Burda Style For people who sew

Start your Summer off right by joining us in McCarren Park June 11-12 for another crafty weekend at Renegade Brooklyn! Stop by our Make + Take booth to stitch up your own drawstring bag on one of BERNINA’s amazing 3 Series machines, learn how to properly sew on a button with the skilled experts from Blumenthal Lansing, or just pop in and say hello. With over 300 artists on hand showing off their creations, plus workshops and loads of great food – this is one weekend festival you don’t want to miss!

Was it really that long ago that people actually dressed to take a trip? I can hardly remember the time before (much to my visual dismay) sweatpants, backpacks and Ugg boots were considered suitable travel attire. Gone are the days when it was a luxury to fly the friendly skies, now we’re just happy to take off and land with all of our belongings and our sanity still intact. Also gone are the days of the uber-hip and glamourous airline stewardess in her micro mini and go-go boots – she has since been replaced by conservative men and women in dark and frumpy sack-like suits usually with little or no attention paid to style and tailoring.

Editor’s Note: I met Melissa Tabor a few years ago while I was living in Atlanta, Georgia and was (and continue to be) so incredibly impressed with her talent as a designer. She has since moved to Nashville, Tennessee where she continues to build her label and after hearing that Melissa was showing her line at the very first Nashville Fashion Week, I wanted to give her the opportunity to share her experience with our community and show that designers don’t have to be in New York or Paris or Milan to be successful. I’ll let Melissa take it from here…

My name is Melissa Tabor and I am a Nashville based womenswear designer. I initially started my clothing when I was living in Atlanta in 2006—(that is where I met Lindsey Ibarra who asked me to share my experiences with the BurdaStyle community). Looking to relocate my line to a new city in 2009, I moved to Nashville and relaunched my line last Fall.

Another year, another successful trip to Maker Faire! We were so excited to once again be a part of this amazing festival of DIY and for the wonderful opportunity we have to teach people how to sew and expose them to what we do here at BurdaStyle. Click through to see pictures of our adventures on the West Coast and join us in September when we bring you another Make + Take right here in our own backyard with Maker Faire New York.

Readers, have you ever sewn with a vintage treadle sewing machine? Have you ever wanted to?

I bought a 1920’s-era Singer treadle a few months ago, and I use it all the time. It’s not the only sewing machine I sew with, but it is one of my favorites.

I was making men’s shirt on it recently, and I thought to myself: Why am I putting myself through the trials of treadling? I could certainly make an equally-good-if-not-better-looking shirt faster on one of my many mechanical machines, like my precise, fully-electrified Singer 15-91. It’s not as old as my 1920 Singer 66 treadle, but it’s still nearly 60. Isn’t that enough? The short answer is no!

The current trend to recycle, upcycle and reuse is wonderful to see. However, as sewers this is nothing new to us. Sometimes it’s as simple as a button, other times we’ll tear down a vintage dress and remake it into something altogether different and altogether spectacular. Interestingly, over the years I’ve found that one material has consistently been repurposed more than any other: that material is denim.

Over the last couple of seasons I’ve noticed a lot of old-world crafts and handiwork incorporated into fashion. I appreciate that designers are leaning in the direction of clothing which appears to have been touched and delicately cared for by human hands. Do you incorporate any crafts into sewing? Like beading, crochet, or applique? Read on to see some beautiful examples of these techniques…

Where are you from and where do you live now?
I grew up on a dairy farm in the state of Victoria, Australia. Fascinating as cows can be, I yearned for the bright lights of the big city, so sat down with my dad at the age of 18 and told him the sad news.

Me: “Dad, I’ve been accepted into a uni course in Melbourne, so I’ll be moving there at the end of summer.”

Dad: “What? The local community college doesn’t have a course for you here?”

Me: (Trying to stifle the screams of horror in my head at being stuck in a one-cow town) “Er, um, sadly no. So long!”