If you are at all familiar with the home sewing community, you probably have heard of the online fabric store named “Blackbird Fabrics”. A store owned and ran by sewist Caroline Somos in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Caroline is one of the sewing community’s sweethearts and she definitely lives up to that title through her contributions as a sewist herself and hosting a very popular podcast with her friend and collaborator, Helen… but primarily through running a successful business that gives home-sewists beautiful garment fabrics to sew with.

When talking with Caroline I was curious how she started Blackbird fabrics. And…it was quite surprising to hear that having the idea of starting her own fabric shop was something that happened upon her journey, not something she planned for in the future to happen.

Caroline's connection to the sewing community and her family’s history changed her life and it all started back in the 1990’s when Caroline was just an overzealous kid surrounded by sewing supplies around her house… feeling the need to create, but not really sure what to do with them or how to use them.

Description: Photos of Caroline working on her grad project.

Description: Caroline's grandmother was a talented seamstress. Here is a photo of her grandmother and her mom.

Description: Caroline and her mother at LA Textile searching for fabric.