About

The Sew Weekly began as my attempt to document the process of sewing all of my own clothes in 2010. In 2011, four other contributors (Debi Fry, Adey Lim, Veronica Darling & Sarah Gabbart) joined me and for 52 weeks, we sewed based on a particular weekly theme. In 2012, The Sew Weekly became a much larger group blog.

But Why Sew Weekly?

There are quite a few reasons why I started The Sew Weekly:

Greening & the Slow Clothes Movement: Modern convenience has dictated that most everything in our lives is store-bought. As a population, we’ve lost our skills to make things for everyday use — the sort of things that were handmade by our grandparents and great-grandparents and all those folks before that. With this modern convenience comes waste and, often, less-than-stella manufacturing processes. Sew Weekly is about breaking out of the common practice of shopping and wasting. After resolving to do this project, I donated six black garbage bags of my clothing to Goodwill.For most of my projects I try to use vintage fabric, vintage patterns, vintage notions (zippers, snaps, buttons) and any other items that are on their second or third lives.

I Like Vintage Styles: It’s a fact: I like vintage clothing more than modern clothing. If I could wear a hat daily, I would. My entire life has been filled with a fascination of styles from yesteryear. All of this has contributed to my desire to have a wardrobe of outfits that were older than me. Vintage is expensive, however and it’s often difficult to find dresses that fit my curves in the right way. Sewing solves this problem and allows for a flexibility that can’t be found at a vintage shop. So far, all of the dresses I have made have been created from vintage patterns — my favorites being from the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Pride of Ownership: There’s something really rewarding about wearing something I have made.

I Like a Challenge: Can I really do it? Can I have a closet filled with only items that I have made? Is it even possible? There are a few exceptions to my everything-in-my-closet rule. I’m not going to make undergarments or jeans. I’m a mother to a two-year-old so I need practical mom clothes once in a while (actually more than once in a while). Luckily I live in San Francisco and do not need any extreme-weather clothes. This project is more about creating a wardrobe and not creating some rigid vintage lifestyle I can’t sustain.

About Me

Now you know a little bit about my project, here’s a little bit about me.

My name’s Mena Trott and I’ve been blogging in various forms since 2001. I co-founded Six Apart (now SAY Media) with my husband around that same time. I’ve spoken at things like TED, D: All Things Digital Conference, SXSW and Blogher. Media-wise, I shared a cover of Fortune magazine with a few other blogging folks and even had a Wall Street Journal piece written about our company (with a woodcut illustration and all!) While I don’t have a day-to-day role at SAY, I’m still active as a member of the board. Nowadays, I’m a stay-at-home mom raising a three-year old named Penelope in San Francisco.