One of the biggest champions of indie patterns on cultivating a sewing practice
Veterinarian Leila Knoll has garnered a large following for her creations, which span popular trends to practical wear for her active life in Utah, where she enjoys climbing and just DIYed a sauna.
I’m not strongly in the pro-resolutions camp but do think a few reasonable and flexible goals can be useful to help shape what you want your year to look like. In 2024, I wanted to start a craft night (which has proven successful) and take better care of my hands (not a total failure, but all the time working with textiles has for sure taken a toll on my cuticles). I haven’t really figured out my 2025 resolutions, besides continuing to grow my Paris crafting community and maybe try knitting, though lord knows I don’t need another hobby. I decided to start my year strong by giving my crafting area a much-needed reorganization. I came out not only with a cleaner space but with so many ideas for projects given all the patterns and fabric I forgot I had. This is a strong reminder that I have enough materials to keep me busy for a long time. So maybe one resolution is to limit adding to my craft collection, and when I do so, to prioritize second-hand options and sustainable, small businesses.
I also put together a list of the projects I want to accomplish, focusing on the things I have started and not finished:
Dresses
Charm Patterns Boardwalk Sundress
ROBERTS | WOOD Drafters Grid Dress
Tops
Forest and Thread Fortiv Tulip Top
Pattern Fantastique Harmonic Set
Forest and Thread Feeling Loopy Top
Shorts
Skirts
Spaghetti Western Sewing Henrietta Skirt
Jackets
Bags
ROBERTS | WOOD Flowertwist Hex Bag
Hats
Quilts
The Retro Quilter Retro Crotchet
This is a long list and I know I won’t get through all of it, and that things will most definitely be added. I already checked off two garments: the Naminami Flower Bud Dress and Frux Studio Garden Dress, which I also want to make the blouse version of. It was a great start to my year to practice my pleating and pin tucking skills.
Scrap pile
The Hanbok Shirt and Coat Pattern from Sewing Therapy is a lovely version of the Korean garment.
I love a barrel-legged trouser and The Assembly Line has a new pattern for a pair featuring a dropped crotch.
Named Clothing has four cozy patterns in its just released Mellow Meadow collection.
Two of my favorite Substacks, Soft Pins x Shop Rat, collaborated on a post of mending tips and inspiration.
I missed this Atlantic piece from the end of last year on “the false promise of seasonal-color analysis.”
Ditto this article on the young tailor keeping NYC’s suit-making tradition alive.
I haven’t painted fabric but am inspired by this piece.
I’m excited to see where this textile art/science experiment goes:
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I dream of a craft room like this (or a dedicated craft room at all):
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Very cool quilting project:
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Threading the needle with Leila Knoll
Every edition of Sew You Have a Question features a Threading the needle interview with someone in the textile arts world who’s brain I want to pick. This time, I was so happy to chat with Leila Knoll, who discusses what she wishes she knew when she started sewing and shares her favorite patterns for sewers at different skill levels.
How did you start sewing?
I was given a sewing machine by my mother when I was around 12 years old, with no instructions or guidance. So I started altering all the hand-me-down clothes I received from my sister and then stored the machine away until I was well into my 20s and wanted something to do when I wasn't studying for veterinary school. I dove into quilt-making and dabbled in garments here and there, but I really didn't get into sewing my own clothes until 2020 during the Covid lockdown, and it has been such a fun pastime ever since.
What advice would you give your beginner sewing self? What do you wish you would have known?
Advice that I would give my beginner self: just have fun. As a self-taught sewist, I know I've sewn MANY things the "wrong way" and it has been so humbling but also liberating. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. I love that with the first pants pattern I ever made, I literally cut out the darts because I thought I was supposed to. And now I'm drafting my own pants with 16 darts at a time! I wish I had known that not every piece that I make is going to turn out the way I want – there are so many factors that go into making the perfect garment: fabric type, thread quality, machine quality, common (but sometimes overlooked) practices like pressing and finishing seams. Really, I wish I knew from the start that you get what you put into something – it's worth taking your time when you're working through a project.
What patterns you've made would you suggest for sewers in beginner, intermediate and advanced categories?
I learned to sew my own clothes through indie designer patterns and they provide such a wealth of knowledge. For beginners, I would recommend simple woven shapes like the Staystitch Pattern Soline Shorts, Jessilous Closet Sunrise Skort, All Well Studio Box Top and Leila Makes Topo Pants (a pattern by yours truly). For intermediate sewists, try sewing with knits like the Elbe Textiles Weiland Tank, Megan Nielsen Rowan Top, Sophie Hines Axis Tank and Steph Time Penny Pullover. For advanced sewists, consider more structured patterns like the Paper Theory Olya Shirt, Anna Allen Helene jeans, Friday Pattern Co Ilford Jacket and Daughter Judy Coe Trousers. But first and foremost, choose a pattern that you're excited about!
Your clothes fit so beautifully within the Utah landscape you explore via hiking, climbing and more. How does your environment inspire you and influence the sorts of garments you want to make?
My environment heavily influences what colors I reach for when I'm making clothes and absolutely sways what type of garments I choose to make. Ever since I started seriously sewing my own clothes, I have lived in several places with very different lifestyles. From the southwest desert working as a shelter veterinarian, to a West Coast college town studying for my master's degree, to the downright freezing Canadian prairie lands as a graduate student, to a vibrant mountain city as a wildlife veterinarian, I've played different roles and have reached for different clothes with each passing year and phase of my life. The one constant through all of these changes has definitely been climbing and I always carve out some time to focus on clothes that are functional and fun for moving around at the climbing gym or outside on a boulder.
In addition to producing so many pieces, you also work as a vet, just built a sauna and seem to be on constant adventures. I think a lot of sewers are interested in time management and I'm wondering what advice you have for fitting hobbies into a busy life.
I wish I could tell you that I've "cracked the code" on time management for hobbies and work, but I am still working on it. I will say that I get overwhelmed if I start too many projects at once, so I usually limit myself to one sewing project at a time. Ironically, this self-imposed rule hasn't spread over to my knitting practice because I have about 5 WIPs (work-in-progress) laying around my house. As for sauna building, this was a project in the works for over a year and conveniently came to fruition just as my full-time contract job ended, so I had a lot of new free time on my hands and poured it into this big DIY project. My advice for others trying to fit hobbies into their busy life is: Don't compare yourself to others. I think it's very easy to compare your productivity to someone else's, especially on social media, but social media is so curated and not always realistic or practical. I think everyone functions on different levels of "productivity" and you should respect your own limits. As long as it feels good, do it!
I love your Year in Quilt project, making a block representing each month. What was the inspiration behind this project and how has it helped you process the year?
I was wholly inspired by the "year in patchwork" project by Lorna of walkpaperscissors on Instagram. She made a similar quilt back in 2022 and it is amazing! I absolutely loved the process of creating a block dedicated to each month of 2024. I just finished piecing all of the blocks together and it was so nice reflecting on each one, remembering the "best of" moments for each month. I loved the process so much that I'm now starting a year-long project for 2025 in a similar vein, embroidering images on a jacket for every month. I also loved that this project was very easy to move around with – I was able to take my project to the couch or out of town and work on it while I was on the road and in hotels for work. Another great thing that came out of this project is hearing from others that they are going to start their own Year in Quilt project for 2025 :)
What are your sewing goals for 2025?
I find that I don't set tangible goals often, maybe to avoid disappointment. But I am excited to hone in more on my patternmaking skills and work on releasing more fun garment patterns so that others can join in on the fun pieces I've been playing around with.
Great comment about being more productive focusing on one thing at a time. So easy to get overwhelmed with lots of things in the go at once plus one is always juggling creative projects with everything else in life.