Our wonderful sewing community is what makes our world go round! To celebrate the people who make up our amazing community (YOU!), we have started an interview series to feature some of the members of our community. Today, we are getting to know Maria, who also shares her beautiful sewing projects on Instagram as @lalu.bymaria. Read on to learn about how she got started, her favorite pattern, and the faux chinchilla bolero she made for her wedding!
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How long have you been sewing and what got you started?
I started sewing in the Fall of 2010 when a good friend of mine taught me to quilt. My friend was raised in a family of sewers and made the most drool-worthy quilts. One day, she sat me down and showed me the ins and outs of using a sewing machine and then taught me how to use quilting rulers to measure precise quilting blocks. From there we sewed a few together and she sent me home with a basic quilt pattern. I picked a bunch of batik fabrics and sewed my first quilt, which is still on my couch! I sewed only quilts for years but always dreamed of sewing garments, though it would take me several years to get there.
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How did you first find Stitch?
I first read local press about Stitch when it opened and I remember being really excited that a local, female-owned fabric shop was coming to the area. My husband and I went overseas shortly after Stitch opened, but as soon as we returned, I signed-up for the Intro to Garment Sewing class. Still, even then, I was intimidated by garment sewing and sewed mostly quilts, pillow cases…you know, the usual suspects. But then I signed up for Stitch’s tie making class not too long before lockdown hit in 2020 and something finally clicked – I can do this! When quarantine hit, I told myself, no more excuses! You are going to teach yourself to sew garments!
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Tell us about the first thing you ever made.
The first thing I ever made was that quilt, but the first garment I ever made was for my wedding. Five years into sewing, I decided to make my veil and a wrap for my wedding, because RTW versions were insanely overpriced and I refused to pay that! I used an old Butterick veil pattern and found a Vogue pattern for a bolero. Let me emphasize, I had no idea what I was doing. Knowing nothing about the difficulty level of sewing certain fabrics, I chose to hand sew Alencon lace along the edge of my cathedral train-length veil AND chose a faux chinchilla fur fabric for the bolero (with a velvet lining!). What was I thinking?! Both were extremely difficult and looking back on it now, I laugh at how I picked the trickiest fabrics to start with. They came out well enough and I rocked them both on my big day.
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What do you do when you’re not sewing?
When I am not sewing, you will probably find me baking bread or a pie. I. Love. Carbs. I took a sourdough workshop out in the middle of the Smoky Mountains (my friends called it bread camp) a couple of years ago which was bread-life-changing. Of my two hobbies, sewing is more stressful and I have to think the whole time (which I love); while with baking, I just zone out. I love both, but in different ways.
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What is your favorite type of fabric to work with?
Oh man…probably wool? I love how it presses and it shows tailoring so well. I think it is also quite easy to sew with. I just bought two different tencel fabrics from Stitch, though, and I have a feeling they will become my new favorite.
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Tell us about your proudest make!
My proudest make is probably that faux chinchilla bolero I made for my wedding. First, because it’s faux chinchilla. I mean, what is there not to love?? I literally had no idea what I was doing when I made it but it kept me warm on that chilly day.
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What do you do to get yourself out of a sewing rut?
When I’m in a sewing rut I like to watch sew along videos of sewists making things I haven’t yet made. For example, recently I hit a mini-rut and I watched lingerie sewing videos (including Shop Girl Henna’s sewalongs on Instagram!). Seeing something I’ve never done inspires my competitive side and I think, I want to do that too! So yes, I just bought a bra kit (thanks, Henna!).
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Do you have a go-to sewing snack?
I don’t, but I need to find one. I am the sewer who starves and dehydrates while sewing. I will go without food, drink, or a bathroom break for hours. It’s bad.
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Team trace or team cut (for paper patterns)?
Team trace! I’m too frugal…what if I want to make a different size? Or make one as a gift for someone else? Also there is something oddly satisfying about preserving that tissue and folding it back up exactly as it came. Maybe that’s just me!
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What sewing tool could you never live with out?
A Clover tracing wheel and carbon paper. I learned this from sewer @birdy_sew_obsessed. Seeing that I am on team trace, this tool made tracing out my patterns SO much faster. I just let that tracing wheel fly!
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What is your sewing set up like? Do you have a designated space?
My sewing set-up is kind of cramped and currently in our finished basement. It definitely is not my dream sewing space but for now, it will do. I have an Ikea drafting table which holds my sewing machines and then a fold-up cutting table which wheels out of the way against the wall. If you have a small space, I highly recommend this!
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Do you have a certain type of garment that you like to sew, or a pattern that you have made many times?
I love the Deer and Doe Sirocco. This is one of the first garment patterns I bought at Stitch and I have made four versions now (one was a gift for my sister and all sewn out of Art Gallery Knits or a lightweight Ponte from Stitch!). It is so chic and flattering…and it feels like pajamas. The best!
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Tell us about a favorite Stitch memory!
My favorite Stitch Sew Shop memory is when I went in for a private shopping appointment recently. It had been over six months since I had been inside the shop and I missed it. I missed touching the fabrics (with sanitized hands of course!). I missed being inspired by the beautiful shop. Most of all, I missed the Shop Girls. I had seen them quickly for brief moments when picking up an order curbside, or speaking with them on the phone when I needed sewing advice, but it was so nice to be in the shop again with them. Sewing is a community and it has been tough to be so solitary in my sewing throughout this year.
