Episode 44: Bessie Pearl Binding Co.

This week on The Sewcial Hour Podcast, we’re joined by Karen Wade, founder of Bessie Pearl Binding Co. — a company that has helped thousands of quilters finally enjoy the finishing step with beautifully made, ready-to-use bias binding.

If binding is the part of quilting you dread (👀 you’re not alone), this episode is for you.

Karen shares how Bessie Pearl was born out of a very real sewing room frustration and how that one problem turned into a thriving product-based business. With a background in retail and over a decade of growth, she gives us an inside look at what it actually takes to build a business in the sewing world — and what most people get wrong about it.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The moment Karen realized there had to be a better way to finish quilts
• Why bias binding feels so intimidating for so many quilters
• How Bessie Pearl evolved from an idea into a full product line
• The realities of running a sewing-based product business
• How Karen selects fabrics and designs binding that works across quilt styles
• Tips to make binding feel less overwhelming (and maybe even enjoyable!)

Plus, we get to know Karen a little more through rapid-fire questions, hear what she’s loving right now, and chat about what’s next for Bessie Pearl — including a fun Quilt Top Maxi Skirt Sew-Along coming this summer 👗🧵

Whether you love binding, avoid it at all costs, or are somewhere in between, this conversation will give you a whole new perspective on the final step of quilting.

✨ Connect with Karen & Bessie Pearl:
Follow along on Instagram: @bessiepearlbindingco
Explore ready-made binding options, tutorials, and more to simplify your quilt finishes.

🎧 New episodes of The Sewcial Hour Podcast drop every other Tuesday on all major platforms. Be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a quilter who really needs help with their binding 😉

Next week: We’re talking about The Confidence Ladder of Making — how to build skills, trust yourself, and grow as a maker.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Social Hour Podcast, a podcast for Sewist by Sewist. I'm your host, Bethany.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

And I'm your host, Audra. And today we are talking with Karen Wade of Bessie Pearl Binding Company. She has created an incredible company around making your bias binding easier for quilters. Karen, thank you so much for being with us today.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Thank you guys for having me. This is so fun. I'm super excited to be here.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

We're honored to have you. I mean, we got to meet you in person at QuiltCon and kind of I got to experience your product right there in person for the first time. So I'm excited to share it with our audience. Today we have so much fun things to talk about. It's amazing how much we can talk about binding. I feel like it's a hot topic in quilting, so I'm excited to dive into this. But before we do, we do have our fun little icebreaker question that we like to ask. And then our listeners can answer the question either in the comments over on our YouTube channel or over in our Facebook group, the Social Sewis Facebook group. And we'd love to hear your answer to this question. But I'm gonna ask it, Karen, I'll let you answer first. What is the most frustrating part of the quilting process?

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Well, for I think people would say the binding. For me, always it's okay. I have to preface it by saying I'm a type B quilter hardcore. So I'm not, which means like I don't lose it over the details. But that comes back to haunt me because then I go to piece my stuff together and like nothing matches up when it's supposed to. And I get so annoyed, and then um just like, well, it's fine, like it'll quilt out, right? It'll quilt out. Um it doesn't always, but it does, it's not as big of a deal as I think it is, but that is always the most frustrating part. Like, I feel like I've done all the little steps correctly. Like, I have starched the fabric, I have ironed correctly. Why are these points not matching up? So, yeah, that always makes me a little nutty when I do it. But I learned to just like it is what it is, and I'm either gonna fix it or I'm just gonna let it go. And and I, as a type B, it's just like, well, I'm just gonna let it go, you know, and it'll look good from a distance. It's fine.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Audrey what about you? What is your most frustrating part of quilting process?

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Well, and I'll also say, Karen, if anyone is underneath your quilt pointing out the errors, you vote them off the island.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Totally, totally not allowed.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

We don't we don't allow that here. Yeah. For mine, mine is binding related. It's not making the binding, it's not attaching the binding, it's finishing the binding. My very, very first quilt project, my mom and I learned to quilt together. We're both lifelong so we took a quilting class together. And the little tabletopmer we made in that quilt class, it took me an entire year to actually get around to put like finishing the binding on this tabletopper. And it was probably like 12 inches by like 24 inches. It was super small.

SPEAKER_03 2:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:59

But I prefer a hand finish. So it's just finding the time to sit down and finish it out. But I would love to do machine binding, but it I am not a type B quilter. I am a type A quilter. So like if I'm doing machine binding, I really want my machine binding to look good. And I have yet to be successful at making my machine binding look the way it's supposed to look. So I still do hand binding. It's just finding the time to sit down and stitch. Because you know, at night it's dark in front of the television. Or if you're like going to a kid function, you're like hauling this big quilt with you to like finish stitching it. So for me, it's finishing the binding.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Okay. For me, it's like before I got my long arm, which I just got. Okay, so this is still kind of a fresh thing and I've I've had to deal with it since. But I I loathed, loathed the part of basting my quilt sandwich together before I like quilted it. Because the only way I found that I could do it in my home was on the living room floor, move the move the coffee table, lay it all out. I'm on my hands and knees, like trying to do this up and down, and like maybe this is just me, but like it made me like by the end of it, I would feel nauseous. Like it would just the up and down and lean like I don't know if it's just because I get migraines or whatever. It just made me feel ill. Like I would get done, and I'd be like, okay, I gotta sit down for a while. Like that really turned my stomach upside down. And I don't know, I just I absolutely avoided doing it, and then by the time I got done with it, I was like, I don't I don't have it in me to quilt this right now. Like, I just and then it would sit in as as a sandwich for like months sometimes, um, which is not ideal. But like that was the worst part for me, and it was really just the bigger ones that would just wipe me out. Um, the smaller ones weren't so bad, and I could usually do those on a tabletop, but the ones that I had to like get down on the floor, be up and down, up and down, and shifting and moving, and um it was just a it was a lot, and I was like, I I just I I just my gymnastics background has torn up my body so much that it's so painful on my knees and on my lower back to like be doing all of that, and I'm like, I and I'm I can't. So I really struggled with that part of it. The binding and all of that, I don't um have a problem with it. It was just the basting the sandwiches, and maybe I'm alone in this, but it was a lot, it's physical.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

It's a workout, a lot, it's a workout, and in my house, it's the same thing. Like, I have to do it in my living room, and my living room is not large, and so it's like nobody can walk through here for the next hour. Like, that's it. It's you're just you're stuck in your room. I'm sorry. Yeah, because I'm taking up all the space right now.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Yeah, same. I think there was one where it was big enough that I had to take it to my parents' house. I'm like, I need your bonus room, there's nothing really up there. I need to spread out, I need to be able to roll over on the floor and lay down for a minute and catch my breath. Like it was too much, but like my living room's small too. But like I'm having to move furniture and keep dogs out, and it's just a whole thing. And I was like, you know, this is probably my least favorite part of it. But now that I have the long arm, obviously I can just, you know, do it everything on my long arm at once. But it's there's still some projects like that I still like to baste and and sew quilt on my domestic machine too. So it doesn't that solution doesn't like forever go away, but like the bigger projects, I'm like, I'm not basing that on the floor ever again. Oh my goodness. Well, we're we've got some fun things to jump into, and as I kind of mentioned before, there's a lot of thoughts and opinions on binding. So I'm excited to hear like how you found yourself so focused on binding for your career, for your business. So is was there like a specific frustration or something that was going on in your experience that kind of initiated the how Bessie Pearl was born?

SPEAKER_00 6:51

I know it's so fun to tell people what you do for a living, you know, like what do you do for a living? Well, I own a binding company, and that's like the end of the conversation every time, it just kills it, you know. So I need to find a better way to do it.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

And someone wants to be like, what is binding?

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Yeah, and then I'm like, Do you sew? And they're like, No, I'm like, okay, then this let's move on. Let's talk about something else. Tell me about your dog. Yeah, I started to tell people I own a sewing trim company, and that like makes a little more sense to some people. And then you can tell like if they want to talk about it more or if like that's enough. Anyway, um, but how it all started 10 years ago. So Bessie Pearl is 10 this year, which is really exciting. Um, it was kind of a perfect storm of a lot of things. Um, so my background, my mom is a quilter, and so has been my whole life, and so I grew up learning how to sew and kind of like understanding the textile world and kind of living in that with her, and but really as like a teenager, like a grown adult, I didn't want to have anything to do with it. I just was like, that's fine, I'm done. But then, and I went to work in retail, and so I spent I don't know, five, six years working in children's retail and doing as a regional manager, um, but really loving the retail world and the business side of it specifically. So I have a business degree and learning marketing and how do you promote a product and how do you display a product so that people want to buy it? And how do you create value for customers? How do you sell online? How do you you know, like all of those little things that I did in a box and like a more brick and mortar environment were really helpful coming into like then starting my own business. And I always knew I wanted to have my own business because I like being home by myself and being the boss, and but I never knew what that would look like. So I just worked for someone else for a long time, and that was great. It was a great experience. Um, but then I got pregnant with my daughter, and so we knew when we started having kids that I wanted to be able to stay home and like raise our kids. So I left uh that job and she was born, and then after about six months, I was like, I'm losing my mind. Being home with her, I realized this is this is not for me to be a full-time stay-at-home mom. And at that time had gotten kind of back into quilting with my mom as a way for her and I to spend time together, and that we were doing something where I had to make bias binding, and I was like, this is really like it's tricky, it's kind of like mind-bendy, and I was like, this isn't the most fun part of it. Um, and I thought to myself, I feel like other people would pay for this. I feel like this is probably a frustration for other people. I feel like I could do it well and provide a really good quality product to make this whole experience a little bit easier for quilters. And I had seen kind of the rise in quilt kits and pre-cuts and just things that take a step out of the process to make it more accessible and to make it easier and to make like less decision-making for quilters. And so I knew that I could so I took that idea and then kind of was able to combine it with my background in retail, my knowledge of like running an online business, and there we went. And I said to my husband, I think I want to try this. And um, and he was like, Well, let's try it and for a year, and if you make money in a year, we'll do it for another year. You know, like that was the whole goal was like just don't lose money. And I was like, Okay. And when you're start- I mean, you guys, if you've made bias tape or bias binding, like you don't need much equipment to start up, it's a very small startup cost, and so that also worked in our favor. It's not like I'm opening a quilt store or a fabric store where you have to have all of this inventory and like all this capital to do it. Um we were able to just like fund the business ourselves to get it started, and we did not lose money in the first year, and 10 years later, still going.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Still going. I'm just curious, where did the name Bessie Pearl come from?

SPEAKER_00 10:37

That's yeah, great question. My grandmothers are Bessie uh is my mom's mom, and Pearl was my dad's mom. And I always love their names together. Um, and so I'd always thought, okay, if I have a business, if I can work that into it, I think it'll work really well. The business actually started as Bessie Pearl Textiles because I was like not sold on just doing binding. I thought, oh well, maybe I'll do other things too. And then eventually I realized, like, no, we're just gonna be a binding company, and so we changed the name to make it more clear. And I sew on Bessie's featherweight, and so that kind of like um so for a long time everything was made. I made all of the product myself, and it was all made on her sewing machine. And she's the one who taught my mom to sew. She had four girls, sewed all of their clothes, and so it's just kind of a nice little, you know, homage to my history, I guess. I don't know. No, I love that. That's so sweet.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

I think that is incredible. I am very, very close with my grandmother, or I was, I should say. I actually have a photo of her sewing on my sewing table.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_02 11:35

That always stays, yeah. So I I love any type of familial connection.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

We're gonna go a little deeper on some of the things you mentioned, but before we do that, talk to me about why do you think bias binding is so challenging for quilters? You kind of said it. You said it's tricky. Can you talk to a little bit about like why you think that is?

SPEAKER_00 11:58

I think there's a couple reasons. Um, one, a lot of patterns they don't always tell you how much you need. They'll tell you like how many, if you're gonna cut straight binding, it's pretty easy. They'll tell you like cut your strips. If you want to make it on the bias, the pattern's not gonna address that or tell you like how much how many yards you need of that. It depends on what method you use, but it has to do with the angles. So if you have a brain that understands angles and geometry, it's probably not that hard. I don't. And so, you know, to create the bias, to cut the fabric onto the bias, you've gotta think in angles and you've gotta flip your fabric upside down in order to get the angle correct. And then you have to have the right tool, in theory. If some people I think try and make it without like the bias tape mic maker, I don't know how you do that, honestly. And you can burn your fingers, and a lot of people don't like that feeling. I've like actually modified my ironing board so I don't burn my hands, but some people have a really reflective ironing board which makes a hotter surface, which is great. But if you're trying to make bias tape with it, you'll burn your fingers a lot doing that. So that's not really fun. I think all of those things combined, and if you make it yourself too, most people do it with really small pieces of fabric because you don't need a lot, and then you have a million little seams. So I make mine with really large pieces of fabric, so your seams are really far apart, which just makes it a easier to attach.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

There's a video on YouTube the first time I was like, I'm gonna cut my own bias binding, and I have that video saved. It's this random video, but she walks through like how to fold the fabric to cut the strips so that they're always on the bias. And uh I it doesn't matter how many times I like have made my own bias binding, I have to watch her video on how to fold it every single time. It's like it never registered fully, or I get turned around, and once you cut it, you're you're you're you know, and you can't. You don't do it right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so for those who are listening who don't understand the difference between regular binding and bias binding, maybe you can take a second to explain that difference. Um because and and when you would choose to use bias binding over just regular binding.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Sure. Yeah, and like you're saying, if you have a directional print and you cut it wrong, yeah, it's over.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

Yeah, you just have to be like, hopefully, none of mine were directional, but like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

Yeah, it's I always tell people don't have directional prints. Yeah. Um, okay, so that's a great question. Bias binding, the word bias only means it's cut on an angle, and so the threads on a piece of fabric are gonna run, well, I'm not gonna like horizontally and perpendicular. That's how your threads run, and that creates your fabric. So when you cut on the bias, you cut at a 45 degree angle so that your threads run at an angle. And the reason why you would do that is because it creates a little bit of ease in your fabric. So if you try and pull on your fabric when it's cut on the straight grain, it's not gonna move, which is great. That's what you want when you're um for the most of your projects. But a lot of times if you have a project that needs a curve or does you want um a little bit of a smoother finish? Cutting on the bias gives you a little bit of ease. I always tell people it's like the difference between wearing a 100% cotton button-down shirt, which looks great and it's crisp, but you can't really move, you know, in it, or wearing a shirt that has a little bit of spandex in it and that has a little bit of give, it lays a little bit smoother because it's a little more forgiving. And again, type B quilter, I like that. I need a little bit of forgiveness in my binding um to cover all my like weird edges. So it's gonna give a little bit of I almost don't want to say stretch, but it will stretch some and it will give a little bit of ease. So that can be helpful for a lot of people. Also, when you're cutting the fibers on the angle, they don't wear out as fast. So you get a binding that will actually last longer. So I tell people, like I use it on all my straight edges because if you ever look at an older quilt, chances are the binding is is worn out. It's the first thing that goes on most things because it gets the most wear and tear. On a bag, your binding on the outside is gonna get the most wear and tear. So using a bias binding will just help it to last longer, your fibers won't wear out as quickly. So, which I think is always nice when we spend all this time on the floor, basting our quilts. Like I'd like it to last a long time. So, Bessie Perua, we make two different styles of two different products, biased products. So there's biased quilt binding, which if you're a quilter, you typically will cut your strips and then you will fold them in half from top to bottom and iron them. And so, biased quilt binding is the same exact thing, it's cut on the angle, but it's still folded in half from top to bottom and put on you sew it on just like you would sew on a traditional quilt binding. And so I always recommend people use those for your quilts because it's gonna give you like a double edge of coverage. Use it for your bag bindings, anything that's gonna get a lot of wear and tear, especially if you're gonna wash it. Bias tape is the strip is still cut on the angle, but your edges are folded into the center, they meet in the middle, and then it's folded in half again. And you know what would have been smart is if I had some with me to show you. I don't, because I'm downstairs. Sorry. So bias tape you can use on just about any kind of project. A lot of people use it on clothing to do armholes. If you're making a quilt coat, all of those seams you have to finish around the edges, you can put bias tape on those. People use it on what else? Pot holders, oven mitts, anything that's round, tree skirts. Um, I'm trying to think what all the people tell me. They put it on, they make canvas shoes with it. People make the quilted sneakers, yeah. So anything like that, you can use it. Honestly, the two can be interchanged. So it just comes some people have a really strong preference. We know people have preferences about binding. So you can use either one, whatever you're more comfortable with uh putting on, but I always recommend the quilt binding if you're using anything that's gonna get a lot of wear and tear on it. It will just because it has a double layer of fabric, it will hold up better for you.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Was there a moment um when you thought to yourself, like, ready-made binding? Could I really like make a business out of this? Or was it really just solving the problem for yourself? Like I know you said you were like, I I see a need, but like is is and you would kind of mention like originally the name was textiles to be more broad in case you needed to include other options and and products into your business, and then you decided to narrow it down to just the binding. And and what made that decision? Was the need for just that enough? Or did you just feel like this is something I've really honed in on? And and what kind of made you make that decision is like, like, I am just doing binding, like this is my niche.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

I'm going all in on this weird. All in on binding. All in, we're doing it all. Um I so when I initially started the business, I only made bias tape because that's what I saw other people doing, and I was like, okay, well, that's what I'll do. And that seemed to be the hardest thing to make because you had to have the bias tape maker, da da da da da da. Um and I thought quilters just make their own binding, right? Like that's fine. So I started with bias tape, and I had loads of people who bought it to make bows and all kinds of things like that. Back then that was like a big, uh big and then I eventually was uh decided, oh well, I'll sell fabric too. I'm already buying fabric to make my product, I might as well sell the fabric as well. Uh and maybe I'll sell thread and like a few other things. And so I experimented with some of those ideas, but quickly learned that it was just beyond my capacity to manage all of that inventory-wise. It's just I don't know. I'm a simple person, I just want to like keep it simple. And I think I wanted to be really well known for doing one thing well, not trying to do all the things. And so I at that point realized, like, okay, we're just gonna focus on binding. This is this makes the most sense for me. Um, and I think this makes the most sense for the company. And I had people who would ask me, What do you make? Like the message wasn't clear enough, and so I knew by putting binding in the name, it would help just communicate what we were about very quickly to customers. And so that's when we made the switch over. That was probably maybe like four years ago we switched. And that point I also started making the bias quilt binding, and that really took off. And I I honestly was kind of surprised. Um, and so that's become, I would say we sell the most of that, more than the bias tape right now, although it goes back and forth depending on the platform I'm selling on. Um, but yeah, it just kind of the messaging was a real reason why we stuck with that. And the the like when I finally decided, okay, this is gonna be it, like we're just gonna, I'm just gonna live here and do this really well. And that's works for me.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

When you you alluded earlier to your background in retail. How did that retail background really form into your Bessie Pearl binding company building experience? Like, what did you see translated over very clearly?

SPEAKER_00 20:17

The idea of visual marketing was probably the biggest thing. So the company that I worked for, I don't think it's in business anymore, but it was a high-end children's store. So we sold kids shoes that were like Italian companies, Japanese companies. Just I just I worked for them before I had children, so I was judgmental. Okay, I will complete, but you know, like$70 for a kid's pair of shoes, I was like, oh my gosh. They're gonna outgrow in like two months. Yes, right, right. But now I'm a shoe snob for my kids. I'm like, we will not buy those cheap shoes at Target. Okay, anyway, that's a whole nother story. But so so you have to learn, okay, back to why that makes sense. You have to learn how to visually market something uh to create value. So if you go into Walmart, they and I love Walmart, but they uh their visuals are very different in the way they display their products than if you go to Nordstrom, right? Because it just looks different. Nordstrom, you have a lot of space. You have the more space you give to a product visually, the more value it has to a customer. The more you crowd your products together, the less valuable they typically are. So things like that. So we had to do a lot of our own in-store visuals in terms of how am I going to display something in the store so that the customer wants to buy it? How do I set up my sale display differently than I do my full price display in a way that sends a message to the customer and that will help this product move? What am I wanting to highlight in this product so that the customer wants to buy it? What makes sense to them? What is valuable to them? And so things like that were so helpful, and that translates then into how I photograph my products now, how I display them when I do an in person market, because it is a higher end product. I I get that. You can go and buy very cheap buying. Buy a stape at Walmart. And that's fine. And for some people, that's what they want. That's great. That's not what I sell. And so I need to communicate that value to my customer very quickly through visuals. That's the only way you can do it when you primarily sell online.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

No, it makes total sense because especially, especially in today's day and age with all the e-commerce, we want to see that visual, to feel that visual. And there's a tie there of what we see equates to money, equates to whether it's worthwhile and how it's photographed. And it definitely shows. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

Now, do you do you sell online and in brick and mortar? Or kind of explain how we our listeners could even access or get your binding.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Yeah. Um, you can always buy right from me on our website, bestieprobindingco.com. But we also are on Etsy still. Um that's how I started 10 years ago. And I at one point thought I would like be an adult and get off of Etsy, but I was like, I'm gonna have a real website because I'm an adult now, and like we're gonna, you know, this girl, I could do this. Yeah, but people didn't want to leave. People love Etsy, and it is its own search engine, and it I still make it still is a great like sales revenue for me. Like, so I haven't left. It's great. Um, so you can shop us on there if you want. Um, you can have there's a small selection of our product on Amazon, and we do also offer wholesale. So, yes, there are brick and mortar stores that will carry our products. I don't have my own brick and mortar store, no. So you can find them at some of the retailers throughout the world, which is what that's that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

I know and then we kind of talk about it at QuilCon of like you're like, I can't even believe that I have some of my product on Amazon. Like just the fact that people can find it on Amazon, which it feels like a big moment to just make it more accessible. But I love that you have it in stores, you have it online, you have it on Etsy. So there's so many different ways for people to be able to find your products, and and starting, I think, at your website to just see all that you offer is a good place to start. Um, but like the my question to you is like the first version of your binding, Etsy Pearl binding, like when you look back at where you started to where you are now, like what are some of the key changes in that you you've made to get to the product that you have today that is just taking off so well and doing so good? It was it are you doing custom fabrics? Are you designing your own now? Like, how like how far have you kind of done gone with it to make it your own?

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Yeah, it's so funny because some things have stayed exactly the same. There are certain fabrics behind, right? But I still sell it's still the make the product the same way, and then there are some things that have changed. Yeah, we do have our own custom fabrics now. We've partnered with Kylie Farrens, who's has designed some. I don't design fabric, but she did some designs for us, and so we have some custom fabrics. I do custom work for other companies sometimes now that they contract me to do, but then some things have stayed the same. Like I still sell little tiny floral bias tape, which is something I've always sold. And so we still sell black and white stripe bias binding, you know? So in that way, it hasn't changed. But things like the logo, the packaging has changed, and then the biggest change was that we switched from me making everything to now I work with a manufacturer who helps support that process because it just got to be where the the company couldn't grow anymore because I was holding on to all of the pieces of it. So I kind of had to learn, like I had to get out of my own way if I wanted to.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Yeah, that's a hard lesson to learn as a business owner. It was so scary.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

Oh my gosh, it was so scary. But I got to a point where I was like, if I never make another piece of bias binding again, that will be fine. You know, I just can't spend 10 hours a day doing it every day, and that's what it became. It was like I couldn't do anything else besides that. And that just was not sustainable.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

So if there's something people misunderstand about running a product-based sewing business, what would you say that is?

SPEAKER_00 26:01

I think some people expect me to be Amazon in terms of uh and not not a lot. I will say this the sewing community is generous and understanding and so friendly and so lovely to work with. I I cannot ask for a better community. After working in retail in brick and mortar retail, I don't think people understand how great it is, you know, uh, because those people are wild in stores. And so, like, no one's coming into my store and stealing from me. So I think that's great, you know. Expect you to be available all the time, I guess. And this has to do with the fact that like I'm a solo owned business. It's just me. And so there'll be people who get frustrated if I don't get back to them right away.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

Like within five minutes.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Or so I'm not sure. You are all the things. You're the owner, you're the CEO, you're doing the financing, you're doing customer service, you're inventory control, like you're doing all the things, you're designing, you're creating new stuff. Like, that's a lot. And then you're going to shows, which is where we met you in person. Like, there's so many things, so many hats that a business owner runs. And sometimes when we look at a website and and a company and we see all these products, we think there's probably like a bunch of people behind that that are making this operation run. And sometimes there is, yeah, but a lot of times there's not. And I think just a reminder to give grace in those situations, and that you know, it's true. We've talked to many people who have said, like, I do all of it, and I can only do so much in one day. There's only so many hours, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:34

There are, and there's just only so much like mental capacity that you have to do, at least for me. I just get to the point where my brain is just like done. I have to just wait till the next day to do more.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

Brain fatigue is real. And when you're doing a lot of decision making in a day, and as a business owner who's doing all the things, you're making a lot of different decisions and having to pivot focus. I think even just having to go from I was focusing on this, but now this needs my attention. I have to focus on this. Oh, yeah. And it's hard sometimes to make those transitions and give your focus somewhere else, but then like now I've got the kids that need to go do something, but then I still need to like order grocery, get groceries for meals, you know. Like, there's there's so much that we juggle as women in general, but also as business owners. It can be a lot. It can be a lot.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

It definitely is. And I'm so I'm very thankful that I have a couple people in my life I can be like, hey, I just need to run this idea by you. Um, like just let me because it's when you're doing it by yourself, it's also just lonely sometimes, and you feel like I can't make this decision all by myself, you know. Um, I just need someone to like help me process through this and talk through it or give me some feedback. Um, and that's where I love like I love social media for that reason because often I'll put stuff out there and then my followers will will weigh in or send me ideas, and that's really helpful. But going to something like QuiltCon is wonderful because then you get to talk to people and talk to other owners. And so that's just part of why I love doing in-person events sometimes too. It can be so nice.

SPEAKER_02 28:55

For quilters who feel intimidated by binding, what advice do you have for them?

SPEAKER_00 29:01

Well, buy it pre-made. That's what I would tell them. Don't make it yourself then. That's what I would tell them. But but if you if they do want to make, and I think every quilter should learn how to make their own binding, right? Like there are times when you might want your own, and that's fine. What would I tell them? I would tell them either use a solid or a non-directional print to make it easy, so then you don't have to worry about which way things go. Um, I would tell them to find a good tutorial. I always actually direct people to Susie Quilt's website. Um, she just has a lot of really the beginner-friendly tutorials on there that are very easy to follow. There is a video that I've done on how to make your own bias binding on her website. They can watch that. I know people watch that, they tell me all the time. But then I would say also just take your time with it and like, I don't know, again, I'm type B, but like be okay with like it not looking perfect the first time. It's gonna be alright. And when you have to join your ends up, just tuck them in. Just tuck the end in and fold it under and be done. That's all. Don't worry about all the like fancy, you know, fancy waste.

SPEAKER_02 29:58

Measure an inch and a half over, yeah, and like mark it, mark it, toss it. Yeah, the metal steam out.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Cut your ends, tuck one in the inside the other one and fold it under, be done. I do that on the inside of my bags.

SPEAKER_02 30:10

I don't do that on my quilts though, but I do do that on the inside of my bags. Because it's just a pain in the butt inside bags.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

Right, and it's an inside of a bag, who cares?

SPEAKER_02 30:17

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

Exactly, exactly. I I would say I the I have shared many times different ways to do things, and I've shared like, you know, the proper way, or you know, those kind of things. But sometimes I'm like, this is a wall hanging. Like we're just gonna tuck it, fold it, and everybody's like, wait, what? It's not sewn on the at an angle, and then I'm like, who's gonna know? Like it's a whole wall here, nobody can see any of these seams, like it's fine. I always remind my students when I'm teaching, is like it's a matter of completion over perfection, and there's so many different ways, and if you have a preference, then do it that way. That's totally fine. But there's there's some people who just when they get to that last bit, they're just like, I just want to be done, so I can say I finished this and be proud of it. And it doesn't have to be fancy or hard. And so I love that you're like you and I are very similar. I do have a question though when you do sew binding, do you typically hand sew finish your binding, or do you machine finish your binding?

SPEAKER_00 31:19

So if I'm doing a quilt, I will hand sew the final step. Audra, I am like you in that it does I can't do it well on a machine and it annoys me then because then I see it. So I will sew it down on the front and flip it over and hand stitch the back. But I also really love that hand stitching step. I like to do handwork and sit there at night and do it, and so to me that's really fun. So I like that part of it. But I also have a like you were saying, I have a wall hanging in my sewing room that I did. It's all like EPP hexagons and it spells out the word coffee. And that binding, I did bind the edges of it because it was all the little paper pieces. I just hot glued that thing on the back. I didn't even sew it down. Who cares? Just hot glue it. Done. There's no batting or anything to it. I mean, it's just literally the front piece of it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

I I will a confession, this is a safe space. So for those who are listening, this is a safe space. Don't come for me. I have never hand-sewn binding in my entire life, and I have absolutely no desire to do it. I don't like hand sewing anything at all. And so I'm just sharing that for those who maybe can relate to that that you don't have to. Like, I machine bind all of mine. I like the top stitching, but it's also made me really good at top stitching because I have practiced it enough to where like I really like how it looks. I also really like doing a decorative stitch on my binding, and it adds another element to the quilt, um, which is always really fun because I I don't want my bias, my my binding to just be forgotten. I feel like it's a part of the it frames it in, and I really like contrasting. If you can see over here, I like contrasting binding. But one of my favorite types of binding that I like to do is a flange binding, and it's the closest I can get to having like a hand stitch look because you can hide the stitches between the two pieces, and I use a clear thread, and so it's the most forgiving to give that hand stitch look, with also adding a little what I call flair, uh, with like a little extra bit of color into your binding. I think doing that's fun. I love adding rick rack or uh lace or fun trims with pom-poms. Like, I'll add I'll add texture to binding. I think it makes it really fun. And if if if it's um if it's just something like that, I'm like, oh let's let's just zhuzh it up. Let's draw attention to it. This is the home stretch, and I'm just gonna make it really fun. And I think that's totally fine. Like, um, I've seen there's a video going around recently where someone was adding like chanelette over their binding to make it really fluffy. So, like, there's just so many things that you like binding can be really simple and just blend in and frame in, and there's a a place for that, but like don't be afraid to like draw attention to it either. It can be really fun, whether it's with fun prints or designs or adding other elements or decorative stitching, like you get to decide what binding looks like for you. And I'm just sharing that with our listeners because it's okay if you have no interest in hand sewing binding, don't let that stop you from wanting to make quilts, okay? Yeah, thinking that that's like it's funny. My mom offered the other day, she goes, if you ever have any quilts that you want me to finish the binding on, because she loves the hand sewing, even though she's had to have like the surgeries and everything on her hands. She's like, I'll do it. And I'm like, Does it bother you that much that I don't do that? Like, I like I was like, it does it bother you that much that none of my quilts have hand sewn binding, and um, I just thought that was really funny. Yeah, but no, she's she's she has her way, and she's a type A sewist quilter, and I am couldn't be more opposite.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

Yeah, and I do it I love that. I think just like making quilts, there's a million different styles, there's a lot of different ways to finish them, and it's all whatever you love because it's your quilt. So do however it makes you happy, you know. Um, I have really wanted to try the Rick Rack binding um idea because I think it's so cute. But honestly, I make like maybe a quilt a year, maybe. I don't have hardly had time to sew for myself. Um, I haven't gotten around to it yet, but it's on my list. It's on the list. It's fun. They're fun, especially at like Christmas. Like, yeah, I think it's so cute. And just like a little bit of I'm really into anything that's a little bit whimsical right now. So just to add that little zhuzh. Yeah. Yeah, a little bit more whimsy. We do, we do, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 35:32

Oh, before before Bethany does rapid fire questions, I was like, I get to do them today. There is a reel I saw of this girl doing her makeup, and she was using a tiara as like a headband. And I was like, so you start every day like a princess. Like you're like, I have my tiara on and I'm doing my makeup. I'm like, we all need the whimsy, we all need the fantasy.

SPEAKER_00 35:53

Yes, I'm totally off the whimsical algorithm on Instagram, and yeah, I've seen that one. I thought that was really smart.

SPEAKER_02 35:59

I was like, dang, I wish I had one. I might need to buy like a cheap one on Amazon.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

Hair clips, and I'm like, Can I just have these little like clip wings holding my tiara when I do my makeup? I need a tiara, I need to put my trick on often, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 36:12

I don't know. Can I wear it when I just brush my teeth? Well, okay, what if I wear while I'm cooking dinner?

SPEAKER_01 36:18

Does that make it more fun? Um, you had uh a quote kind, you had a tiara crown crown on.

SPEAKER_00 36:26

Yes, yes, I did, and that was because we were doing the 10-year birthday celebration, so I wore a birthday crown, but that is not my usual look.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

I mean you could use that, just kind of pull it back and use that as if you want every morning while you're sipping your coffee, could have a crown on. I feel like that's a very whimsical way to start the day. I agree. Okay, so we do rapid fire questions with our guests, it's just a few, and they're just fun. So the first question is your favorite quilting tool besides your sewing machine?

SPEAKER_00 36:56

Hands down, my rotary cutters. I had the Martelli ergonomic cutters, and I'm an ambidextrous cutter, so I have a right hand one and a left-hand one, and I switch them, and I feel like super woman. But I honestly I love them because the other kind of like ruined my arms.

SPEAKER_01 37:10

So the ambidextrous with an ergonomical rotary cutter is like your superpower. It doesn't feel very short that says I can use a rotary cutter and both hands. Both hands.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

I know, but then that's really my fingers. That's true.

SPEAKER_02 37:28

Yeah, and you still have all your fingertips. Yeah, that's truly impressive. Yes, dang.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

But then people ask me, like, show me how you make your binding. I always have to say in all my like video tutorials, you're gonna have to flip the fabric, but I don't know how to do it because I just am gonna cover my other hand. Like, I don't know how to teach people how to do it the normal way.

SPEAKER_01 37:45

So I walked to the other side of my table. Okay, there you go around my table.

SPEAKER_00 37:50

Oh, that's a good idea. Instead of moving the fabric. No. Okay, smart. But yes, the Martelli cutters. Martelli cutters are awesome. I love them.

SPEAKER_01 37:57

Um, your favorite binding method, machine or hand finish? We kind of asked that question already, but if you had to pick one that you could only do for the rest of your life.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

I still would probably do it by hand. Yeah, I still probably do it by hand just because I love that, like the soothing aspect of hand stitching.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

What is your favorite sewing snack? My favorite sewing snack.

SPEAKER_00 38:16

Um, probably just like like a mug of tea. I'm not a big snacker, probably because I'm messy while I eat. But I do love to have like a good mug of hot tea while I'm uh working. That's always nice.

SPEAKER_01 38:28

A quilting rule you secretly break.

SPEAKER_00 38:31

I never pre-wash my fabric.

SPEAKER_01 38:33

Oh god, no.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

No. Um I oh, I I press the seams. I press them hard. I think you're supposed to just like go up and down.

SPEAKER_01 38:42

You're like, I don't have time for that.

SPEAKER_00 38:44

Iron them. You iron them, yes. I pull on the seam and then I iron it, so I really mess it up really well. Yeah, that's probably the biggest one. I love it. And your favorite TV show, what's your favorite TV show right now? I'm watching the West Wing still, Audra. I'm watching the West Ring. You just made her day. I've seen it all before. It's not my first time watching it. Oh, I have too. Second time watching it, which is lovely. And I just love to listen to the banter because you can just listen to it. It's good.

SPEAKER_02 39:13

I don't have to be like the writing, the wit, and the writing.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

So fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 39:18

So fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 39:19

I love it. So I mean, Friends is my all-time favorite, but right now I'm currently watching the West Wing.

SPEAKER_02 39:24

I'm here for it.

SPEAKER_00 39:25

I know. Well, I hadn't thought about it until you said something about it online, and I was like, Yes, I can watch the West Wing.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

Yes, I actually have a Bartlett for America t-shirt. Do you? It says like it says like Bartlett for America 96. Yes. And I'll wear it out. And I think people actually think it's an actual candidate.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

I have to do double takes that says Bing Tribani for president or something. And people are like, What? Who's that? I'm like, it's it's from friends. It's not a real person. It it's fake. It's fake. I don't feel real to me. I know. This is the like, these are the people we can get behind if they were, you know, really for real.

SPEAKER_02 40:04

Yes, they just made my day. Um, all right, we always wrap up our episodes with uh, you love to see it. It's just something that's happening in your life right now that's making you happy. It doesn't have to be anything swing related. Bethany, what's yours?

SPEAKER_01 40:17

Well, when this podcast is coming out, I'm about to leave for my second retreat this year. Um, so I'm super excited because it will be my first one in Madison, Indiana, and I'm partnering with Kara of the Little Golden Fox for um this retreat. So we're we're going there, and it's if you've never been to Madison, Indiana, I hadn't until her and I connected and she invited me up. But it is like if you were to take the quintessential Hallmark small town picturesque perfection and like go visit it and it not be a Hollywood studio set, but actually like in real life, that is this town, and it's small, it's right on the river, and it's like one of the most his like restored and maintained historic districts, like longest historic district. Like it's all stunning. And once you park there, you never drive anywhere, you just walk everywhere. It's so fun. Um, there's coffee shops on every corner, and there's antique shopping, and there's but we're going to sew and make pottery, so we're gonna do both. And this is my first of three retreats with her this year. So if you didn't get to come to the April one, I'm sorry. But we have two more this year in July and November, and so you're gonna be seeing a lot of content over on my Instagram and everything about my retreat. So I'm just excited to like go sew with new friends again. Like it's one of my it's a lot of work, but it's one of my favorite things to do, and every time I start to kind of get in this like slump or feel alone, like this this business and this craft can be very isolating. I get to finally like go back and be with people in person, and it is it just fills my cup and it makes me so happy. So I'm excited to see all new friends in April or later this week and more of you this year. So that's my you love to see it is. I'm about to pack a suitcase, and every time I get to pack a suitcase, I'm happy.

SPEAKER_02 42:00

What about you, Karen?

SPEAKER_00 42:01

What am I loving right now? So my kids and I are watching the Nate Burgazzi greatest average American show. Have you guys seen this? We love him.

SPEAKER_01 42:09

My kids I went to school with him. He and I went to the same high school and his old hickory, that's where I live. That's so awesome. I love that. His dad is the magician. He did my birthday party. No when I was little. So, like, I know them very well. And I'm like, I saw his dad recently at Target shopping, and he my my son and I were with me. We've seen his shows, and and he was like, I think that's Nate's dad. I was like, Yeah, it is. And he's over there by himself in the men section at Target, like taking pictures of outfits. I don't know who he's sending it to. Like, does this match what you're doing here? We got so tickled. Um, we just kind of left him below, but I was just like, Yeah, the they're what you see online is who they are person, and and he's great. He's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 42:48

He seems like a really genuinely awesome guy. I have a lot of respect for him as an entertainer and a businessman, and I I just like really loved him. But my kids are eight and ten, and they have really gotten into his comedy, and they listen to him all the time. It's clean and they can understand it, and they just think he is so funny. And so we try and keep TV to be like a family thing in our house. So if you're gonna watch TV, we try and do it all together, and there's not a lot that everyone can really get into. Yeah. And so that like the kids will love it, but I usually am just like, this is annoying. But we really love him, and so we've really enjoyed his new show and watching it at night. So last night we were watching it. I was rolling binding while I was watching it, but we were doing that, and so we're just really enjoying that and just the time together as a family.

SPEAKER_01 43:31

So yeah, no, he's great.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

Great show, what's year you'll love to see it?

SPEAKER_02 43:36

Well, right now we are when this airs, we'll be in tech week for frozen. And uh, so you guys all know we're a big theater family. And uh Frozen, our daughter is in Frozen, she's Elsa, so she is ending her middle school career as Elsa in Frozen, which is pretty fun. And uh it's tech week, which means tech week is basically dress rehearsal and opening night. So it's just That week where it's like late nights, mad chaos, and absolutely love tech week. I love everything about it, and I'm just really excited for her to have her time in this role. And she's she's doing great, and it's just really exciting. It's always wonderful to see your kids doing something that they just love and would do it all the time. I think she'd live in a theater if we let her like give her a sleeping bag and pillow. I think she'd just camp out all the time. It is tech week. We're gonna wrap up, but before we do, Karen, is there anything new for Bessie Pearl you would like to talk about? Anything you want to plug? Anything that's launching that our listeners should know about?

SPEAKER_00 44:38

Yeah. Um we are we are expanding our colors this spring. So I was really challenged, especially at QuiltCon. I got to talk to a lot of my retailers and feedback from customers to try and move into some brighter and jewel tone colors, which is not my normal preferred palette. Let's say that I'm a neutrals kind of girl. But we're gonna have some things that'll go with like Cave that'll go with Alice and Glass. Uh, we're bringing in more jewel tones, so just to kind of expand so that way for other customers who wanna um who just like different colors, different looks, there should be some more options for them coming soon. And then this summer, fingers crossed, I'm really excited. We are going to do our first ever sew-along, which I've never done a sew along before, but we are going to be taking our quilt tops and making them into a maxi skirt pattern. And so doing a quilt top, maxi skirt sew-along, probably sometime July, I think, is when we're gonna, June, July, we're gonna do that. So that's the next big project I've got to figure out how to run a sew-along. So I don't know, but come along, it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be very tight B, but it's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

That sounds amazing. That sounds like it'd be a blast.

SPEAKER_00 45:43

So much fun, yeah, because we all have those quilt tops that nobody's finished, and like we don't all need more quilts, right? So let's do something different with them. Totally agree, totally agree.

SPEAKER_01 45:51

And I think it's a good way for people to try like make that merge from quilting to garment sewing in a safe way. Yes. I I was literally having this conversation with somebody the other day of like we all have different types of sewing that kind of got us into sewing, but then we all find ourselves like exploring other types. Like, oh yeah, you know, my mom started with garments and making her own clothes and making my clothes, but then I outgrew that phase, and so now she made it she made quilts and and home decor and and diaper bags for baby shower gifts, like just it just expands and and and it can all intermix. And I don't know, we were literally just talking about that the other day. So I love that you're kind of incorporating like a different aspect of sewing, merging like quilting with garments.

SPEAKER_00 46:33

Yes, I think so many sew quilters now are moving, like you said, back and forth in between all the different mediums, and there's a lot of new people coming in. And so just trying to make something that's really accessible and entry-level and fun for everyone to do because sometimes a quilt is just too much to do the whole thing. So, yeah, we're gonna give it a try. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 46:50

Well, I'm excited, we'll be on the lookout for that. If you're not following Bessie Pearl Binding Company on Instagram, you should go check out our website, sign up for the email newsletter so you make sure you know when the sew along's gonna happen. We're excited to hear more about it as it comes. I know it's gonna be great. Um, and guys, thank you for listening today. You can always subscribe to our YouTube channel, um, go over to our Facebook group, um, the social sewist, and continue the conversation. And if you have more questions for Karen, please leave them over there. We'll make sure she sees them. But we're so grateful you listened today. Be sure you're following us on Instagram and Facebook as well. And we'll see you next time in two weeks. Um, for the next episode, we've got some more fun topics coming up and more guests lined up ahead. And Karen, again, thank you so much for your time today. This has been lovely. Yeah, thank you guys for having me. This was so fun.

SPEAKER_02 47:36

Of course, of course, happy sewing.

SPEAKER_00 47:38

Bye.

SPEAKER_03 47:38

Bye.