Regardless of whether you've been naughty or nice this year, we've got lots of tempting ideas for your gift list, from tools to calendars!

It's always worth revisiting the basic techniques that we give little thought to, just to check there's nothing we've missed...

In our reader survey last August, a very harried mother of a toddler asked "Help! How do I sew with a toddler trying to re-thread my machine, rummage through my sewing box and take all the books off the bookshelf?!?" 

If you've never tried to sew while having a child around, you can have no idea how frustrating/challenging it can be for the adult and very dangerous for the child. Many new parents feel like they will never be able to sew again once they have children because of the hot iron and powered sewing machine that are like magnets to children.  Many members wrote in to share what has worked for them, and I'll share some tips of my own.

This month we continue our  two part series of advice from our pool of experts on Health and Safety in the Sewing Room. Gina Barrett, Alexis Black and Marion McNealy share what has helped them to avoid and manage any potential ill effects.

This might be the most important series of articles you ever read in YWU. Any hobby or occupation that you indulge in regularly for a large proportion of your lifetime can have implications for your health, so it's important to consider how you work. Let us point out some pitfalls and preventative tips to help you sew for longer!

This might be the most important article you ever read in YWU.

Any hobby or occupation that you indulge in regularly for a large proportion of your lifetime can have implications for your health.

Forewarned is forearmed, however, so this month we start a  series of advice from our pool of experts on Health and Safety in the Sewing Room.

Suzi Clarke, Cathy Hay and Laurie Tavan dish out some great pointers to help you avoid and manage any potential ill effects.

So you've finally completed your new gown – and you want to show it to the world.

But somehow, every time you try to take a picture, it just doesn't quite seem to capture the full glory of the thing itself.

Photography is an art, and teaching you to be a master is far beyond the scope of this article (not to mention my talent), but I hope to give you some tips and advice that will help make your costume photos as good as they can be.

This month one of our themes at YWU is about being in business as a seamster or seamstress, but you may have noticed that you can learn from advice for businesspeople even if you're not taking money for your sewing.

Well, here's another thing to consider, whether or not you're in it for the money. Have you thought about labelling your creations?

This month, Alice continues to wrestle with her wardrobe and finds some unlikely tools of the trade...

Starting this month, we follow the personal sewing journey of Alice McCoy. Alice isn't an expert, she isn't a professional costumer or corsetmaker, and she shuns the limelight, choosing a nom de plume under which to represent the home-sewer-next-door in all of us.

Alice is an ordinary young woman who's searching for that elusive closet of individual, historically-tinged clothes that fit, look good and feel good. Such a journey, as she reminds us, must begin with a single step...

When all our experts were asked the questions that led to the first Masterclass, Sarah Lorraine didn't respond immediately.

She gave a lot of thought to what led to her unseen graduation from home-made to professional quality work, and this article is the in-depth result of her musings.