Needle & Thread Interviews - Abby from Things for Boys

Today I'm excited to welcome Abby from Things for Boys. Her sewing skills are amazing and she is also a complete whiz in the kitchen! We are lucky to live very close by in Melbourne, and I can now count Abby as an 'in real life' friend too! Make sure you pop over to her blog and check out her brilliant tutorials and recipes...after you read this interview of course!

Hi everyone! I'm Abby from Things for Boys. I live in Melbourne with my hubby and Roman, our almost 2 year old. He's a well travelled boy, being born in the UK and then visiting the US at 6 months old. Thankfully, there's no plans for any more world adventures in the near future... I'm quite happy being back in Melbourne and with all my family and friends. 

Is sewing a hobby you have had since you were young or has it been something you have come to as an adult?

I've been sewing for as long as I can remember. I started off making clothes for my Barbies and I've been sewing ever since. My Dad used to work at a clothing factory, but it closed down. Before they emptied it out, he took me pick whatever fabrics I wanted. It was a great way to learn as I didn't need to worry about mucking something up and wasting fabric, so I would just make things up as I went along...most of the time it worked! I still have the Barbie dresses I made all those years ago.

Is/was your paid job or educational background creative?

More like the complete opposite! I did an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Double degree at uni and then worked as a computer programmer before staying at home with Roman. I'm not sure why I did that degree, I didn't like it all that much. 

  

 What types of projects do you enjoy creating the most?

I love doing projects that I haven't tried before or anything that teaches me new skills. I'm not very good at making the same thing over and over again. I also love making clothes for Roman. Kids clothes don't use a lot of fabric, so they're cheap and come together quickly. Some days I realise that everything he's wearing is Mama-made!

      

What are your favourite sewing tools and materials?

I'm not sure if it's a tool, but Google! Whenever I start a new project I take a look online first. There's always someone who has made what you're about to make so it's good to see how they went about it and how it turned out.  I recently bought my first rotary cutter and it's changed my life! It's so much quicker and less stress on my hand than scissors. Why didn't I get one sooner?

Name your favourite sewing inspirations.

I get inspired a lot by colour and also fabrics. I often buy fabric without having a clue what it's going to become, it just jumps out at me. I also love bright colourful things. This can be a problem because nothing in my wardrobe ever matches, but I'd die if I wore black every day. Right now I'm loving all things green! Blogs are always inspiring too. Some of my favourites are:

No Big Dill

Dana Made It

Fuss Free Cooking

I'm really looking forward to the next Series of Project Run and Play too! 

 

How do you balance your sewing / creative projects and blogging with your ‘real life’ eg. Paid work, family?

I like to keep myself organised so that when I have a bit of time for sewing, I'm ready to go. I keep my work table (our dining table) neat and have fabric out ready to start my next project. I make use of Roman's nap time to get things done and also do a bit once he's gone to bed. To maximise my craft time, I get him involved with the housework, so that we can spend time together and also get some things done. He loves to hand me pegs and put them in the bag when I'm hanging out washing. He also loves putting clothes into the washing machine. Sometimes he isn't as helpful as I hope, but it's still play time for him.

What other creative pursuits do you enjoy?

Anything that takes my fancy. I do a bit of knitting, although not a lot because I find it very time consuming, but it's good for nights on the couch. I also have a few furniture makeover ideas in my head, but I need to clean out the garage to make room to get them started. I also make my own cards because I think paying $10 for a piece of paper is crazy, even if it is sparkly!

Thanks so much Abby for sharing about your sewing adventures here today with us! 

You can find out more about Abby here - blog - facebook - twitter - pinterest - flickr - make sure you pop over and visit her!