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Deborah Moebes | handmade slow fashion with a side of thrifting

@whip.stitch

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🍋 Handmade lifestyle. Aggressive optimism.
✂️ Sew your own wardrobe: @leagueofdressmakers
☠️ Quilt & solve crime: @murdermysteryquilt

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Hi, there! Today is my 4️⃣8️⃣th birthday, and it feels like time for some re-introductions? I’m Deborah, and I started Whipstitch in 2007 as a tiny studio in the back room of a local artists’ co-op where I taught sewing classes in the evenings after my very small children went to bed. That evolved into writing two books, teaching online, and hosting the @murdermysteryquilt and the @leagueofdressmakers, my very favorite work I have ever done. I didn’t have an expectation that work would ever bring me so much joy, and it’s a humbling privilege to love sharing sewing as much as I do!
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Also me:
I am passionate about the color yellow 💛 and think everyone should have a signature color.
My husband & I live in Atlanta with our 3 school age kids. We travel together as far and often as we can, and listen to as much live music as possible.
I am a certified Master Gardener but my policies lean toward the laissez faire vis à vis weeding and mulch. I will rescue any tragic sale rack houseplant from any home improvement store anywhere to bring it home to our sunroom where it can live its best life.
I have degrees in English, education, and theatre and taught high school English, drama, and yearbook. I have a graduate degree in Anthropology and half a PhD in Archaeology, and did field work as an archaeologist where I personally excavated prehistoric human teeth, fossilized human waste, and a carbonized kernel of maize from before Columbus (not in the same spot tho).
We once went camping and took our daughter’s betta fish, which slept overnight in the car with my hand-knitted scarf wrapped around his bowl. His name was Blueberry and he survived, but he never went camping with us again.
My appetite for books is only eclipsed by my appetite for smashed avocado & fresh yarn.
I resisted therapy for, like, as long as possible but it’s actually amazing and totally works.
I think I’ve never been more at peace with who I am than right at this moment, and that’s an incredible thing to be able to say. Getting older is badass, 10/10 would highly recommend.
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Thank you for being here and giving me a space to share the things that give me so much joy!! 🤩 taken in Atlanta, Georgia by @whip.stitch

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4 years ago

This dress was definitely over a decade in the making because I hoarded the fabric (which I bought in two smaller cuts) until I had the PERFECT pattern, which I finally had to design myself. It’s this fun Hawaiian print on a flowy suuuuuuper soft viscose rayon, and when we traveled to Mexico recently I thought: THIS IS THE TIME. Perfect dress for an August trip to the Yucatán in 95-degree heat, right? But it turns 745 am at the Atlanta airport while racing to your gate with takeaway coffee isn’t the ideal time to ask for video of your dress, so props to my husband for getting this, especially since you can tell by my expression that I was way more focused on getting to the gate so I could wait in the scrum with all the other passengers.

TL;DR we had an amazing time in Mexico

Pattern: the #drawstringshift from @leagueofdressmakers
Fabric: RIP JoAnn, am I right??
Shoes: Adidas
Suitcase: ignore everything they say about smart bags, they’re garbage, this is a @briggsandriley which is an investment, yes, but has a lifetime warranty which I have invoked and it was WORTH IT, best suitcase I have ever owned and the last one I will ever buy, I am unhinged about this bag (this was also one of my favorite birthday gifts I’ve ever gotten, it seemed “practical” at the time but what’s more romantic than “I want to travel with you so much and so often that you need a bag with a lifetime warranty”???)
Sweater: secondhand via @poshmark by @whip.stitch

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2 months ago

A totally stream-of-consciousness response to a clip from @monica_lewinsky and @joshjohnsoncomedy on her podcast which apparently gave me such big feelings that I talked non-stop for just over 4 minutes. #literacy #readersgonnaread #cardcatalog #curate #homelibrary by @whip.stitch

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2 months ago

Late summer nights vibes. In the #scouttop pattern from @merchantandmills sewn in an embroidered white linen which gives CLASSIC, TIMELESS, CHIC. Paired with my trusty #worshipjeans (pattern by @daughterjudypatterns) and a pair of studded sandals by @beekbytwobirds that are actually flawless and actually leather. #imakemyownclothes #sewyourown #sewover50 by @whip.stitch

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2 months ago

A quick trip to visit friends in Birmingham meant minimal packing. This skirt has been a heavy rotation favorite since I finished one sit last spring, perfect for mocktails at a new hip joint after BBQ in a gritty dive with questionable air conditioning.

Skirt: @grasserpatterns #grasser943 in a twill rayon blend from @blackbirdfabrics
Top: secondhand via @thredup
Bag: @frye secondhand via @poshmark
Shoes: impulse purchase while visiting our daughter studying abroad in Spain!

#sewyourown #imakemyownclothes #handmadewardobe #sewover50 by @whip.stitch

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3 months ago

Happy Father’s Day to the man who tested every batch of chocolate chip cookies for over fifteen years until we perfected the recipe, and who has grown into the kind of dad who will fly eight hours each way just to spend two days with his daughter while she’s at study abroad. It is such a joy to share children with you, @dadcation. Your whimsy and heart and willingness to take risks and say YES have given our kids so many great memories and a passion for this big world. I’m thankful they have you for their dad. 🩷🩷🩷 #moeanddeb #travelingmoes by @whip.stitch

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4 months ago

These pants don’t strictly speaking have to be so wrinkled but I pulled them from the hamper because I DID need to wear them today. Strictly speaking.

Pants: the #seamlessloungepants from @leagueofdressmakers in a suuuuuuper soft linen

Vest: is a tunic from @grasser in a cable knit sweater fabric that I planned to use to make a dress for about a decade but I never made it so it was obvs always meant to be this tunic

Tank: the #zoeytank from @truebias in a bamboo blend

Shoes: via @zappos
Bag: via @poshmark
Glasses frames: via @warbyparker

#memademay #memademay2026 by @whip.stitch

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5 months ago

We missed you, micro mini hair clip! Welcome back 🤩

Dress: the #ogdencami from @truebias hacked with gathered tiers in the loveliest rayon blend (there’s a full video tutorial included with @leagueofdressmakers membership)

The Ogden doesn’t really work on me as a tank top, but this dress version gets almost constant wear once the temps go over 85 degrees.

Shoes: @dirtylaundryshoes
Bag: cotton macrame? via @poshmark

#memademay #sewover50 #memademay2026 by @whip.stitch

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5 months ago

Another pair of Worship Jeans, and I’m not sorry.

Jeans: #worshipjeans by @daughterjudypatterns in a slightly heavier denim that I think will soften beautifully—these are fresh off the machine and unhemmed, but I wore them out for Chinese food and spilled a little sweet and sour sauce on them so they’ve been laundered once.

Denim is via @denverfabrics
Rivets are via @prym.americas
Zipper is from @corefabrics
Topstitch thread in white is from @wawaksewing

I received the rise by 1” and then added it back in the leg length, and then added ANOTHER 1” to the leg length on this pair compared to my last pair. They’re turned up about 4” here, and when they’re hemmed should come past my ankle.

Something about the copper rivets against the white denim is making me 😍😍😍😍😍

Blouse: secondhand via @poshmark originally @gap
Bag: is magic, thrifted from a vintage shop
Shoes: @thesak and made from recycled marine waste

#memademay #memademay2026 by @whip.stitch

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5 months ago

I rarely ever go inside a store anymore, like, VERY rare event for me. I do nearly all my fabric and garment shopping online, and 98% of my garment shopping is secondhand BUT there is an alarming trend with some of these online resellers where it’s not a person, it’s a company, and they’re selling mass-produced junk and I am VERY UPSET BY IT. So while I will keep tagging the secondhand sources for what I wear, I am shifting my thrifting to indie thrift and secondhand and vintage shops as close to entirely as I possibly can. I find amazing stuff in these smaller shops, and I can tell when I’m buying from an actual person with a little more certainty.

Skirt: the #getupandgoskirt from @leagueofdressmakers in the maxi length, using the video guide from the #HowToSewClothes e-course; sewn in a soft linen blend

Shirt: from @outofprint

Shoes: via @poshmark but originally @chineselaundry

Bangles and bag: via @poshmark

#memademay #memademay2026 by @whip.stitch

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5 months ago

Handmade clothes are for adventures.

Sport coat: (on my handsome husband) is a Vogue pattern in midweight navy linen from @moodfabrics; there’s a series of posts on my blog covering the construction

Jeans: the #helenejeans by @annaallenclothing in an 11 oz dark wash denim with no pattern alterations (if I made them again I’d deduct 1” from the rise, which I generally do with all my pants; these were a test muslin, and they’re very wearable)

Top: bought secondhand via @poshmark and soon to be duplicated using the rub-off patternmaking method from the @leagueofdressmakers e-course

Boots: lace up but also have a zipper on the side that let me put them over my ankle brace; they are unexpectedly made by @teva

Neckerchief: also via @poshmark

#memademay #memademay2026 by @whip.stitch

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5 months ago

The bonus to letting the dog run in the yard instead of walking him 1.5 miles each morning is that I get to sit and drink my coffee in the cool morning air, soaking in the rays of the sun. The downside is that today is Saturday and there are minimum 65,488 leaf blowers out here with me. 😐 EDITED TO ADD: five minutes after saying this, the dog totally ran out the gate, we have GOT to get that repaired 😭

Pants: the #claraleggings from @jalie_patterns in either the Arete or the Align (sigh, I can never remember which) from @greenstyle_fabric — NO CENTER FRONT SEAM, PEOPLE

Top: I suspect this is a reissue, I got it used from @goodwill_ng and modified the fit

Shoes: last years gym shoes, by @merrell, which are this years gardening shoes

#memademay #memademay2026 by @whip.stitch

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5 months ago