I joined Emma, founder of bag making company Studio7t7, live on her YouTube channel. Emma hosts a YouTube live at 8pm every Thursday featuring a tip of the day. I first met Emma at the Big Sew Off 24 hour sewathon event and I spoke to her live about her stash for episode 4 of Stash Chats.
What is stash hub?
Stash Hub is a sewing organiser app that I created together with my husband. You can catalogue your fabric collection, patterns and match them together to create projects. Our aim is to help sewists feel less overwhelmed and fall back in love with their stash.
How/why did you start the app?
My husband Doug is a self-taught app developer. He likes to have a project to motivate him to learn and use new skills, I’m sure a lot of sewists can relate to this idea. I started sewing in 2020 and rapidly accumulated fabric and patterns. Originally I was using Trello to organise my stash but it isn’t purpose built for that so wasn’t ideal. I think it was Doug’s idea to start making the app but he says I requested it, so we’re calling it a joint endeavour from the start! Originally it was just for me to use but it was so good I said we should roll it out to everyone and we’ve been in business a year now.
Whats your favourite thing to make?
I make pretty much all my own clothes! Probably gathered dresses are my favourite thing to make – that’s what’s filling up most of my wardrobe anyway! It’s too hard to pick just one favourite pattern though. Favourite dress, I’d have to say Sew House 7 Romey Gathered Dress – it’s a big tenty smock dress, so easy to sew and super comfy to wear. Dani pants by True Bias are my fave trouser pattern and Gilbert Top by Helen’s closet is my most sewn top pattern.
What is your favourite type of fabric?
Not very exciting but I’d have to say cotton lawn. It’s much less faffy to cut out than a slippery viscose and is so nice to wear as well. There are also so many options for amazing prints. I get warm easily so I tend to stick with natural fibres.
How do you keep your sewjo?
I just make what I want. Even though planning is a big part of Stash Hub, I try to keep my projects list short and flexible as I don’t like to feel like my hobby is becoming a to-do list. I think of it more as a list of inspiration. I have tried the #MakeNine challenge in the past, but never managed to complete all the projects I planned at the start of the year. I’m lucky that I can have my sewing machine set up all the time so I can just pop on and do seams here and there. I rarely spend a long time focused on a sewing project – which is why I was surprised I made so much at the Big Sew Off.
Do you have a favourite stash buster?
My favourite way to reduce excess fabric is buying less fabric than the pattern recommends! I hate being left with small remnants. I have made my own tailor’s ham stuffed with scraps which is great. I also made a pouffe stuffed with scraps which I gave to friends.
Garment wise – Sleeveless tops don’t require much fabric so something like the Helen’s Closet Ashton Top is good for using up a metre of fabric. I also use remnants to make toiles rather than spending money on calico.
Can you share some sewing tips with us?
- There’s no shame in unpicking! I think I’ve used my seam ripper on every single thing I’ve made. It’s reassuring to know that on most fabrics, the stitches aren’t permanent so you can try again if it didn’t work out.
- See if you can move the needle position on your machine. I find this handy for topstitching as you can keep the edge aligned with the middle of your presserfoot. Some patterns ask you to sew at a specific distance from the edge that may not be marked on your machine. For example, my the Mabel Dress I made recently had instruction to sew 33mm from the edge so I moved the needle left by 3mm so I could line up the edge with the 30mm line on the needle plate.
- Pattern hacking is your friend – one of the main perks of sewing for yourself is that you can make something unique. So don’t be afraid to change patterns and mix them together to achieve a design you like.
If someone was looking to download the stash hub app what would you recommend they do first?
We’ve designed Stash Hub to be as user friendly as possible so hopefully you can just download it on the app or play store (or create an account on web) and get started. We do have an intro to Stash Hub video on our YouTube channel if you want a bit more info on how the app works. Our Facebook Group Stash Hub Club is also very helpful for picking up tips from our community.
Don’t worry about adding everything right away, as it can feel like a big job if you have a large stash. You could start by just adding the fabric and patterns for your latest projects or adding your latest purchases. Magic input allows you to copy and paste the info from a fabric store listing and puts all the info into the correct boxes for you.
Stash Hub is free for the first 20 fabrics and patterns you upload, which gives you a chance to try it out. In addition to unlimited records, there are also additional features for Stash Hub Plus subscribers, including advanced filters. We have a 50% off sale on Stash Hub Plus for new users throughout November to celebrate our 1st Birthday!
We have teamed up with Emma to offer 20% off Studio7t7 bag making patterns. Find the discount code in the Stash Hub app by heading to ‘Utilities’ then ‘Vouchers’.
