How Children’s Corner Store can transform your Sewing Experience.

When my eldest child was born, it became wildly apparent that I loved classic Children’s clothing. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to find it or how to make it. Fortunately, I was in Huntsville, Alabama. Baby boutiques with precious little smocked garments are fairly abundant. I became very good at identifying the type of clothes I liked. It was then that I had my next realization, I have very little self control when it comes to buying children’s clothes. When purchasing her top quality garments started to eat into my grocery budget, it became clear that I would need to take matters into my own hands. I could learn self-restraint or get better at sewing. I chose the latter.

My first sewing attempts were with my mom, while I was pregnant. She taught me the basics by helping me make and embellish burp cloths. I then used a youtube tutorial to make a carseat cover. Then she helped me attemlt to read a pattern. After Maria came and during my maternity leave, I became determined to get better at sewing.

One of the first garments I made using an actual pattern can be seen above. Over time, I kept practicing and slowly got better by using every resource I could get my hands on. My mom was my biggest resource but she lived about five hours away and I was quickly becoming sewing obsessed. She has three other children that she technically has to speak to, so I needed to get my hands on some more resources. Huntsville had a small sewing shop but I was nervous to ask any questions because I was afraid I would ask something silly.

I wish that I had been less afraid of looking silly and had asked more questions from the beginning. I was young, learning something new, and I have never been good at being very vulnerable. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a huge social media presence of sewists at that time. So, I had no clue that there were other people learning to sew like me. There was one sewist, Sarah Classic Sewing on Youtube-and she was a game-changer. She helped me learn some of the terminology I needed to even ask the right questions in the local shop.

After I became a bit more comfortable in the shop, one of the ladies told me about Children’s Corner Store. It is in Nashville, TN. That just-so-happened to be between Huntsville and Kentucky, where my parents lived. They spoke of Children’s Corner as though it were some kind of Mecca. Needless to say, I was intimidated the first time I went. I don’t even think I talked to anyone. I just went in, became obsessed, and kept driving to Kentucky. It wasn’t until later that I realized they had “Sit and Sews.” I decided that would be a good way to learn and maybe meet people who could make me feel more confident.

I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to do sit and sews. I met some AMAZING women who taught me an incredible amount about sewing, life, mothering, and how to dress my children like children. I am friends with these women to this day and continually learn from them. Susan Whitman was my teacher, she taught me what a pleat was, what type of feet to use for various stitches, how to use my machine, how to iron, read patterns, how to ignore silly instructions and follow others to the tee, the list is endless. Her insight was invaluable and I would not be sewing today without her encouragement and the encouragement of other wonderful teachers. She helped me make my daughter’s first birthday dress.

I am so excited to be able to share with you that Children’s Corner Store now offers a Sit and Sew experience for everyone. I mean EVERYONE. Some time ago, I chatted with Emily (the owner) about my experience, about how nervous I was in the beginning, about how intimidating the world of sewing can be for a new person. I was THRILLED when she told me about the online videos they were thinking about doing. We talked about ways to make sewing classic children’s clothing less intimidating and more accessible to a new mom or new sewist. This new video series does just that!

If you haven’t already popped over to Children’s Corner’s website, let me present you with sweet Robby wearing his newest Johnny. Susan will soon be walking beginner sewists through the sewing of this garment. This is a pattern I have made so many times I finally had to order a new one. This pattern, the class with Susan and the fabric to make it will cost you about the same price as one Beaufort Bonnet or Little English Jon Jon….and you get to use them again and again. Saving money and learning a new skill is basically my dream come true…I suspect I’m not alone.

I made this Children’s Corner Johnny using cashmere cotton and a ribbon from Farmhouse Fabrics. For more inspiration and more versions of this Johnny check out their new website too! Hope you have a great day-welcome to sewing community!

This is a paid promotional post-and everything I said is 100% exactly how I feel. I love Children’s Corner with all my heart.