We love shining a light on neighbors who make San Diego and North County a little more creative, connected, and fun. This month’s Local Business Spotlight features Mo from Adventures in Sewing, a Carlsbad-based studio teaching kids, teens, and adults how to sew—one tote bag, pajama set, and “Seam Ripper” moment at a time. 

Enjoy this Q&A, shared to help celebrate a small business we admire. (We also had the pleasure of helping Mo and her husband, Tony, with a double closing to help them secure their current home!)

Q&A with Adventures in Sewing

What inspired you to start teaching sewing to kids and teens?
I learned to sew from my aunt when I was five. As a young elementary school student I entered many of my sewing projects at the San Diego County fair and frequently won first place. Sewing is something I've done my entire life and it brings me joy and satisfaction of being creative. It can also be cathartic. 

I believe sewing is something that is both creative and logical. It teaches problem-solving skills, it can really help with math and it’s fun to do. It’s very exciting to get a pattern, find fabric and turn it into something you can wear or use in your home.

How long have you operated Adventures in Sewing and what ages do you typically work with?
In 2013 a couple of girls from my Girl Scout troop in La Mesa asked if I could teach them how to sew. I decided to offer sewing camps that summer and figured those 2 girls plus my daughter and two of her friends would be interested. I planned to hold a one week camp for those five girls. I made a flyer and sent it around to the parents I knew at the elementary school and as it turns out I had over 20 kids interested. I divided the kids into two camps and held camps for two weeks. That is how Adventures in Sewing came to be. 

Over the next four years, I had parents reaching out to me asking if I planned to offer sewing camps again that summer. During the pandemic, I taught kids outside in my patio over the summer. We returned to Carlsbad in June 2023 immediately following our daughter’s high school graduation. I was fortunate enough to find a suite in the village of Carlsbad and offered my first summer camp in July 2023 at Studio La Cabra.

While I have taught adults to sew, the typical age of my students is 8 to 12. Most of my students have been female, however, recently I have taught middle school and high school boys. Another one of my male students was five years old and too short to reach the floor pedal while sitting in the chair when I first met him in April 2024. He really wanted to learn to sew because he wanted to make costumes. When he returned to take a camp that July he had grown and was able to reach the foot pedal. He came back again in the summer of 2025 and it was great to see him operate the machine more independently.

What do you love most about working with youth and teaching them this skill?
I really love working with youth. They are our future and I genuinely enjoy hearing what they think about things and what they have to say about stuff. Boy do they share!! They are inspirational, funny, and very determined to learn how to sew. I love teaching them because I believe sewing offers your brain a way to look at things from a different perspective. 

When you have a two dimensional object, e.g., a pattern piece and a flat piece of fabric, and you cut it into a shape that resembles nothing that would be useful for any purpose and you spend some time putting them together and sewing them, you end up with a robe or a beach cover-up or a pair of shorts. 

One of my favorite projects to teach kids is a lined tote bag. The reason why this is one of my favorite projects is because at the end, after you have sewed it together, you have to turn it inside out and put the lining into the bag. I love watching their faces as they progress through this process. At first it seems confusing but then they realize what they need to do and they do it. It is so wonderful to see a smile run across their face as they realize they have sewn this really cool lined bag with a pocket!! 

I had an adult student this past summer who is a senior at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. He wanted to make a tote bag. He was as thrilled as my eight-year-old students are as he went through the process and it was so amazing to see his enthusiasm for this art form.

What types of projects do your students typically work on?
We make all sorts of things; lined tote bags with pockets, a bohemian one strap bag, a zippered pouch, a Japanese knot bag, an overnight accessory bag, a reading pillow, beach coverups, pajama bottoms, pajama sets. We also sew small wallets, dog bandanas, gift card holders, robes, summer dresses, tops, stuffies and more. I am always scouring the Internet for ideas. The card holders are particularly great to use as a teaching tool because they start out as two 12-inch circles and end up as a 4 inch tall rectangle shaped card holder with three pockets. I love this one because I believe it helps expand their brains to see beyond the normal. It helps them visualize possibilities.

There’s been a resurgence in sewing and DIY fashion lately—have you noticed any changes in interest or demand? Why is sewing cool again?
There is definitely an increase in wanting to learn to sew. During this past summer, I had so many people pop in during my camps to ask about sewing camps and classes. Some adults were asking on behalf of their kids but others were interested for themselves. I’m participating in an event at Girl Scouts San Diego in November where the girls will learn how to sew on a snap, a button and learn how to hem. These were things that they specifically asked be included in their life skills workshop. 

I recently had a high school freshman male, who wanted to learn how to sew so he could make his jeans extra baggy. His idea was to thrift a pair of jeans that fit him in the waist and then thrift a second pair that he would cut the legs off and insert into the pair that fit him. His only problem was he didn’t know how to sew a pair of pants or understand how they came together. I taught him about the dimensions of the pattern for pajamas and he then sewed a pair of pajamas. Now he understood how pants are made and then we accomplished his goal of sewing very baggy jeans. 

I think sewing is experiencing a resurgence in part because thrifting is huge with younger people right now. I've known a girl who thrifted her prom dress and dyed it a different color. I've read articles about women thrifting and reworking a wedding gown to modernize it to wear at their own wedding. I've also talked with many women who never wanted to learn to sew in their youth because it was such an "old-fashioned" hobby or because it wasn't keeping with the women's movement. They now regret that and want their daughters/grand-daughters to learn to sew. 

I think people see the value in knowing how to hem or repair a tear. It is expensive to get those things done at a tailor or dry cleaner.

How do you help your students connect traditional sewing skills with modern trends or personal style?
I love this question because it goes to the heart of how I approach teaching my students. When Joann's was still in business, I would ask parents of my students for their three top favorite colors and animals. I would shop for fabric that I thought they'd like and thus be much more excited about sewing their project. Although they all may be sewing shorts, each girl's was unique because of their fabric choice. 

This summer I had to be a bit more creative because fabric options were limited. I purchased a wide variety of colors and patterns and laid them out on a table in the studio for the students to choose. I always pre-cut the projects, so they would choose before leaving for the day and I'd cut out the project so they could begin sewing the following morning. I also offer them decorative trim and other options to accessorize to personalize their projects. They seem to like that very much. Each finished project is uniquely theirs and I believe that is important.

Do you offer classes year-round, seasonally, or in sessions?
There are a variety of options at Adventures in Sewing. During 10 weeks in the summer, I offer weekly camps Monday through Wednesday. Each week has a different theme and projects unique to that theme. 

For example, one theme is Wonders of Water. We sew beach cover-ups, tote bags, shorts or a cute summer top and hair scrunchies. I also offer after-school classes throughout the year, typically in the afternoons on weekdays. These are offered as 4 consecutive weekly classes. 

I am a Community Partner with Girl Scouts San Diego and offer group sessions for Troops. I have taught large groups of girls to sew from anything from simple bags to pajamas to stuffies. I also offer Birthday Sew-A-Brations and Adult Sip and Sew classes. I also offer private classes for kids and adults.

Are your programs more focused on technical skills or creative expression, or both?
My classes are a combination of creative expression and learning technical skills. By the end of a summer camp or a couple weeks of an after-school four-week session, students know how the machine operates. They know how to thread it and replace a bobbin. Several of my students, who have repeated camps and classes understand enough to where they help their fellow classmates when they get stuck. I always tell my students that troubleshooting is as much a part of sewing as the actual act of sewing. 

My students know that when they finish their project and are waiting to move onto the next, they are welcome to rummage through my large basket of scraps and sew anything they want. They absolutely love going into my scrap box and putting things together and creating all sorts of things. I’ve seen hats and blankets for guinea pigs. I’ve seen more tiny pillows than I ever thought was possible. I’ve seen them make clothes for their favorite plushy or doll. It’s really fun to see their creativity come through. 

During summer camps, if their energy is waning I'll ask if they want some free time to sew and they excitedly jump up to explore the basket and start sewing. It always brings their energy back.

What can a new student expect when they join one of your classes?
I always start a camp or a four week session explaining how the machine works and how to operate it safely. I encourage the students to feel comfortable while learning a new skill. We practice on scrap fabrics for a while so that they get the idea of how to sew straight, turn a corner and reverse so by the time we begin the project there is a level of comfortability already there. 

I also introduce them to every sewer‘s best friend, her name is Seam Ripper. I tell them how I just used Seam Ripper recently so that they know to expect mistakes and be comfortable with them. I also share that sewing is a flexible art and mistakes can usually be fixed with relative ease especially compared to metal or woodworking.

What’s one of your proudest moments as an instructor?
One of my proudest and most favorite experiences occurred in the Winter and Spring of 2024. A high school senior, who had never sewn before, wanted to make her prom dress. She wanted a corset top, which is very technical and requires precision sewing. She wanted the skirt to be a full princess, multi-layered tulle skirt. I also suggested pockets, to which she whole-heartedly agreed. 

We met weekly for several months and the night before her prom, we finished it! It turned out gorgeous. I was so proud how determined she was to sew this very challenging gown during the second half of her senior year while having so many other obligations.

Do you have a favorite sewing project you’ve completed—or that a student has completed—that stands out?
My students ask me frequently, "What is your favorite project that you sewed"? I tell them I sewed my wedding gown and show them a picture. It was not a bucket list item for me. In fact, I never planned to sew it. 

When I got married in 1993, the fabric most gowns were made from was cheap and quite ugly. I did not want to spend a ton of money on a dress that was made from extremely cheap fabric with beading that was glued on. I found this beautiful Italian lace and Dupioni silk and using 4 different patterns, sewed a gown out of it. I was so happy that I did. I loved how it looked.

How has being a Carlsbad-based business shaped your journey?
I love Carlsbad. It is such a beautiful city to live in and I feel very blessed to have a studio in the village. I’m in a building on Oak Avenue that was pretty rundown. The new owner painted, re-roofed, redid the parking lot and made improvements to each of the suites. We are now a collective of 15 women-owned businesses that occupy the building. I share my studio with my friend Melissa, who owns and operates an exercise business called Club Rebound. You do exercises on a rebounder, which is an individualized trampoline with elastic bands not springs, which makes for a much more supportive experience. She offers classes for adults and teens. She can be reached at [email protected]. 

We named our suite Studio La Cabra and it is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit business. Its sole source of funding is from proceeds from Adventures In Sewing and Club Rebound. In December 2024 I hosted a sewing extravaganza for my students to come and make Christmas presents for their loved ones and all the proceeds went to Studio La Cabra. I’m hosting the fundraiser again in December 2025 and the proceeds from it will go to Studio La Cabra to support kids in need here in Carlsbad.

What’s something you love about being part of the North County community?
I am a native San Diegan and spent the majority of my life in East County, specifically La Mesa. It is a wonderful community and when my husband and I chose to move to Carlsbad, we did not know what to expect. The people in North County are very kind, supportive and community oriented. I love the TGIF Summer concerts, the gorgeous beaches and walking around the village chatting with different people. It is a very special place to call home.

Learn More & How to Reach Adventures in Sewing

Adventures in Sewing can be reached in multiple ways. You can send an email to [email protected] with any questions or to request a class or camp. They also have a website at adventuresinsewingllc.com. You can text 619-966-8058. That is the beauty of a small business. I'm easily accessible.

From J&J Realty

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