Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: Seamstress and Fashion Historian

Hello there!

I've been sewing pretty much since I was old enough to hold a needle. Though I'm not currently, I have worked as a professional seamstress, both for a small company and on my own. I've made everything from day to day wear, to theater costumes, to wedding dresses, to hand sewn historical garments. I now mostly only do work for friends and family.

I'm also a mostly self taught fashion historian. My area of focus is mostly the 1800s in the US, but I've studied a bit about many other times as well.

This is extremely cool! I have also been sewing since I was a wee one, and I'm obsessed with fashion (even if I'm a scrub who wears pants and t-shirts every day). A few questions for you:

• Do you have a favorite contemporary designer/design house?
  
• Do you have a favorite garment/project that you have completed? (I would also love love love to see pictures if possible!)

Have you ever had a moment where a project frustrated you so much that you seriously considered quitting the craft, if only for a few moments?

I don't really pay much attention to individual designers. I do like watching trends and seeing interesting design elements, especially when they're related to something historical. For example, a few years ago I saw a woman wearing a shirt with button details around the arm hole that reminded me of periods when sleeves would be buttoned or laced to the rest of the garment so that they could be changed.

It's hard to name a favorite, but this outfit is probably the one I'm most proud of. It's almost completely handsewn, the hoopskirt was the only part machine stitched. It's also the project that took the most time. I was working on it for months.

This one was probably the most fun. It was for a one act play.

I don't think I've ever thought about quitting over a project, but when I was making my wedding dress I was doing a final fitting about 2 weeks before and the bodice was too small. I ended up crying over that one, but I figured out how to fix it so it was okay. My cat also peed on the skirt about a week before the wedding and I had to remake it but thankfully it was a fairly simple design.

What kind of outfit do you find the most challenging one to create/sew?

Not a question, just a statement that that wedding dress came out GORGEOUS.

HARD AGREE. That skirt 😩👌👌

I wish I could sew. I needlefelt as a craft but sewing is so intimidating for how precise it is and how difficult it is to thread a needle...

If you had to give someone who's never done it before, or whose only experience is mending stuffed animals, basic advice on how to start, what would it be? What kind of materials might be easiest to work with? What kind/size threads? Anything you wish you knew a lot earlier?

I like your avatar, Claine.

Menswear, especially suits. I don't really like making pants. There's just something that doesn't sing to me. I don't have very much experience with tailoring (though I would like to try more) so at this point it's difficult for me. And though I do have experience with it, I still have trouble working with knits. And I hate putting in zippers. I would rather put in buttons than deal with zippers. There are 22 buttons on the bodice of my wedding dress and that was a cake walk compared to putting in a zipper.

Thank you so much! The bodice is from a pattern based on a garment from 1869 and the skirt from 1870. Underneath I'm also wearing a steel boned corset (based on ones from the 1860s) that I made as well and what was a regular modern crinoline that I altered to have more of a bustle shape.

Thank you! Like I said, it's a pretty simple design but it surprisingly took a while to get right.

I would find a project that you really want to make, even if it may be a little above your skill level. That desire to have the thing you're making will help if you're feeling discouraged. My favorite material to work with is cotton - standard quilting cotton is wonderful for a lot of projects, usually doesn't cost much, and comes in so many colors and patterns. I tend to use just regular thread that matches what ever I'm working on. (To best test the color, pull a little out from the spool and drape it over the fabric. It's better that just holding the whole spool up against the fabric.)

Thing though is to try not to get discouraged if what you're making doesn't turn out exactly how you want/how it's supposed to. I've had decades of experience and things I make still don't always end up the way I want. There are so, so many times where I've had to break because something is frustrating, or just not doing what I want. I regularly have to do look up how to do a particular technique on YouTube because I don't know how or because it's been so long I don't remember how to do it. And you need to remember that you'll get better eventually. Can I make stitches so small you can't see them? Yes. Could I do that 30 years ago? Hell no. (It didn't take me 30 years to learn how to do that, it's just an example.)

One of the best tips I ever learned was that saliva can help take blood out of fabric. Because you will bleed on things. I don't trust a project that I haven't pricked my fingers over and over doing.

Also, there are some really great and wonderfully supportive crafting groups online and on the various social media platforms. Finding somewhere like that can really help. It may take a little while, but if you find somewhere you are comfortable it can make your learning journey a lot easier.