the Beatrice Blog

Empowering people to make clothes they love to wear

How Beatrice came to be

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It all started way back in college in the early 90’s…

I was DJ’ing, going out dancing with my friends, and vintage was all the rage. But all the cute tops and dresses in the thrift shops were huge on me and hung awkwardly on my narrow, forward shoulders.

Being the crafty maker type, I borrowed my best friend’s sewing machine, altered away, and created a personalized wardrobe that fit. For the first time in my life, I truly felt like myself in my clothes. I was hooked. 

Fast forward to 2013. My body is “maturing”. Things are sitting a little lower and I’ve got new curves. Fit is affecting the way I feel about my body more than ever.

Thanks to many years as a software engineer slumped over a computer, my upper body had transformed into a crumpled mess. Ready-to-wear clothes choked me at the neck and sleeves pinned my arms like a straight jacket. Fast fashion and poor quality had already completely turned me off from clothes shopping. The fit headaches weren’t making it any more fun.

Help! Sewing machine to the rescue!

I set out to solve my fit problems by sewing my own wardrobe. Unlike my college years, I now had the power of the internet to help. Online, I discovered this inspiring new movement of independent pattern designers and global community of sewists just like me! Yes, I could do this!

As I pushed to get a better fit, my sewing hobby transformed from a fun, intuitive challenge that I could solve with my hands into a demoralizing, abstract math puzzle. Hello muslin spirals and hacked taped pattern chaos.

I thought maybe what I needed to conquer my fitting woes was a dress form. After a bunch of research, I realized commercial designers were using standard forms to fit an “average” person – that was NOT going to solve my problem because the reason things don’t fit me is that my body is not average. Nobody is an average. I realized I needed a “body double”.

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Garment deep dive: Grandma’s cashmere coat

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When I’m sewing a garment style that is brand new to me or something a bit more complicated, I like to put my hands and eyeballs on the finished product first. As it turns out, there are loads of sewing knowhow and construction details just waiting to be discovered in your own closet right now!

We’re sewing coats right now in the Collective, so I got curious about what I could learn from my closet. Luckily, I found a great reference to share: my grandmother’s well-loved cashmere coat that I recently inherited from my mom. Let’s dive in! 

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Fitting the Sienna Maker Jacket (look ma, no muslin!)

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Do you like to panic sew before a hard deadline, like getting on an airplane? I can’t think of a better reason to be extremely productive in the sewing room! 😅 Seriously though, we’ve all been there.

Well, this time it worked out. My Sienna Maker Jacket ended up being the perfect piece of outerwear for my recent family trip to Orange County, CA. Best-jacket-ever for the plane ride! SO many pockets for all my flying doodads: inner pocket for my phone, small one on top for my AirPods, big pockets down low for hand sanitizer, snacks, and everything else.

I even landed some nice compliments from a flight attendant when I boarded. She lamented, “You just can’t buy something as well-fitting and well-made as this anymore.” Ain’t that the truth!!

And the best part? Thanks to my Beatrice, I was able to fit and sew it in less than 3 days….with NO MUSLIN. (Even if you don’t have a Beatrice, these techniques can still work by tissue fitting on yourself.)

Here’s how I did it.

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Exploring zero waste fashion with the Daydream Top

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I am a goofball. Thanks for bearing with me! But seriously, the fun fit of this billowy garment makes me giddy 🙌

Because I make custom dress forms, I’m usually in the mindset of making more structured and silhouette-following garments. But lately, I’ve been curious about abandoning that approach altogether in the name of zero waste fashion.

What’s great about zero waste garment making is obviously less garbage making. But what I’ve also discovered is that zero waste patterns can be a satisfying quick make that pushes the envelope in terms of your personal fit preferences and style.

This was certainly the case for me when I made Cris Wood’s Daydream Top. I had this dark lavender slubby hemp fabric that I’d been stashing for some coveralls, but really needed a quick sewing fix asap. How about matching separates in the same fabric instead? For the top, I found this awesome pattern that I could make out of rectangles! Let’s do it!!

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Top 5 tips for fitting and making JUMPSUITS!

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Remember the shawl collar coveralls I’ve been working on? They’re done!

The final product

I’m super happy with how they turned out. I decided to sew them up in an inexpensive denim as a wearable muslin to test. Later, I plan on making more of these with various collar shapes in bright, fun colors!

Still need to sew these on!

To jazz these up a bit, I added some fun details with sort of a punk/rockabilly style. I don’t have any tattoos but I wanted to take some of that inspiration here using patches. I also lined the pockets and waistband with black and white checks (a la Vans slip-ons – you know the ones).

After several past failures fitting coveralls and overalls, I feel like I finally nailed the fit this time. It wasn’t easy but hey – at least you can benefit from my struggles!! 😂

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