All Well is a creative sewing studio producing simple, intuitive, and super-hackable sewing patterns written with sewists of all skill levels, from never-sewn-before to super-advanced, in mind. We make the kinds of sewing patterns that can be sewn over and over without feeling redundant – often releasing Hacking Guides with our patterns to create room for lots of creativity as sewists approach the pattern. You can see this approach in action in our best-selling patterns + hacking guide, the All Well Box Top and the All Well Cardigan Coat.
All Well is also committed to helping sewists at all levels learn and stay curious about the craft, making sewing skills approachable, modern, playful and useful. Besides patterns, we’re making creative and beautiful learning resources like zines, prints, tutorials, and other learning tools like videos, newsletters, and blog posts. And a book, How to Sew Clothes!
All Well’s sewing patterns are a collaboration between Amy Bornman and Amelia Greenhall. Amy started the studio as a slow-fashion business in 2018, and met Amelia on Instagram in 2019 when they struck up a conversation. Because both wanted to learn how to make sewing patterns, Amy and Amelia decided to learn how by producing one of Amy’s designs together – All Well’s first sewing pattern, the All Well Bucket Bag. Their experiment in working together grew into a lively collaboration. Amy is All Well’s designer, and she runs the business and communication and creates the content that All Well puts out. Amelia is All Well’s publisher and editor! Together, from across the country, Amy and Amelia write instructions and develop the patterns, solve problems, make plans for what patterns and materials are coming next, navigate the twists and turns of creative small business – and also have fun talking about sewing and life and the world over facetime.
Our sewing patterns come to you as pdf files that you download and print at home on normal paper, then assemble like a puzzle, or print on big paper at a copy shop. Each pattern comes with a fully-illustrated instructions booklet full of all of the information you need to sew the pattern, plus lots of helpful tips, information, and diagrams. Our garment patterns also come with a hacking guide full of sewing skills, fit-adjustment guides, and ideas for how to create even more variations of the pattern. All of our patterns are rigorously tested by sewists across all skill levels, and our garment patterns are fit-tested across our full size range. We are constantly considering our process, and thinking about how to make our patterns more approachable, inclusive, comprehensive, and fun to use.
We think sewing with gusto (!) is a way of connecting to the confidence, bravery, and thoughtfulness in your life. A way to feel at home in your body and with the things you use daily (like clothes! and bags! and things in your home!), to find new appreciation for the detail in fabric and construction and the way things go together and are connected to everything else. For us, we’ve found that the confidence from building new skills and wearing comfortable clothes spills over into the rest of life: helping to bring clarity about what we want and how we want to show up and contribute to the world and our own circumstances. Hopefully you find some of that in All Well. We’re really glad you’re here.
about amy / @amybornman
I learned to sew as a kid, but I really fell in love with it by figuring out how to make quilts when I graduated from college and didn’t know what to do with myself. When I started making clothes shortly thereafter, I really loved self-drafting and figuring out how to use simple shapes and the drape of the fabric to make clothes I felt good in. I couldn’t stop thinking about sewing and planning new projects, and soon it felt like a natural next step to let it take a larger role in my life.
I started All Well in 2018 as a small slow-fashion clothing business, but quickly realized that the design and development process was the most exciting part of the work — not that production-sewing for hours and hours on end isn’t riveting! — so I became interested in developing my designs as sewing patterns. I wanted to help more people learn how to sew, not only because it’s a way to make clothes that fit well and feel good, but also because the practice of sewing was a huge force of good in my life and I wanted to spread that feeling around.
I think that sewing is an art form. I love thoughtful and simple embellishment on clothing – patchwork, embroidery, colorblocking, the perfect textile pairing. I’m naturally drawn to the simplest, most classic shapes. I’m always thinking about hand-work and historic textile methods and motifs – the way sewing has been done in the past, and the way it happens now. I also think a lot about how sewing affects my body and interior life, the way it centers me and gives me small goals to achieve slowly and in my own time. Sewing has felt like a home for both my body and mind, a place to solve problems with low stakes, a way to practice mending, both literally and figuratively.
I sew primarily on a Juki TL-2000qi semi-industrial sewing machine, and I also use a Singer Heavy Duty 4423, plus a juki serger that I really love. I work out of my house in my hometown – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bobo, my sweet dog, is a steadfast studio companion and also helps me take breaks and get outside, and though my husband, Isaiah, doesn’t sew much (he learned how from his grandmother when he was young!), he has graciously let me take over most of our house with sewing gear and supports my (sometimes crazy!) dreams at every turn.
I love using secondhand and deadstock materials and supplies, which spills over into the rest of my life as a consumer. For the past few years, everything I’ve added to my wardrobe (and most of the things I’ve added to my home!) has been either thrifted, gifted, or handmade. I started thrifting a ton in college because I was short on money. It’s still an economic choice for me now, but it’s also largely an ethical and environmental choice too.
Quilts are still my favorite thing to make. The long process of making a quilt really helps me center myself. (The Modern Patchwork zine has all my best quilt thoughts.) Hand-quilting and needle-turn applique are some of my favorite meditative practices.
I’m trained as a theater artist – in school and beyond I devised and performed in lots of plays, and stitched lots of costumes behind the scenes. I also love writing poetry and essays. You can find some of my writing work at amybornman.com, and at a blog I co-write with a friend — synchronized-swim.com. We also have a podcast, which you can listen to here! Fair warning, though, we don’t talk much about sewing!
about amelia / ameliagreenhall.com, @anemone.es
I get a lot of joy from sewing what I need around the house, camping gear, or mending. I love sewing clothes!
Living in Seattle, I wear a lot of layers. Every day, mostly pants and a sweater, wool socks and boots. In summer, sandals and a box top or silk button up or camisole. It’s always about beauty and use, clothing that fits my body well, keeps me warm, lets me move and work and ride my bike in it.
Having a great fit, especially on pants, has changed how I feel in subtle, interesting ways. I’m tall and have a different shape than ready to wear clothing, so not-fitting-things was often my experience. I just didn’t buy much clothing, and wore the same things I did find over and over. I wouldn’t have guessed how much comfort I would get from adding 3/4” (2 cm) to the rise of pants, or grading between sizes to have a waist-hip ratio that fit me. Small changes make such a big difference.
I sew with a Brother CS-6000i machine and a Pfaff Hobbylock 788 serger. I wear a lot of cotton/denim/canvas, wool, silk/raw silk, linen — it’s really all about the fabric, often secondhand, remnants or leftover designer deadstock. I like wearing neutrals and blues, playing with transparency/translucency/layering. I love having a texture, color, shape in my imagination, and turning it into something real, to wear or use.
I also think a lot about cooking, the climate crisis / mass extinction we’re in, biking, climbing mountains, having adventures, risograph printing, making art, and reading. There’s more about all those experiments, and other stuff, on ameliagreenhall.com and anemone.studio, and the ANEMONE newsletter.
ANEMONE is the publishing imprint for All Well sewing patterns and publications. Find more prints, zines, and other publishing projects at anemone.studio and on instagram at @anemone.es.
Have an idea? Curious about our work? Want to collaborate? Need to get in touch? We love to make things and teach and learn, and we also love to get to know the people who use our patterns – send us a note about whatever’s on your mind and we’ll get to back to you as soon as we can! Use this form, or send us an email directly at hello@allwellworkshop.com!
P.S. — A QUICK NOTE: We’re working slowly right now! You can still reach out with questions or issues, but just be patient.
