User:Vchimpanzee/Sew Simple

Sew Simple is a syndicated newspaper advice column about sewing distributed by King Features Syndicate. From 1959 to 2009, Eunice Farmer wrote the column. Vicki Farmer Ellis continued the column after her mother's retirement.

Eunice Farmer's aunt made all the clothes for her niece until Farmer was in her 20s, and once her aunt moved away, Farmer realized she did not like how her aunt had made her clothes, and decided to take lessons to make her own clothes. As a housewife, Farmer did not need a lot of clothes, but other students in her class did, so she began making clothes for others. Then Farmer began giving lessons.

In 1959, Farmer asked the St. Louis Globe-Democrat about starting a column. The editor thought the only people who made their own clothes could not afford to buy them, but Farmer said everyone she taught could buy their clothes. The women's editor supported Farmer, and the column began. Farmer opened a fabric store in 1965 and continued to teach.

Farmer's third husband died in the early 1990s. As of 1998, Farmer was 81 and "Sew Simple" appeared in 75 newspapers. Eunice Farmer Fabrics in Ladue, Missouri sold sewing machines and offered classes.

In March 2009, Eunice Farmer passed the column to her daughter Vicki Ellis, who had helped her write the column for years.