It’s nice to meet you.

I’m Minna, a self-professed Pattern Geek, Pattern Maker and Dressmaker, and I’m here to demystify Pattern Making for you!

Making clothes has been a lifelong love affair of mine, although I don’t even know if you could call it that. Growing up, my Grandma was always making clothes and the fact that I would learn to sew, knit and crochet just seemed obvious to me.

While making clothing was in my blood, it was a while before life would lead me to make it a full-time thing. After finishing high school, I moved from my hometown to Helsinki, from Helsinki to Florence and back to Helsinki again! I studied Archaeology, Foreign Languages, Jewellery Making and worked in a number of different fields. All the while, I was continually realising how much I missed working with my hands. It wasn’t until I moved to Milan though that I would realise Pattern Making is what I was supposed to do all along.

Here, in the City of Fashion, I found the lack of Ready-to-Wear clothing choices frustrating. It was either high street fashion or costly designer boutiques, and nothing that felt quite right on me. Seeing as I’m not the kind of person to sit around waiting, I enrolled in one evening class after the other. I was determined to learn all I could about Sewing and Pattern Making!

I began by taking general dressmaking classes, which was a great base, but I was hungry to learn more about Pattern Making, so I found a great school dedicated to the craft and completed a 2-year degree.

During this time, the Global Financial Crisis hit, and I lost my job. It was perfect timing. I was fully immersed in Pattern Making, and I knew there was still so much more to discover! Having learnt all that I could about traditional Pattern Making, I enrolled in Shingo Sato’s online classes, which incorporate Draping with Flat Pattern Making, and uses Japanese techniques.

The more I learnt, the more I made, and slowly but surely friends began to ask me to make clothes for them, then friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends… With more and more people asking how I did this or how I made that, I decided to share techniques and DIYs with my own Blog and Instagram, and now here we are!

Having come full-circle from my roots to my passion, I now get to work all the time on projects that I love, and I’d love to inspire you to do the same! Pattern Making is so much fun and with a little bit of trial & error, I’m sure you can do it, too!

Want to give it a try but not sure where to start? Why don’t you try this circle skirt tutorial.

Or perhaps you want to learn something specific and you can’t find it? I’d love to hear your suggestions! Just send me a note here or send me a PM on Instagram!

If you want to learn more about me and my designs, here’s an article from Obscura Magazine.

Happy sewing!

Minna

My Recommendations

Do you have a Website or Blog, too? In that case, I’ve got a few recommendations. I have used these services myself for years and the opinions are my own.

Please note that these are affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase.

For website hosting, I use Lyrical Host, the most wonderful company with excellent customer service that has always quickly resolved any techie problem I’ve had with this site.

The hosting comes with all kinds of perks for the users, and each month, some of your hosting spend goes directly to non-profits and charitable causes all over the world. They even plant trees for you somewhere in the world to offset carbon use each year to celebrate your Lyrical Host anniversary. Check them out.

You can use the code SHAPESOF10 to get -10% off any hosting plan.

My Email Marketing Platform is Mailerlite. That’s how you get emails from me when you sign up to the email list.

It was the first email service I chose and I have remained with them ever since because it’s user-friendly, while still being versatile, and their people have always been so helpful.

I’m not particularly savvy when it comes to techie things, so for me it’s important to find easy solutions. Drag and drop email editor, templates, tutorials and such. They have a free plan, so you have a chance to see what it’s like.

If you use my link above you’ll get a €18 credit when you sign up to a paid plan.