Take a peek at the projects Rob has been working on and is filming in Hamilton this week! We can’t wait to get these fun tutorials out to you, we hope you love them as much as we do!
Bonus Video: Project Preview
Rob on the Road
We can’t believe it’s already the middle of March! Time sure has zipped right by! You know what they say though, time flies when you’re having fun and that’s exactly how Rob has felt! He has been a busy guy, traveling and teaching his passion of quilting! So far this year, he has been up and down the California coast doing what he does best, having fun with his fans!!! If you’ve ever had the chance to meet Rob, then you understand how passionate he is about quilting! No matter where he goes, he’s bringing it up in conversation! At the grocery store, on the beach, on the plane to Hamilton, MO to film new tutorials, he really wants the world to know how great sewing is! Thank you for following along with Man Sewing and helping Rob to share his passion for quilting with you!! Check out these fun photos from the last few months of Rob’s travels!
I always have blast when I get to travel and teach the craft I’m most passionate about! Thanks for having me!! #mansewing #3dudesquilt #Repost @familythreadsquiltshop ・・・ We were so thrilled to have @robappell @mansewing at the shop today, through our local guild. Everyone enjoyed it and got lots done! #quiltygalsatfamilythreads #mansewing A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on
Check out all of Rob’s upcoming events HERE!
Bad Call Ball Tutorial
Today’s Manly Monday tutorial is an easy sewing tutorial that will save you thousands of dollars on new tv’s! Well maybe the wild sports fans in your life aren’t THAT destructive, but let’s not take any chances. Check out the Bad Call Ball tutorial HERE.
2015 in Review
Wow, what a year! We have LOVED 2015 here at Man Sewing! We released a bunch of fun tutorials, made new friends, bonded over our love of fabric and learned a lot! 2015 was a year to remember for sure! We are so thankful for the milestones we were able to hit because of our loyal followers that we’ve gained since the launch of Man Sewing in February of this year. Because of our viewers we were able to release a brand new tutorial every single Monday along with a bunch of bonus videos. That’s 49 tutorials, 11 Quick Tips and many more fun videos. We wouldn’t of been able to do it if we didn’t have people watching them! So thank you! We hit some huge milestones like 25,000 subscribers and 2 million (almost) views on YouTube! Wow, our followers rock!!!
Our most popular quilting tutorial this year was the 3 Dudes Quilt with a Twist. Jenny Doan of Missouri Star joined the set for this one and man did we have a blast filming this tutorial! I think it’s safe to say that we had even MORE fun looking at all of the pictures that came in of the beautiful quilts that were made following this tutorial. There is something truly special about teaching something to a camera, not knowing who will watch or what they will think of it, but then seeing pictures of someone’s own version of that project. Jenny has been doing this longer than I have and I couldn’t agree more with her when she says that every single photo that is shared with her will forever be a treasured spot in her heart. Keep those pictures coming, my friends. We really do love looking at them and admiring what our fans are making!
Our most popular Facebook post in 2015 was our introduction to the “How to Hem Jeans” tutorial. This one was a great skill to teach and we were happy with the response it got. Just like anything in life, people have their preferences and hemming jeans this way just happened to be our preferred method. We learned a lot from our fans about what they did to hem pants, why they liked our version or why they didn’t. We love the feedback good and bad from our followers. As we continue to grow Man Sewing we look for the good AND bad, so we appreciate every comment and message that comes through. Thank you again for your awesome feedback!!
https://www.facebook.com/mensewing/posts/542765445866116
Our most popular Instagram post was something silly that we found on Pinterest recently. We’re not surprised this one got more attention with the hype of the new Star Wars movie. Who doesn’t love some good sewing humor??
Coming in close second on Instagram was this one… Again, humor wins in our book! We spent the year smiling and laughing every single day. It’s hard to not be so happy when we get to work with the best fans every day!
Hey, I’m just being honest with you! Have you ever made 5 or 6 of the same mistake on a project? Please don’t tell me I’m alone! #mansewing #quiltinghumor #sewinghumor #sliceablockquilt A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on
In 2015 we had our very first Surf’s Up Retreat at Missouri Star Quilt Company! The turnout was small but that made the whole weekend a more personal experience for us and the retreaters! Many of you know that Man Sewing is powered by MSQC, so it was a no brainer that we should have a Man Sewing retreat! The awesome Retreat Staff at Missouri Star put everything together and it was a blast! We’re already looking forward to the Man Sewing Retreat in 2016! Take a look at the fun we had at the retreat here: http://msqcmansewing.wpengine.com/2015/11/surfs-up-retreat/
Towards the end of the summer we started using a fun app called Periscope. Periscope allows us to have a live interactive video chat. Thanks to some helpful followers, we were able to start saving those videos with another app called Katch. The scopes were a blast because we can do them anywhere with cell service! Our most popular recorded Periscope was one we did about Thread Shredding. You can watch the rest of the periscopes HERE!
Another exciting event that happened in 2015 was the Color Strata tutorial and BOOK!!! Color Strata was a quilt made long before the days of Man Sewing but we were SO excited to get this tutorial filmed and a book published! The Color Strata quilt was on the cover of Quilting for You, a European quilting magazine this year. The quilt has also been on traveling displays around the country. Color Strata was the perfect tutorial to end 2015. Missouri Star will soon be carrying ALL of the Cotton Couture color ways from Michael Miller Fabrics. We sure do love Michael Miller fabrics at Man Sewing, so we are EXCITED!!! You can grab our new book HERE!
All in all, 2015 was good to us. We accomplished a lot and made the best memories, all thanks to YOU! We can’t thank you enough for helping us make Man Sewing into something incredible. We look forward to what 2016 has in store for us. Thanks for being so loyal and following along with the content we’re putting out. Have a Happy New Year!!
Bonus Video: Huge Waves in Morro Bay
Many of you know that I’m a surfer when I’m not in the studio working on quilts. The winter swell is moving into Morro Bay and the waves are HUGE!!! Looks like I’ll be sitting this winter out… I hope you have a swell day! 😉
Bonus Video: California Reindeer
In yesterday’s Periscope we had a little fun and did a Christmas craft! What’s more fun than creating reindeer using objects you can pick up on the side of the road? Check out the fun scope here:
Bonus Video: Cleaning a Featherweight
Yesterday we had a great time going over the perfect french press mug and how to clean a Featherweight sewing machine! We even show you how we make our coffee on the go! That’s right! Enjoy this fun periscope!
Bonus Video: Periscope’s with Rob
We’ve got quite the collection of bonus videos for you and we’re excited to share them here on Mansewing.com!
From here on out we’ll be updating the blog weekly with the newest scopes! Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter so you don’t miss a thing! Here are the scopes we have saved so far! We hope you enjoy these bonus videos with Rob as the cameraman!
New Tutorial: Traveling Coffee Kit
Did you have a great Thanksgiving? I sure did! Nothing better than a relaxing weekend with family and friends! I’m back to work though and today’s new tutorial will help me get through the week, every week! Today’s new tutorial is a Traveling Coffee Kit! (Although it can be made for anything! Tea, crafts, embroidery, first aid, anything!) Check out the tutorial HERE to learn all about Kraft-tex and how to make a cool traveling pouch!
Surf’s Up Retreat
I had so much fun at the Surf’s Up Retreat at Missouri Star Quilt Company! What a blast to spend one on one time with those that traveled to come to my retreat! Because we had a smaller group we were all able to spread out our sewing supplies and use the spacious Sewing Center to our advantage! Let’s just take a minute and talk about this Sewing Center. Nothing is better than a comfortable space with amazing lighting and plenty of space to spread out. Anyways, here are a few pictures of the Sewing Center!
The whole place was a quilting inspiration. I may have a few new motifs up my sleeve after being in there all weekend!!
On the first night of the retreat we had my trunk show! The trunk show was pretty sweet! I even brought in all of the projects I was filming this last week and previewed those! I love it when I get to spoil those who come to my retreats! Here’s a little shout out to Jenny, Ron and their son, Josh for coming to the trunk show! And another HUGE shout out to Mr. Jenny for holding all my quilts while I spoke! 
Here are a few photos from the trunk show! Each of the quilts in my trunk show have a story. Some are funny, others tug on your heart a little but all of the quilts have a place in my heart and have shaped who I am today. You’ll have to come to one of my trunk shows to hear the stories!
I would say tonight’s trunk show at my Surf’s Up Retreat was a success! I had so much fun showing my quilts and sharing my stories. #mansewing #quiltretreat #missouristar A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on
When the trunk show was over, Susan (who ran the retreat center) was kind enough to hang up every single quilt! It totally added to the ambiance and put us in caffeinated sewing mode! 
More quilts! PS the green one on the back wall is an upcoming tutorial!
I loved the quilts hanging up so much that I did a live video chat showing them all!! You can watch that HERE!
Here are some pictures from my 3 Dudes Class I taught! This one has always been a popular one and the retreaters LOVED this quilt. Almost as much as I loved their own renditions. Most of them had already started sewing strip sets and cutting blocks before the class even started! We were all so excited about this quilt! 
Check out what Vicki made at the retreat last night!! She’s rockin’ this pattern!! #mansewing #missouristar #3dudesquilt #quiltretreat #Repost @auntvicki_ ・・・ Ready to sew my rows. A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on
After hours of sewing it was time to take a field trip to the shops! With a smaller group it’s easy to do that! We walked through some of the shops, I showed them my favorite products and we even got to practice our Free Motion Quilting on a Crown Jewel in the new Machine Shed! What an awesome store!
On Saturday we had our Reverse Applique Class! I’m amazed at what this group created!! Here are a few pictures of the fun!
Look at this good looking group!!!
Here are some of the Reverse Appliqué creations from today’s class!! #mansewing #surfsup #quiltretreat #appliqué A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on
All in all the Surf’s Up Retreat was awesome! We made new friendships, bonded over our love of fabric, made a few quilts and most importantly… had fun!!! We hope to make this a tradition and do a Surf’s Up Retreat every year! I’ll be sure to let you all know when we have the dates set in stone!