I’ve been asked many times how I started my “pins and needles” business. My reply is, ---one step at a time!
Long, long ago when I lived in Woodland Hills, Calif., I was asked to teach sewing at Baron’s Fabrics, which carried top-of-the-line fabrics, topped by the then new Ultra Suede fabric. This luxurious manmade leather fabric was quite expensive, about $35 per yard as I recall. At that time of over 40 years ago, this cost ranked with the most expensive silk fabrics, therefore women shied away from cutting into these luxury fabrics. Another problem was---how does one work with it?? The bolt-end instructions said it was washable—one could pin into it without leaving holes, but, could stitches be ripped out? It was an unknown.
Fortunately Herb Baron, the owner of this fine shop realized that sewing classes were the only way to solve the problem and to stimulate sales. Palmer/Pletsch had just come out with a very short book on working with Ultrasuede, however, reading is NOT believing---DOING is the only way. Herb gave me a length of this new fabric to make a vest. He said, “Learn how to sew this fabric, then you can teach a class for me on working with it.” (Herb knew that I’d been doing alterations for several years and was an accomplished seamstress.) Thus, my teaching sewing career began!
I found that sewing with Ultrasuede was easier than sewing on silk—as it is a very forgiving fabric----though, it does NOT forgive cigarette burns! One just needs the confidence to “forge ahead”. As I worked with this elegant fabric, I learned various time-saving ways of working with it which ultimately resulted in my writing an entire book, Sewing with Ultrasuede. (In the past 30 years, over 5000 copies have been sold.)
My next venture was to co-author with my good friend, Judy Lawrence, “Sew Smart”, an all encompassing book on the correct (and easiest) ways to sew on cotton, wool and silk fabrics. I’m delighted to say that this book is still in print, and can be found on the Clotilde.com website. Now, with a book to my name, I contacted fabric stores in the Los Angeles area to arrange giving sewing seminars for their customers. From a few local seminars, I expanded farther a-field, ending up traveling all over the US to give seminars at schools, universities, as well as in fabric shops. Fortunately, a store’s recommendation of an informative seminar that promotes sales is the best “PR” one can have. And, consequently, my knowledge of the geography of the US is quite good!
I loved all the traveling and meeting new people. (By this time, my 5 children were “out of the house” or off to college.) To save the store money paying for a hotel room for me, I offered to stay with the owners in their home. Therefore, I made many wonderful new friends all over the United States. (My other “traveling-lecturer friends” prefer to stay in hotels, but I like the personal contact.)
I’m sure that you’re wondering how I learned to sew in the first place. As many of you may know, I have an identical twin sister, Rosalinda. Our mother wanted to dress us alike, however, back in the 1930s in the small town of Findlay, OH, no dress shop had two dresses of the same size and color. Therefore, our mother started sewing all of our clothes. (Fortunately she had sewn all her life and could duplicate any dress that she saw in a stores’ window display.) Now, we curious little girls started sewing as well when we were old enough to hold a needle. We both loved to embroider and ultimately knit and crochet. I literally knit my way through high school and on into college at Miami Un. in Oxford, OH. Yes, my college professors would look askance at my knitting, but I made sure that I made an “A” on my first and future tests, so they never complained. (In fact, one geology professor commented to the class that he wished the other students could do as well as Miss Robison did sitting in the front row while knitting away!) You might say that I was a bit like Madame Dufarge who knit away while heads rolled on the French guillotine in 1780—during the French Revolution. I truly felt that knitting kept my attention on the professor’s lecture instead of wandering off onto other thoughts.
Enough for now. Please do let me know how you like my newsletter. I promise---there will be more! Keep smiling, Clotilde
