in an earlier video. I wish I’d done this YEARS ago, but you’ve got me doing this NOW. So many good tips and hints.

[kckazcoll]

what you said at minute 7:00 - I had the exact situation today, trying to find where i had put a mash-up bodice! what a coincidence! :)

[rachelferet]

I have a couple fountain pens but I don't write much in this digital world so I don't get to use them as often as I'd like (or when I do have the opportunity to write, I'm writing on something not fountain pen ink friendly). I already thought I should start doing this, but once you mentioned your pens, I was completely sold!

[SanCarpenter]

I've tried a consolidated sewing journal, but I've found it's more functional for me to record any notes or adjustments in the manilla envelope I'm storing the pattern pieces in. 😂 I can never find the project page I want otherwise.

[lindak]

I only recently started keeping a journal, about a year or two ago. It’s such a useful resource! I was astonished how often i refer to it.
I also keep a separate notebook with details and a sample of the overlocker & coverstitch settings. I just sew away my on off cuts until i get it right, then neatly cut out a tidy rectangle, about 5 x 10cm or so, big enough to comfortably see. I sticky tape the top edge across the page so i can flip the fabric over to see the back of the stitching as well.
I don’t do it with every project, just with every new type of fabric. Especially knits, they hate me.

[ehgoodwin]

Thanks for sharing! You explain it so well! I totally need to do this - what a time saver - and a much better process than the scraps of notes floating and drifting around my sewing area!

[Symoneshs]

I keep a craft journal as I jump from project to project. So I put a colour coded table of contents at the front of my notebook. One colour for sewing, one for recipes, another for macrame projects, etc. I like having it all in one place so if I feel creative but directionless I have everything at my finger tips.

[chp]

Great idea! I think I'll try that!!

[ladyedith]

Loving your YT channel!!! I've often been tempted to have a sewing journal but never got round to it and knowing me it would just be a swatch of the fabric and 'Coat' ( or whatever the garment was ) at the top of the page. I do write notes on my patterns but they're often very vague - 'Use sleeve from shirt' without actually saying which shirt! Sheesh! Talk about making it harder for myself! 🙂

[annejohnson]

I journal as I am constructing my garment, but I keep it in the envelope with my pattern. Sometimes the notes remind me why I do or don't want to make that garment again!

[McEArt]

Love the tip of using a journal u enjoy writing in. I have been trying to do this but in an old binder I don't like! 😂 new plan 🎉

[CraftyOlga]

I tend to write myself notes on the pattern or on random notebooks and sticky notes that I promptly lose - I definitely will take a page out of your book (hehe) and start my own sewing journal too.

[KrisBob]

I keep a sewing journal. I use an 8 x 10 spiral-bound art journal I picked up at a craft store. I always log the pattern, the fabric, the date, and any details. I also include a 4x4 inch swatch of the fabric and a picture of the completed garment. I also like to note how many times I have used each pattern. It helps me finish my projects because I won't enter projects in my journal until they are complete and photo ready..

[AnnieRodrigue]

I think I definitely need to do this more in the future, but also include at the same time a moment to reorganize the pattern / patterns I used right after I am done instead of letting them just pile up a bit randomly in my stash: I often take notes on the patterns themselves for adjustments or just changes, especially if I retrace them and don't always remember why I did that much later on. Doing both together with a journal would make SO MUCH sense!

Thanks for the tip and sharing your process!! :)

[faeeryn]

I love making sewing journals too. I like to add a photo of the end garment too, important notes and small details like special thread number or something like that. It's great for your own research and fun to look back into, the memories and the appreciation of sewvolution, it's priceless 😊.

[remmym]

Ooh lurex! I'm about to tackle that myself. I'm so scared lol. Question for you, was that lurex project you did a knit project or did you treat it as a woven?

[Rockabillyviking]

I've been "planning" to make a sewing journal for.... quite a few years now 😆😆 Though, I have started working on a pattern book, where I have all the sewing (and 1 for knitting) patter, that I have. With pictures, fabric requirements, if it's printed, assembled, still just digital and so on. So I can easily flip through my "own" catalogue and see what I have😁

[dustygrrl]

I keep my notes in a journal much like yours, but smaller. I have an index at the front, and a list of my fabric stash at the back, and a list of UFOs. Curious to know how you attach the fabric swatches. I intend to attach a photo of the finished project but...