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Meet Ellen

Sewist. Teacher. Author.

I love to make clothes. I love taking a piece of flat paper or muslin and creating a pattern, cutting out the garment pieces in a luscious fabric, pinning the pieces together, sewing and pressing the seams to form a three-dimensional thing that slides over the body giving voice to wearer’s inner vision of herself (mine or a client’s).

Creating clothes is slow, meticulous work but oh, the final product.

The final product speaks of me: the love and care put into the garment, and it speaks of the wearer: bold or soft spoken, brightly colored or muted tones, bejeweled or plain; if it accurately represents the wearer – she will stand tall and feel confident: an equal to anyone in the room.

Read More.

Long sleeves on a table, from Creating Couture Embellishments
Me in the purple blouse
The Book
My book, Creating Couture Embellishment sitting on my work table.

The finishing touches applied to a garment can take it from the realms of the ordinary to the heights of luxury. Creating Couture Embellishment offers a step-by-step guide to manipulating fabric and making and applying a rich variety of embellishments.

Chapters cover fabric-manipulation techniques of pleating, quilting, tucking, ruffling, shirring, and smocking, as well as the fabrication and application of feathers, beading, embroidery, flowers, decorative ribbons and bows, bias bindings and piping, fringe, braids, and passementerie. The heirloom quality created by the insertion or application of lace is also explored.

 

Book Reviews

Book Review with Rhonda Buss
Book Review with NY Journal of Books
Book Review with Sew Daily
Book Review with Did You Make That?
Book Review with Diary of a Chain Stitcher
Book Review with House of Pinheiro