Meet Lindsey, the creator of Sew to Grow, an Australian sewing brand that designs patterns and provides resources and teaching for sewing.
I’ve been in the sewing industry since I was old enough to work, starting my first purse business designing bags and selling them at high school. I went to school for business marketing, and at the time I was also a manager at a sewing and patchwork shop. I learned all about the machines, about teaching classes and workshops, and purchasing fabrics.
I got to see all facets of the sewing industry, but I still thought I wanted to go to New York City and design clothes or be a merchandiser. When I went to the Houston Quilt Market I decided I wanted a career in this industry. I moved to Australia in 2011 and became a state manager for one of the sewing machine brands.
By the time I was 27, I’d tasted many parts of the industry, and wanted to take a chance on myself to start my company. It takes a lot to build something up so I left my job. But I was still able to use the industry connections I had in Australia and in America to start building a brand.
Sew to Grow is planting seeds to grow the future of our craft, sewing to grow the industry. If young people aren’t getting into sewing, teaching it, and inspiring people, it’s eventually going to go away, because sewing is something that you have to seek out to do. I wanted to be a voice for people learning to make things for themselves. I’ve always kind of been in the industry and I just wanted to take that chance. I love teaching, and I felt like this was a great way to combine the two.
A lot of my inspiration comes from my travels or my desire for something in my own wardrobe that I don't see out in the world. Often you go to a shop and what you want isn’t there.
Part of it is also seeing women out in the world and how they actually wear clothes. My clothes aren't really over designed because women tend to dress quite casually and comfortably. I'm watching how they wear clothing and think about the skills I can teach them.
I also want to help somebody build a wardrobe. So if you start with my patterns and you make a basic top, then I have a pants pattern for you to do next, and a skirt pattern, and a jacket pattern.
The different places I lived in also had an impact on my work. In Sydney there was this hustle culture. I was quite inspired by everybody getting up, going on the train, going to their job. And then I've moved up to Queensland, which is much more casual, laid back, bright, bold colours, oversized fit.
One of my favourite parts is the autonomy of being able to do what I want every day. I enjoy the business side of running a business. I also love the people side. I enjoy teaching and inspiring people, so I like how I can connect with human beings.
My least favourite part is the actual grind of sewing. Sometimes you have to make the same garment over and over again but my brain is one-and-done. You also have to make choices. When you run your own business, your destiny is created by you alone, so what direction do you take? I could make an online sewing course, but if I'm travelling and teaching, that's taking me away from creating course material. There's never enough time. Finally, the isolation is hard: not being able to communicate with other people and bounce ideas off of them.
The Bondi top has been my best-seller every year. This one was a surprise!. I designed the pattern maybe eight or nine years ago as just a simple, basic item that would be good for a workshop.
I’m also proud of my tools. I'm genuinely most proud of looking at how my students work in a classroom setting and developing something that will help them sew better or more efficiently. That took a lot of thought and ingenuity to not only design them, but to get them up and running, and market them.
I have so many favourite fabrics, there’s a really long list.
A couple of pattern designers I love: True Bias, Megan Nielsen, as well as Emily from In The Folds.
Endless possibilities! Recently I've been putting a lot more of my time and resources towards designing more fabric. There's a gap in the Australian market that I want to fill, but I just have not got the logistics side of it.
Importing fabrics, being a designer, and cutting out all the middlemen has been really challenging. I don't think I've quite figured it all out yet. I would absolutely love to have that flowing a lot more efficiently and to offer more fabrics by other designers.
If you're looking to start your own pattern design company, teach yourself as much as you can. Don’t outsource everything initially. Learn Photoshop. Learn Illustrator. Learn how to build a website. Learn how to do your taxes. Learn how to do your accounting and software and invoicing. Learn how to do photography. Doing it all myself first has given me the ability to know all aspects of my business. So when I do hire somebody to do graphic design, I know the language, I know how it's done.
And communicate and collaborate with other people. You don't know what you don't know, until you talk to other people. You have to put your ideas out there and speak out loud what you want, so that you’re ready for those opportunities when they come to you.
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Thank you Lindsey for taking the time to chat with us.