Here’s What YoSaMi Is All About

Looking for European fabric resources and sewing pattern reviews?

Scout tee On this blog you’ll find:

  • sewing pattern reviews
  • European sources of fabrics, patterns and notions
  • European fabric trade fair info, museums and fabric markets

‘… your take on this pattern – especially handling the striped fabric the way you did – totally SELLS the pattern…you really knocked it out of the park with this dress…it is GORGEOUS! Way to go – I want to make it now!!!’, Ann, a YoSaMi reader.

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Hi, I’m Christine, the self-taught sewist behind YoSaMi. I love to sew clothes for me and my two young daughters.

I started sewing when my Japanese husband and I moved from England to the northern Black Forest in Germany.

As a Brit abroad, my wardrobe wasn’t prepared for hot central European summers and I couldn’t afford new clothes. I’m also not very tall and begrudged paying to have trousers shortened every time I bought a new pair.

The solution was to learn to sew.

Armed with a ‘how hard can it be?’ attitude and a new Pfaff sewing machine, I set about teaching myself simple sewing techniques and the basics of garment construction. This was before conveniences like downloadable Pdf patterns, online sewing courses and sew-a-longs existed! Instead magazines such as Burdastyle (in German), Patrones (in Spanish) and Onion patterns (in Dutch) were my teachers and as soon as I made my first wearable garment, I was hooked on sewing.

I love to sew with good quality dressmaking fabrics and my central European location is an ideal base to hunt down textile manufacturers and suppliers in neighbouring countries France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. I’m constantly amazed at the wealth of resources that are available literally, right on my doorstep!

My sewing journey and fabric obsession continues.

I’m always striving to improve my sewing skills and love to connect with others in the sewing community to share our sewing adventures.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you find something here that helps you on your sewing journey.

2020 Update

You may notice that I took quite a long break from posting new updates on this blog. Life as a British expat in the EU, post-Brexit, with a young family certainly played a part in that.

I’m now expanding my blog to share my life as an ‘Auslander’ or foreigner in Germany and hope that my multi-national, multi-lingual experiences here, help you if you are planning to live or travel in Germany.

German life topics:

  • getting German citizenship
  • education system
  • language learning
  • cultural differences
  • citizens rights and regulations
  • health system

I don’t claim to have it all figured out. We’re learning as we’re going but hopefully, you can avoid the mistakes we’ve made.

Bleib gesund und viel Spass!

Christine

xx

11 thoughts on “Here’s What YoSaMi Is All About

  1. Hallo Christine, du machst super schöne Sachen. Ich bin zwar noch nicht durch mit deinem Blog aber das was ich bis jetzt gesehen habe ist klasse!
    Deinem Blog kann man anscheinend nur folgen wenn man bei WordPress angemeldet ist 😉
    liebe Grüße deine Nachbarin mit dem großen grauen Hund
    Alexandra

    1. Thanks for stopping by guys! Email me your new address and I’ll send you something!

    1. Keela,
      Thank you so much, your comment brought a little tear to my eye!! I wish we lived closer to each other and we could sew together!

  2. Just stumbled across your blog via a perfect pattern parcel link and am totally hooked. i always love to discover other bloggers that live in Germany but at the same time are more connected to the english speaking sewing community. going to add your blog to my reader!

    1. Thank you so much! What a kind comment! I’m also happy to connect with other sewing bloggers in Germany!

  3. What a coincidence! I live in the northern black forest and my kids are half Japanese too!! Yes, it’s me, the one who was so fascinated talking with you on Sunday at the picnic 🙂 I finally got the time to visit your blog. It’s very nice! (I like the bird story a lot!) Thank you for motivating me!

  4. Hello! I’ve just stumbled across your post about the lace dungarees you made. They are INCREDIBLE! I’m wondering if you have an Etsy shop or similar where I could purchase some? I’d be over the moon to own a pair! 🙂 xx

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words and interest in my blog! I don’t have an Etsy shop but I’m considering selling so sign up to my newsletter and I’ll let you know when I’ve got something to sell. I made the lace dungarees for a charity auction. These were a detailed project, not sure I’ll make them again. You can drop me an email at yosamicontact@gmail.com and give me some more details e.g. your sizing and items your interested in and I can let you know more. Thanks and hope you stop by again.

  5. Hello Christine,
    I’ve been meaning to send you a message for ages. Are you still in the area? I’m the one that was supposed to meet up with you in Strasbourg last year…
    Anyway, there is a regular “sewing meet” or “Nähkränzchen” in our area, if you are interested at all to come and join us once in a while (usually on Saturdays, every other month or so) you are more than welcome to. Or if you need someone to go fabric shopping with 😉
    Feel free to contact me via Email.

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