May 1st is International Workers’ Day and we wanted to celebrate by highlighting some of our passionate and creative designers who make Makerist possible! To start off, we spoke to Amelia of Millicent Joy Sewing Patterns about her journey as a pattern designer, her workspace, and what gets her out of a creative slump! Support her shop here.
1. What made you want to become a pattern designer?
It started with a love for sewing back in junior high. Sewing has been a long passion of mine and pattern designing goes hand in hand with that. My mama (grandma) sewed a lot when I grew up and her grandma (my great-great grandma) used to own a fashion boutique. So, I guess you could say it’s in my blood.
2. Why is pattern design so important to you?
I love being able to bring a vision to life right from the very beginning of drafting the pattern all the way through to sewing it. I also have a passion for giving people the courage to tackle hacking or tweaking a pattern to what they want. We shouldn’t have to buy a new pattern for every variation of an idea that we want to sew. So, besides drafting patterns, I aim to equip people to understand the how and why behind the drafting so they can have the confidence to modify the patterns they own.
3. Is pattern designing your full-time job?
My full-time job is a stay-at-home homeschool mom to my children and pattern designing is my second job.
4. Do you have your own studio? Tell us about your workspace.
My sewing setup has been moved all over – from the kitchen table, to the living room, to currently in my children’s toy room. As for my designing setup, that’s tucked into the corner of our living room.
5. When you’re experiencing a creative block, how do you get back into the spirit?
I usually have two go-to solutions. One of them is heading over to Pinterest and falling down a rabbit hole of different ideas. The second solution is to pull out one of my favourite patterns and sew something up. Usually, once I knock out a quick tried-and-true project it will get my juices flowing to try something different.
6. What is your favourite pattern you’ve created?
The Dandelion Tee. I wanted to create a pattern that had a ton of options and could be used as a blank slate for people to hack and play with. I didn’t want to release a new pattern for every different neckline or tweak, to a pattern. The aim was to be the only basic shirt you need, and potentially only shirt you need if you dive in and start playing around with the hacks on our blog or in your own inspiration.
Thank you so much to Amelia for taking the time to speak with us. Click here to check her out to shop for some of her amazing patterns! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with our other content celebrating our independent designers!
