My name is Maddie Flanigan and I am the blogger behind Madalynne, the cool sewing and pattern making blog. My DIY weapons of choice are a sewing machine, fabric, and my hands.

When I am looking for inspiration I listen to music and after a long day of making things I like to watch a black and white movie.

I got started making when I found my moms old sewing machine in her linen closet when I was eighteen.

When I think about starting a new project I let the idea marinate for a couple of days. I have too many projects I want to start (I’m an overachiever) and the ideas that linger in my mind for days or weeks are the ones I go through with.

The best part about running my own business is the freedom to do whatever the hell I want whenever the hell I want to.

My advice to anyone looking to start their own business is to love it with all your heart. It should be your baby, your pride and joy. You should be its mother and be able to care for it at every second of every day. Two o’clock in the morning or Christmas day.

If I wasn’t an Internal Blogger for a fashion company, I would love to be a philanthropist. The most popular post on my blog (and the post I receive the most emails about) is my ‘How To Draft A Sloper.’ It’s a pain in the neck (and it takes up a lot of time) to give all of my reader’s one-on-one attention but I love helping them. I feel extremely lucky in the experiences I’ve been given and I feel that it is my duty to give back my knowledge.

If I ever stop creating you’ll find me pretend shopping. You know, where you add items to your ‘shopping cart’ just for the hell of it but don’t buy it. It’s a great way to quell any urges to actually shop.

The first thing I do when I wake up is answer emails (usually at 4:30 a.m.).

The band that can cheer me out of any bad mood is Kings of Leon, I fell in love my sophomore year of college and I’ve been hooked since.

My least favorite word is panty

The fictional character I relate to most is Grace Kelly in Rear Window. Her role in that movie is the perfect amalgamation of fashion, naivety, courageousness, but most of all, tenderness.

My favorite maker/teacher is Mary Brooks Picken. It’s not often that a person dedicates their entire life to one profession or hobby. Today, most people spend their lives jumping from job to job or from career to career. Picken dedicated her life the craft of sewing. She wrote approximately 100 books and she empowered women to earn an income sans their husbands.

My favorite thing about making is the sense of accomplishment

To me, DIY means being active instead of passive. Too many things in our society let our minds take a backseat and not think. Television, Facebook, Instagram, etc. - there’s no thinking involved. DIY involves completing a task, which requires thought, critical thinking, and reasoning.