I know from experience how helpful it is to read a little bit about a teacher’s background, style, and level of expertise before trusting your education to that person. I hope this biography of my experience in the business of clothing helps you to know me a little better and provides some insight into my teaching philosophy. Truly the exploration of clothing and how it’s made has been a lifelong passion of mine, and I’m excited to share this with you in our work together.

my background

I fell in love with sewing when I was 6 years old because I’d watch my mom sew toys and clothing for me. As I grew up, I became interested in fashion even though I was living in Iowa before the internet. The clothes I saw in magazines were not easy to find in rural 90’s America. I began fumbling my way through sewing patterns around age 12 and quickly learned that I would have to modify them to make them look the way I had in mind. I kept sewing my own clothes or customizing my thrift store finds into adulthood. If I had an idea for something I wanted to wear, I would make it. To me the process of customization was a natural way to make my own personalized and one of a kind wardrobe.

I started to teach sewing because I was asked by friends and acquaintances who also wanted to enjoy the process of making a one of a kind closet. This was 20 years ago, giving my first “lessons” in college to my girlfriends who wanted to sew their own clothes like me. Sewing is an essential life skill. It helps our garments function better, fit better, and serve us in our personal expression.

about Private lessons

We all have different goals and objectives in our sewing, so I teach in private lesson format. I’ve learned over the years of teaching group classes that students sew at their own pace, some preferring to work fast, while others taking their time. We all learn the process differently, which made me come to the conclusion that private lessons would help students reach their goals faster, without having to wait on others to catch up or wait for the perfect class to appear for what they want to learn.

my professional background

I’ve worked as a sewing professional over the past 20 years, developing one of a kind clothing collections for sale. My first business was at 16, when I designed, sewed, and sold dolls on the internet. My next business was at age 22, a one of a kind clothing line hand printed and sewn in New Orleans during the emergence of DIY design and Etsy. I am a trained visual artist with a BFA in Visual Arts from the University of Iowa and an MFA in Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

I have worked as a professional seamstress in film and television, notably working as a stitcher for Pitch Perfect 2 and the television show Underground season 1. I have worked as a tailor’s first hand picking up interesting pattern making methods, learning alteration and fit methods from industry professionals, as well as streamlined production secrets for efficient and professional sewing. I’ve also produced and curated fashion shows for the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and spent 2 years in each spring and summer season creating runways shows and presentations for my clothing collections in New Orleans.

In my business, I have worked as a custom tailor, learning fit and alteration for a multitude of body types on all kinds of ready to wear clothing. I’ve worked as a custom design seamstress, creating clothing for clients, and have helped hundreds of students in Baton Rouge apply these sophisticated methods to their sewing practice.

Currently I am the owner, designer, and educator of Fair Fit Studio where I teach individualized instruction for sewing and clothing design students. I have created curriculums for beginner sewers, from age 6 years old to adult, as well as intermediate to advanced garment construction, pattern making, pattern fit and alteration, and online educational design methods and principles taught in my Fair Fit Method courses. I am the inventor of the Fair Fit Pattern, a sewing pattern that teaches you how to fit for your own body while allowing pathways for custom design ideas, exploratory sewing methods, and creative design practices that you can learn at home on your own pace and schedule.

My projects

I also have my own sustainably produced clothing line Patch + Piece. In this project, I explore small scale, localized production, while also conscientiously choosing to source my fabric sustainably as much as I can. Sometimes the pieces are repurpose driven, and I use scraps from my students, designer deadstock, or recycle existing clothing to make one of a kind garments that you purchase directly from me at local art and maker markets. I also produce small twice yearly capsule collections and are concept driven, through the exploration of textile printing, dying, and surface design. Everything I make is produced in my studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, purposefully on a small, sustainable scale of production.

my philosophy

To me the most enjoyable aspect of sewing is thinking through a garment’s purpose, by carefully considering why am I making it, and how to make it more personalized. I love to think about an item of clothing’s story, and the character who would wear it, so when I am designing an item for either my wardrobe or my clothing line, I’m selecting the materials, sewing methods, and design of the pattern to reflect that character and make sure that the garment serves me.

You can do this by thinking through the garment’s color, what red means instead of pink, or by thinking about the garment’s physiologies. A certain kind of collar is professional, while another one is more playful. The pattern of the cloth is important too- plaids and stripes mean different things than say birds and cat fabric. This is the playful part, mashing up all of these meanings into one item of clothing. In this way, you turn the skill of sewing into a superpower by using your own customization methods and intentions.

I teach sewing so that we can once again enjoy the process of sewing our own clothes. My goal as a teacher is to provide space for your point of view to emerge, while also honoring and expanding upon your hard earned prior knowledge and skill. This can happen with children by teaching them the process of how things are made, from sketch to sew, and it can happen with adults by gathering each student’s prior experience with the craft and their desire for a more customized design in a personalized lesson plan. If more of us learn how to build clothing from a unique point of view, creating our own criteria and solving unique problems, then the current standardization of fashion design, sizing, and aesthetics will most certainly be forced evolve. By diversifying our perspectives into what we sew, by teaching more designers to design, and by exploring new methods of fabrication we will create a happier relationship with clothing for ourselves and other people.