 |
| Sew4Home was recently made over... |
While I discovered AllFreeSewing and Craftsy early on, it wasn't until March 2015 that I made Sew4Home one of my regular daily stops. During the ensuing five years, it became an essential part of my morning coffee routine.
Over the past year and a half, I'd noticed that it was starting to rerun old content more often, which — while disheartening to an extent — I totally understand. To come up with something new to run on an almost daily basis must have been extremely challenging, and Sew4Home has been around since 2009.
When the site went dark towards the end of February with an announcement that it was revamping, I was filled with more than just a little bit of trepidation and anxiety. Why?
 |
| My exchange with one of Sew4Home's founders... |
I don't want to name any names (although one of them is fairly obvious from my previous rantings here), but I've seen two recent site revamps that were not to my liking. I'm so glad that Sew4Home's new site — despite the fact that it's an obvious commercial venture and not someone's hobby blog — is welcoming, organized, and not obstructed every which way by ads. (Not to mention that the ads are not click bait.)
In short and in the vernacular, it doesn't suck.
In a world where you can't please everyone, not sucking is somewhat a badge of honour. ;-)
Actually, I jest, because the Sew4Home makeover is much better than just "not sucking". In fact, the only thing I miss from the old site is the chronological day by day blog format that was easy to scroll through if I were to go away for a week or two. But I totally understand why that was abandoned. There is now enough historical content on the site to serve it up on an ongoing basis, mixing in occasional new material, without the pressure of daily posting.
In any case, the ability to see what's been added recently is still available on the re-vamped site. Approximately three mouse scrolls down, there is a heading for The Latest on the right hand side that shows the most recent content.
 |
| Image courtesy of Sew4Home... |
The rest of the home page is broken up into sections that are easy to navigate, with a selection of featured and trending projects to inspire.
Oh, and I have to admit that as someone who usually complains about how website developers do a poor job of implementing a search feature, Sew4Home got it right. Take a look at what you get when you do a search:
 |
| Image courtesy of Sew4Home... |
The results appear with images, so that if you're looking for something specific — like I was here in this example — you can easily tell if you've found what you're looking for.
 |
| A very popular Sew4Home project! |
For the edification of those who don't dig into the background stuff, this project — and probably the majority of Sew4Home's projects — is attributed to a designer named Alicia Thommas. This is in fact a pseudonym for the other half of Sew4Home's founding team, Anne Adams, sister of Liz Johnson. If you're curious about the need for a different name, you can get the full story on the site's About page.
In getting to know the actual people responsible for the content behind Sew4Home, I must say I appreciate how very approachable they are. While I've complained about small time bloggers not responding to comments, Liz and her team are quite the opposite. Even though the odd comment is enough to make you sigh or tear out your hair (e.g., when people "complain" about freebies), she is the epitome of patience and kindness.
Oh, and I was quite tickled when one of Sew4Home's seamstresses left a comment on one of my recent blog posts!
So what do I think is the best thing about Sew4Home? Well, it's a tie between their "how to" articles and their amazingly detailed free patterns.
In terms of the former, the new site has all of their "how to" info conveniently grouped under a new drop down menu called "Techniques". Here is just a sample of what you can find there to help you perfect your sewing.
 |
| Image courtesy of Sew4Home... |
As far as patterns go, you can pay a lot of dollars for patterns that aren't anywhere close to the quality of Sew4Home's offerings. Here are just three of the many PDFs that I've downloaded from them over the years.
This is the Table Top Sewing Caddy. (Yes, you can search for it using that exact name.)
 |
| Image courtesy of Sew4Home... |
If I were in need of something to cart my sewing stuff from one place to another, I'd definitely be making one of these for myself.
Next up is the Compact Messenger Bag with Inset Zipper.
 |
| Image courtesy of Sew4Home... |
Virtually everything you need to know about bag making can be found in this pattern. Seriously.
Lastly, this is the Thread Box and Sewing Kit Carry Case, designed to fit an Aurifil twelve spool thread box.
 |
| Image courtesy of Sew4Home... |
I don't have a box of Aurifil thread to put in one of these, but that doesn't stop me from admiring the project and wondering if I could find a use for it someday.
If you've never or rarely been to Sew4Home, I envy you the experience you're going to have when you check it out. (And tell 'em I sent ya! Just kidding.)
To see the Sew4Home projects I've attempted over the years, click here.
'Til next...
Thanks again for a well written blog with interesting and valuable content. I have never checked out Sew4Home but will do so this week. I soooo enjoy that your personality shines through your writing. Keep informing and challenging us.
ReplyDeleteI love Sew4Home and have made a few of their projects. So glad they are still here and made their site improvements better too.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of Sew4Home prior to your post and appreciate your information. I'm learning to try not to spend much time on the internet so I spend more time at my sewing machines. (Yes, multiple - my great-gram's 1904 Minnesota D treadle, my gram's 1940-era Old Home, my 1960-era White with embroidery cams (1974 gift from my dad), and my 1996 White server. Each machine has its own in-process project so I am never bored, and my livingroom chair has a hand sewing project for evening relaxation.) I don't watch TV as we don't own one, but internet videos sometimes tempt me.
ReplyDeleteGood on you for not having TV. (I'm pretty sure we have over 100 channels and most of the time, not much is worth watching.) I cannot imagine having four different sewing machines each with its own project on the go... that is pretty stupendous in itself. Do enjoy Sew4Home though; it's definitely one place on the internet that's worth your time if you're a sewer. ;-)
Delete