Congratulations and Welcome!

I agree, I miss the in depth articles from the past. I have acquired many sewing skills because of Threads, and have made many, many garments using techniques from the pages of Threads.

A few I have made are: curved welt pockets(issue #62), no more wobbly welts(a la Kenneth King)(#72), made stitch and slash fabric vests and jacket(aka faux chenille)(#67), added pleats to the back of a straight skirt(#72), made a croquis(#65), learned tips for sewing all kinds of fabrics -from silk charmeuse to microfibers, knits, fur, leather and everything in between - and have learned many, many other interesting, fun and "couture" techniques that I didn't realize were couture because your articles and pictures make it easy to follow and do-able, even for someone without much experience. So please don't shy away from teaching so-called 'difficult' techniques - they have really inspired me and increased my skills dramatically.

As I have aged, my eyes have been getting progressively worse; however, with the invention of glasses I really don't need to see a full page devoted to showing us just two notions (hint,hint). But I do love to see the close-up photos of garments and the techniques you are demonstrating.

Also, In my humble opinion, Threads has never been an 'entry level' magazine for absolute beginners. If I were a beginner, I would go to the library and get a couple books on basic sewing or take a class or two. I wouldn't expect a magazine devoted to "people who love to sew" to 'dumb down' their magazine just for me. Again, just my opinion - hope I'm not offending anyone.

I'm 5'5" and have a top of head to chin length of 8". However, my waist -where my belly-button is-(which is where I wear my skirts and pants) is 1 1/2" below my 'natural' waist. Look at the models wearing bikinis and you'll see their natural indented waistlines are definitely higher than their belly-buttons. So now what? Is my ideal skirt length still the same? Also, I like my skirts longer - lower calf length, so how do I determine how long to make it to still be in proportion? And because my waist is lower, does this change the length of my blouses too? Not that I expect an answer, but this article raised more questions for me than it answered. I agree with so many others who requested practical follow-up information.