About
CHAMBRAY BLUES: SEWING. PATTERNS. LIFE.
Hi! I’m Jessica. I am glad you are here! This site is full of sewing tips, pattern making and draping tricks, and how to tutorials. I design and sell pdf and paper sewing patterns for plus size women. I’m a plus size girl, and I know how hard it is to find patterns that fit with out a ton of alterations. Many of the big pattern companies don’t even carry plus size sewing patterns. It is my mission to create styles that are simple and beautiful. Size inclusivity is important to me, so all of the patterns I design come in sizes up to a 5XL.
You will find that I love to design sleep wear, night gowns, robes, sleep shirts, pajamas, blouses, jackets and much more! My new Huskavarna sewing machine does beautiful embroidery and I love to embellish the things I create. I hope you will be inspired!
I love to work with a variety of materials, but my favorites are cotton, linen, wool and silk. You will find many sustainable sewing project ideas here, as I am thrifty and often use fabric from thrift stores or recycled denim (from old jeans) in many of my projects.
ABOUT ME
I studied Apparel Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, as well as at the University of Wisconsin, Madison many years ago. My specialty is Ladies and Women’s Sportswear, as well as Lingerie Design, which I still love. Living in New York near the garment district was fun but Wisconsin is still my home. Guess I will always be a country girl! We do love to travel and I often am inspired by our trips. You can see more of the places we visit and what I sewed to wear on my Instagram page.
My husband and our four sons are very patient with my crazy creative ideas. Sometimes they even model sewing projects for me, occasionally you will see them make an appearance here on the blog. They are handsome!
Recently, our sons have grown up and left home. Now the kids are gone, I have more time to devote to achieving my dreams! I enjoy being outside, traveling, gardening, photography, and reading. Being a woman in midlife has been great and I am loving every minute of it! My latest transition is to go with my natural grey hair color which has been very liberating.
I love working with and learning from other women in that have successful sewing businesses. My Style Blues Podcast features successful entrepreneurs and techniques to inspire you to create and sew. Subscribe on ITunes or Stitcher or find my latest episodes here on the blog:
Listen to my Style Blues Podcast
MY SEWING MISSION
This sewing blog site is the start of a long time dream that began when I was a student in NYC, the dream to own my own sewing pattern company. My dream has recently begun to come into focus. There is an emerging market for sewing patterns to fit plus size women who want to sew their own clothes. Women who love classic style, especially those of us over age 50, are eager to learn to sew or return to sewing and create our own sustainable fashion. Helping women feel beautiful, build their self-confidence and learn new sewing skills, is my mission!
CHAMBRAY BLUES COLLABORATIONS AND SPONSORED POSTS
I am a brand ambassador for Cricut. We have great relationships and I work hard creating posts with original content, photography and video tutorials! I enjoy meeting new reps, using new products and discovering new ideas. Have a suggestion or a collaboration idea? I would love to hear it! Email me at Jessica@chambrayblues.com.
Some of my favorite brand collaboration sewing projects are here:
- 3 Step Easy T-Shirt Pattern Hack
- 15 FAQ You Always Wanted to Know About the Cricut Maker
- Style Blues: Sewing a Clutch with Your Cricut Maker
- Sweet Mom and Me Apron Pattern Review
- Why Self Care Makes for Better Sewing