“And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new
and trust the magic of beginnings.”
An ancient philosopher wrote these words in the 1200's, but how appropriate are they still today? When I took over the fabric store that my father built with hard work, vision, and devotion, I knew that I wanted to make my mark on the business and industry that he had lovingly nurtured over the years and leave a legacy of my own. Somewhere in the back of my mind a vision began taking form, though its shape and path had not fully developed.
As we all can see, there are fewer and fewer fabric stores around the country that sell fashion fabric. Over the last 20 years, many of the fashion fabric stores have closed while fewer people were making their own garments. One day I was sitting in the store and I looked down at myself and then out to my sales associates and customers and saw the writing on the wall. No one was wearing what they made. This deeply impacted me and I began to dream into a new story of what could be! I saw that if I began wearing clothes that I made or were made for me, perhaps that would inspire others around me. With the exponential reach of my store, Facebook, Instagram, and my blog, I envisioned that a garment sewing revolution could be ignited. The excitement of making garments that I felt in the 80's could come back in a whole new way.
Five years ago this month, I threw out a small morsel in the Stonemountain Newsletter, asking for interest in sewing garments for me and the store. I wasn't just looking for a seamstress, but a collaborator of sorts - someone who believed in the magic of fabric and of sewing clothes as much as I did. I had a lot of responses from sewists who wanted to sew and who already made a living doing so. I thought it would work - that person could advertise her talents and probably increase her business.
But one email caught my eye - a retired corporate woman who had sewn since she ten. She had been in my store several months beforehand and loved it. She even sent me photos of garments that she had made with my fabric. When we finally spoke in person, she said she wasn't interested in sewing for anyone else and in fact, that "sounded like a job". She wanted to work with me to teach other women that sewing is not a lost art - that's it's a gift that anyone can learn - and she wanted to be a part of my vision, however it took shape.
I'm not sure that I knew at the time that such small beginning would lead to a five year collaboration and deep friendship. That day, I sent Laurel home with beautiful silk fabric and a bias cut tank pattern - okay, that was mean, but you can tell a good seamstress with that assignment. She still laughs about it to this day.
In our five year collaboration, we have worked on this blog together. Our initial goal was always 1) to Teach and 2) to Inspire - to develop Fabriclady into a little more than news, store happenings and fantastic fabrics. We wanted to show sewists how to pair great fabric and patterns together with courage and to let their creativity blossom. Basically, we wanted sewing to come to life.
It was just the beginning of a great collaboration. The vision began to take shape - what about posts about both sewing successes and failures, beauties and "not-so-much's"?
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| beautiful fabric, but??? |
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One of my secondary goals was to make sure that I put a piece of myself into each post, so many blogs touched on the importance of keeping a healthy lifestyle. Shamanic Astrology is a vital part of my life, so I like to bring a little spirituality in my conversations with you as well. Clothes might make the woman, but it's what inside that counts and deeply connects us all.
Sewing tips and tricks have always been a part of Fabriclady blogs. We show you our tried and true methods and well as help get you over the tricky stuff. And of course, we like to keep the photography telling the story too.
As we moved through this creative journey, I found that my vision for a sewing "community" began to really take hold with greater clarity. I started to feel like we were truly part of a movement. We began really emphasizing our love of independent pattern designers and in 2015, we dropped the Big 4 pattern companies. Instead, we wanted to celebrate the creativity of women designers brave enough to fight the odds and made a name for themselves within the sewing community. We wrote about our Indie designers then, and we have never looked back.
We love to highlight Indie patterns that are "Tried and True" Patterns - you can make them over and over again and each creation is different with just the change in fabric. Laurel and I often make the same pattern but our choices in fabric are usually different.
I once overheard in the store: "I love the details that the Big 4 patterns offer," so we write about advanced sewing techniques frequently. We love "hacking" our favorite patterns to make them our own. Laurel is an expert seamstress and has made everything from tailored suits to couture jackets to wedding gowns, so don't tell her about lack of complexity and versatility in Indie patterns. A case in point, we've highlighted bra making, swimsuits and even jeans.
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| Make a muslin first!!! |
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| It's all about the top stitching |
Towards the end of 2016, I began sensing that I was standing at a fork in the rode. To make an impact in the world, we have to tune into what our heart is yearning for. I discovered that it still was about sharing fabric with our growing community. I enrolled in an online course on empowering women to discover their gifts and to help them break through their own glass ceiling to make their largest impact. It's so amazing that the same things that made me 100% commit to Stonemountain & Daughter in 1984 were still what excited me the most in my life of service, inspiration, and contribution. There are plenty of astrologers out there (one of my other dreams), but no one in my unique position and experience to spread the love of fabric around the planet. What is your unique gift?
There has never been a time for women as there is right now. Wherever we are we can make a difference and change the world. I am holding a vision of how sewing garments could forge a bond between women. This is the time we have been waiting for both personally and as a garment sewist.
In March of this year, we introduced the concept of a Destiny Wardrobe. Whatever our place on this earth, we each have a destiny to not only make our own lives better, but to share our wisdom, spirituality, and love with the people around us. "Sewing Clothing that Matter" is the culmination of 5 years of growth, friendship, community and impact. We are the catalysts and as each one of us touches the life of another through sewing, each of them will touch in another, and so on.
We ARE the village.
Won't you join us on this sewing adventure? Who knows what the future brings, but know that each of us has a part to play in this world. And what better way to enjoy the ride and put greater meaning into you life than to join us in our sewing community. After all, the makers of cotton fabric call it "The Fabric of Our Lives™" for a reason. I guess we are just taking the notion one step further - fabric is the fabric of our lives - let's create our Destiny Wardrobes together and rise up together!
Here's to another 5 years!
Suzan Steinberg
Fabric Lover
#stonemountainfabric
