A Leibster? For me?

Said in the tone of the "Bad NFL lip reading" video here:

(The orange peanut bit still cracks me up.)

L over at You Sew, Girl kindly nominated me for a Leibster award! I feel so honored--thanks! L sews a mean pair of jeans and was the instigator for the currently running Trenchcoat sewalong that I'm participating in.

The Leibster Blog Award is designed to show support for blogs with 200 or less followers.  

Accepting the award has the following conditions:

• Thank the person who nominated you for the award.
• Post the award on your blog.
• Answer five questions asked by the person who nominated you.
• Nominate five people and notify them.
• Ask them five questions.

On to my questions:

1. Why did you start sewing?
   
   I've always been interested in sewing--all of my female relatives sewed (my cousin has a degree in fashion design), and I can remember handsewing Barbie clothes when I was really young. I asked my mom to teach me a few times but was horribly intimidated by the task of threading the machine, of all things.
   
   Finally, a few years ago, I lost a significant amount of weight (all of which has been back and partially gone again since then) but was horribly frustrated and depressed by the fact that even though I was finally a healthy weight and could wear size 10 jeans, I still had to shop at Lane Bryant for a button down blouse that didn't gap or pull because of my large bust. I enrolled in a beginning sewing class at my local adult ed program, made a cute pair of pajama pants (reviewed here), and the rest is history.
2. Do you have a pattern company from which you sew the most?  The least?
   
   I sew from HotPatterns and StyleArc the most. Both companies match my personal style well and usually don't require many fit adjustments for me. I'm also intrigued by relative newbie Skinny Bitch Curvy Chick (SBCC), since I'm only 5'2" and their freebie Tonic Tee quickly became my TNT tee pattern. I've downloaded a few of their paid patterns but haven't had a chance to make them up yet.
   
   I don't often sew from the Big 4 pattern companies for myself, but I do still use them when sewing for my husband and daughter.
3. When your sewjo makes a run for the border, what do you do to bring it back?
   
   I pick a quick, easy, low-risk project to bring my sewjo back. The last time this happened, I sewed another version of my Tonic Tee. Sewing a TNT is a perfect pick-me-up when you've just sewn a wadder.
4. Why did you start blogging?
   
   Oh boy...pull up a chair for this one...
   
   I've been blogging in spurts since I started sewing in 2007. I'd go long stretches without blogging because life would get in the way and/or I would wonder who would actually read anything I wrote. Also, as a plus sized woman (most of the time), I generally haven't been happy with the shape of my figure and didn't want to "put it out there" for others to judge.
   
   In the past two years, I've become hyperaware of women's body image issues now that I have a daughter. (I am now also prone to posting rants on Facebook about the socialization of gender roles in young children.)I'm struggling with wanting to be both a positive role model for her but not being happy with my own body. Writing a blog documenting my sewing projects (with pictures) is a step on my path to body acceptance.
   
   On top of that, there just aren't that many plus sized sewing bloggers out there. (Don't get me wrong, there are a few really AWESOME ones.) I've also been noticing fewer plus sized women posting reviews with pictures on PatternReview in the past couple of years. So, I'm blogging my sewing projects also partially to lend a voice to other plus sized sewists and maybe give them ideas on which patterns are/are not friendly to voluptuous figures.
5. Is there a fabric that you will absolutely not sew?
   
   Anything that ravels horribly and will not press--poly chiffon, poly georgette, etc. No matter how pretty, I tell myself "just say no" and walk away.

 As part of my agreement, I'd like to nominate the following fellow bloggers for a Leibster:

To the bloggers, I apologize if you've already been nominated elsewhere that I somehow missed or if your blog has more than 200 followers--I couldn't figure out how to view the stats for followers unless it's a badge on your site:

• Sherril, who recently started blogging again at Sherril's sewing saga.
• Westmoon who posts awesome and funny magazine roundups at Confessions of a Sewing Novice.
• Curvy fashionista and body image blogger Laurwyn at QuirkyPrettyCute.
• Because cats...Alison at Sewing With Cats.
• Kim at girl with a time machine, who seems to share a similar taste in patterns to me.

 And my five questions for them:

1. How long have you been sewing and what was the first garment you made?
2. Lately, it seems like everyone has been starting their own pattern company. If you launched your own indie pattern company, what would your focus(es) be?
3. What are your favorite projects that you've sewn?
4. What do you like the most and the least about blogging?
5. Do you have any random talents that your blog readers wouldn't know about?