1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I now live with my husband in NYC, as well as attend school here. I was born in Harlem, but I grew up between London, NYC, and North Carolina. As early as elementary school I knew I wanted to return to New York, and that really motivated me to do well in school.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
The first thing I made was a lime green and white gingham, stuffed duck with a neck so narrow he seemed like he had narcolepsy! I bought my first sewing machine after a marathon of Project Runway 3 years ago, but went on a sewing hiatus shortly after, and really just started to sew garments within this past year.
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I live in Scottsdale, Arizona where I am currently in nursing school.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
The first experience I had with a sewing machine was in Kindergarten when our teacher let each of us push the pedal and sew the edge of a quilt she was making. A little over a year ago I purchased my own machine and started sewing handbags and I just started really making clothing items in the past couple months.
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I am from Slovenija, from a small village called Branik near Italian border. Even though most of people don’t know about my country , it’s a great place to live, full of life, energy and lovely people.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
When I was a child my mother every summer would send me to my grandma Karmela to Carst some for company, to help her with household and to water her flowers. She owns a huge old house, surrounded by garden and lots of apple trees and still keeping her old singer sewing machine, lots of different pieces of textile, old Burda magazines, my mother’s clothes. ..A lot of stuff that I got in touch with and started to deal with it. I actually don’t remember the first thing that I had done, but i created lots of babydoll clothes, little bags and toys from old socks…
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I am originally from the Netherlands, but I have been living in Copenhagen (Denmark) for the past 4 years. I moved to another country for my job, I am a scientist and just obtained a PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Copenhagen. Next year I am hoping to move to Australia (Perth) for a few years, also for work. I am lucky to have a great boyfriend who is happy to move with me!
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I’m from Heidelberg, Germany. It’s quite a “green” city, which explains why my mindset is eco-friendly and I’m inspired by the environment…I do my part by making things myself, recycling old fashion, or creating my own fashion out of organic materials which I know weren’t produced in sweatshops.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
My mother is a seamstress, so maybe I was born with that sewing-gene! Actually, my mother never wanted to be bothered with my silly sewing projects when I was a kid and so I discovered at an early age that I could try it out myself. Nowadays, if someone tells me I can’t do something, I find some way to do it anyway. My mother’s impatience shaped me into the woman I’ve become, a woman who doesn’t take no for an answer!
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I currently live in Montreal, Quebec. I moved here four years ago from Halifax. Montreal has a fairly large and active garment district, and it’s one of the reasons why I moved here.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
I’ve been sewing since I was a kid, and used to help my mom with her projects. The first thing I sewed on my own were a pair of elastic waist shorts with cats all over them.
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
My name is Anicia (like Alisha but with an ‘n’) Barefoot and in the little town of San Luis Obispo, California.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
The first thing that I can remember making was a simple pillow. My mother showed me how to work her very old machine and I would make these strange little pillows. I think the satisfaction that I got from making something that I could use influenced me a lot and thus I really came to enjoy sewing.
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I was born in Sacramento California but grew up from the age of 9 in a small rural town in western Washington. I have since migrated to the mountain town of Sandpoint in North Idaho.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
I started sewing with my mom’s old Singer when I was about 12 years old. My mom showed me how to use the machine and helped me with my first garment, an A-line purple corduroy skirt. I was in 4-H at the time and entered it in the county fair and got Grand Champion. It was a nice way to start out.
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I’m from Carol Stream, Illinois. That’s about an hour from Chicago. It’s the place that everyone and their brother want to leave as soon as possible, because there’s nothing all that exciting here. But I’ll be living here until I leave for college. It’s kind of what inspires me to sew—our school is overwrought with drab department store clothing, so it’s pretty easy to stand out.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
The first thing that I made…oh, I can remember that quite distinctly. It was this little lime green beanie hat with hideous gold fringe that didn’t quite fit. I made it with my great aunt when I was about seven or eight. She’s the one who inspired my sewing; to this day, she only wears housedresses she’s sewn herself. I restarted sewing last year, and finally have stuck with it, thanks to the supportive BurdaStyle community!
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I am from Sussex in the South of England, and now live in London. I just got back from a Holiday in St Ives, Cornwall and wish I could move there!
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
The first thing I made was an applique wall hanging. I did a lot of sewing by hand before I found an a sewing machine, which was a bit of a eureka moment, and I made of all sorts of things before I got up the courage to try making clothes. I started sewing when I first met my husband, he had a flatmate at the time who had a cupboard full of fabric and sewing things. Sewing was a revelation for me, I have struggled in the past with other creative outlets as I couldn’t seem to just let myself enjoy creating without being hypercritical.
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I grew up and studied in Germany and after graduating from university lived in London for 2 1/2 years. My husband moved to Brooklyn for work in April, and I finally moved to Brooklyn three weeks ago after finishing my project at my job in London.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
My mother used to sew a lot when I was little so I was always used to hearing the sewing machine and picked up the basics just by watching. One of the first things I really made that I can remember was probably a jacket
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I am from the very north of Scotland, any further and you are swimming to Norway. I now live in Wellington, New Zealand, which is a fantastically stylish and fun city.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
I am quite new to the sewing world as I sewed my first skirt just two and half years ago. I started because I came to New Zealand with a ruck sack and not much money! I was getting fed up of looking at garments that cost so much but were so poorly made, I thought I could do better than that. So enrolled in a sewing night class. The ethics of cheap store bought clothes and the environmental damage it creates put me on the ‘sewing my own’ road too.
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
Well, I grew up for my earlier years in Southern California, then moved to Manhattan for a number of years before deciding to go to school in BC Canada and now I’m settled in Vancouver BC.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
I started sewing by doing embroidery, which likely explains why I sew all of my clothes by hand. I’ve never had a sewing machine. I used to embroider handkerchiefs a lot, so I’m pretty sure that must have been my first project. Just one of the random things that I saw at some point and decided I wanted to do, so I went to the library and started taking out books that illustrated different stitches. I was probably about 9 when I started sewing.
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I’m from Nagano, Japan, and I live in Brooklyn, NY now.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
I’m not sure if this is really the first thing I made, but I think it was a bookmark made of felt and straight stitched. I remember I added some starry bead decoration to it. It my was made in 1st grade home economics class and we exhibited it on the wall of the hallway at school. My mother was quite crafty and she handmad/patch worked all my kindergarten nap time blankets, bags and pouches, so it was a great influence. I ended up joining a patch work club at elementary school!
3. What role does sewing play in your life?
1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?
I grew up in Maryland and I live in Brooklyn, NY.
2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?
I started sewing when a friend received a sewing machine for the holidays. We are interested in styling and fashion and she encouraged me to jump right into using the machine. The first thing I made was a pleated shell vest from an old pair of trousers. I wanted to keep the functional design details of the pants and re-configure the garment to fit the upper body. I used the front fly in the collar and the hip-pockets as shoulder pads, and pleated the legs into front bodice panels. I used ribbed socks for a funnel collar, and a white bandana for back panel and shoulder epaulettes. I usually sew and design through two processes: inspiration and the constructive process. I was inspired by the 1960s LSD tests in the military, thinking about psychedelic soldiers. The vest developed from this concept and through deconstructing the pants and finding new possibilities for the zipper, pockets, and nearby materials.
