Sewing influencer and entrepreneur Tabitha Sewer answered five questions about herself during a recent conversation with the editors of Threads. Hear the full conversation in the Sewing With Threads Episode 40 podcast.

A digital content creator for Brother, Joann, and other well-known sewing and craft brands, Tabitha talks about how she got started and what keeps her going.

Who taught you to sew?

“My Mom taught me to sew.

“When I was a kid . . . I was never interested. When I got out of the military, I was bored so I tried to learn on my own.

“I’m very impatient when it comes to my mom trying to teach me something. There is a small language barrier because she is from the Philippines, so trying to learn from her and trying to understand is very difficult, still, at times.

“So I taught myself a little bit, but the majority of time when I had issues on things, I would go to her and she would teach me. I still go to her today.”

 

What is your favorite sewing term?

“Stitch in the ditch, just because it’s fun to say. And it rhymes. Anything that rhymes is fun. Anything that’s fun, that’s me.”

 

What is your favorite type of fabric to sew?

“My favorite type of fabric is cotton sateen. As you know, cotton fabric is the easiest fabric to sew. But I like the sheen . . . and I like the structure that it gives the clothing.

“I (mostly) sew with structural fabrics so cotton sateen is home to me. It’s where I’m comfortable.”

Tabitha says she even likes cotton sateen with a little stretch.

What are you currently sewing?

“What I am not sewing?” she says and laughs. “Just thinking about it is making me go crazy. I have so many projects at the moment.

“Actually, I just finished sewing a jean jacket.

“It’s with my Brother sewing machine the Brother Stellaire, which is my dream sewing machine. I love it. I did embroidery with that machine. You just set it and then you can just walk away. It’s great.

“It has a huge LCD screen. It’s just something I never thought I could have. It just makes everything so easy.”

What do you love most about sewing?

“What I love most about sewing is the therapy that it gives. My message to everyone on social media or whenever I do interviews—I always talk about (how) sewing heals. Because when I came out of the military, I suffered from a lot of depression, anxiety, and just a lot of different mental issues after serving (for) so long.

“Sewing was therapeutic for me and allowed me to keep my mind on the task at hand. When you have anxiety, you have negative thinking and your thoughts are just constantly bouncing from here to there.

“With sewing, it allowed me to just focus . . . and then at the end I was able to have this huge reward that I was able to share with everyone. It made me really happy.”

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Go to Tabitha’s Instagram to find out more.