Late in the process of creating each issue, we have an important ritual, the layout review or “wall walk.” Before the coronavirus pandemic, it was an in-person team review of pages, pinned to the conference room wall. The review was a chance to see the content in a way that’s different from turning pages. You spot other details when you see the issue all at once. We plan the story order, alternating image styles and techniques, and creating a color flow in the issue. In almost every issue, one prevalent color would be revealed.

The review moved online as we worked from home, and we scroll through pages instead of walking by. This issue was different, though. For the first time since I’ve worked at Threads, the pages looked like a spectrum. This issue has garments in blue, green, gold, pink, and purple. It feels like a rainbow, and appropriate as we are entering a sunnier season.

The colorful stories include lovely work by this issue’s contributors. Threads’ authors are inventive and meticulous, not satisfied with doing things the same old way, or leaving a mystery unsolved. “Expert Knit V-necks” by Rachel Siegel, and “Turn-of- Cloth Techniques” by Sharon Wilkinson, share important refinements to common garment finishing details. Kate Strasdin’s story of “The Dress Diary,” reveals her years-long research into a historical fabric collection, discovered by chance. And Emily Magli’s appreciation for Madeleine Vionnet’s genius led her to analyze one of the couturiere’s designs to interpret as a skirt project, “Grainlines in Concert”.

Here’s to a summer with bright events on the horizon. I miss connecting with fellow sewers, and Threads plans to be at the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo in Cleveland, Ohio, rescheduled for July. We hope to see you there—in something colorful you’ve sewn.