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Figuring Out Fabrics by Designing Digitally
Welcome to a somewhat meandering story of three custom garments! This blog post loosely threads between my previous tutorial post on creating custom croquis, a couple of my “Custom Sewing Love Letters”, and there’s even some bridalwear throwbacks… The common thread: My iPad.
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How To Create Custom Sketching Croquis from Photos
It’s early 2010. Michelle, my very first custom bridalwear client, is leaving my home studio after our Design Consultation. I snap a photo of her on her way out the door. My mind is buzzing with ideas. My table is scattered with images and inspirations. I pull out a blank piece of paper. I’m ready to…
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My 7 Year Quest to Custom Jeans (+ more about those pockets!)
Contrary to what you might think, I don’t have a lot of clothes and I tend to wear the same (old) things over and over. Almost all of my custom garment making is for others. Even the custom clothes I have made for myself were mostly crafted on-screen while sharing with my students. But I’m…
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My Sewing Story Pt 4: Pandemic to Present
(If you are new to this series, start with Pt 1: Academics. Otherwise…) It’s THE END of this Sewiversary series! My previous post “Entrepreneur” left off in October 2019, when two of my custom brides walked down (different) aisles in the same weekend. I was working in my dream studio while teaching couture sewing to…
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My Sewing Story Pt 3: Entrepreneur
If you are new to this series, start here with Pt 1: Academics. Otherwise… Welcome back! Let’s pick up my sewing story 15 years ago at my own March 2008 wedding, which is where we left off in Pt 2: Employment. In my free time, I had designed and made my own wedding dress (after…
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My Sewing Story Pt 2: Employment
Welcome back! In this second segment of my Sew-iversary series, I’ll share about the various ways I was employed before going solo. While putting together Pt 1 Academics, I predicted Pt 2 would be a quick post. I didn’t remember having many photos from my Employment Era. But after poking around and digging deep into…
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Hi there! I'm Brooks Ann.
I’m a former professional costumer and couture dressmaker for one-of-a-kind bridalwear located in Hillsborough, North Carolina, who teaches custom garment sewing too the sew-curious online.
My blog mostly follows along with the couture process of how each heirloom-quality custom wedding dress was made from idea to wedding day, as well as other interesting tidbits related to sewing, weddings, and body positivity.
Stay in Touch!
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