You’re My Favorite Client

4. Evaluating Work and Giving Feedback

I was lucky enough to be raised by a seamstress. Admittedly, this meant being marched off to school in a series of plum-colored, home-sewn leisure suits in the late ‘70s. But for all the shame and inorganic fabric I endured, I got to watch my mom work. The way a seamstress approaches her craft isn’t too far off from a designer. They decide to take a client and discuss the client’s goals, which in my mom’s case was usually her specialty—wedding dresses.

Together, my mother and the bride would choose a pattern, feel out fabrics, and talk about modifications. As the dress moved from pattern to muslin mockup to the finished gown, the bride would come to the house to get fitted. Alterations were made, hems adjusted ...