Hi, there! I’m Kim and I’m glad you’re here! The short of it is that this is my small corner of the internet where I mostly share about my adventures in sewing. I mainly sew clothes but I’ve been known to tackle other projects as well. Thanks for stopping by!
The longer story:
I grew up around sewing. When I was a child, my mom and grandma were always whipping up matching outfits for me and my cousins or siblings (I have a twin brother and that’s sewing gold right there!). I don’t remember being taught to sew but when I was around 10, my parents converted their master bedroom into a sewing space for my mom so she could start her own custom machine quilting business. My mom never turned me away from using her machines or any scraps I could find, and I took advantage whenever my creativity sparked.
When I graduated from college, my parents gifted me a used sewing machine and for years, I used the machine sporadically. I’d sew up a storm, making three things in the space of two days and then wouldn’t touch the machine for months at a time. I sewed anything and everything-decor, refashioned clothes, quilts-though I had lots of failed attempts under my belt. I was a beginner in denial about being a beginner!
In the winter of 2018-19, I discovered indie patterns and bought my first one. I printed and taped the pattern together, found and cut out fabric, and sewed up the garment and I had an absolute blast doing it. This was a very dark time in my life and sewing brought me so much light, I knew I wanted it in my life more than just sporadically. It helped me feel joy and purpose and like I had a life outside of mothering, which I needed. I started sewing way more often, almost always having a project I was working on. I realized I was a beginner and that that was okay!
Though I’ve blogged about a lot of other things aside from sewing, this blog has morphed into a space where I mainly share my sewing projects. I’d like to think my skills have improved and that I’ve advanced in my “beginner” status (but sometimes I’m not so sure.) I mostly sew clothing but I’ll also occasionally sew quilts or decor and I really enjoy English Paper Piecing (but those projects take years for me so I don’t share about it very much). I believe every person should have some sort of creative outlet and sewing-and even blogging about it-is one of mine.
Aside from sewing I also enjoy running, hiking and being outside. I love to read and kind of like cooking (I liked it a lot more before picky children took some of the fun out of it). I have three hilarious kiddos, an awesome husband, and a dog. We live in beautiful northern Arizona, where we have pine trees and cactuses (hence the name of the blog). And I love ice cream. Probably too much. Definitely too much.
Because I like you, here’s a terrible picture of the first article of clothing I made:
Thankfully, I’ve since made better (better clothing and better hair choices).
pineconesandcactus.com 