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Welcome to the 2021 Spring edition of the FreeSewing newsletter.
Here's what we have included for you:
- 👕 Pattern releases winter 2021 (1-minute read - by Joost)
- 🕵️ Behind the seams: Wouter van Wageningen (9-minute read - by An & Wouter)
- 🔍 Spotlight on some lesser-know FreeSewing features (3-minute read - by Joost)
- 🤯 Some of the more crazy ideas on our drawing board (3-minute read - by Joost)
- ❤️ FreeSewing is brought to you by the kindness of strangers (5-minute read by Joost)
We hope you enjoy it.
If not, mash that reply button and tell us what you'd like to read instead ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
 
 
# 👕 Pattern releases winter 2021
Here's a quick recap of the new patterns we released in the first quarter of this year:
- [The Bella bodice block for womenswear](https://freesewing.org/blog/bella-bodice-block/): A collaboration with somebody from the industry to replicate the kind of bodice block that's used in fashion today. Currently it has a bust dart towards the side-seam. A variation with a shoulder dart is on our todo list.
- [The Hortensia handbag](https://freesewing.org/blog/announcing-hortensia/): Another collaboration, this time between Stofsuchti and long-time contributor Wouter Van Wageningen brought the first handbag pattern to FreeSewing.
- [The Cornelius cycling breeches](https://freesewing.org/blog/cornelius-cycling-breeches/): More from Wouter still, these cycling breeches or knickerbockers are based on the Keystone drafting method.
Click through any of the links for the blog posts announcing these patterns.
 
---
 
# 🕵️ Behind the seams: Wouter van Wageningen
> *With two pattern releases to his name in the last 3 months,*
> *who better to shine a spotlight on than long time contributor Wouter.*
>
> *An — one of our newer contributors — interviewed him for this newsletter:*
## Bio
Born in the Netherlands and lived there for 30 years before moving to “the States”.
He accompanied his American wife when she wanted to return and has been living there for
over 20 years. He now considers it his home, while recognizing all the emotional ties to
The Netherlands when he goes back to visit.
While a busy IT manager, he likes to create new patterns for FreeSewing from time to time.
## How did you learn about freesewing?
When I started sewing many years ago, I was continuously looking for patterns for men.
The site of Joost, Makemypattern (since late 2012), came up in one of my searches, and
I thought it was an interesting concept.
## How did you become a contributor?
In the beginning, there were no contributors other than Joost, that I remember. He had
made this framework that allowed other people to make patterns that could be incorporated.
Being a programmer, as a professional and hobbyist, this intrigued me. The originally site
was created in the PHP programming language, one I had not worked with before. I thought
this made for an interesting challenge to contribute to the work of Joost.
As this was my first experience with the toolset, the language, and making patterns,
I picked something as easy as [a bow tie](https://freesewing.org/designs/benjamin/).
It is a simple object, as it is flat with a width and a height, but no real depth.
Therefore, I didn’t have to try to shape a piece of fabric around a 3D shape. The result passed the muster of Joost, and became an official pattern on the site.
Before finding FreeSewing, I had drawn a pencil skirt for my partner by just using
her measurements. I realized while working on the bow tie that I could try to combine
the experience of making this skirt with that of making the pattern for the bow tie, and
make another pattern for FreeSewing.
Thus, [the Penelope pencil skirt](https://freesewing.org/designs/penelope/) was born.
## What has been your contributor work so far?
I have created [the Waralee wrap pants](https://freesewing.org/designs/waralee/),
[Albert apron](https://freesewing.org/designs/albert/), and [Cornelius cycling breeches](https://freesewing.org/designs/cornelius/).
I also did the implementation of [the Hortensia handbag](https://freesewing.org/designs/hortensia/), but that is not my design. I got the drawings and measurements from the designer (Stoffsuchti), and translated those
into a FreeSewing pattern.
The Benjamin bow tie was totally my own creation, exactly as I imagined what it should look.
The Penelope and Waralee designs were built from the knowledge I gathered by reading about those types of garments, and implementing my interpretation of them.
The Cornelius is actually an implementation of a pattern in an existing drafting system (The "Keystone" System).
## When and why did you start sewing?
Seven or eight years ago, I wanted to know what it would be like to wear a kilt. But
kilts are insanely expensive. They are made of very nice wool and it takes an enormous amount of time to make a real Scottish kilt. There are these “utility kilts”, which are basically cargo pants made into a kilt. More
practical with pockets, and made out of cotton, but they still cost around $200.
Because I was still figuring out whether I would enjoy wearing a kilt, it didn't make much sense to me to invest that much. While researching this I found [a website dedicated to people wearing kilts](http://www.xmarksthescot.com/), and it had a documented process on how to create your own utility kilt.
I did have a sewing machine, it seemed within my abilities, so I bought some fabric and started sewing.
One kilt became two, and then I figured I needed a shirt to go along with it. It should be somewhat
contemporary to old kilts. With a little searching I found a pattern to make such a shirt. And that led to making more and more shirts, and then pants and...
At one point I decided that I wasn't going to buy any more clothes, I was just going to make them.
One exception to that are underwear and socks, as these don’t give me much pleasure in making them, and are usually ridiculously cheap. I have knitted a pair of socks, and I like knitting a lot. I just don't seem to be able to knit fast enough to keep up with the wear and tear.
The other exception is athletic or technical clothing, as I just cannot buy the fabrics (e.g. eVent) you need for it.
These are exclusively sold to vendors of this type of clothing. I have recently made some yoga pants and biking shorts for myself, so this may change.
## What is your daily job, outside of freesewing?
IT manager. I take care of the IT needs for a union of homecare workers.
## What are you currently working on?
Nothing for FreeSewing at the moment, but I am looking into the possibility to make a pattern based
on the trouser block. That way, I don't have to start from scratch as I usually do, and just extend
Joost's work. I'm looking forward to trying this approach, but I first have to complete my doublet.
## Which project did you just finish?
The [Cornelius cycling breeches](https://freesewing.org/designs/cornelius/) and the implementation of [the Hortensia handbag](https://freesewing.org/designs/hortensia/).
## What sewing project are you most proud of?
I'm proud of a lot of projects; my first shirt (even though it has a lot of faults), my first tailored coat, all of my art shirts, …
But if I had to pick one, it would probably be [my Mondrian shirt](https://shirtartistry.blog/2019/01/23/mondrian-shirt-the-beginning/). It was the one where I went all the way from a concept in my mind, though creating it on paper, to turning it into a garment.
## What in your life are you most proud of?
Everybody will answer that with something like 'my children'. And I am proud of the persons they've become.
But I think that is more something they have done, than what I have done. I was just there to help
them when needed. One of the things I've done that I'm proud of is having been a volunteer firefighter for 10 years.
And, for the last 20 years or so, I've worked for nonprofits trying to make the world a better place.
## What do you love the most about sewing?
The creativity. I like to make things. I discovered that with sewing, in contrast to things like wood or metal working, I can be really precise. And I can find the patience in myself to create that precision.
What’s more, if I make a mistake, I can usually undo it (e.g. take the seam out). It's a lot harder to take things apart once you've glued them together.
I also like that I can make something that is a flat drawing on a piece of paper into something that is a
real three dimensional thing, by turning those patterns into pieces of fabric and sewing them together.
Even the trail and error process to adapt a pattern to my needs, or to create a new pattern from scratch, is interesting to me. It's a discovery journey with practical outcomes.
And, although I'm not good at all of the required skills, I can do most of them well enough that I can go from something in my head to something that I can wear, and that is very satisfying.
## What do you hate the most about sewing?
I am a bit too impatient to do large parts of sewing by hand, and that is my least favorable part of sewing. The occasional basting is fine, it is the sewing of a full seam by hand that is beyond me.
I have made buttonholes by hand on my tailored jacket, and that was satisfying by itself. Yet it takes too much time
and it doesn't fascinate me enough to allow me to become good at it. It'll most likely take a long time before I’ll do it again. For some reason I don't mind doing the pad stitching for lapels and such on tailored jackets.
## What’s the hardest part of sewing to you?
It is nearly impossible for me to draw the mental picture that is in my head on a piece of paper. I'm really
bad at drawing free form. Because of this, I cannot, not even temporarily, put the end result of a certain clothing design on a piece of paper to look at it. And therefore I cannot get someone else’s opinion or input on it
before I create it. It is frustrating.
## What would be your advice for starting sewists/sewistas?
First of all, go for it and concentrate on the parts of the sewing process you enjoy. Look at the big
picture of creating a garment for yourself, and let that motivate you to get through the parts you
don't like so much.
Secondly, just keep going and don’t look at things that didn't work out so well too much. Everything
takes practice, and you will get better at it. Break up things into smaller parts and think about
what you can do to improve that one part. Maybe there's a different way to do this step that works
better for you.
Lastly, don’t be intimidated by patterns. Try different patterns, designers, and techniques. Pick out what works for you. All designers have their own way of doing certain things, and they may not always align with your strengths and weeknesses. I always
do a zipper fly the same way, regardless of what the designer suggested. My way works for me and
gives me good results. Others may prefer other techniques, so find your own by trying a lot of different ways.
And most of all; enjoy the process of creating. The end product is an additinal benefit. Through the enjoyment of the process, you will gain the experience to get good at it. And with that, you will get the garments you like.
## Are you married?
Not anymore, after 25 years we amicably split up. I have a new partner now.
## Do you have children?
Five in total, two adult children of myself and three almost adults of my partner.
## Are you a dog person or a cat person?
I am a dog person, but I don’t have a dog anymore.
## Do you have pets?
I have had three dogs. I would enjoy having a dog, but my current life style and freedom to travel does not match up with having one.
## If there was one thing you could take with you to an uninhibited island what would it be? Why?
A knife, because it seems to be the most useful item to help me survive.
## If there was one person you could take with you to an uninhibited island, who would it be? Why?
Nobody, since I could not forgive myself for putting someone else through the same ordeal.
I love what thousands of years of society has brought us, and I don't want to be without its fruits. So it would be cruel for me to subject someone else to this punishment.
 
---
 
# 🔍 Spotlight on some lesser-know FreeSewing features
Regardless of whether you've only recently discovered FreeSewing, or have been a user for many years, here are some things you might not have discovered on your own:
## Multilingualism
FreeSewing is available in 5 languages, each with their own website. In addition to [English at freesewing.org](https://freesewing.org/), we have websites in [French](https://fr.freesewing.org/), [German](https://de.freesewing.org/), [Dutch](https://nl.freesewing.org/), and [Spanish](https://es.freesewing.org/).
If you'd like to help us add more languages, [get in touch](https://discord.freesewing.org/).
## Paperless patterns
Not a fan of printing and sticking pages together? Or perhaps you don't have a printer? Don't despair, because FreeSewing provides **paperless patterns**.
You'll find the **paperless** option under the **Pattern options**. Flick it on and now you'll have dimensions as well as a grid in either metric or imperial so you can transfer your pattern directly to fabric or another medium like pattern paper.
## Custom layout/tiler
Laying out the different pattern parts on your pattern happens automatically. But alas, it's one of those things that computers are far worse at that humans. Often you can save a bunch of pages by squishing things together yourself. If only you could, right?
Turns out you can. Simply **Export** your pattern as **SVG** and fire up **Inkscape** (which you can [download for free](https://inkscape.org/)).
When you open the pattern in Inkscape, the entire pattern will be in a *group*, so first thing to do is to **select** it and **right-click** and choose **ungroup**. Now you can rotate and flip each part around and arrange them just as you like. When you're happy, click **File** -> **Document properties** and choose **Resize page to content**.
When you're done, save the SVG and upload it to our custom tiler: https://tiler.freesewing.org/
There you can upload the SVG and pick your page size, and you'll get a PDF just like on the website. Only this time, with your own layout 👍
## Remove details from a pattern
This option was originally intended for laser cutters, but has other uses too.
For this, you'll have to enable so-called **Expert mode**. Under **Pattern options**, click **Expert mode** and set it to **Show**.
Now, you'll have the **Advanced** option under which you'll find **Detail**. If you set it to **Hide**, your pattern will not only show the outline of the different pattern parts.
This is also handy for when you are making doll clothes as the titles, logo, and size box end up being taking up more space than the pattern itself.
## Include only certain pattern parts
Since we've unlocked **Expert mode**, here's another tip you mightn't be aware of: the **Contents** option. This option allows you to not draft the entire pattern, but only those parts that you want.
This can be handy if you want to make a change to a pattern and only print those parts that are affected. But also if you want to combine different styles. For example you can generate a complete Simon pattern, and then additional collar or cuff styles where only the collar/cuffs are included in the pattern.
Got an idea for some other cool feature you'd like to see? Make sure to [let us know](https://discord.freesewing.org/).
 
---
 
# 🤯 Some of the more crazy ideas on our drawing board
We're rarely stuck for things to do, because some work is never finished: adding more patterns, writing more or better documentation, improving user experience, and so on.
But sometimes, we also like to shoot the breeze and come up with some ideas that are a bit off the beaten path. Here's a selection of them that we've been mulling over. Don't consider it a sneak preview though, some of these are bona fide moonshots:
## Allowing users to create their own pattern layouts on the site
The pattern layout — the way the individual pattern pieces are laid out on the page — seems like the low-hanging fruit of improvements. Almost without exception, your pattern will not be the most optimal layout.
Thing is, computers are not very good at this sort of spacial problem that's called *packing*. We could try to tweak the algorithm, but human beings are just intuitively better at it than computers are.
**The goal**
To make it possible (and ideally easy) for people to do their own layout. So that before you export your pattern, you have the option to arrange it just as you like it.
**What it would take**
This is something that's been on the drawing board for quite some time. FreeSewing core already has support for custom layouts, so it's really *just* a matter of creating the frontend interface to handle the layouting.
**Roadblocks**
Doing the SVG layout on mobile is a minefield.
**Chances of this happening**
High. We're almost certainly going to do this at some point.
## Using 3D renders to showcase patterns or options
3D in general is something we have our eye on, but in this case it's really about presenting the patterns to the user. People want to know what they're going to get, and line drawings and showcases can only go so far to show that.
The idea would be to be able to show patterns on a 3D avatar. However, a big caveat is that we would have to be able to somehow automate this process since we can't go manually creating a 3D render of every pattern & option.
**The goal**
Create 3D renders of different patterns and the effect of pattern options. Integrating this with our build pipeline so those renders can be auto-generated.
**What it would take**
Some work has been done already. Last year we wrote a DXF-exporter plugin that can export patterns as DXF, a popular format in 3D tools. We did some initial tests with CLO3D but the lack of automation options not to mention the fact that it's a closed-source commercial product made us abandon that path.
The right thing to do would be using Blender so that this work would benefit the open source community.
**Roadblocks**
Blender is not that easy to learn. Automation and plugins in Blender need to be written in Python, and we're a JavaScript project. Basically, we have nobody who knows how to even start on this today.
**Chances of this happening**
Medium. Could really use some help on this.
## Frankenstein patterns
The name *Frankenstein pattern* is something that came up during one of our contributor calls, and the name sort of stuck. The idea is that you could mix and match parts from different patterns to create your own combinations. Like, pick a top and combine it with the sleeves from another top and perhaps the collar from yet another top.
**The goal**
Allow patterns to be created by combining different building blocks.
**Roadblocks**
This would require some sort of inter-pattern API or interface specification.
**Chances of this happening**
Low. For pattern developers, combining parts from different patterns is already possible via inheritance. Exposing this sort of functionality to the user level would already be a significant challenge. But doing it in a way that requires no code and merely some clicking around is pretty far out there.
 
---
 
# ❤️ FreeSewing is brought to you by the kindness of strangers
On April 5th 2011, a Tuesday of all days, I published a sewing pattern on my blog.
BXR-M01A was a pattern for boxer briefs that came in one size only, and was free to download under a Creative Commons license.
It was also the very first pattern I ever published.
The event as such doesn’t deserve much attention, but it just happens to have occurred 10 years ago — almost to the day.
So it seemed a good starting point for a brief history of how we got from there to here.
## The Early Days
I started drafting my own sewing patterns because I had fitting issues with store-bought ones.
Drafting my own patterns held the promise of flawless fit with just a bit of effort (Oh, how naive I was!).
The fiddling about with paper had me bored in no time, so I set out to try to automate that part of the process.
I came up with a way to reduce the pattern to a number of steps, and abstract away the measurements.
Now, you could feed it whatever measurements you wanted, and it would re-draft the pattern for you.
I launched the beta version of my little pattern machine in February of 2012.
It wasn’t an immediate success.
As a matter of fact, to the best of my knowledge, only one person ever tested it.
That person was Nico in Copenhagen (who I've sadly lost track of) who wrote:
> *That is sooo cool.*
> *I will enter my thoughts about your project using your feed back thingy on the pattern web site.*
> *But you should know that the overall fit is amazing! I think I have a new favourite pattern :-)*
## makemypattern.com
One good review is perhaps not much to go on, but I found it rather encouraging and set out to walk this path a bit further.
Fast-forward six months and I’d rewritten the thing from scratch, and with four patterns available officially launched makemypattern.com in September of 2012.
Things sort of trickled along as I added a pattern every now and then.
Then, in January 2014 I got an email from Tin Doan in Canada asking how they could donate to the site.
I sort of expected this to be some sort of scam, but I still answered the email asking “Are you for real?”. Tin answered:
> *Yes Joost, I'm serious. Please kindly accept $200.00 from me.*
Sure enough, I soon found myself at the receiving end of a $200 donation.
To this day, it remains the highest amount I've ever received in a single donation.
This unexpected yet very tangible token of support felt like a fork in the road.
I'd been happy building this thing mostly as a learning experience.
Now it felt like perhaps it needed a bit more devotion and care.
In retrospect, this point probably marks the end of my social life 😂 good thing I had found a partner by now (phew).
## Pivot to Open Source and freesewing.org
So of course I rewrote the whole thing — again — into what would turn out to be the last version of makemypattern.com.
By the summer of 2016, five years after my first pattern release, and four years after launching makemypattern.com,
my little hobby project had made a lot of headway, and I found myself at another turning point:
Keep doing what I'm doing, or try to break through the next barrier.
Up until this point, I had been doing makemypattern.com on my own.
The code wasn’t even available. I wanted to make it into an open source project that people could contribute to.
But I had never started it with that ambition, and it was going to take some serious refactoring
to make it into something that people would be able to wrap their heads around.
So I did exactly that, and in March 2017 I launched v1.0.0 of freesewing.org.
A new name (and logo) to mark the transition to an open source project.
This was a much more mature release, with a documented API and it led to the first patterns contributed by others.
It also came with a hat I hadn't worn before, open source maintainer.
## FreeSewing v2.0.0: It's JavaScript Now
During all this time, the world of frontend development had changed and we could do so much more in a browser.
Rather than picking a bunch of options and getting a pattern in the end, the idea of seeing
the pattern update in your browser as you changed options was — at least in theory — attainable now.
With that goal in mind, I started over again, this time in JavaScript.
And in August of 2019 v2.0.0 landed on freesewing.org.
A complete rewrite in JavaScript with a new website to boot.
Since then, I've been able to keep myself from rewriting the entire thing again 🤞
## The Family You Choose
We're getting closer to present time, but there's one more moment that stands out for me,
and that's a blog post from August 2020 where — maybe for the first time — I explicitly asked for help to grow the project.
Since then, a community has developed around FreeSewing that feels more valuable to me than any code I could ever write.
Motivation is a powerful thing, and I wonder whether FreeSewing would exist today if it wasn't for the full-on enthusiasm of Nico in the early days.
Or whether it would have fizzled out without Tin injecting some rocket fuel in the form of a donation.
Or whether perhaps I would have succumbed to burnout by now if I hadn't found such a great group of people to walk this road with me.
Speaking of which: There are countless individuals who have contributed to get to where we are today.
I couldn't possible mention them all. But what they have in common is that at one point, they were complete strangers to me, as I was to them.
It’s the kindness of strangers that brought us here.
Thank you strangers.

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Welcome to the 2021 Summer edition of the FreeSewing newsletter.
Here's what we've included for you:
- 🩲 Pattern releases spring 2021 (1-minute read - by Natalia)
- 👀 Help Sanne test her new bodice block (1-minute read - by Joost)
- 😢 Farewell David: Remembering David Page Coffin (2-minute read - by Joost)
- 🕵️ Behind the seams: An Gargouri (8-minute read - by Eleonore)
- 🤓 Git good: Let’s walk through a simple FreeSewing contribution together (2-minute read - by Natalia)
- ⚡ FreeSewing v2.16: This one's for the developers (1-minute read - by Joost)
- 🤷 Gender inclusivity (3-minute read - by Karen)
We hope you enjoy it.
If not, mash that reply button and tell us what you'd like to read instead ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
 
 
# 🩲 Pattern releases spring 2021
Here's a quick recap of the new patterns we released in the second quarter of this year:
- [The Ursula undies](https://freesewing.org/blog/announcing-ursula/): A highly-customizable underwear pattern with plenty of options to achieve different styles. This is my first pattern design. My hope is that Ursula will help you customize undies with the perfect look and fit for your own body. Interested in making a test pair and helping to refine the pattern? I'd love to chat with you over in the [FreeSewing Discord](https://discord.freesewing.org/).
- [The Charlie Chinos trousers](https://freesewing.org/blog/announcing-charlie/): Joost designed a new trouser pattern that will adapt better to differently shaped bodies. Charlie has 31 options that allow you to configure your trousers so you get them just as you like.
Click through either of the links for the blog posts announcing these patterns.
 
---
 
# 👀 Help Sanne test her new bodice block
Sanne is working on a bodice block that is based on her own drafting experience and the
techniques she learned. She's hoping to get some feedback from a couple of more testers,
particularly people with larger cup sizes.
If you'd like to help out, you can [generate your own version of the block online](https://bodice-block-sannek.netlify.app/).
 
---
 
# 😢 Farewell David: Remembering David Page Coffin
In early May, I received news of the passing of David Page Coffin. David was editor of Threads
Magazine back when animals could talk, and his books on making trousers and shirts adorns my
bookshelves, as I'm sure they do many others.
David was also a friend of FreeSewing, and he reached out to me a couple of years ago to discuss plans
he had for a new book. He wanted to make another book about shirts. Not so much about the basic grunt
work of making a shirt that fits. But more about all the little style variations and creative
embellishments one could add to a shirt to make it into something really special.
Still, he also felt that somebody who would pick up a book about making shirts would also expect
to, you know, make a shirt from it. So he was wondering whether he could point them to FreeSewing's
Simon pattern instead of having to dedicate a section of the book to the basics.
I really enjoyed talking to David at length about what he was working on, and his tacit endorsement
felt like a big deal from someone who would have no trouble getting his foot in the door of a
household-brand pattern company.
Like so many other ideas and good intentions, this one too ended up in the time-deprived *maybe
one day* pile.
Still, for a brief moment I was allowed to bask in the David's enthusiasm. It is a conversation I will
continue to cherish. And also one that made one thing painfully clear to me: He will be sorely missed.
 
---
 
# 🕵️ Behind the seams: An Gargouri
> *When we were discussing what kind of content we would like to create for*
> *the very newsletter you’re reading now, An didn’t have to think long.*
> *She wanted to interview as many contributors as she could, and share*
> *what she found out with you. Why? “I’m just a curious person”, she says.*
> *Which made us curious about her.*
## How did you learn about FreeSewing?
I only started sewing last year, so I’m still very much a beginner.
I started out with face masks and when those worked out okay,
I got excited and started on the most complicated dress pattern I could find.
Needless to say, that didn’t turn out great. So I backtracked and started looking for
sewing patterns with accompanying instruction videos. I mean, those are basically
free sewing lessons. Awesome, right?
That’s how I found the pattern for
the [Bruce boxer briefs](https://freesewing.org/designs/bruce/) with Joost’s
video instructions. And honestly, once you understand how FreeSewing works,
how could you not get hooked? I started entering measurements and watching the magic happen.
I was so impressed that all of this was available for free, that I became a Patron.
Joost sent me an e-mail with a link to [FreeSewing’s Discord](https://discord.freesewing.org/) —
an online platform for community building — and that’s where
I found out about the contributor calls. Being a curious person, the rest is history!
## How did you become a contributor?
That happened sort of by accident. Like I said, I’m curious.
I wanted to know all about FreeSewing’s contributor team, so these interviews
were a great way to ask all my nosy questions. Maybe I got a bit carried away.
That [first interview with Wouter](https://freesewing.org/newsletter/2021q2/#%EF%B8%8F-behind-the-seams-wouter-van-wageningen) took
so much time! But I’m also not one to quit when I’ve started something,
so you’ll see more of these interviews in the next editions of the newsletter.
By the way, if anyone would like to be interviewed, I’m here and I can’t wait to hear everything you have to say!
## What do you enjoy the most about your interviews with contributors?
I especially love people’s answers to the question what they would take with them to an
uninhabited island. But I’m not giving anything away. You’ll have to wait to read the interviews yourself.
## What would YOU take with you to an uninhabited island?
Why didn’t I see this question coming?! I would take one of the books that I never get around to reading.
Let’s see … ‘Making History’ by Stephen Fry. Or wait, is there food on this island? I’m not going to
fish or anything, and I don’t think I’d be good at starting a fire. Maybe I should just take some canned food.
And I’ll need my meds.
## And if you could take one person?
That’s easy. I’d take my husband, Bart. That would solve all my problems, anyway.
Bart will fish and hunt and light a fire. He can do anything.
## Are you a sewist? A coder? Both? Neither?
Right now, I’m mostly a sewist. I did try to learn coding 15 years ago.
That’s actually how I met my husband. And then, well, other priorities took over.
I can feel the itch to pick it up again now. FreeSewing has me excited about pattern drafting and coding.
I’d love to find out what I can do if I set my mind to it.
## What are you working on right now?
I’m proud to say I’ve just started using patterns without videos again and feeling good about it!
I just made a muslin for a pretty blouse with a cut-out and little buttons, and it’s looking good.
I’m going to have a go at it in my fashion fabric. You know, I’m a princess at heart.
I love girly dresses and blouses, especially those vintage styles with cinched waists.
Those aren’t the best silhouettes for me, though. That’s why I want to learn how to draft my own patterns.
I love the idea of turning 2D pieces into a 3D garment and making it fit my body.
I think that’s a really cool thing about sewing, by the way.
The pattern pieces can look like such a puzzle, but once you start putting it together, it suddenly turns into a garment.
## Anything you dislike about sewing?
Honestly? I dislike most of the process other than actually sewing the pieces together.
I also really hate cutting patterns out of fabric. That’s where Bart comes in, usually.
I tend to buy less fabric than I’ll actually need, but Bart is so good at pattern
tetris that he can make almost anything fit onto the fabric.
## Any advice for fellow sewists?
Just keep going. It can be so frustrating when things don’t work out the way you’d envisioned.
But you just have to wait for things to ‘click’. And they will, eventually.
I think, Haha! I’m still a beginner myself!
## Do you sew more for yourself or for others?
Bart dislikes new things, so if I make him anything, he’ll wait five years before he decides to wear it.
And our son Luc has more clothes than he can wear already. He doesn’t need any more.
So I sew for me. I’m the only one who’s actually grateful for handmade clothes!
## What do you do outside of FreeSewing?
Professionally, I’m a management assistant, although I’m not working at the moment.
I’m really proud that I got my bachelor’s degree, even though people said I couldn’t do it.
Clearly I could, and I’m so glad that I pushed through! I’m not sure where I’m headed right
now in my career, but I’m taking this time to organize our home. Nothing Marie Kondo-style, mind you.
I’d be terrible at that. I love having stuff around. But it sure would be nice if all that stuff was a bit more organized.
## What else do we need to know about you?
I can be a bit of a bull in a china shop. Forgive me!
I’m impulsive, I’m honest and sometimes I should think twice before I say something.
But it all comes from a good place!
 
---
 
# 🤓 Git(Hub) Good: Let’s walk through a simple FreeSewing contribution together
You — yes, you — can contribute to FreeSewing. On the way, you can
learn a little bit about GitHub. Don’t panic. You’ll love it.
I think the easiest way to get your feet wet is cruising around the documentation
at [FreeSewing.org](https://freesewing.org/) or [FreeSewing.dev](https://freesewing.dev).
Occasionally you’ll find a typo or a broken link, or just an opportunity to phrase something more clearly.
On [FreeSewing.dev](https://freesewing.dev), you can click on [For Editors](https://freesewing.dev/editors/)
for a friendly reference guide. At time of writing, I did that and tried clicking
the [Common tasks for editors](https://freesewing.dev/howtos/editors/) link at the bottom.
It took me to a *Page not found* message with a sad robot. Yippee!! Let’s fix it.
First, let’s find the correct link. I know I’m looking for a page called *Common tasks for editors*,
so I click the magnifying glass icon, put “Common tasks for editors” in the search bar and
get this: https://freesewing.dev/editors/howtos. Looks good.
Then, let’s go back to the *For editors* page. Click the pencil icon next to the page title.
Hey, now we’re in GitHub. Let’s create an account.
After creating our account, we'll fork the FreeSewing markdown repository, or repo.
The repo contains a bunch of FreeSewing’s files and the history of changes to those files.
At this point, we're editing the *For editors* file. We’ll swap out the old link with the
new link we identified, and then propose changes. Let’s give the proposal a nice title and description.
Time to submit a pull request! Now we’re cooking with fire. A pull request, or PR, is a way to
tell FreeSewing that we are proposing a change. In this case we’re saying: "Hi, I found a broken link and I fixed it".
Finally, someone at FreeSewing will review the PR and say: "Cool, this looks great,
so I’ll accept the change; I’ll *merge* it". That will send you, the author, a brief email,
it’ll be updated in GitHub, and when Joost next deploys the site, typically within a week or so,
you’ll see your contributions live on FreeSewing.org or FreeSewing.dev. Crushed it.
 
---
 
# ⚡ FreeSewing v2.16: This one's for the developers
We rolled out FreeSewing 2.16 in May, and a minor version bump typically means a new pattern.
Not this time though, because we've been working hard on updating our development environment
to React 17, CRA 4, and Webpack 5.
That's great news for (aspiring) developers and pattern designers, as React's new *FAST_REFRESH*
makes everything just so much better.
There's a lot of work that went into this release, but I also know it's all kinda technical and
under-the-hood stuff. So rather than ramble on about it here,
I will just [point you to the blog post on the matter](https://freesewing.org/blog/react-17/).
 
---
 
# 🤷 Gender Inclusivity
A month or two back, some FreeSewing users asked a really great question
on the [Discord](https://chat.freesewing.org/).
What is the goal of having a "womenswear" and "menswear" tag on FreeSewing patterns,
and is it really necessary? While some of our users found the tags helpful for sorting,
others felt alienated by the terminology, or didn't feel like either term represented
them. We thought we could do better, so we've made a few changes.
**Tags are gone!** 🎉
Instead, we now have departments. For the moment, these departments include
Accessories, Bottoms, Tops, Coats & Jackets, Underwear, and Swimwear.
The departments are listed at the top of the [Designs](https://freesewing.org/designs/) page,
along with difficulty ratings and types of patterns (pattern or block).
If you are looking for something in particular, you can use the departments to filter
patterns, then decide what's right for you!
**Why is this an improvement?** 🤔
The old categories on FreeSewing's Designs page, including menswear and womenswear,
were developed based on the types of categories you might find at a clothing shop.
However, we're not a clothing shop. And that's kind of the point.
FreeSewing patterns are made-to-measure because they're meant for everyone.
We think these new departments are a better representation of that.
These categories were also not visible on the Designs page - you had to do a little more
work to filter patterns. As we add more patterns to FreeSewing, it made sense to add some filters,
so you can more easily find just what you're looking for.
Thanks to the users who started this discussion and helped make FreeSewing a little better! ♥

18
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@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
- **Main fabric**
- Cut **2 front(s)** with good sides together
- Cut **2 back(s)** with good sides together
- Cut **2 front facing(s)** with good sides together
- Cut **2 pocket welt(s)** with good sides together
- Cut **2 pocket facing(s)** with good sides together
- Cut **2 front(s)** with _good sides together_
- Cut **2 back(s)** with _good sides together_
- Cut **2 front facing(s)** with _good sides together_
- Cut **2 pocket welt(s)** with _good sides together_
- Cut **2 pocket facing(s)** with _good sides together_
- **Lining fabric**
- Cut **2 front lining(s)** with good sides together
- Cut **2 back(s)** with good sides together
- Cut **2 pocket bag(s)** with good sides together
- Cut **2 front lining(s)** with _good sides together_
- Cut **2 back(s)** with _good sides together_
- Cut **2 pocket bag(s)** with _good sides together_
- **Interfacing**
- Cut **2 front(s)** with good sides together
- Cut **2 front(s)** with _good sides together_
- Cut **2 pocket interfacing(s)**
<Warning>

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@ -15,7 +15,14 @@ Now mark the pattern piece on the bad side of the fabric, and cut both layers in
This gives you two pieces that are mirror images of each other.
> When cutting good sides together, make sure both sides are on grain.
<Note>
##### What if there is not obvious good side?
When cutting out something without an obvious *good* side (like interfacing),
what matters is that you cut two mirrored pieces, rather than two identical ones.
</Note>
## Sewing with good sides together