Ep 48: Fundamentals of Sewing with Cornelius Quiring

In Episode 48 of The Sewcial Hour Podcast, Bethany sits down with garment sewing educator, pattern drafting teacher, and content creator Cornelius Quiring for a thoughtful conversation about the fundamentals of sewing, garment construction, fit, and finding confidence through creativity.

When Cornelius was just three years old, a farm accident left his body asymmetrical. Frustrated by clothing that wasn't designed to fit his unique body, he learned how to draft patterns and sew garments for himself, transforming sewing into a powerful tool for self-expression, problem-solving, and empowerment. Today, he shares those skills with thousands of sewists around the world through his educational content, helping others better understand how clothes actually work and why that knowledge can unlock a whole new level of confidence.

Together, Bethany and Cornelius discuss pattern drafting, garment construction, body inclusivity, menswear sewing, personal style, content creation, and why so many sewists are intimidated by the idea of "advanced" sewing. Cornelius also shares his philosophy on making complex concepts approachable, the importance of understanding fit, and how learning to troubleshoot can be more valuable than striving for perfection.

We also chat about Cornelius' collaboration with LDH Scissors and his Midnight Edition Gift Set:
https://ldhscissors.com/collections/all-products/products/cornelius-quiring-x-ldh-midnight-edition-gift-set

Whether you're brand new to garment sewing or looking to deepen your understanding of how clothing is made, this episode is packed with encouragement, practical insights, and a reminder that you don't need permission to make ambitious things.

Follow Cornelius:
Website: https://cornelius.ooo/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/corneliusquiring/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CorneliusQuiring

Follow The Sewcial Hour Podcast:
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Join our private Facebook community, The Sewcial Sewists, to continue the conversation, share your projects, and connect with fellow sewing friends. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and share it with a fellow sewist!

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Social Hour Podcast, a podcast for SOAS by SOAS. I'm your host, Bethany, and today I'm joined by a wonderful guest that I'm so honored to have with us today. It's Cornelius Quarry. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:29

I'm doing well. It's nice to speak to you.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

I know. We met at H H. I saw you in a booth, and we'll talk about all your partnership that you were doing there. But uh I came over and I was just so excited to meet you. I've been following you for ages. I don't really fangirl, but I kind of fangirl it. I'm gonna admit it. We all have those moments, and you were my moment. And I was just so honored to talk to you because I've been following you for so long and I just admire the work that you do. So I'm really excited to be able to share that with our audience today. For anyone who might not know who you are in our sewing world, which is crazy to me, but let's talk a little bit. Well, before we dive in, before we dive in, I always like to do a little icebreaker question to get us warmed up. Um, so my icebreaker question for you today is what was the very first thing you ever sewed?

SPEAKER_00 1:20

The first thing I remember would be a pair of black uh capris. This was in the early 2000s, so they were, of course, wide leg and um cargo pockets, uh, countless of them, and then to really top it off, because I thought I was going for it was yellow top stitching on everything.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

That was a bold choice. Do you still have them?

SPEAKER_00 1:48

I don't, unfortunately. I wore them for that day once I finished them, wore them around school because I made them in class.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

And then promptly realized that the idea perhaps wasn't uh matching the reality, and so that was that.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Oh, that's hilarious. Um, okay, so speaking of starting your sewing journey and that being the first thing you made, which I believe is pretty bold to start with pants, okay? Most people don't start with pants, but you I want to talk a little bit about your sewing journey, how you found sewing, what brought you to sewing, and what made it realize this is where you needed to spend your time and and your energy.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

I grew up on a farm. We did a lot of things ourselves, and mom also sewed a lot of our clothes growing up. So for me, it just seemed natural and normal to do that. Um, but I didn't do it much myself until my late teens or yeah, about late teens, early twenties, starting in high school and then into my 20s. It was a time when I started to care a little bit more about my appearance and self-conscious and those sort of things. And having had an accident when I was a little boy, I realized I can make the clothes fit me the way I want. The big struggle was always that my right side is considerably thinner than the left, and so st clothes from the store normal in quotes, were always baggy on the right side. And so I wanted some way of rectifying that. And so I ended up making clothes that altering them first really to make them slimmer, uh, and then realized quickly that there's quite unique shapes by the sleeves, for example, and that just slimming down the sides, it works, but the fit kind of gets compromised, and so from there it learned turned into pattern drafting, and well, here we are today.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Yeah. And I love that you share how how that kind of pretty traumatic accident at a young age has impacted not only how you view clothing and how you've adapted it for yourself, but now sharing that what you've learned through that with others so that they can find the empowerment to adapt clothes for their own bodies because we all know that everybody's body is different. And so I love that you started with ready to wear things and adapting them, but then really breaking down the construction, which is one of the things that I love about your content. But was there ever a time where you felt like sewing really initially felt empowering or frustrating or both? Is that kind of what did you ever feel like giving up at any point? Or just you're just like, I'm gonna figure this out.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Well, I still feel like giving up all the time, so that never goes away. Um, but yes, it's been both. It's been frustrating, and I think the word I would use is gives me a feeling of contentness, satisfied, because there's that journey that I go through. I have great aspirations and visions of what I want, and I dive into it, and inevitably things become challenging, and I mess stuff up, and I go into the valley of despair where I just want to throw it all away and then work my way through that and eventually get to a place where I feel I feel good about the thing, the journey of having l gone through the struggle and then learning at the end. And I wish I wish I was at a point where that I'd conquered that, having done it for a few years now, but it just continues.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

I, you know, well, that you know why though I feel like it continues because I can relate to this, is because we continue to challenge ourselves. You know, like we continue to learn and grow. Like I tell everyone, you know, no matter how long I've been sewing and how many different types of sewing I've tried, I'm always learning something new. Someone's developing something new. There's a new method to try. And so for people like us who like to share and educate, we want to continue to challenge ourselves so we can share what we're learning with our audience. And so I get the frustration. Trust me, we don't always share the frustration side of it online, but uh, it's it's humbling and it's validating to know that you also experience that too. And I think a lot of people will relate to that. And I'm curious, was there ever a specific project that comes to mind that you were like that that made everything kind of click in a sense for you? Like that this is really starting to come together. I'm really starting to put all these pieces together. This project I'm really proud of because it all clicked.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

I wish it was that clean and tidy.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Um evolution, right? It yeah. I would say the thing, the project that was maybe sort of the big one that felt like, oh, I can I think I'm kind of starting to figure this stuff out was making uh an overcoat, like a three-quarter length wool coat.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

And so that was the first time I'd gone with something that was fancy, more formal, that wasn't just a shirt or a pant. And so finishing that felt like, oh, I've done the thing. Because that was kind of the goal always. Like I want to one day make myself that fancy coat. And then eventually I did it. And it was great. But I also just made mistakes on it. Like the vent in the back, the top side was always just pushing open a little bit because I hadn't properly sewn the top there. And so even there, despite it being the big accomplishment, was also a reminder that the journey never stops.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

Right. Well, why do coats feel so I I don't know the right word for it, but like like a big hurdle sometimes. I I did a coat and it's probably one of my favorite things I've ever made. But then I still can look at it and go, oh, I kind of pulled it a little hard on this. And so now the the where the the they lay at the front, the hem, one hem wants to kind of curl up, but nobody ever notices it, especially when I'm wearing it, and it wraps around in ties and it looks like this luxury coat, luxurious coat that someone would spend a lot of money on in the store. And I made that, and I'm really proud of it, but it feels like such a victory, maybe that's the right word, to like accomplish a coat. And I mine was the same length as yours, like long. I had the big cowl neck and everything, and I was just so proud of that. But it but it is uh it it feels different than, like you said, a shirt or some pants to accomplish something and just to be able to wear it proudly, like it feels dressy, and that was a really fun accomplishment in that. But coats, coats for some reason feel a little, especially like longer coats. Maybe it's the weight of the fabric and there's so much of it. I'm not really sure.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

And I think it's less forgiving. There's a way a a shirt in a lighter fabric can kind of drape off of you, but a coat needs to fit like perfectly, and so little things I think are visible, but also that it's a little bit more complicated when you're putting in a lining and making sure to get that all to match up. The materials can be more challenging.

SPEAKER_02 9:10

I chose like a satin for the lining on the inside, and my pattern didn't include a lining, it was just bare, and I was figuring out how to make my own lining and work it in, and I'd never done that before. But it's it's I still wear it with pride. Like I still love it. I could probably fix that same, but it I look at it and I go, no, I still made that, like as something to be really proud of. So uh it's it's nice to know that like it doesn't always have to be perfect, and when you're wearing it, it's moving, it's not laying flat, like it's it's gonna take a shape, and I just embrace it. But um, I I'm curious from all of this like experience that you've had of teaching yourself, did you always envision of teaching others?

SPEAKER_00 9:52

No, I had in fact it was the opposite. The one thing I told me told myself when I started making videos is like I'm not doing tutorials. That's too easy.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

And you're kind of like the king of the tutorials for me, which is the irony, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:08

It's the expression, the the stone you throw the furthest away is the first one you try to pick up. Um I I felt like it was a cheat code because it was more likely to get viewers because people want to learn, and so then I can make tutorials, but then I told myself, I was like, no, I want people to watch my videos for me.

SPEAKER_02 10:29

But we do watch your videos for you because you are still you in your videos. I think you bring your personality to the videos and your aesthetic and teaching style to the videos. So I think we still get to experience at least a little bit of who you are as a person through those tutorials and the way that you deliver the information. I think that's what stands out to me the most. Like I I follow a lot of people, I've learned from a lot of people, I've hopefully taught a lot of people in my years, but but to see someone who is so eloquently explaining very complicated things at times, um, things that I went to school for, that I've studied a lot for and practiced, to see it explained in a manner that is attainable and and uh something that people can absorb and learn from right there from the bat, I think is a huge accomplishment that you have mastered in your teaching style. So please know that we all appreciate your teaching style because you the patience and the breaking it down and the explanation without making it fast sound easy, but also making it sound hard. Like you find this balance of like, yeah, it's not easy, but it can be done, and this is how we're gonna learn it together. So, kind of like, let's talk us, talk a little bit about how you developed your teaching style a little bit, because it is very unique. It's not something you see very often in the sewing world, even in other niches of sewing.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

There's a couple things that I think are the key things that inform how I do it. The first was when I learned how to learn, if that makes any sense. It was from a coworker when I was doing, still doing website development and graphic design. There was this challenge I had where I needed to display this bit of information from the database on a part of the website. And I just I couldn't wrap my round mind around it and I was confused by it. And so my colleague, who's much more knowledgeable on these things, sat down with me. And we started off really simply. He's like, well, let's just start by seeing if there's a connection between the two. And then it's like, oh, okay. And then after that, it's like, well, let's just send a predetermined bit of information through. And then after that, it was like, okay, well, now we can dynamically push the information from the database through. And that sort of idea of like, oh, I don't have to do it all in one step. Any challenge broken down into small enough pieces is manageable. And that was a moment that I think that's been the one moment in my life that was such a clear, like, oh, okay, that is how to learn things. That's how to do stuff. And ever since then, I've sort of incorporated that into everything I do. If I find myself getting frustrated, it's like, okay, well, what's the simplest step I can try first? And then just build on it.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Um, I would say that's the one thing. And then the other thing is I find big words confusing. And I've like industry terms have a certain exclusionary aspect to them, which are good if you're in the industry because it often becomes shorthand for concepts. But if you're learning, and I think that most of my audience is sort of beginners to intermediates, is they may not necessarily know these terms. And so it works out great for me because I can just use everyday words. Like instead of calling an armhole an arm sigh, I just say it's an armhole because it's an armhole, you know?

SPEAKER_01 13:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:57

Uh, we can say sigh, I'm sure there's a history to that word, but that sort of becomes like an immediate barrier almost to someone who's learning. And so I get to just speak in plain terms. Um, and then the third thing would be circling back to what you'd mentioned a minute ago. I realize I just can't help but be myself. And so in the presentation, there's a certain silliness that I it turns up people enjoy, but I do for my own kicks because it's just makes me happy and giggle inside.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

If you're not having fun, then what are you doing? And I think we all see that you're having fun and enjoying it, and it makes it um it it takes the stress and pressure off of learning something new when it can all sound new for the first time. It can feel like a foreign language when you're reading a pattern for the first time. And and reality is like not all patterns are written the same or using the same references or terminology or abbreviations. And so sometimes before you even get started, you're finding obstacles. And so to have someone break it down and make it fun kind of makes you go, oh, you know, like you kind of feel like you can breathe for a minute because you don't realize when you're diving into a new project, maybe it's a lot of new, maybe as a beginner. And you're I just watch, even in my classroom, sometimes I watch their shoulders just get closer to their ears. And I'm like, okay, we're just gonna take a breath and relax. I mean, you don't realize you're holding your breath. And I think we've all done it when we're trying something new for the first time. But a reminder that it's fun, and seeing those who are teaching having fun and being silly with it takes some of that pressure off. Because I always tell people it's not that serious. It's not that serious.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

My expression is that we're not saving lives here.

SPEAKER_02 15:40

Um, so I I want to know like what do you think about pattern drafting specifically feels so intimidating to people?

SPEAKER_00 15:51

I I think it's two things from my experience when I was initially learning, is there isn't clear information, if you will. I found it was a lot of go over four inches, you know, um, divide that in half. And but not why. None of it was really explained. Why is it done this way? So that was confusing to me, was there's not enough whys out there. And then the other thing is that it's we're taking sort of 3D shapes, we're making them 2D, but then we're also working with a malleable material known as fabric, and so it doesn't hold those 3D shapes really nicely, and so it's hard to translate that. So I find those are the ones that can be most challenging. Um and also the the pattern pieces seem complex often.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

But what I've realized extra markings and things you have to pay attention to, like the notches and the allowances and all those kind of things. Yeah, it can it can look daunting when someone's looking at a pattern, especially a garment pattern for the first time.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

And these whole systems have been developed to make it easier, I guess, that you can follow along. But at the same time, when you develop a system, it also requires you to learn that system, if that makes any sense. And so then that becomes challenging. So I tend to just remind people that pattern drafting is really just squares, circles, and triangles. You're playing with shapes, and from there you start combining them together, and suddenly you end up with these complex shapes that you can understand.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

Yeah. And I it's that foundation of knowledge that I think you teach or focus on teaching so that no matter what pattern they're trying, that they have some foundational knowledge to be able to problem solve, troubleshoot, or figure it out, or at least know that they have a resource in you and your education that they can turn to to get the answers that they need. So foundation, like I know people are get so excited to try and they just want to jump into any project. And this is for any niche, you know. Someone's like, I want to make a bag and they want to make this really elaborate bag with all these things. And I'm like, how about we start with a zipper pouch and we just learn the zippers or a pouch with box bottoms, you know, or something simple because we've got to learn these foundational techniques that we can build upon? Because I don't want them to start something too far along in advancement and then get discouraged and quit before they've ever started. And do you ever see people experiencing that and hitting those roadblocks? Or do you feel like at least the community that you've built is finding that empowerment to keep going?

SPEAKER_00 18:34

I find I like to encourage people to just try those difficult projects because for me as well, I learn best by doing that. Very quickly, you discover like, oh, this is so much more challenging than I realized. And having that firsthand experience really solidifies it in the brain. Um, but then I also encourage people that these are good mistakes to make because they're not bad mistakes, they're just learning mistakes. And so then now you have a whole bunch of things you can work on. Like that part didn't go well, and then this other part messed up, and that led to the other thing being completely wrong. And so now you have a whole series of things to chew on and figure out and try again.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

Yeah. Do you ever feel like SOAs underestimate themselves when they're getting started or trying something new? That they kind of create their own roadblocks of insecurity.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Absolutely. I think um people can get worried about it, and especially with pattern drafting. Again, it's the thing of like, we're not saving lives here. Just try it, see what happens. Yeah, um, worst case scenario, you mess up, but the key is to remember it's not a reflection of you. Rome wasn't built in a day, and you won't learn how to sew today, all of everything today. And so it's okay. And just give yourself a chance to try it. Again, worst case scenario, you failed, but now you have a thing you can work on. But I think there's a certain fear of messing up because it's a reflection of you, but it isn't. Like you're still a good person.

SPEAKER_02 20:06

I I think you're brave for even trying, right? There's a lot of people that don't even take that step, and it's important that we acknowledge the attempt. We always kind of talk about it here on the podcast as like failing forward. Like it's really not a failure if we're learning from it. And we learned lessons from that. We can look back and go, okay, well, I I can see where I messed up here. I need to practice this, I need to work on this, but look at what I did accomplish. It is, it may be a little lopsided, but it is a bag, or it is a shirt that the seams may be a little off, but that's okay. I I learned. And I think that's the most important thing that we can keep encouraging is to just don't get in your own way of starting or trying. Um, I'm curious, like, what's one drafting concept that you wish more so us understood?

SPEAKER_00 20:52

It's the video that ended up first working for me to get the audience that I have today. And I continue to remake new versions of this video every year or two, and it always does well every single time. Um, it's the concept that a sleeve is just a cylinder cut at an angle. So that shape, the sleeve cap, the top, there is a bit of an odd shape when you first start and you don't really know why it is that way, and then you have to sew it into a complicated armhole, and like, why are we doing this craziness? But then when you take a piece of paper and you cut, put it in a cylinder and then cut it at an angle, and then you open it up. I should have brought it along, but if you do it, you'll see where that it that shape sort of reveals itself, and in just in that simple reveal, you understand it. I don't even have to say anything, I can just show it to you. Open up and you ah. And so something that seems very complicated can be explained with a literal single two second visual. And so that would be the one that I would probably. Mention and once you understand that, you've probably understand understood one of the most complex concepts of pattern drafting between that and the the curve in pants. Once you master those two, everything else is a breeze.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

Right. I will say though, the first time someone sees a sleeve pattern laid out flat or deconstruct a garment and take that sleeve off for the first time, they're kind of like, I didn't even realize it looked like that laying flat. You know, like the and even just um how wide the top can be, even though your sleeve may be a little more fitted, just the the width at the top and how you said it tapers down to the wrist, you just don't realize that shape or the how strong that curve can be in that. And and how and even just learning the differences between the front of the curve and the back of the curve, that they're not mirror images, it's not the same on both sides because our body is not the same from front to back. And so, like all those little nuances, I think when people start to see a deconstructed garment laid out in pattern form or even just taking a garment apart. Um, I I know a lot of people will start by, oh, this is my favorite t-shirt, and I want to be able to replicate this t-shirt. And so they deconstruct it and lay it out and trace it and try to recreate it. And that's how a lot of people start with just dabbling into, well, I know I like how this shirt fits, so I'm gonna deconstruct it. I've done that with pants that I've bought before from the store, and I'm like, I really love how these pants fit. And so I want to replicate them in this other fabric. And so I've literally taken them off, turned them inside out, laid them on my table, and try and cut out a pattern right onto the fabric. I didn't even use paper, I just went for it. But it's knowing, like really looking at how the garment is made piece by piece and appreciating how how it looks deconstructed. I think it's very eye-opening for a lot of people the first time they dive into it, wouldn't you say?

SPEAKER_00 23:59

It's eye-opening and they can get confused by it, but I think if they take their time, they can figure it out. And I think that's what I enjoy about this and the kind of people who get into it is there's a certain sort of doing attitude. And so, for example, copying over a piece, like you're just throwing it down, you trace it around, and chances are it probably doesn't fit as well as you want to, and scenes aren't lining up, but now you again you have things to work on, you to figure out for the record.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

I did wear those pants to work the very next day.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Good for you.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

I but it's just I wanted I got so many compliments on them, and I was like, you know, I really do like these pants, and I've always wanted to replicate it, and let me see if I can do it. And if I can, then I'll wear them to work tomorrow and show people. And then after that, I was working on like drafting a pattern for myself so I could continue to make them because it had like a sheared waist. So there was a lot more math involved with the shearing, but I know I love it when people are just go for it, right? So I would say, and maybe you might agree with this, but when someone finally understands garment construction, what really changes for them creatively? What have you seen when that light bulb goes off?

SPEAKER_00 25:10

I think realizing that you can that garments in a way are sort of like Legos. And so you can build whatever you want. So once you understand the fundamental concepts, now you can start piecing together to create whole different shapes. And you also realize that sort of there's like, you know, a handful of different styles of collars, and so then you can have like one body, but then you can swap out the collar for another one, and then different like fitting techniques and like playing with what the placket looks like instead of you know sewing on a placket. What if you do it all as one piece and there's sort of like that tweaking and and playing around that becomes the fun part that I think people really thrive off of.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

That freedom. That freedom, right? Let's talk a little bit about your content. I know we've kind of hinted at it a little bit, and if anyone is listening and hasn't gone and seen any of your videos, I'd be shocked. They always show up in my feed. Um, but you have a certain aesthetic, as we kind of mentioned, um, style, presentation, uh everything about your videos. They're very unique to you. But I'd I would beg to guess that it probably didn't start that way. That's something you fine-tuned over time. So curious, and you kind of mentioned that you did graphic design and stuff. Do you s curious if you still do any of that work or if this is kind of your sole focus now, and how that education and knowledge of what you were doing before has impacted how you do what you do now?

SPEAKER_00 26:42

It very much has impacted what I do. Um Deodor Rams was this guy from the 50s who designed a lot of that mid-century style that we we see today. And he had a very minimalist aesthetic, which I discovered in college when I was studying graphic design, and I absolutely loved it because there's a way when you strip away as much as you can, it just focuses in on the message. And so I find, especially with social media platforms, YouTube, all these sorts of places, like the designs of our screens and interfaces are so complex. There's so much going on. Like on Instagram, like we have like the row on the side, like you have the heart and the duh dun da, and then the numbers, and then the description underneath, and the username. Like the fit the page gets filled up with just stuff. And so for me, I found that from a design perspective, bringing that into my videos helps to just remove the noise as much as possible so we can just focus on the thing that I'm trying to show you. And so my goal is always how much can I take out of the shot to just have what I need to explain what I'm doing? And then if I choose to do something visually interesting, it's gonna have a lot of impact. So that's why all my backgrounds are always black or white with nothing else. I'm always in a void.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Um But I doesn't it help like when when filming and editing and things like that, like when you're trying to narrow in on a small sewing notion. Like I think you did a video on Seam Rippers one time, and I was just like, how does he get it to focus so crisply? But you don't have a lot that the camera's trying to focus on in the background. You're you're keeping the the area simple so that it wants to highlight that little thing that you want to showcase, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:40

And then off-screen, what you don't see is there's just a ton of studio lights shining down very specifically either on me or the light, uh, sorry, the object that I'm showing. So that way that looks crisp against the black background because black just absorbs so much light. So when you see me down there, it's like whoa.

SPEAKER_02 29:01

Yeah, but it's all intentional and it and you've developed that style and you're consistent with that style. Do you feel this pressure to consistently create content, or do you kind of go through ebbs and flows and do what feels right? Or do you have like a plan and you kind of say, like, okay, my studio day, I've planned out these videos, you know, I've prepped for that, and I'm gonna knock that out. Like everybody kind of has a different method, so I'm curious what yours is.

SPEAKER_00 29:28

It's a combination of the two. I try to plan as much as I can, but also it's sometimes just in the moment. It's very much based on what I'm doing at the time. So, like the content that I create is usually as a result of a thing I've finished or have been thinking about. And that way it's sort of this thing that's fresh on my mind, which I can then uh create content. So I'm not like planning months in advance or years or thing, anything like that. I'm like I'm regularly sort of just texting myself ideas so I have them written down. Um, and then based on if I'm out of ideas, I'll just go through the history of the text I've set myself to see, like, oh yeah, okay, right. Yeah, let's do this, let's do that, the other thing. Um, but as I'm now sort of starting to work with a couple more people to help me out to free up my time, I'm having to start planning a bit more. Up until now, it's just been me. So with a bit of a team now, I have to sort of get things ready to get them working on things and systematizing and all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 30:32

And um, have you found it? And I'm speaking from personal experience, of sometimes I struggle with like letting go control and relinquish and hand task over that I've held so closely, but I know it's the right thing to do. Do you ever have that been a learning curve? Because you've built your brand and it is your brand and it is your face and and everything you stand for. So how has that been? I mean, I know I'm sure it's a great help, but I'm sure it's a transition as well.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

I'm still learning because it's very hard for me to not want to get in there and do it myself. Um, but I have to remind myself that just because I'm not doing it doesn't mean it's wrong. And everyone has their own unique experience, and it's upon me to learn how to communicate properly what I need rather than thinking they're doing it wrong. Because it's easy to be like, oh, well, you did it wrong. No, no, maybe I where in my communication did I not properly mention what I need? I briefly was an educator at uh a college, and it never failed to amaze me how differently each one of the students would interpret what I said. And I thought I'd sort of thought through every aspect, and then yet there was still something. And it's because we all have such a different lens on the world that is entirely informed by our own life experience. And so I find that I try to remind myself of that all the time. Like, what was my blind spot here? Um, and so theoretically, I'm good at thinking it, but I'm still really struggling with it when it comes to working with a team. And so that's kind of my big project this year is learning to properly coordinate with people, working with them, understanding how to communicate, how to empower. Um, it turns out leadership is a whole new skill set that's very different than being at the sewing machine.

SPEAKER_02 32:27

No, so true. And I think we a lot of us, you know, whether we're working for another organization and have a team or working by ourselves and bringing people in, whatever it is, there is uh a point of acceptance that that it may not be done the way that I would want it done, but it's still done. And maybe they even did it better or different can be better, and accepting that can be hard too, and and change can be hard for anything that we go through, especially something that's so close to who we are in in our day-to-day. So um, so I'd love to talk a little bit about uh your personal style, your your sewing identity, the the garments you choose to make and wear, and how that is also an extension of who you are as a person, because you definitely have a style. So tell us a little bit about how you would describe your style.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

I would say my it again goes back to the graphic design. Um, I'm very minimalist. Right now I'm wearing a simple black button-up shirt. And so I'm constantly thinking about what I can remove to have just enough. Uh, the expression of like, never let facts get in the way of a good story, the same way I think about like what can I all remove to still have like just what I need. So with a collar, for example, the flap that goes over from what I know is meant to cover the um the band of a tie. I don't wear tie, so why do I have that flap? So I've removed it and now I just do band collars. Um like I mentioned earlier, my plackets, I just do them as one piece that fold in rather than sewing on an extra one so I can reduce the thickness of the seams where it gets sewn on. So I'm a I'm a minimalist to the core. So everything I'm constantly paring back. Having said that, I do also have a real western tinge to my style.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

And that's really some embroidery lately. And you were wearing embroidery when I saw you uh at H too.

SPEAKER_00 34:37

It's informed by the way I grew up. My parents were and grandparents were born in Mexico in cowboy country, uh, ranching areas, and so they adopted a lot of that Western style, and then they moved to Paraguay and brought that style along with them. And the grown men would always wear cowboy hats, and I just thought they looked so cool. And I couldn't wait until I was a little bit older and I was gonna get my own cowboy hat. And then we eventually left that community and left that all behind. And then later in life, I realized, like, wait, I can still have that in my life, I can still have cowboy hats. And so I went out and bought myself a fancy one at a fancy Western store and I put it on and it just felt right. So I kept the hat. And so I have this Western style that meets Scandinavian minimalist style, and I reside somewhere in there.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

I love it. And one of the first things I said to you when I saw you at H H, I was like, where's your hat? And then you turn around and you're like, it's right here, and you put it on, and I was like, because it's just a part of like, you know, we we when you show up online or um and how you present yourself, I'm like, yeah, it's part of like when I think of you, I think of the solid colors, right? The blacks, the whites, those kind of things, but then the hat. And maybe it's because I'm from Nashville, I don't know, but I do appreciate and how it just all comes together and you're bringing in your roots, but in your own way. Uh, and you're tactfully bringing that into something that you're comfortable with that is an expression of yourself. And it can say a lot, but also be very simple. Um, I I did mention you've been incorporating a little more embroidery. How's that been? A little color.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

It made me have a whole newfound appreciation for embroidery uh because I got one of those machines that's a combination of sewing meets a little bit of embroidery, and then I had all kinds of visions and ideas of what I was gonna do. And I could even upload my own designs, and then I realized that you actually have to do stitch patterns and learn a whole other software. I was like, oh, this, oh, and then there's the software, which as I'm sure you aware, uh requires your firstborn to be sacrificed, and so yeah, and and those machines are very much an investment as well, too.

SPEAKER_02 37:04

And uh I I mean I've been doing embroidery for a long time, and and one thing that I felt, maybe maybe this is for you or not, I'm not sure. But when you first start adding embroidery to garments, the alignment, especially if you're doing a if it's not just on a pocket or a cuff or something, like if you're doing something across a collar or on the back or like centering that, aligning it, making sure it's hooped straight, like all those kind of variables, it's very nerve-wracking because once you start, you're in it. You're in in the hoop, you're stitching out, and then you take it out and you're like, oh man, that's crooked because I hooped crooked, and you know, all these kind of variables. I think technology has helped a lot, but that is definitely one of those things where I'm like, it's almost easier to embroider the fabric first and then cut out my pattern and sew up the garment than vice versa. But we don't always go about it that way. How has your experience been with learning embroidery and incorporating that into your garments? Like you have.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

Oh, I'm a real beginner. Like I I also learned that those combo machines that do sewing and embroidery together do neither great because it turns out that you might want a dedicated machine for embroidery to do it well, to do ornate, beautiful designs. Um, and so I I would say I dabble at best. I don't even call myself an embroiderer because I'm yeah, my machine also it must, I think it must be a lemon because it's oh no, it's constantly threads getting ripped, the whole and it makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

I probably can help you figure that out. I've used so many different ones, but like I get like there's a steep learning curve with embroidery, stabilizers, different stabilizers for different materials, especially with garments, especially with anything stretched, especially like there's just so many different things. And um like with garment sewing and pattern drafting, there's a learning curve, there's a terminology, there's a oh, I didn't I didn't know I could just I couldn't just hoop my material and go to town. I didn't know I needed stabilizer because when you're watching videos online, you don't see that underneath, right? Like those kind of things. So there is a bit of a learning curve for sure, but I love that you're trying it out and bringing it into what you're creating. Um, so are you selling patterns or do you just educate? I know you have courses. Tell us a little bit about if someone were to go to your social media, to your YouTube or your website, what would they find?

SPEAKER_00 39:40

I focus on courses. Um, education is where I think I do my best work. And it turns out there's a lot of people who want to learn how to make their own clothes from scratch. There's a certain sort of learning with patterns, and then you get to a place of like, oh, I think I actually want to, can I make my own patterns? And that's that's where I step in and focus there. Um, and I can be most effective that way. Uh, I respect people who sell patterns because there's also pattern grading and all those sorts of things.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

And that's just the worst part of pattern drafting is grading in my books. I got all the way to that point, and then I was like, someone else is gonna have to do this grading. I am gonna pull my hair out. So yeah, it's there's a lot that goes into those patterns.

SPEAKER_00 40:26

Having humility is probably one of the things that keeps saving me, and that is knowing that I can't do everything. So I just focus on the education side of things. It's also where I just have the most fun. I don't want to be drafting patterns for drafting them, selling them. That's like a that's just that's a full business. There's businesses that do that, and there's lots of people who do that really well, and so I'm just not even going to try and get in there. Um, I do have a pattern that I collaborated with Closet Core on. It's that Western shirt. But again, I let they they did what they did best, which was managing the pattern. Then I just got to have fun making cool versions of it, making videos about it and talking about it. Um, and then I do education. That's where I where I thrive.

SPEAKER_02 41:12

Um I'm curious if you have any advice for sewists specifically trying to get into garment sewing who feel stuck or intimidated. If you, if someone were to come up to you and say, I'm afraid to start for XYZ reasons, and they've probably got all these reasons that they've from previous experiences or you know, their bodies changed, or you know, whatever it may be. Like, what would your advice be to someone who walked up to you and go, I don't even know where to start? I just got so stuck, and I but I want to, but I'm scared.

SPEAKER_00 41:43

I like to encourage people to start by making the thing that they want to make, no matter how complicated it is. Make that thing because that's what you want to do. At least for me, I found like I wanted to dive in to do the things I want. I've never been one for guided learning paths. That's probably the better way to do it. You know, because you're sort of like building on it, you build the confidence. But I sort of have a just bite off more than you can chew and then chew it anyways kind of approach. And in that process, there's so much learning that happens. Um, and any task broken down into small enough steps becomes manageable. And so just itty bitty little little steps will get you to where you want to go. Don't know where you want to go, but then take a step back and just start really simple and build up, you know, build up from there and you'll slowly get better. Um and just do it. We're not saving lives here, you know?

SPEAKER_02 42:40

No, we're not.

SPEAKER_00 42:42

And it's not a reflection of you. No, your failures are not a reflection of who you are as a person, you're learning. And so the reason I also give these bits of advice is because I constantly need to remind myself about it. Don't we all constantly beating myself up over these things? And I'm like, oh, right, yeah, break this down into small steps. All right. I'm not a failure. My project just gave me a lot of things to learn from. Things like that.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

Right. Would you is there like a sewing, I don't want to say mistake, but like incident that taught you something really important in your journey?

SPEAKER_00 43:21

Yes, I would say the biggest one would be I've always been very intimidated of sewing women's garments. And then I realized that they're also just clothes. And the shapes are different and the proportions are different. But then if you if I break down sort of having said that, there's something to be said for lived experience. And I think that's part of what had me so hesitant. I just don't know what that feels like to be a woman, and so the fit of things is going to be different. So I tried to be very open about it. But when I did eventually get into it, I was like, oh, okay. But this There's differences here, but I can learn these differences. And as long as I'm just open to listening and learning and hearing feedback, I can I could do this. And so that for me, I think I waited too long to get into that. And when I eventually did, that opened things up for me. It's like, oh, okay, well, technically that's different, but then also the way you sow for when you're older, your body changes. So even as a like a man that's older than me, a senior citizen is going to have a very different way that clothes should fit than me. Also, say a child, right? And so I think I put too much weight in that. And I think that's often what happens is we put too much weight in things we don't know. And then I think there's something to be said for respecting things we don't know, but then also being open to like just try it, see what happens. Don't think you know what you're doing, but be open and see what happens.

SPEAKER_02 44:56

Would you say that there's a project that teaches SOAS the most the one that you're working on. The one that you're scared to start. Just do it.

SPEAKER_00 45:08

Whatever it is you're whatever you're working on, there's so many things that can go wrong that you can learn from.

SPEAKER_02 45:13

Yeah, no, for sure. And you know, there's an episode that I kind of just we just released uh about quote unquote advanced sewing and sewing labels and how a label on a pattern that says intermediate or advanced could prevent someone from trying and starting or feel like they're not good enough, or someone has labeled something intermediate or advanced, but it may not be that challenging. It just was for them. It's all about perspective. There's no industry standard for sizing or difficulty. It's all about what you've learned and what you're willing to try. Do you find that that's like a common problem in garment sewing as well, of those labels we put on patterns or techniques or things that prevent people from starting and andor that they actually probably know more than they're giving themselves credit for?

SPEAKER_00 46:04

I actively made the choice not to put those labels on my courses for that very reason. I had initially thought about like, oh, this is a beginner course and this is an advanced, but we all again come from such different places with such different experiences. Like someone who hasn't necessarily sewn before, but has done, say, knitting, crocheting, those sorts of things, there's certain principles that can transfer over. And it also give you insights that you can then transfer over. Even something as simple, or not simple, something as different as woodworking seems vastly different, but then you realize that oh, there's there's commonalities here, and you can transfer those things over. And so I find everyone's experience is so different that just try it, go for it, whatever that thing is.

SPEAKER_02 46:56

I couldn't agree more. You ready for some fun rapid fire questions?

SPEAKER_00 47:00

Let's do this.

SPEAKER_02 47:02

Okay. All right, so I have to ask, what is your must-have go-to snack in the sewing room?

SPEAKER_00 47:09

Gummy bears.

SPEAKER_02 47:11

Yes, agreed. Uh favorite garment to sew. If you're ever like, I just need to check out and sew something for fun for me.

SPEAKER_00 47:22

The next one I have in mind, because I'm always excited and have endless ambition for it.

SPEAKER_02 47:27

Oh, I love that. Most underrated sewing tool.

SPEAKER_00 47:32

The L-shaped ruler, but that's more of a pattern drafting tool.

SPEAKER_02 47:36

It is. I still have mine somewhere. I couldn't tell you the last time I used it though. Uh okay, so favorite fabric that you love to work with.

SPEAKER_00 47:46

A classic cotton plain weave. It's simple and it works. A specific one would be this is a cotton Batiste, and so it's super light and airy, perfect for the summertime. Wears amazingly, but still has structure to it, if I want. So an absolute favorite. And I use it for pocket linings.

SPEAKER_02 48:10

Yes. Favorite, um, or not favorite, fabric that you avoid sewing with if you don't have to. Like least favorite.

SPEAKER_00 48:19

I maybe not that I don't like synthetics. I just don't use a lot of synthetics. Um polyesters, um uh what's that stuff called? I always forget. Any most synthetic I don't have synthetics.

SPEAKER_02 48:35

Uh most humbling sewing project.

SPEAKER_00 48:40

A polo shirt. I've attempted to make two of them, two of them in my life, and both of them failed. Mind you, this was earlier on in my sewing career, but that's been the two projects I've had to give up. For some reason, I failed those, and it was uh a disaster, and so I just haven't gone back to them. I'm sure I could do it, but maybe one day.

SPEAKER_02 49:02

Uh, one technique every sewist should learn.

SPEAKER_00 49:07

Stay stitching in a collar. It's gonna make it so much easier to put in. Is it stay stitch? Yes, a stay stitch.

SPEAKER_02 49:13

Yeah, yeah. Current sewing obsession.

SPEAKER_00 49:17

Pockets. It's my eternal thing. Getting pockets. Never have enough. Placement and sizing and technique.

SPEAKER_02 49:27

Yeah. What's your favorite type of pocket?

SPEAKER_00 49:30

Minimalist ones that are hidden in the garment that you can't necessarily see, but are super effective and don't affect the integrity of the garment.

SPEAKER_02 49:38

I love that. Um dream project that you've always wanted to make, but you haven't yet.

SPEAKER_00 49:45

I'm going to make myself a new coat that's been on the docket for two years now, and I haven't done it yet. But I need a nice spring fall coat. I want to quilt it. I want to put a really nice lamb's wool on the inside for um insulation, and then just lots of nice little details. The uh I for always forget the name, but the little kind of like not vents, but the thingies in the back so that I can move my arms like this and it opens up but then closes back up again.

SPEAKER_01 50:16

And I've got to throw everything on that coat.

SPEAKER_00 50:19

I think I've made it a bigger deal in my mind than it really is, and it hasn't started, but eventually I'll just have to take my own advice and dig in.

SPEAKER_02 50:27

All right, last question. Most used phrase while sewing.

SPEAKER_00 50:34

You can do this.

SPEAKER_02 50:37

I love that. I love that. Yeah. Now, before we jump into our you love to see it, you and I met at H H and you were in a booth working with a brand, and I know you've worked with a couple brands, but tell us a little bit about that partnership with that brand and what you've created with them, and maybe even how people can find it for themselves.

SPEAKER_00 50:59

Many, many years ago, uh 2018, when no one was watching my videos, I bought a pair of scissors, uh treating myself to a nice pair of scissors. And I I at the fabric store, I'd always see them use those big old 12-inch scissors. And I figured, okay, if I'm gonna get my own, I need to get the biggest ones I can find. And so I ordered them and LDH, the company I bought them from, somehow managed to find that video, and they saw it that I not only had ones that were way too big, but I also bought right-handed ones instead of lefties that I needed. And so they just reached out and sent me a fresh pair. Like, here you go, here's a pair of left-handed, that'll be better for you.

SPEAKER_02 51:41

Well, that was so nice.

SPEAKER_00 51:43

It was. Why they did not need to do it, but they did, and I was very thankful. I still have that pair today. They work great, and that relationship just slowly evolved, and I started working with them, and um turns out they're in the same stage of their life as I am and building a business. And um, not only have I started working with them, I've developed a friendship with them, and we do business together now. Um, and I can say from all these years that they are also just fantastic scissors. I I love them.

SPEAKER_02 52:15

So, you at the show were kind of showcasing kind of like a set of scissors that you feel like every sewist kind of needs in their arsenal when they get in, specifically to garment sewing. So tell us a little bit about what that set is. And and I got to see it firsthand. Um, we'll definitely share some pictures um of it, but which ones did you choose and why in that set? And why do you feel like that's what a sewist needs when with garment sewing to have in their arsenal to be able to do these things?

SPEAKER_00 52:46

It's the uh the tools in there is a pair of fabric shears, uh rotary cutter, and thread snips. And those are the three tools that I use 99% of the time, whether it's um cutting out pattern pieces with the scissors or bias binding with the rotary cutters, and then as I'm sewing, uh I use the snips, but then I even use them for notching and stuff. And so they're the ones that I use all the time, and I told them, I was like, guys, I'm telling you, you need a gift set that has these three items. It is not only the perfect tool for anyone who's starting out, the perfect tools for anyone who's starting out that will give them everything they need, but it's also just a quality set that can be um given as a gift. And so I we teamed up on that. It's a sort of a joint uh collaboration on that uh with that gift set. And it comes from just personal experience. I love these, I think people can use these, and it seems to be resonating. People um people are liking it. So I'm happy.

SPEAKER_02 53:50

Well, the quality of your scissors goes a long way when you're creating. Um, and so I I can say they they are beautiful, they're lovely, they're great, and we'll include a link in the description. So if anybody wants to go check those out, you should absolutely should. Um, and now I want to jump into your you love to see it. This is how we wrap up every episode, just something positive, something fun, um, something that made you smile recently that you want to share with our listeners.

SPEAKER_00 54:17

So this is non-sowing related.

SPEAKER_02 54:19

Um perfect.

SPEAKER_00 54:20

But I've I've planted some carrot seeds and they're just coming up, and it gives me so much joy just to go out there every morning and look at my little patch. I uh I live in the suburbs now. I grew up on a farm as I'd mentioned, and so I just have a natural bug for digging in the dirt, and so I've got my little spot here, and I got my flowers, and I put in a couple onions, and I got some dill going there. Um, but then I did the carrots by seed, and I don't know, for some reason it's just giving me so much joy seeing them sprout, and every day they're a little bit bigger, and so after breakfast, I head out there, look at them, have a smile on my face, and get to work.

SPEAKER_02 55:03

I love that. I try growing carrots once, and I get so excited because this the stuff on top of the ground got real big, looked real promising, and then I pull the carrot out and it's like an inch long, and I'm like, well, I tried. I enjoyed the process, but I have nothing to show for it. It's just you don't know what's happening under there. I wish I could take a peek, you know. Um, but hopefully yours will not have that kind of luck like mine did. But Maya love to see it this week. Um, as I've kind of mentioned before, like on the show, uh my son is grown, he'll actually be 20 in July. And so I have a niece and a nephew, um, and they're little, and my nephew is two and a half, and he's still figuring out what he's calling everybody, and he has given me my first name. For originally we were because Bethany's kind of a mouthful, and my brother wouldn't even call me Bethany when we were little, he called me Bebeling um for some reason, which got shortened to Beb. And my family still kind of calls me Beb sometimes, but my we were kind of saying like Aunt B. I'm Aunt B to Levi. Well, now he's called me Bebah. So now I officially have my first aunt name. It's Bebah, and I am obsessed that I can't I'm gonna go take him to the park tomorrow afternoon, and I can't wait to hang out with him. He's like a mini version of my brother, so I just it's like deja vu, just getting to hang out with him. But I it's there's something really special. I didn't know if I was ever gonna get to be an aunt, and I'm so grateful that I am now. Um, and just get to soak up all the fun aunt duties. But now I have my first first name and it's Beba. And I he keeps pretending to call me on his toy phone, and then they send me videos trying to call Beball and Brock, which he calls Bach, which is my son. Um, so anyways, that's been something that has just warmed my heart and brought me joy this week. So um, yeah, I just had to share that because we just love to gush over those little things, right? They just make everything that we're doing in this crazy world just feel simple in one moment and just ground you. And I just can't wait to squeeze his little cheeks tomorrow. Um, is there anything happening in the sewing community right now that you are just so excited for and just want to call out and celebrate before we wrap things up?

SPEAKER_00 57:17

Just seeing everyone into it, seeing how big the community is. I never realized it was this, there's this many people interested in it. And it's like a delightful reaction to fast fashion, is I think a lot of people are realizing that they can also make their own clothes. Um, and so seeing I'm gonna sound like an old man, but seeing the kids online sewing gives me so much joy. So I'm happy that's happening.

SPEAKER_02 57:42

Bringing in that new generation of sewists, right? It's lighting a fire under them. It's exciting. I think as educators, it's what fills our cup is other people finding joy in this craft. So I can't thank you enough for being a part of this episode and a part of the social hour podcast and joining me today for this chat. It's been so much fun. Real quick, let everybody know where they can go find all the things, Cornelius.

SPEAKER_00 58:06

Well, um, I always just say one thing. Uh, if you want to see what I'm up to, uh visit my website, cornelius.o. And uh everything's linked there, all my socials, everything I've got going on. That's 30.oo.

SPEAKER_02 58:22

We'll put links to everything in the description. Again, thank you so much for listening this week. As always, be sure you're subscribed to our YouTube channel, follow us on Instagram and Facebook. And if you're not a part of the social sewas Facebook group, that's where the conversation continues over there in that private group where we've built a community of sewas from all over the world. So please join us. And again, thank you so much for being our guest today, Cornelius. I'm so grateful and can't wait to see what you create next. All right, guys, thanks so much. Happy sewing