What is a Hacking Guide?

Sewing patterns are amazing, but there’s only so far they can go on their own. The whole point of most sewing patterns is to help you make a specific garment that will turn out a specific way. But, what about all the other ways you could sew something, all the other ideas that come to mind? Amelia and I (Amy) dreamed up the first Hacking Guide with the All Well Box Top sewing pattern simply because we love to hack sewing patterns! We love endless possibilities, considering all the options, thinking about what we really want to make.

We kept hacking our own box tops, and we figured you might too. It just seemed like a Hacking Guide was something that should exist in the world, so we invented it! (Although first we thought of calling it a Hacking Handbook, that would have been silly!) Then came the All Well Cardigan Coat, and the hacking joy only expanded! 

A hacking guide is really a possibility guide. It’s a collection of really good ideas and how to make them happen. It’s taking lots of the options (the ones we can think of, though there are surely more) and laying them all out on the table. Hacking, and sewing in general really, is ultimately about abundance and choice: out of everything in the world you could make, what will you make and how? The answer to those questions is entirely in your hands — we’re here to help you get to the bottom of it.