RoughestDrafts
@roughdraftjess.bsky.social
Polyglot, parent, partner, fickle reader, recovering academic, Community College professor/devotee, stitcher, quilter, semi-colon enthusiast; easily amused. She/her
For #SewAndTell Week #11, Scraps is the name of the game. Here's my one and only attempt at a representational art quilt, made entirely of leftover batik strips. The recipient was quite happy with how it turned out, but somehow (?!) this process photo is the only one I have.
November 8, 2025 at 4:57 AM
For #SewAndTell Week #11, Scraps is the name of the game. Here's my one and only attempt at a representational art quilt, made entirely of leftover batik strips. The recipient was quite happy with how it turned out, but somehow (?!) this process photo is the only one I have.
My kids know that a hand-made Halloween is my love language. Sometimes I worry they're just humoring me, but year after year, they trust me to help them execute their dream costumes just as they envision them - and they seem to think I can do anything. I live for these yearly creative collabs!
November 1, 2025 at 2:18 AM
My kids know that a hand-made Halloween is my love language. Sometimes I worry they're just humoring me, but year after year, they trust me to help them execute their dream costumes just as they envision them - and they seem to think I can do anything. I live for these yearly creative collabs!
#SewAndTell Week 9 is all about purple, which I am typically *not* all about. But my sewing protégée is, and some of her square-in-square axolotl blocks definitely fit the bill! #sewsky #quiltsky #sewing
October 22, 2025 at 1:36 AM
#SewAndTell Week 9 is all about purple, which I am typically *not* all about. But my sewing protégée is, and some of her square-in-square axolotl blocks definitely fit the bill! #sewsky #quiltsky #sewing
#sewandtell Week 8: UFO's. As terrifying as an unfinished project can be, the scariest one is usually the one I haven't even started yet. The moment I cut into this treasured Liberty fabric, it will become *something*, so it'll lose the potential to be *anything*. Chilling, right?
October 16, 2025 at 3:35 AM
#sewandtell Week 8: UFO's. As terrifying as an unfinished project can be, the scariest one is usually the one I haven't even started yet. The moment I cut into this treasured Liberty fabric, it will become *something*, so it'll lose the potential to be *anything*. Chilling, right?
#sewandtell Week 7 - Scary
[Ominous movie trailer voice]: This sewist thought she could freehand a witch hat without using a pattern. [Screechy violins] But she. Thought. WRONG.
I mean, it's done. But if I were to make another, I'd splurge on a pattern to get the brim dimensions right. #sewsky
[Ominous movie trailer voice]: This sewist thought she could freehand a witch hat without using a pattern. [Screechy violins] But she. Thought. WRONG.
I mean, it's done. But if I were to make another, I'd splurge on a pattern to get the brim dimensions right. #sewsky
October 8, 2025 at 8:10 PM
#sewandtell Week 7 - Scary
[Ominous movie trailer voice]: This sewist thought she could freehand a witch hat without using a pattern. [Screechy violins] But she. Thought. WRONG.
I mean, it's done. But if I were to make another, I'd splurge on a pattern to get the brim dimensions right. #sewsky
[Ominous movie trailer voice]: This sewist thought she could freehand a witch hat without using a pattern. [Screechy violins] But she. Thought. WRONG.
I mean, it's done. But if I were to make another, I'd splurge on a pattern to get the brim dimensions right. #sewsky
From "The Lost Words" by Robert MacFarlane:
September 30, 2025 at 6:53 PM
From "The Lost Words" by Robert MacFarlane:
For week 6 of #SewAndTell (Animal), here's my number one helperer, helpering me turn this blanket into a bog coat
#sewing #sewsky #quiltsky #catsofbluesky
#sewing #sewsky #quiltsky #catsofbluesky
September 30, 2025 at 1:15 PM
For week 6 of #SewAndTell (Animal), here's my number one helperer, helpering me turn this blanket into a bog coat
#sewing #sewsky #quiltsky #catsofbluesky
#sewing #sewsky #quiltsky #catsofbluesky
For #SewAndTell 's Cozy Week 5, I give you the pants that I reverse engineered from my favorite pajama bottoms, then sewed last night out of a SwissAir blanket I scored at the thrift store. Are they janky AF? Yes. Will I wear them to tatters, just like their predecessors? Also yes. #sewsky
September 22, 2025 at 1:21 PM
For #SewAndTell 's Cozy Week 5, I give you the pants that I reverse engineered from my favorite pajama bottoms, then sewed last night out of a SwissAir blanket I scored at the thrift store. Are they janky AF? Yes. Will I wear them to tatters, just like their predecessors? Also yes. #sewsky
For week 4 of #SewAndTell, here's a favorite make - faved bc it's one of few things I've made that still lives with me, I made a lot of memories while hand-piecing it, I tried so many new things in the process, and I adore the colorways of these batiks against the earthy linen. #quiltsky #sewsky
September 17, 2025 at 3:39 PM
For week 4 of #SewAndTell, here's a favorite make - faved bc it's one of few things I've made that still lives with me, I made a lot of memories while hand-piecing it, I tried so many new things in the process, and I adore the colorways of these batiks against the earthy linen. #quiltsky #sewsky
Some of the hexes are completely worn through, and enough of the other ones are so threadbare or stained that I worry about using this quilt on a bed. There are whole sections of it like this, so even if I mended it, I'd be worried about what would be next to go.
September 10, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Some of the hexes are completely worn through, and enough of the other ones are so threadbare or stained that I worry about using this quilt on a bed. There are whole sections of it like this, so even if I mended it, I'd be worried about what would be next to go.
Not my work, but for week 3 of #SewAndTell, here's a closeup of a #patchwork quilt I inherited and I'm trying to revive. She's so delicate! It's hard to cut her up, but even repairing her seems impractical as the parts that aren't outright damaged seem so vulnerable. Ideas?
September 10, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Not my work, but for week 3 of #SewAndTell, here's a closeup of a #patchwork quilt I inherited and I'm trying to revive. She's so delicate! It's hard to cut her up, but even repairing her seems impractical as the parts that aren't outright damaged seem so vulnerable. Ideas?
My bread doesn't always turn out this goofy, but as of today it also doesn't always turn out NOT this goofy
September 8, 2025 at 3:09 PM
My bread doesn't always turn out this goofy, but as of today it also doesn't always turn out NOT this goofy
Now and again when I take my kids to the library children's room, a book sticks to me instead. This one has a premise I'd never encountered before: a 12-year-old daughter and her mother escape a cult and begin to rebuild their future. I enjoyed this at Because of Winn-Dixie levels.
September 1, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Now and again when I take my kids to the library children's room, a book sticks to me instead. This one has a premise I'd never encountered before: a 12-year-old daughter and her mother escape a cult and begin to rebuild their future. I enjoyed this at Because of Winn-Dixie levels.
Okay, for this first #sewandtell, focused on "firsts", here's my first row of the first quilt I've ever made for me. As in mine. Not someone else's. Three years in fits and starts, and today it was finally ready to start coming together. Deep breaths! #sewsky
August 25, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Okay, for this first #sewandtell, focused on "firsts", here's my first row of the first quilt I've ever made for me. As in mine. Not someone else's. Three years in fits and starts, and today it was finally ready to start coming together. Deep breaths! #sewsky
Made four of these bucket hats for my kids/niblings! It was fun watching them pick out their favorite fabrics, and I got to talk to each one at length while we cut them out.
July 21, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Made four of these bucket hats for my kids/niblings! It was fun watching them pick out their favorite fabrics, and I got to talk to each one at length while we cut them out.
Made a little tee out of vintage fabric just in time for Pride Month! Free Agustina tee pattern is from Fabric Store and hence designed for linen, but I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked in jersey. #sewing
June 3, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Made a little tee out of vintage fabric just in time for Pride Month! Free Agustina tee pattern is from Fabric Store and hence designed for linen, but I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked in jersey. #sewing
This little bag has some secrets: 1. It's got two compartments, one just for stinky cleats. 2. I freestyled it out of stuff I found at yard sales, using techniques I've picked up recently. And 3. I'm pretty sure I ripped out every seam on it at least once #sewing #handmade #craftiverse
May 17, 2025 at 3:46 AM
This little bag has some secrets: 1. It's got two compartments, one just for stinky cleats. 2. I freestyled it out of stuff I found at yard sales, using techniques I've picked up recently. And 3. I'm pretty sure I ripped out every seam on it at least once #sewing #handmade #craftiverse
Tell me your kid was raised by teachers w/o telling me. Shall I go first? If you insist: 10-yo made this template for 8-yo to help him write some cards for his teachers today. We've given 10-yo templates like these for thank-you notes and apology letters in the past; this one was all him, though
![Child-written note that reads "Dear Mrs./Ms. [blank]. Positive thing about [blank]. Happy Teacher Appreciation Day. Your friend, [blank]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:65dh52hlkjx5fiolqii7vbov/bafkreihb7rtkar4i7ozlarxdj3hihgxq3tdfhzditkjrqbvt4fmrvavf4y@jpeg)
May 10, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Tell me your kid was raised by teachers w/o telling me. Shall I go first? If you insist: 10-yo made this template for 8-yo to help him write some cards for his teachers today. We've given 10-yo templates like these for thank-you notes and apology letters in the past; this one was all him, though
Not usually a big garment-maker, but I've scored some fun vintage fabrics at estate sales recently and this one wanted to be a wrap skirt. #memademay #upcycle #sewingsky
May 8, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Not usually a big garment-maker, but I've scored some fun vintage fabrics at estate sales recently and this one wanted to be a wrap skirt. #memademay #upcycle #sewingsky
May 5, 2025 at 10:07 PM
I don't like it either, but we are going to need a plan for the swelling ranks of the faceless beyond "let them wander the desert ceaselessly for what they've done to us."
March 16, 2025 at 3:22 PM
I don't like it either, but we are going to need a plan for the swelling ranks of the faceless beyond "let them wander the desert ceaselessly for what they've done to us."
Post a photo you took to bring some Zen to the timeline.
March 12, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Post a photo you took to bring some Zen to the timeline.
Only a couple days late for my valentine! Foundation paper pieced love letters courtesy of etsy, some scrappy hearts, and the trendiest bit of raw edge applique. #quiltsky
February 18, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Only a couple days late for my valentine! Foundation paper pieced love letters courtesy of etsy, some scrappy hearts, and the trendiest bit of raw edge applique. #quiltsky
Amazing how doing something with my hands can be so deeply calming and centering. When I look at this, what I see is equal parts whimsical handmade item and successfully processed anxiety; anyway, coming right along on both
January 25, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Amazing how doing something with my hands can be so deeply calming and centering. When I look at this, what I see is equal parts whimsical handmade item and successfully processed anxiety; anyway, coming right along on both