We are so excited to introduce you to our amazing staff and teachers. Thanks to Rebecca Powers for collecting, compiling and writing our teacher profiles.
Diane Gilleland learned to sew in grade school with weekly lessons from her mother, a college Home Economics major. During her college years and through her thirties, sewing “was mostly about hemming things or making a Christmas gift here and there.”
When Diane started her podcast and blog, CraftyPod, in 2005, the online community “re-ignited” her love of sewing. Diane feels “There’s just so much creativity and innovation every day, and we’re so lucky to have these Internet windows on it all.”
Diane is new to the Modern Domestic family, but already knows her favorite part of teaching is “getting to see how a particular project or technique gets translated through other people’s creative minds. I always see ideas and innovations, I couldn’t see before. I also love watching creative cross-pollination at work.” Diane’s wonderful and practical insight on sewing could most certainly sooth even a novice sewist’s fears about the mysteries and perceived complications of sewing; “Sewing is such a basic and grounded craft. The things that come out of it are useful and meaningful. And I love the lifelong journey of growing and improving your skills. Of all the crafts I do, I come back to sewing again and again because it’s just so satisfying.”
Diane’s favorite project is always whatever she’s finished last, until she moves onto the next one. She loves the entire process of crafting and values the experience of creating over the finished product. Even with Diane’s lifelong experience of sewing, she’s not afraid to admit she still makes mistakes—she once finished an entire shirt right up to the buttonholes, when she accidentally seam ripped a giant hole right up the middle of the shirt.
Freelance writing for CraftStylish.com and Craftzine.com since 2008, Diane has also been published in SewStylish, Sew News, CRAFT, and Woman’s Day magazine. She has also published her own book, Kanzashi In Bloom, and co-authored Quilting Happiness along with Christina Lane. You can find Diane’s blog at CraftyPod.com. Classes taught by Diane can be found on the Modern Domestic website.