Listen to the episode
Plus Size Patternmaking for Womenswear with Leila Kelleher (@leila_sews) – The Asian Sewist Collective Podcast
Links
Patterns by Paary – Library Folder Pattern
Paradise Patterns – Rose Raglan Button Up
The Well-Dressed Dog Pattern Book (affiliate link)
Buy Plus Size Patternmaking on Bookshop (affiliate link)
Leila Kelleher on Instagram @leila_sews
Gabby Brown on Instagram @gabriellejbrown
Muna and Broad
Martha, fit model on Instagram @garichild
Resources
Our Bookshop page (affiliate link)
Shop our sewing book recommendations (affiliate link)
Transcript
Ada: Welcome to the Asian Sewist Collective Podcast. The Asian Sewist Collective is a group of Asian people from around the world brought together by our shared appreciation for fiber and textile arts, and our desire to see more Asian representation in the sewing community. In this podcast, we explore the intersection of our identities and our shared sewing practice as we create a space for Asian sewists and our allies.
I’m your co-host Ada Chen, and I’m recording from Denver, Colorado. Denver is the traditional territory of the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapaho Peoples. I’m a Taiwanese American marketer turned entrepreneur, and these days you’ll find me running my natural skincare brand, Erleia. That’s E-R-L-E-I-A. Find us on social media at @erleiaskin. Most importantly for this podcast, you can find my sewing at @i.hope.sew on Instagram.
Nicole: And I’m your co-host Nicole. I’m recording outside of Chicago, Illinois, the original homelands of the Council of the Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Potawatomi, and the Odawa people. I’m a Philippine American lawyer who loves to sew, and you can find me on Instagram at @NicoleAngelineSews.
Ada: Before we get into today’s guest, we always like to check in with each other on what we’re working on, what we’re sewing. So Nicole, what are you working on?
Nicole: So I’m working on, you know, how I roll when I don’t have anything I wanna work on. I sign up for pattern tests and I’ve got a couple that I’m just wrapping up.
The first one is a shirt. It’s the Giselle shirt. I don’t know if it’ll be out by the time this episode’s out, but it’s by Just Patterns. And a friend, a local friend connected me to their testing group and I was like, sure, why not? And it is a modern twist on a traditional tailored shirt. So shirtcuffs, plaques, collars, et cetera.
But the back is split into two. So it’s designed to have like in, you could have an open back for view one. So it’s got the upper back part. The bottom back is open, but with a tie. So the design is, it’s intended to be worn, like a somewhat cinched back and open at the bottom few buttons to give that like an a line silhouette almost. It can also be worn loose so that it looks like a traditional, relaxed fitting button down shirt. And I made it with a shirt and cotton I got ages ago that was gonna be a shirt dress, but I just really don’t wear dresses or skirts anymore, so I pulled it out.
It was, you know, I would’ve considered it fancy fabric back in the day, and it’s, it was still nice, but I was like, yeah, I’ll just use it. It looks really cool. Some of the testers had striped versions and they looked very chic. Yeah. So I do have some fabric from where I volunteer, like a striped mystery natural fiber of some kind, and we don’t exactly know what it is. It’s like a blue, like a cornflower blue and almost like a beige stripe.
I’m a little bit, do you find some beige just to look dirty? Not dirty, but I do think that, you know, based on the color of this beige, if you’re not watching on YouTube, I’m gesturing at my face.
Ada: Some beiges just don’t, they look gray on me and that just is how it is.
Nicole: Yeah, maybe, maybe that’s what it is. It feels like sand, not like a pristine, like beautiful beach, but the slightly wet public beach sand. And I’m like, I don’t know if I like this, but you know, the fabric is donated and so I figured I might not give it a shot.
And then the second project is something for our friend Gowri, who I recently tested for as well, but she put out a call for help with what she called a library folder. I don’t know if she’s gonna change the name, but basically it’s like a sleeve with a flap and velcro and I just saw it and I was like, that’s cute.
And I’ve been wanting to make, you know, just like a sleeve for my Kindle, but you know, all these ideas and I just never execute. So like, yeah, this is perfect. And it was super easy. I made one with cheater fabric, like a cheater quilt. Have you heard of the term cheater fabric?
Ada: No.
Nicole: So, quilters may be familiar with this term. Basically it’s regular fabric, it’s quilting cotton, but it looks like it’s been pieced together. So the pattern looks like a quilted pattern, like a pieced pattern, but it’s just printed. And again, I found this where I volunteer and I was like, oh, great. And I was, you know, just having fun quilting along the lines, like they’re not, I didn’t line them up perfectly.
So it’s obviously cheater fabric, but like, it’s just fun, you know? This is a test and it’s super easy. So I really like it and hopefully that’ll come out soon, but my sewing – I’m not like in the middle of anything right now, but where I volunteer, we receive donations of all kinds and including machines.
Well, the last time I went there, a Bernina 440 Aurora Quilting Edition came through and was donated to us. And, and you know, everyone’s like, “Ooh, Bernina”. I’m like, yeah, Bernina. I don’t really, I get that it’s, you know, very highend and exciting. But it turns out this is like a really nice machine.
It has everything. It has this really cool like toolbox that attaches to the back of the machine.
Ada: Oh, yeah. Yep. The magnetic.
Nicole: Yep. And then like, you just pop it off and it’s like, it has like French doors. It’s like a double door opens up. It is actually very nice. And it comes with a quilters table.
And I’m always joking with my friend Lisa, like, “Hey, look, if you don’t need this, I know you guys have a lot of donations, you know, I could just, just take it off your hands, you know?” She’s like, “Absolutely not, Nicole. However, you know, if you wanna take it home for a time and make sure it all works and get it calibrated nicely, you can play around with it. No deadline, but it’s gotta come back, Nicole, into circulation at the studios.”
Like, fine. So, I have everything with me. It comes with a bag and all the accessories, like the quilting table, it has like free motion quilting, so my machine does it too, and also embroidery, but it’s a Bernina, like not my machine.
So I think that’ll probably take up, you know, my most immediate sewing attention. And I’m excited, you know, it’s like. Fun to unbox and, and look at all the fun stuff and try all new things and make sure it works and clean it up and all that. So looking forward to digging into that and really figuring out what all this Bernina hype is about. I’m kidding. It’s not hype. I know it’s more than hype, but still. What are you working on?
Ada: I feel a little judged, but it’s fine.
Nicole: No, everyone, I get it. I get it. I can. I can believe it when everyone says “Berninas are amazing high quality machines”, so I’m looking forward to playing with mine. I mean, it’s not mine, Lisa, if you’re listening! It’ll go back permanently – it’s kind of temporarily on loan at Nicole’s house, but permanently belongs over there to Lisa and the studio.
Ada: I am working on a few different things. I haven’t done a panic sew for Lunar New Year in years and this year, somehow I decided to, like you, I was like, this would have been considered my fancy fabric from my stash a while ago, but now I’m like looking at my stash, when am I gonna wear this red wool suiting? Probably just for the holiday. So I wanted to make a full head to toe outfit for a New Year’s Eve dinner.
Nicole: Oh, wow.
Ada: But I did not finish in time, so I made a pleated miniskirt. The outfit that I wore to dinner is posted already on Instagram, and I did not find great size inclusive patterns for this. So I have linked or referenced a few calculators where you could like calculate how to do your own pleated skirt and then customize it from there, which is cool ’cause it really is just a rectangle y’all. But pleats are, pleats are annoying to sew I will say. And the top was going to be or is already cut out and it’s a Paradise Patterns Rose Raglan Shirt.
And I kind of wanted to make it like a shacket out of the wool suiting. So it’s gonna be a little oversized. It was cut out before the Lunar New Year, and then on the actual day, one of the superstitions is that you shouldn’t be cutting things. So I decided to start sewing some of the seams and that using the little thread cutter built into your machine doesn’t really count as cutting. ’cause it’s kind of just snapping a thread if we’re being very meticulous about it. So it’s, it’s on its way. I’m hoping to finish it. Soon-ish, but I don’t feel like I have a hard deadline on it, which is kind of nice. I can take my time with it since I’ve been looking forward to using this pattern for a while.
And then I also have a baby quilt cut out because one of my friends from college is expecting, and I, we are, that one’s gonna be a, maybe a panic sew a little bit. I hope this girl does not arrive early because the quilt will not be done.
Nicole: I feel like it’s been a while since you were in like a kick of baby quilts maybe a couple years ago.
Ada: We’re back for round two.
Nicole: Alright, sounds good.
Ada: Before we play the interview with Leila today, we did want to share an update, which is that Nicole and I will be going on a hiatus for a bit. This is actually our 75th episode if you count them. Most podcasts don’t actually make it this long. Most podcasts don’t even make it past our first season or year.
So the fact that we have been doing this now for five years is amazing. Pat on the back to all of us and the whole team who have been with us along the way, kind of in and out. There’s been at least a couple dozen, two or three dozen people who’ve been involved in creating the podcast, not including our wonderful guests and the friends we’ve made so, it has been a great journey so far, but being honest, we are tired and we need a bit of a break to rest and recharge and come up with new ideas, so we will still be on the internet and sewing Instagram around and about and popping into your feed from time to time. But for now, we have actually put a pause on recording new episodes.
So if you want to stay up to date with what we are sewing individually, feel free to give our sewing Instagrams a follow. Definitely still stay subscribed and stay tuned in to the Asian Sewist Collective Podcast and Instagram because that’s the best way to find out when we are back releasing new episodes.
And who knows, there might be a few times this year when we pop back into your feeds.
Nicole: Before we get to our interview, I just wanna say thank you everyone for coming with us on this journey. It’s been, when you said five years, I was like, wow, I can’t believe it’s been five years. Ada it’s been really amazing to get to know you and to have this friendship in the pod and outside of the pod.
And listeners, this has been such a really great experience to be able to share the stories of various Asian cultures and speak and learn about other Asian sewists in the community. And I hope it’s been. You know, something that you’ve looked forward to every week, every month, whenever we get to an episode and we appreciate you joining us on the journey and we will be around.
Ada: This is not a final sign off. Like we said, it’s a hiatus. We just need a bit of time to get our bearings. If you have seen anything that is going on in the world right now, not even including our own personal lives and what we are both navigating, so we are excited to take a bit of a break and without further ado, here is our chat with Leila.
Ada: Today we are welcoming on for this mini-sode, quick and dirty episode, Leila, who is a past guest and friend of the pod. So I’m not gonna get into it because I’m gonna turn it over to you. Would you like to introduce yourself, Leila?
Leila: Thank you so much. It’s really, it’s kind of a blast to be back actually. Anyway, my name is Leila Kelleher. I am a professor of fashion design, currently at Toronto Metropolitan University, which used to be called Ryerson University, but now it’s called Toronto Metropolitan University. I just started there this past January. Before that, I was at Parson School of Design in New York. And I’m also half of Muna and Broad. So, Muna and Broad is a plus size indie sewing pattern company. So that’s me.
Ada: And you are, are we calling it co-author, author of the new book Plus Size Patternmaking
Leila: Co-author! Yes with Gabby Brown, the amazing Gabby Brown. So it is finally coming out, in the open, so that’s very exciting for us.
Ada: I think you were, you might have already been working on the book or maybe pitching the book when we had you on the first time. And I remember Gabby DMing me about, because we, she lives relatively close to me ish, kind of, we don’t see each other that often, but we’ve gone to coffee a few times and I think she was telling me about the whole writing process.
So it’s been in the works, people, so it’s very exciting that this book is now available. So can you tell us about the book, like what is it about, who is it for? How long is it? Where can people buy it?
Leila: Yes, so the book is called Plus Size Patternmaking for Women’s Wear: Inclusive Sizing, Pattern Drafting and Fitting. And it is. It was a long journey. Gabby and I were actually physically writing the book for about five years, and then it’s been in pre-production for about 18 months, so people have been able to pre-order it and it will be physically in people’s hands as of, I believe February 19th is the broader delivery date.
But I actually haven’t received my physical copies yet, so I am like. Totally chomping at the bit for that, but Gabby’s got it. Other people have got it. And so I’m kind of, kind of dying.
Ada: Is that just a Canada thing?
Leila: I don’t know because there are actually other Canadians who have received review copies. So at this point, I don’t know, but I at least know that it exists in a physical form. Gabby and I met online on Instagram, we connected through the sewing community, and I think I just said to her like, we realized pretty soon that we had a very similar kind of outlook and approach to plus size pattern making.
And so I got a crazy idea and I was just like, “Hey, so I had this idea. Do you wanna write a book together?” And she’s like, “Well, yes I do” And so then it was a prolonged process of pitching it to publishers, so we’re publishing with Bloomsbury, who’s a very big publisher. They do a lot of fashion books and the whole thing, the whole kind of impetus behind it is that a lot of times when people have requested companies either produce patterns or garments in larger sizes, there’s been a lot of basically excuses. We have people saying, you know, “I don’t know how to do that.” Which, you know, that is a valid excuse, but it’s also been that they didn’t learn it at school. So if they went to fashion school, people say, “you know, I didn’t learn that at school.”
And that is the case at most fashion schools, that people are not explicitly taught plus size pattern making, and it is different. So there’s never been a book like this before, so Gabby and I really wanted to make that book and basically hopefully start to be a part of the changes that are happening in the fashion industry and in society more broadly. So the book is really, the core audience for the book is fashion students and fashion industry professionals. But we always knew that there would be this secondary audience of sewing enthusiasts. So the kinds of people who will buy like a Helen Joseph Armstrong or to get interested in pattern drafting, that kind of thing.
So we really wanted to conceive of this book as not a duplication of those books, but like a companion to them.
Ada: I love that. I did get to pre-read, I don’t have a physical copy as well. I did get to pre-read the ebook. Highly recommend. We will get into that in a sec. But my question is, because most of our audience is home sewists, quote unquote “hobby” sewists, sewing enthusiasts, or whatever we wanna call ourselves.
Leila: Right.
Ada: Would you approach using the book from that perspective differently than you would for a fashion student or somebody who’s currently studying, you know, apparel design or technical design?
Leila: I think so. When we first pitched the book, our subtitle was Principles and Practices, or Principles and Practice. And so about half the book is Principles. And so it is a lot of things like how to measure your body, how to talk about bodies, what features are really typical on plus size bodies.
And so I think that applies to everyone’s knowledge. I think that everyone can really benefit from learning about that. No matter what size you are, actually, I would say, because a lot of times as sewists, we get asked to make things for other people, whether or not we want to, but especially if you wanna make something for a friend, even if you are not a plus plus size person yourself.
I think it’s important to, to learn to have language, to talk about bodies because there’s so much societal stigma about larger bodies that I think a lot of people. Out of sensitivity, just don’t even wanna talk about body features. But there are ways that we can talk about larger bodies in a way that’s respectful and also communicates what we need to communicate.
So, yeah, about half the book is these kind of principles. There’s a chapter on padding a dress form, which is, I think, pertinent for anybody who has a dress form. So tou know, that way you can have your one that you got from, I guess Joann’s and then customize that to your body.
And that really applies for, for anyone. And then the second half of the book, steps you through drafting pattern blocks that you can use to then [pattern draft]. What we have seen is that plus size sewists often move to pattern drafting. Maybe, I dunno if earlier is the right term, but they turn to pattern drafting perhaps earlier in their sewing journey than someone’s straight-size might, because there are just not very many options for plus size sewing patterns.
It has gotten a lot better in about the last five years or so, but there’s still limitations to what styles are available. So if somebody has a dream in their head of exactly what they want, then they can use our book to draft a block and then, you know, find the other information from other reference books to then manipulate that block in and create their pattern for their dream garment.
Ada: You have quite a few garments in that section, part three of the book, which again, highly recommend you should get the ebook or the physical copy of it. But my question is, if someone’s like listening to this, if they’ve got the book, they’re sold, they trust that this is a great wealth of knowledge. I would say this as a straight size sewist, this was so useful, like you said, to just learn things like measuring your body correctly with easy to explain tips on how to do it, and then also the padding of the dress form. That was, there’s pictures on like a whole guide everyone. If you are looking for something, do not go to YouTube or a blog post. Just get this book.
It’s actually, it was actually like I realized where I had gone wrong on some past dress forms, but back to the garment part, how did you pick those garments and how would you suggest with the garments and the blocks and everything in there, like the resources, how would you suggest that, you know, your average sewist at home, who’s not a fashion student, but perhaps getting into pattern drafting for the first time, how would you suggest that they use them? Is there a specific order that you would go in or is it kind of like choose your own adventure?
Leila: I think it’s pretty much choose your own adventure. We designed the book to have a full set of woven and knit blocks. And what a block is, is it’s really the building block for a pattern. So for example, we have a fitted t-shirt that’s meant to be sewn in a knit of course, and that can be sewn up as a T-shirt, but that block can also be manipulated to be another kind of knit top. Maybe it becomes a top with like a drapey neckline or a bigger sleeve, or it could become the top half of a dress with a flared skirt. It could become pretty much anything that you’re imagining.
And so apart from true tailoring, our blocks should cover most people’s wants. So there’s a fitted bodice and skirt. And so if you are more into, say, retro, like fifties style silhouettes, then that would be a great starting off point for there or for a more fitted fitted silhouette, we have what we call the relaxed, woven bodice block, which is actually one of my favorites.
It’s very versatile. It’s just basically a bodice, like a sleeveless bodice that is. It’s loose, but it has, it has some chest darts in there too to shape nicely and fall over the chest really nicely. But it can be made into a blouse. It can be the basis of so many different kinds of tops. So I would say that the blocks aren’t necessarily for finished garment.
What we did in the book is we also created a little capsule of garments that could be made from these blocks, and some of them are closer to the blocks than others. So for example, the dress that we did, the fitted woven dress is very much the blocks that are altered to fit our model, our beautiful model, Martha, and then with facings and like a kick plate.
And it’s just quite basic, with design details added to it. Whereas the pink blouses that we have, which is one of my favorite garments, is made from the relaxed woven bodice block. So it’s a little bit further away from that. It’s been turned into a shirt with a shirttail. It’s got a sleeve with a little bit of gather on it.
It’s got like a nice cuff, so it’s got a lot more design details on it too, to not as closely resemble just the basic block.
Ada: I love all of that because I think when you think about sewing books that exist, you usually get like, I don’t know, 20 patterns for dog coats. I did, I bought that book. I will admit, I think it was published by Tuttle, and it’ll just have all the patterns and I’ll have like four sizes, which my dog is 10 pounds. I know a dog down the street that’s like 120 pounds. There’s not [just] four sizes in there. I digress.
So you get, you get that, that’s kind of what we’ve been trained to expect, right?
Leila: Mm-hmm.
Ada: As sewists, and then you get more of like the Reader’s Digest Guide to Sewing, which is like all the basic things. And then you have more of the, I would say, textbook. I’ve seen some vintage textbooks that are like straight, just no pictures, black and white words on a page, and a lot of diagrams and maybe explaining.
If I were to summarize your book, it would kind of be somewhere in the middle of all those, like in the Venn diagram where there are tons of pictures, tons of diagrams, worksheets that people can go through, and then a lot of explanation.
It’s almost not quite handholding, but you do a lot to explain. This is why we are looking at a body this way, and this is why we are talking about it this way, which I actually quite enjoyed. From a reading perspective, I thought, not gonna lie, when I opened it, I was like, I think they’ve been telling me about this book for years and this is what it’s gonna be: very cut and dry meant for those fashion students. And it honestly wasn’t, which was kind of surprisingly delightful.
But my question in going through all of that is, right, putting that together, kind of making this new format of a sewing book and pitching it successfully to Bloomsbury as a publisher, that whole process took you, like you said, five years. I heard a little bit about at some point the photography and the model fit process and maybe like the ups and downs of that. Was there a highlight and maybe a low light of the whole process of the book coming together?
Leila: I think it was, honestly, it’s really such good luck that Gabby and I really enjoy each other’s company and we work well together and we don’t want to kill each other, even though we’ve been working really hard and closely together. So I think there were some low points where deadlines were looming. I was really busy in my day job and we were just slogging it out to the end.
But I think any really big project is like that. But nothing, nothing major. I think some of the highlights were really the fashion shoot. So it was challenging though, because, so Martha @garichild on Instagram, she was our model and she lives in the DC area and at the time I was based in New York and Gabby’s based in Colorado.
So we didn’t get very many chances to fit her, and so I would’ve loved to have another couple of fit sessions, but we didn’t. We had, you know it is what it is but we’re so pleased with how those garments turned out, and she just honestly radiates from the page. She’s, of course, she’s incredibly beautiful, but also her personality shines through in her photos, and I think that’s what’s fantastic. My dear friend Anne Zbitnew did the photography for us and so she worked so well with people and seeing her interact with Martha and direct her was really, really wonderful as well. So we had such a good time at the photo shoot. It’s a really memorable trip. And yeah, that was a, that was really a highlight. I think just kind of really seeing it come together.
And then I think for Gabby and I, when we saw those first page proofs come through and it looked, started looking really like a book, and I still can’t say that I know that it really, really looks like a book, but I suppose it does look like a book somewhere.
[Break]
Nicole: Do you love this podcast? Do you like personalizing your sewing projects with sewing labels? Do you know someone who loves personalizing their projects with these labels? Or do you know someone who just loves sewing? If the answer is yes to any of those questions, please check out the Asian Sewist Collective’s sewing label collection.
New for the season is a sustainability set. Our very own producer and artist, Mariko Abe designed these just for you with sayings like lovingly rescued fibers, and I’m thrifty and I know it. These labels will be a perfect gift for your sewing, friends and family, and of course for you. We also have our original collection of labels up on our coffee page to purchase.
Please go to ko-fi.com/asiansewistcollective. Your purchase goes towards helping this all volunteer podcast. Keep going. By helping with things like editing transcripts and publishing your support is greatly appreciated.
[End of Break]
Ada: It just occurred to me as a professor, you can now be that person who’s like, “You’re signed up for my class. You must buy my book.” Have you done that to your students yet this semester?
Leila: No. It’s so awkward. I know, and next semester I’m teaching a class. I’m teaching a fat fashion class, which is exactly what this book is, who this book is for. So, I don’t know. I don’t know. I mean, we are expected to, like the publisher expects us to at least assign our own classes.
So I think that. I mean, I never make my students buy any books specifically. I never force them to do that. Books are expensive though to be honest, this book was priced a lot lower than we thought it was going to be priced. It’s $53.95 for the ebook version, it’s $53.95 on the publisher’s website. $59.95 if you want the paperback version. Yeah, so I think it’s like over 400 pages. It’s like, it’s quite thick, I believe, from what I can see, from what I can see when I’ve seen it on camera, when Gabby’s held it up, it’s a, it’s a substantial book. We think it’s good value for the amount that’s in there.
But I’m really sensitive to students’ budgets, so I’ll certainly suggest it to them. But I think that I will explain, you know what the book is, and the reason why I’m suggesting it is because it really is for a class, just like the one I’ll be teaching though. It can also really be adapted for any patternmaking class.
So I also teach basic patternmaking, so I’ll probably put it as a recommended textbook because why not? So, yeah. I mean, actually one of the things that we wanted to really ensure, and I think you kind of touched on it, is a lot of the patternmaking books, the traditional ones have only got like one diagram for each draft, and they’re really complicated.
So there, I’m holding up one here and it has like one diagram of the draft and it’s got all these letters, A, B, C, D, E, F, G. And then the instructions are things like join point A to point B. Join point X, you know, draw a dot two centimeters above of point X. And these things are so infuriating and so confusing.
Even as someone who knows about patternmaking, they’re confusing. So I don’t know how students are supposed to do that. So we did ours very much step by step. Each step with a diagram pretty much so that it’s clear what has to happen because we didn’t want it to be confusing. We tried to make it as clear as possible.
Ada: Sewing is hard enough already. Take it from someone who teaches a lot, a lot of adult beginners, and it’s basically like teaching them another language. So why make it more difficult?
Leila: Truly. Exactly. Yeah, for sure. It’s hard. I mean. Patternmaking and sewing is hard with turning something that’s two dimensional into something that’s three dimensional, and for the most part, we want it to fit our body well, appropriately and, and that’s difficult to do.
Ada: It is difficult, and it’s not that it can’t be learned, but there are, I’ve seen it like at this point I think I’ve taught at least 200 individuals how to sew from nothing. Some people can grasp it very quickly whether they’re exposed to the 2D to 3D at their day job or you know, they might have better spatial awareness and recognition of how shapes come together.
And some people really. You know that that lesson ended sometime way long ago and they’re coming back to it now, And it takes, it’s, there’s no muscle memory. You have to build it and you have to actually practice. And if you can do it with a supportive tool, like Plus Size Patternmaking, I think it makes it a lot easier.
So truly, my last question. Which you might be a little biased because you don’t have the physical copy yet. If you were to tell a home sewist, what would be the most useful resource, would you opt for the ebook? Would you go for the physical book, would you say? Should they print the ebook?
Leila: I would 100% do the physical book. For any reference book, I would personally never do an ebook, but also I’m old and so maybe it’s, I don’t personally have a great method of marking up a ebook, being able to bookmark an ebook, you know, as opposed to, you know, my literal post-it notes in here, which I dunno what they mean, but I can, or I can flip through this book and try and find what I’m looking for.
And also really the photography’s lovely, and it’s quite a delight just to see that on glossy pages. I think that there’s lots of space. We wanted there to be lots of space in the margins to write your own notes and highlight things and put in your own measurements. So all of the blocks are drafted from your own measurements, and it actually works across all sizes.
Some of our research assistants practiced doing the drafts and they just used their own measurements. And they’re both about a size two and they worked just as well, honestly for their measurements as they do for the plus size, to the point where we actually kind of freaked out and had a meeting with our publisher and we’re like, hang on a second, we’ve just discovered that our drafting works for everybody.
Should we be changing the title and pitch of this book to be like universal patternmaking or something? And we decided to keep it as Plus Size Patternmaking, just because it’s the first, the first one, the only one. And it’s good to convince people that it is possible to make well fitting and lovely clothes for plus sizes.
And that was one of the huge reasons that we had wanted to have really lovely photos there is because there aren’t that many examples of how clothing can fit well, especially woven clothing can fit well, on plus-sized bodies. And so we really wanted to, to show that as an example of what can be done.
Ada: Oh no, the book is too inclusive! It’s more inclusive than we thought. What a delightful problem to have. I think your publisher was right, though. It’s a groundbreaking book. It hasn’t been written before. It is truly in a digestible format. I think even if you aren’t someone who is approaching it with, like, “I’m going to school for this”. Like, if you are serious about drafting and wanting to learn how to draft better, I think this is a better use of your $60, $53, (Sorry, Canada and the rest of the world. I do not know the prices off the top of my head, but convert from USD!) and way better than any random ebook you’re gonna find on the internet from some influencer trying to teach you pattern drafting. Truly, this is backed up by the people who teach this in school – Leila. The people who do this for a living – Gabby. So I am so delighted that this book is finally out.
We will have links in the show notes to find the book. If you want to support the book and support the podcast, you can support us. By buying through the Bookshop link, which is an affiliate link. So the podcast will get a little bit of that change back and hopefully the book does amazing. And then you’re onto a second edition in the future and we have more, or maybe like a part two. But thank you Leila, for being on. Congratulations! I’m so happy for you and Gabby. This is so amazing, honestly, to have followed it through the arc of when we first met and the podcast and the work of the book, like I know it’s truly been a labor of love. So congrats!
Leila: It really has been. Thank you so much, and thank you so much for having me on. It’s really, really lovely to connect with you again and on a place other than just on Instagram, but we’re excited about the book and really excited to see what it will become out in the world.
Ada: Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of the Asian Sewist Collective Podcast. If you like our show, please consider supporting us on coffee by becoming a one-time or monthly supporter, or by buying our sewing labels. Your financial support helps us with our overhead expenses. The link to our coffee page is ko-fi.com/asiansewistcollective, and you can find the link in our show notes on our website and on our Instagram account.
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Nicole: All of the links and resources mentioned in today’s episode will be in the show notes on our website. That’s asiansewistcollective.com, and we’d love to hear from you. Email us with your questions, comments, or even voice messages if you want to be featured on future episodes at asiansewistcollective@gmail.com.
Thank you so much to the other members of our collective who made this episode a reality. This is the Asian Sewist Collective Podcast and we’ll see you next time.