Hello all you sewers out there!  Are you connected?

Sewing is not so common as it once was, especially amongst the younger generations, so some of you may experience the loneliness of the solo sewer.  You may be the only one amongst your friends who follows this strange hobby!

Recognising this, and the growth of sewing in the past few years (thanks, Sewing Bee, amongst others!), two enterprising ladies have set up The Fold Line.

Kate and Rachel, The Fold Line founders

The Fold Line is an online space where you can connect with fellow sewers.  You can follow your favourite sewing bloggers - there are so many now, a few of whom I talked about in the blog post Sewing Blogs - or fellow sewers.  You can search for patterns, see what's going on in the way of exhibitions, fairs, etc,  join a group and join the conversation.  It's a well-designed web site with loads of useful features.  It was only launched a few weeks ago, but is constantly evolving.   I can't possibly do justice to it here - you'll just have to pop over and look at it for yourself!  Here are some of its features:

Bloggers & Designers

Lots of your favourite sewing bloggers and pattern designers have signed up, so you can follow them and keep up with what they're doing.

Patterns

There's a huge catalogue of patterns from established companies and some of the many indie pattern designers.  You can search for a pattern by pattern type, designer, body shape, difficulty, sewing time, fabric length, pdf / paper or a combination of these!  You can also read reviews of patterns - or add your own!  These can be a real help in deciding which pattern to choose.

Groups

One of the (many!) really good features of The Fold Line is the groups.

Anyone can set up a group, for any sewing-related interest, and anyone's free to join.  There are currently 107 groups, although this may well be out-of-date before you read it!  You can join a group to share your favourite patterns. get help with sewing or to meet up with people in your locality,  The choice is endless.  If, by chance, your need isn't met, well you can start your own group.

I think the geographical groups are probably some of the best - meet up with other sewers in your neck of the woods, even if it's only online.  At least you'll know you're not alone!

Breaking news - new today! 

As I said, the site is constantly evolving, and this morning saw the launch of another new feature, the Fabric Shop World Map.  Here you can find other sewers' favourite fabric shops, not just in this counrty, but around the world, too.  If you know of a good shop, add it to the list.  As they say on the site,  'Can you imagine we can plan our holidays around the cities with the best fabric shops!'  (Won't your other half love that!!) 

Did I mention, it's free to join?  So, what are you waiting for?  Sign up now, and meet fellow sewers - and as a bonus, get free patterns!