RITUALS

I started making this dress in the depths of infertility hell. Superstition or perhaps some degree of hopelessness meant all of my makes were the kind without much ease. The …

I’m what you would call a classic perfectionist. I’m detail-oriented and I can set ridiculously high standards for myself. I often obsess over the tiniest of details and naturally notice …

I started sewing when I was pretty young, long before I had any kind of idea of what body image meant to me, before I even knew things were being …

I had recently been part of a pattern tester team for a beautiful barn jacket that a designer friend of mine put out. I live in Florida, and we only …

Tea is Medicine. Which feelings do these words evoke in you? Do you agree? Do you have doubts that this is true? After all, most people drink tea casually and …

Have you ever held back from sharing your sewing or pattern ideas because you were afraid that others might not take them seriously? Do you tend to stick with the …

Oxytocin. The hormone responsible for the squishy feeling you get inside when you hug someone you love or stroke a fluffy dog. And, I found out while I was pregnant, …

Empathy is a concept that I am sure most of you are familiar with, but what about applying it to our relationship with our wardrobes? When considering the production of …

I have relocated around the world multiple times, and downsized from a house to an inner-city studio apartment. Since moving to Munich, I’ve also had to develop almost two different …

I’m sure most of us in the sewing community have experienced feeling like we have lost our “sewing mojo” – a dip in our motivation that can leave us feeling …

I started writing (and sewing) about dopamine makes just over a year ago. Thank you for coming along this journey with me- it means the world to know there is …

There are some joys we keep to ourselves, and some, once we break their secret code, we want everyone to know it too. To join us in the joy. In …

I am impatient. It’s one of the few bad qualities I have that I don’t actually feel bad about. I’m a foot tapper, a lane changer and for my sins, …

This past summer, I invested an extraordinary amount of time and creative energy into sewing what makes me happy. This broken record is called “Dopamine Sewing,” lest you not forget, …

I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling uninspired and, truthfully, not good enough during the winter months. When it comes to my creative energy and output, winter becomes a time …

When I look back on my Dopamine Sewing journey, I see bright colors and shapes- exactly the “rush” I needed to dive into last summer. It was seasonally appropriate to …