When and what inspired you to first get into sewing?
When [my older sisters] and I were all little, my grandma decided it was something all of us should know, so she taught us basic embroidery and cross-stitch. My older sisters never did anything with it, but I just found it really interesting and decided to keep playing around with it. I was probably five or six at the time.
What inspired you to turn that into recreating outfits from your favorite books?
I have always had a hard time picturing things in my mind. I need a physical object, a drawing, or something to point to to organize my thoughts. With having sewed my own clothes for so long and practiced all this stuff, it occurred to me one day when I was having trouble picturing something from a book that I could make it. From there, I kept making stuff and there have been times when I have made a costume multiple times because even after I finish a project, it may not look how I wanted it to, so I just start over to get a better grasp of it and have it turn out closer to my idea of it.
What is your favorite part about being able to picture an outfit from a book and then recreate it?
I like the fact that I’m not the only person doing it. I try to stay pretty close to my own idea and my own concepts before I go looking for other people who have done similar costumes or taken similar inspiration, just because I don’t want my mental picture to get messed up with theirs. But I really do enjoy, after a project is finished and posted, going through all the hashtags and finding similar accounts and seeing other people’s interpretation of the same thing. Because most of the time, it will be completely different, but as soon as I see it, I’ll be like, “Oh OK, that makes sense, too.”
What types of things do you like to sew and how long do projects typically take?
My favorite thing to make is corsets, and they usually only take a day or two depending on the complexity. The longest I’ve ever spent on a project was about nine months on a ball gown one time. The book [from the Cruel Prince series] had a really intricate description. So I made the dress and I hand-dyed the fabric and had to cut out the overlays and the entire skirt was beaded. I made an entire set of accessories and jewelry to go with it.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a line of original corsets designed with repurposed fabric and trying to fine-tune some cosplays for competitions.
What would you tell someone who is interested in sewing but doesn’t know where to start?
The most important thing to do is get a sewing encyclopedia because that is where the bulk of my knowledge comes from. Of course, a lot of it is also watching tutorials and taking classes and learning as you go, but it is having something that you can sit down and read to get that knowledge before you need it and you can always go back to it and relook at the details and everything later.
Do you think you’ll stick with creating content for Etsy, or do you think you would ever try to get into making costumes for films?
I don’t think I’d ever want it to be my main career, but it is definitely something I am interested in doing professionally.
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