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Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Helen: Hello and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co.

Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns.

Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew and it’s the only thing worth talking about.

Caroline: In this episode, we’re interviewing Michelle Thomas-Elder, a designer, tailor, and sewing teacher who owns The Kut Studios, a co-working space for designers in LA. Michelle has made custom pieces for celebrities and altered haute couture gowns, and recently she released her first book. We are so excited to hear her stories and get her sewing and design tips.

Helen: If you love to sew, this is your show.

Hello, Michelle. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Michelle: Hello, thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here.

Helen: We can’t wait to chat with you. Can you please introduce yourself to our listeners?

Michelle: So I’m Michelle Thomas-Elder. I’m from Los Angeles by way of Houston, Texas, and I am a fashion designer and mobile tailor for TV and film.

Caroline: Amazing.

Helen: Yes, we have so much good stuff to talk to you about today. But first, we always start our interviews asking our guests how and when they learned how to sew. So can you share that story with us?

Michelle: That’s a crazy one. I only learned to sew about eight years ago and it’s, it’s kind of a wild ride. I did HR, corporate HR, for a really long time when I first moved to LA and a lot of things happened and I ended up making jewelry and things like that as a hobby. And then I realized you can make more money making clothes, but I didn’t know how to sew. So I asked my best friend to help me learn how to sew, because we owned a showroom together and I made the accessories, she made the clothes, and one of my pieces were in a store. And one of my stores that sold my pieces, and I used to hot glue, like, beads to corsets, like, I made it look like it was sewn, but it was like trims and things like that. And someone saw it, loved it. And they wanted the designer to make them a dress. So I came down to the store. They told me what they wanted. It was like a simple spaghetti strap dress, but I had never sewn anything. And I was terrified of sewing machines, but she was going to pay me a thousand dollars. So I was like, okay, I’m buying a sewing machine today and I will figure out how to make a dress. So I asked my friend to teach me how to sew so I can make this dress. And she tried for like 30 minutes and she was like, “You’re never going to understand how to do this. Like you’re, I don’t know what’s wrong with you, like, why you can’t pick it up, like, why you’re not understanding.” And I was like, “You’re supposed to be teaching me. I don’t know the answers.” And she’s like, “I don’t know why you don’t get it. I just, I can’t.” And that was it. That was the end of our lesson. And then she was like, “Okay, goodbye.”

And then I just took my little sewing machine home and I just could not figure out what I was doing wrong. So then I did like everyone else and went to YouTube university and started just, just trying to search through YouTube, how to sew, looking at as many videos as possible. And something I was watching, like one video I was watching and the lady said something very specific. She was like, “Oh, just make sure you don’t push your fabric through your machine.” And all of a sudden it, like, clicked in my head that I was pushing my fabric through and not letting the machine pull it through. And so it would get jumbled up. It would go, it wouldn’t sew straight. The threads would get all jumbled because it was changing the timing of the machine. And once I stopped pushing my fabric, it just started sewing perfectly. Like a light switch turned on and all of a sudden I understood what I was doing. And once I got comfortable with that, I just, I planned and I, I watched more videos and I practiced and I sewed straight lines over and over again. And then I finally started to understand how, like, patterns worked. And I, I read through the patterns. And I had like three months to make this dress that I can make in 10 minutes now. And finally, I figured it out and got the dress done. She looked amazing. I made it from scratch with just her measurements. I figured that out, too, made a little pattern, made her dress. She looked beautiful. She loved it. Everything went great.

And from that point on, I picked up every pattern that said “easy” on it. And I just made it until I got comfortable with it. And then I moved to, like, intermediate and then advanced. And I just kept practicing. And then one day I got a call, about two months later, from a friend of a friend of a friend who needed a tailor for his client. And I had never tailored anything before, because I just learned how to sew. And then I went to his house. He was a stylist. He said, “Oh yeah, I needed a tailor for my client, who is Naturi Naughton from Power.” Um, from the TV show Power. I had never worked with celebrities, either. He was like, “So, can you do it?” And I was like, “Sure. Yeah. Of course. Yeah.” I had no idea what to bring. I just brought safety pins and stick pins. I didn’t know anything about tailoring. I barely knew how to sew clothes together, but someone’s going to pay me to do it, so I will figure it out. And that was my first time doing a celebrity. I did two gowns overnight for the next day for her to walk on the red carpet. And I just prayed over both dresses. And I was like, “Lord, I have no idea what I’m doing, but please guide me through this. Because I am so terrified. This is what she’s wearing tomorrow. And it has to be right.” At the fitting, I’m just like putting pins wherever she says, she’s like, “Oh yeah, I just want to make this tighter here” and “A little more snatched right there.” And I’m like, “Oh sure. Right here? Like this? Okay, great.” And I’m just safety pinning things that I have no clue as to how I’m going to figure this out. And thank goodness, like, I got there, she tried on the first dress. It fit like a glove. She was so happy. The second dress comes on. It’s so tight. I made it so snug. And she was pregnant and no one knew at the time. And it zipped up and she was like, “Oh, I feel so snatched. I feel great. This is amazing. Thank you so much. This is perfect.” And after that day, like, I cried in my car, I was like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I made it through that. It all worked out.” The stylist was like, “Okay, I’ll call you sometimes when I have clients that need tailoring.” And that went from that one time to seeing him almost every day of the week for every client that he has. And it’s been eight years. And that’s how I started working with Enrique Melendez, Jenna Ortega’s stylist. And we’ve been working together ever since. Yeah.

Caroline: That is such an incredible career journey. Oh my gosh. It’s like the definition of fake it till you make it. Like, you’ve absolutely made it. And I can’t believe that you didn’t know what you were doing at the beginning. I feel like we have to jump right into talking about the incredible work that you do on costumes for TV, performances, music videos, as well as red carpet events. You mentioned some of them here, but very recently, Sabrina Carpenter came out with the “Taste” music video and you worked on some of the costumes for that. So can you just share with our listeners what kind of work you were doing on that set?

Michelle: Yes. So, professionally, I’m a mobile tailor. I come out to clients and I tailor them for all kinds of things, press events, red carpets, music videos, TV shows, you know, everything that, if a celebrity needs to wear something, I’m there to tailor their clothes. So I’ve been working with Jenna Ortega for eight years, just as long as I have been working with her stylist. She was like the second or third client that we got when I was with him. So I tailor everything that she wears for press and red carpets and things like that. And I tailored the pieces that she wore, actually, I was the fitting tailor for that music video. So, the night before, we were doing a 20 look fitting until, like, the wee hours of the morning, because the music video shot the next day. We had a secondary tailor, Giovanni, who’s an amazing tailor as well. And he took everything that I pinned. So I pinned all the looks and then he took them to his studio and tailored them overnight. And then they went on set the next day. I actually was working on the Disney Legends award show as the costume designer. So I couldn’t be there on set, but I was their fitting tailor, got everything fit, and then he went and sewed everything for me.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Incredible.

Michelle: And she looked amazing.

Caroline: Yeah, she did look amazing. And what is it like working on a big production like that? Like, I imagine it’s really high-pressure. Is it stressful or do you feel like, after eight years, you’re like, “Ooh, piece of cake.”

Michelle: I feel like, for me, I don’t see it as high-pressure, because we do these things so regularly, and it’s a part of my job to move quickly. So, you know, like I said, I wasn’t at the video the next day because I already had another job booked for a concert, but we’ve done these types of things before. And it’s kind of all hands on deck. We had two tailors, me and another tailor had to come in because it was so overnight and quick. She had just flown in. And so we only had a very slim window of doing a fitting, getting it tailored and then getting her on set in that look, in those six or seven looks that she did. It, the pressure, I think, is, you know, normal for any job that’s quick and fast like that. But it’s normal for us, in this industry, who do it all of the time. It doesn’t feel as frantic because we’re used to the pace. So, you know, it’s exciting. It’s fun. It’s a lot. It’s a lot of options and shoes and packages coming in all hours of the night from different showrooms and just trying to get the looks right. Trial and error and seeing what works with the brief, what’s going to match with Sabrina. But Enrique is an amazing stylist and he’s been styling her for so long, for eight, almost nine years. And so we know what she likes, how she likes to look in her clothing. And It was a, it was a big feat. And then she’s leaving immediately the next day to go on a press tour for Beetlejuice. So we were doing all of that at the same time. So it’s a lot of moving parts. But It’s just another day, you know, and in the life of being in fashion, so.

Helen: Yeah, I mean, so cool that in just eight years, you’ve gone from not knowing how to sew to making custom garments for Jenna Ortega. Like, does that ever hit you at times when you’re doing your work? You just think, like, “Wow, I’m, I can’t believe I’m here.”

Michelle: Yeah, you know, there’s certain people that I’ve watched grow. We worked with a lot of Disney and Nickelodeon kids that were, you know, child actors. And then they kind of grew up with us. And so, with Jenna, I was there when she was 14 and I’ve taken her to set and I’ve picked her up from set if she, if she couldn’t, you know, if her parents couldn’t make it or, or couldn’t get there, and you know, it’s become like family. And watching her be driven to photo shoots and fittings with her mom and her dad to watching her drive to a photo shoot or a music video or to set or drive away from an interview has been so rewarding. And so I think that’s the part that I’m in awe of, is watching someone grow and seeing different parts of their growth in this industry and the ups and downs. And then to see her, like, just skyrocket. And I have a lot of clients like that, that were teenagers when I started working with them and now they’re adults doing amazing things in acting and music. And so I’m in awe of that and a lot less in awe of working with stars because that part is just a part of the job. It’s just like coming to your regular job, working with coworkers. It feels normal because it’s what you’re always doing. Maybe the first time I was a little starstruck, the first time I worked with a celebrity, my very first one, when I had to learn how to tailor. But once you get past that and you realize they’re just people, you know, they have insecurities, they have things they like about themselves, they laugh at jokes and they’re just regular people. Then it’s, it’s a little bit easier and it doesn’t feel so scary. And you don’t get super starstruck. I’ve had a few that I just can’t believe. I’ve just looked up and like, “Wow, I just did that.” And I’m, in the moment, I’m just doing my job. I don’t think about it. I just do the job. I do a great job and then I move on. And then when I get home, it’s just like, “Wow, I just worked with Shaquille O’Neal” or “Wow, I just worked with Chaka Khan.” Like, you know, like, like, “Wow, I can’t believe I just worked with En Vogue,” like, my favourite girl group when I was in the, you know, growing up, like, but in the moment you don’t see that, you see it as a job. I get paid to be here and I’m going to do my job and I’m not taking selfies. I don’t think like that. I just want to do a good job and that’s it. And then I get to freak out when I get home.

Caroline: Well, it is incredible that you’ve worked for so many years with these celebrities like Jenna Ortega. And I think that’s a testament to the professionalism and the incredible work that you’re doing and the tailoring that you’re doing. So it’s really, really wonderful to hear about. Speaking of Jenna Ortega, you altered a one-of-a-kind Versace dress for her to wear on the red carpet and then completely reversed the alterations afterwards. And a lot of our listeners are sewers who I think would be interested in the nerdy details of the techniques that you actually used to do this, because this sounds really cool.

Michelle: Oh man, I would say that was probably one of the highlights of all of the things I’ve ever done because it was, like, a really special dress and Versace really wanted her to wear it. And for that, I think it was for the SAG Awards. And so they had to do a meeting with me. because I couldn’t sew through it. It was one of the last gowns that he made before he passed. And so it was going in an exhibit. It had leather at the top, so we couldn’t put holes in it. I couldn’t physically sew it on a sewing machine. They told me I could not put holes in this dress. And I’m looking at the dress. And I mean, it was, like, brought into his house by guards. Like, that’s how special this dress was. They had to fly it from Italy and, like, had guards bring it in. So I’m just like, “Okay, I can’t have anything happen to this.” So I’m like, I’m running straight to my studio so that nothing comes, you know, in contact with this dress. And I did a zoom with, with the team in Milan at like two o’clock in the morning my time. And they were like, “Okay, so listen, you can’t sew on this dress, but she needs to wear it.” And I’m like, “Yeah, she tried it on. I need to take like 12 inches out of this dress.” 12. Because she’s very tiny and this is a very small dress, but 12 inches still needs to come off the back of this dress because it’s just too wide and it does not fit. And so they were like, “Yeah, but you can’t sew it.” So you know how some gowns have these, like, elastic straps or these little straps with hook and eyes on the inside to keep it held up on the inside? And so they had that already, inside. And they were like, “Okay, well, why don’t you do something like that?” Again, and I was like, “Well, that won’t take away all this extra fabric.” I can’t sew it. So I can’t create a seam. I can’t put holes in it. I said, “But you know what? I have an idea. I, I do have an idea. I think I know how to do this.” And they were like, “No, no, no, this is going to work.” And I said, “Okay, no worries.” They said, we’re going to videotape how to do it. and then we’ll send you the video in the morning and then you’ll just do what we showed you.” This is their atelier. So they made the dress, like, that…they know how to do it. And I’m like, “Okay, great. No worries.” I was like, “I have a question, though. You know, can you use the lining? Can I sew on the lining?” They’re like, “Yeah, we don’t care about the lining. It’s just the outside shell. We can’t get holes in it. It’s going to be in this huge exhibit, like, in the following week.” Cool. No worries. I have a plan, but I’ll do what you tell me to do. I’ll watch the video. I’ll sew it that way you want me to sew it.

The next morning, the rep from LA, the Versace rep from LA, gives me a call. And she was like, “Yeah, so, I talked to the people in Milan. They said that they trust you.” And I was like, that’s weird to say. Just they, they, they, you’ve done other stuff for Versace before. I’ve done other gowns and stuff for Versace and I haven’t ruined it. Because they’ve had people, other tailors, ruin their dresses. And just kind of haphazardly just sew and just chunks of pieces of the leather coming off. And I, like, I’ve never ruined any dress that I’ve ever tailored. So I was like, okay. So they said, “They trust you. Do what you feel you need to do because they said that you seemed confident.” So I was like, “Yes, I am confident. I know how to do this.” And they were like, “Okay, it’s all on you.” The stylist, he was like, “If you feel confident, when you say you’re confident, I know you’re confident. So if you say you can do this…’cause we don’t have another dress. This is the dress that everyone, the whole team wants her to wear. And Versace wants her to wear.” This is a big deal. Cool. No pressure. Honestly, I’m not even feeling pressure because I’m so in a flow and I’ve been doing this so long that I’m like, I’m so confident in what I’m about to do that this is, like, light work for me.

So I come into the studio. I had my assistant videotape it because we never really do that. I never really videotaped, like, my tailoring for my clients. I just kind of do it and move on. But I was like, “I’m going to show you how to do something like this without messing up a gown on the outside.” And so all I did was, because I could hand sew the lining, I figured, okay, I’ll just create a seam right on the back, not down the middle of the back, but just next to the back, because the dress was kind of, like. weirdly shaped. So it has all these random seams in it. So it really wouldn’t matter if there was a seam just randomly down the back. I can work with this. So I basically folded the fabric in half, or folded the back in half. And then I just sew the lining to itself. And that creates a fold, a nice clean fold. And I use the heat from my hands to press the leather down and then I put topstick in the fold, on the outside, like in the inside of the fold, right where the crease would be, or right where the seam would technically be if I sewed it. And then press that down with my hands, but just, really strong topstick. Press that down, make sure the lining was sewn to itself from the inside all the way around and just hand stitch the whole thing. And made sure it was super solid, but it wasn’t sewn through the dress. It was only sewn through the lining. And so if you can imagine it, I do have a video on our TikTok that shows what I did. And then that was it.

So I go to the hotel. It’s now, it’s time to get her dressed. Like, we’re in the hotel. We didn’t get a chance to fit it again. I came, we came early before everybody came, like, glam came. We tried the dress on. It zipped right up. It fit her, but it still could be smaller. So I took 12 inches out of that dress and it still needed to be just a little bit smaller. So everybody’s freaking out. Like, what are we going to do? Like, you know, do we have time? Well, we have five hours of glam time. I think I can do that. I did this in 10 minutes. And they were like, “But are you sure? Are you, are you sure? Like, what are we going to do? Like, this is the only thing she has.” And I was like, “I did it myself. So I’m going to just take the tailoring out now and I’ll do it again.” I marked where it needs to be. She asked me if I was sure. I was like, “Of course, you know, I got this.” She’s like, “I know you got this.” I did it again while everybody watched me do it. They actually got to see me do it in person. And then 10, 15 minutes, and I was really just doing it slowly so people could feel like I was taking my time. But I, I could have done it faster. I just didn’t want people to think that I was just, like, whipping through it and I was, like, haphazardly just sewing. I was like, “No, I just know what needs to be done.”

It’s time to get her dressed. Glam is done. So we go into the bathroom. We put it on. And then, you know, these dresses always have the tiniest little invisible zippers with those little tiny, tiny little zipper pulls. I don’t know why people use those things. They’re just the worst, especially with something so heavy duty. So we’re putting it on. And when I say it was snatched, it was like she had no waist. And we’re zipping it up, but it’s really snug now. I made it fit. And then the zipper pull, like, we’re looking in the window, in the mirror, and the zipper pull comes off in my hand, mid zip. And so everybody’s just, it’s just me, the stylist is holding her up, I’m holding her waist with the zipper pull in my hand. And she’s looking, we’re all looking at ourselves in the, in the bathroom mirror, like, staring at each other. Like, “We good?” And now she’s like, “You good?” And I was like, “Yeah. Don’t move.” And so I run, get a safety pin, come back, put the safety pin in the, in the zipper, pull, and then yank it up. And then I just hand stitched that zipper closed to make sure that it doesn’t come down. And she starts to breathe and she’s like, “Okay, I feel great.” And it’s, like, skin tight. Like, it’s like I moulded it to her body. And she comes out. Everybody’s like, Oh my gosh, you look amazing. This is beautiful. We’re taking pictures. And the whole time I am standing there looking at that zipper. Like, please do not come down. Like, please do not just split down the middle and come down, because there’s no pull there to kind of lock it in. She’s just moving around. It’s warming up on her body. So, you know, the leather starts to warm up on her body. Everything’s fine. She looks amazing. They leave, they go to the awards show. She does a big thing with Aubrey Plaza on stage. I’m just hoping that I don’t get a call that the whole dress fell apart on stage. Like, I’m just, fingers crossed. She gets back to the hotel. They call me, ask me how to get her out the dress. I tell her what to do. And then they, they carry the dress back to me.

Like, the next day. Everything worked out. She looked amazing. I get a call from Versace. And they were like, “How did you do that? Like, what did you do?” Because I took, I took pictures all the way around, show them everything that I, like, all of the seams and everything. And they were like, “It literally looks like you sewed it. Did you sew through that dress?” And I said, “Absolutely not.” And so I was like, “I have the dress. I’ve already taken the alterations out. It’s back to where it was. But I did just safety pin the zipper pull back so they can change the zipper out.” Other than that… She got the dress back. They were like, “Oh my gosh.” Of course, they examined it to make sure that there was not one hole. Then she was like, “I don’t know what you did, but whatever you want to send on that invoice, send it. Like, whatever you want, because it was stunning and it was beautiful. And she looked amazing. And thank you so much.”

Helen: Wow. Oh my gosh. I mean, huge congrats to you for pulling that off. I loved that story so much. I’m looking at pictures of her in this dress. I’m trying to spot this zipper. As you said, she looks absolutely incredible. It’s fitting her like a glove. It’s so amazing.

Michelle: Yes. That was probably one of the highlights and one thing I’m really super proud of.

Helen: Yeah, you should be. It’s so good. And I want our listeners to know that you’re one of the select few tailors who is entrusted to work on authentic Versace gowns. So is that because of what an amazing job you did on this particular project?

Michelle: I think so. I think there’s a, you know, at the beginning I sent my little invoice and then, you know, the production or whatever the team’s, you know, I get paid. But now as she’s grown and we’ve grown and they’ve seen all of this work that I’ve done and all these different big brands that we’ve worked on, I’ve tailored their clothes, now those brands are paying me directly. Because they trust me to do the tailoring and it looks great and it doesn’t ruin the clothes, the garments. And, and so, you know, Gucci, Fendi, Prada, all of the, you know, Givenchy, all of the big ones now will contact me directly and say, “Okay, we’re going to pay you directly for doing the tailoring” because they trust that I will do it right. They trust that it won’t ruin the garment. And so I’m really proud of that. I’m really proud that I’ve grown that much in my career to where I’m trusted to do that. And they know that it won’t be ruined. And I will care for the garment and try to keep the integrity of the garment.

Caroline: Amazing. Yeah. It’s so, so cool, the work that you do. And we wanted to call out one of the other one-of-a-kind pieces that you worked on. This was for Erykah Badu. We just loved these stunning epaulets that you made for her out of white zippers with gold metal teeth. They just have this huge impact. And one of the questions that came to mind is: just how detailed are some of these requests that you get, and how much creative freedom do you have throughout that process?

Michelle: Well with Erykah, the first time I worked with her, it wasn’t for that. It was actually a few years ago, and a stylist that I knew who actually got me into, into fashion. He was working with her and she wanted something for, like, the Soul Train Awards, but she had a very specific costume in mind. And it was a replica of a costume that Sun Ra used to wear with a tuning fork head helmet and this, like, kind of ornate bib, like, Egyptian bib. And so I had to replicate it and I had two days to do it. So I didn’t sleep for two days and I just focused on getting everything made perfectly to make this costume look exactly like what he was wearing. And then, like, I want to say maybe an hour after we got off the phone, I got off the phone with her, her stylist calls me and says, “Hey, oh, she also wants, like, a random ring that’s bigger than her hand that has like the, the goddess Isis on it.” That’s all that I got, just making sure it’s bigger than her hand and it has the goddess Isis on it. Figure that out. Bye.

And then, so I had to figure out how to do that. I didn’t even know what she meant. So I went and got, you know how they have those, those wood mouldings? Like, you know, crown mouldings, you can have like these little ornate, like, figures that they have carved out of wood. So I, I found one that looked like wings on both sides. And it was about 12 inches wide. And so I was like, well, if I put three finger rings on the back of it with some resin, then it’ll fit her, her three fingers, and it’ll cover her whole hand. And then I took transparency paper and found a picture of the goddess Isis with her wings spread and added a few more and created this picture and printed it in colour on transparent paper on transparent film. Cut it out, laid it on top, and then resined the whole thing. And it looked like the goddess, like, as a big ring on her hand. And she was obsessed with it. And so that was like my first time. And she was so obsessed with the costumes that she didn’t even wear them at the Soul Train Awards, she only wore the ring. And she was supposed to wear it for one shot, like, for one look and wore it the entire time she hosted and on the carpet. And she had beautiful gowns that she wore. And she decided to keep those costumes as art pieces for her home. And she told me, she was like, “They were just too good to wear. I needed some art.” But I got all these write ups in Cosmo and Vogue about that ring. It was everywhere. So I was really proud of that.

And then a few weeks later, I met her at her concert. A friend of hers told me to come to her concert randomly. And he was like, “Get in the car. We’re going to Santa Clarita. She knows you’re coming.” And he lied about that part. And he said, “But bring a bunch of stuff that you just made. Just bring new stuff. And she’s going to buy all of it.” And I was like, “What?” And so we get there. She had no idea I was going to be there. He was like, “Oh, hey, Erykah.” She’s like, “What are you doing here?” And he was like, “Oh, this is Michelle.” And she was like, “Okay, hi, nice to meet you.” And then I was like, “Erykah, I’m Aunt Funky’s Closet.” And she was like, “Wait, you’re the one that made my costumes and my ring. Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?” And I was like, “Oh, well, he told me to come. He said you knew I was coming.” She’s like, “No, don’t worry about it. Stay backstage. Meet me after the concert, come up to my room and we’ll talk.”

So me and my best friend, we brought all these pieces that we made. And after the concert, it was about two in the morning, she has us come up. We stayed there ‘til five in the morning, with our shoes off, chit chatting with her. She tried on all of the clothes that we made, and then proceeded to pay cash for everything. And I’m, like, a broke, like, designer at the time. So this is, like, a lot. And she bought every piece. Loved everything we did. Cut to a few years later now. I mean, she follows me and everything. So she, you know, but that was like our last kind of real interaction. And then one of the stores that I’m sold in on Melrose is a store that she shops in all the time. She, she loves it. When she comes here, they shut the store down for her and she shops there. Well, they’ve been selling my zipper pieces. I mean, these zipper capes that I’ve been making for 10 years, they’ve been selling them at their store. And she saw one that was short and she loved it. It was like, maybe like mid-length to, like, her knee. And he was like, “Oh, she also makes them down to the floor in every colour.” And she was like, “Have her make me, like, seven in any colour she wants. Floor length. And I need, but I specifically need a long white one for my tour.”

So I make them in like two days. I make all seven in like two days, drop them off at the store. She comes, she buys, she originally bought the shorter white one and then she bought the white long one. And I, you know, Erykah is very eclectic. So what you think you’re going to do with it, she’s going to do something completely different. And she decided to layer them both on top of each other to create like this long, almost spiny piece. And so those are actually two zipper epaulets that are stacked on top of each other to create that shape. They look amazing on her. I posted this and everybody was like, “I knew that was yours. I knew, ‘cause you’re the only person who makes those things.” And, and they kept tagging her in my post. And then, so she hits me up in my private messages. And she was like, “I am obsessed with these. Like, I shop at that store all the time. I’m obsessed. I’m going to get more, like, you’re amazing. Like, this was amazing. Thank you so much, Queen.” Like, and it was amazing. And then she commented on the post, too. And it was great. And, you know, I told her, I was like, “I don’t even think you remember that, you, I’ve done things for you before.” And I, and so I told her that, and she was like, “Oh yeah, the ring! Like, yes, it’s my favourite thing.” So, that was, like, my reintroduction to Erykah recently.

Helen: It’s such a cool look, like, the whole ensemble with the two layered pieces. And yeah, I can see why she’s totally obsessed with them.

Michelle: But with your question about the process of working with the client. Sometimes they’re very specific and they want very specific things. Sometimes they want replicas of something else. Like with Ariana Grande, they wanted a replica of this Gaultier bodysuit that Madonna wore with the cat udders on it. And I think he did this campaign in, like, 1989, I want to say. And I got the call to do a replica of it for God is a Woman music video, for her to wear. And I had no idea what they were talking about, but they sent me a picture and they were like, “Can you make that?” And it was very specific. And I was like, “Yes, send me her measurements.” And then I made it overnight. Made a couple of other things, too: a cat helmet, a Mickey Mouse helmet. She wanted, like, the old Military helmets from, like, you know, way back in the day. But she wanted cat ears on it and then she wanted Mickey Mouse ears on it. And then she wanted one with Mickey Mouse ears that looked like it had been through battle. So I made three helmets like that. And they wanted a cat face, like a mask, but they wanted it to look realistic. Like what looked like realistic fur. And I was like, “What? Okay.” Okay. I, I’m a crafty person, so I can figure things out. So I figured it out, made an actual cat mask that looked like a real cat face. But they ended up doing a digital cat mask for that part. But they wore the helmet, the cat ear helmet, and she wore the catsuit with the cat udders in that God is a Woman video. And I made it.

Helen: Wow. Oh, that’s so cool. I feel like a through line through everything that you’re talking about today is that you never say no. You’re always just like, “Yeah, I got it. No problem.”

Michelle: I’m going to…money is a big motivator for me. So if you’re going to pay me…I do this for a living. I’m going to say yes. I don’t know why my mind works that way, but as soon as I get the call and I’m told what it is, I instantly start thinking of every technique that I can think of. And I start researching things. And this is even before I’ve gotten, like, the money for the supplies and all that. I’m just, I’m working out a solution in my mind, and then I’m going to all those resources to see if those things are there so that when it’s time for me to actually execute, I’m quick. And so I’ve, I’ve done things like this for so long that I’ve…in so many different techniques, and I’m not just a sewer, but I’m also a crafter and I do resin work and I do leather work and wire wrapping and painting and every little medium that you can think of… felting and yarn work, you know, macrame. I know that I can figure out how to do something because I just use every tool in my little toolbox. And when it’s time for me to execute, I can do it in hours, not days. And I won’t stop until it’s done. So my assistants all think it’s weird. And they just, like, they try to keep up, but they’re just like, “I don’t even know how you thought of that. You got the call and then you made it and then you delivered it in, like, two hours. Like, how is that a thing?” And I was like, “Because in this business, you want to be the first person to say yes, and you want to over deliver.” So, my reputation is: be the first one to say yes. Just say yes and then figure it out after and quicker than they ask and better than they thought.

Helen: Yeah. I mean, ultimately, you’re a problem solver, right? People come to you and they’re like, “Look, I need this thing.” And you’re like, “I can do that for you.” And then it’s not their problem anymore, which is perfect for them.

Michelle: Yes. Which is great for them.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Yeah. Well, I wanted to ask you about taking our sewing and crafting lives to a professional place, because a lot of our listeners do a lot of sewing, and we mostly sew for fun and not for work, but I’m sure we have some folks out there who are curious about taking their sewing to that professional level and working in fashion design. And do you have any words of wisdom for them, other than just saying yes?

Michelle: Yeah. So, other than just saying yes, you have to be confident in what you do, not what other people do, but what you do. Because if you get the call saying, like, “Oh, I need this because you do this,” then say yes and be confident in your ability to do what they called you to do. If you don’t know how to do something, there’s always a video to find out. But if the core of it is what you do and they found you because of what you do, be confident in that. Don’t worry about who it’s for, what it’s for, when it is. None of that matters. Those factors don’t matter because you’re just simply doing what you do best. So if what you do best is sewing little doll clothes, and that’s, that’s your, that’s your favourite thing to do. And you’re really good at it. And you’ve honed in on that skill. Don’t worry about when they call you and say, “Oh, this doll is for Blue Ivy,” you know? And, you know, “Beyoncé requests a doll and we found you and, and you make doll clothes and they’re beautiful, but it’s for Blue Ivy and we need it in three days and it needs to be in this blue fabric.” That…none of that matters. Just don’t worry about the other noise. Do what you do best. Focus on it like it’s just what you’ve always done and be as good as you’ve always been. And all the other stuff doesn’t matter. Because they called you because of you and your talent.

And I always try to tell, like, new designers is that they’re not really buying just your product. They’re buying an experience with you. Because you’re, there’s a million people that do this. A million people sew. There’s plenty of tailors in the world, but people are hiring me because I bring something different. They’re hiring me because they like my personality or they like me because of the way I make them feel. And I make them feel supported. And I, I don’t make them feel insecure about their bodies. And you know, I’m gentle with them and I’m private with them and I make sure that they feel supported and comfortable. But there’s plenty of other tailors in the world that can do better jobs than me. I’m self-taught. And they know all of the lingo and all of the things, some things I don’t know, but they bought an experience with me because they’ve seen my work and they trust my work. And so confidence is always key to break in when that opportunity comes. Over deliver. And be on time, be early. Be enthusiastic about the job. But don’t try to sell yourself. You’re already there. They called you. You didn’t call them. So don’t try to sell yourself to get the next job. Just do the job. Do what they ask. Show up on time. Be professional. And you’ll get the call the next time. And your name will be referred over and over. And I would say 95% of what I do is referral. It’s someone tell… I don’t really advertise what I do. I post what I’ve done, but I don’t say, “Hey, I’m a tailor, guys, if you need a tailor.” I’ve never posted things like that because I’m always, I’m always working, but everything I get is referral. It’s just, someone told someone else about me, and I’m really proud of that, because that means that I left an impact on so many people that it keeps me working. And so I just strive to continue to, to show up, do my best. Not someone else’s best, but my best. Give them a hundred percent. And be true to my work and just do my best. That’s all I can do.

Caroline: That’s really great advice, and I’m sure our listeners will be really inspired to hear about your journey and how far you’ve come from your humble beginnings, not knowing how to sew and taking on clients. But, believe it or not, you have, you have some other things going on that we also wanted to touch on today. And one of those is your book. You recently had your first book come out. It’s called The Ultimate Fashion Sketch and Pattern Card Workbook. And we just want to ask you, what inspired you to create this book?

Michelle: Okay, so I’m an artist, but not in the way that most people are. I cannot draw. I can’t draw to save my life. And I love art so much, but I cannot sketch. When someone asks me, like, “Oh, can you make me this dress?” And then they’re like, “Oh, I want it to kind of, like, have these type of sleeves. And then I want this kind of bottom and then this kind of like waist.” And I’m just like, “Okay, I know what you’re saying and I know what you want.” And they’re like, “Oh, can you sketch it out for me so I can see if you, you understand.” And I’m like, “Alright, well, here goes the stick figure” and me trying to like, make it make sense because I can’t, I don’t draw figures. I didn’t go to school for this. I didn’t go to, you know, do illustration. I can see it in my head. And I always say. “I can make it faster than I could draw it.” So you’re going to have to trust me. And I was like, “You know what, I have to start learning how to, to try and make, some sort of, sort of sketch.” So I found that when I would buy, like, sketchbooks, you know, like the croquis sketchbooks with the fashion forms in it helped because now I had a form to kind of lay the clothes on and figure it out. And so I loved that. And I felt like the sketchbooks just weren’t, didn’t have enough variety, because I have a variety of clients. I have kids and teenagers and adults and, you know, plus size women and men. And, and so I’ve always thought about having my own sketchbook that had kind of everything I wanted in one place. As a designer, you’ll do a sketch and sometimes you’ll send that sketch to someone else, like, oh, you send it to another designer. ‘Cause their specialty is gowns. And so, I have a client that needs a gown and I’m going to do some of it, but they’re going to do the rest of it. And maybe I’m going to do all the rhinestoning or something, but I need someone else to make it. How do I sketch this out for them to understand and then give them all the details like a pattern card needs to make this piece? And pattern cards can be expensive. Like, the nice, hard pattern cards are expensive.

And I was like, what if it was all in one place? So then you could just tear the page out and give the sketch, the technical sketch, the pattern pieces and your pattern card with all of the yardage, the trims, the buttons, all the notes, the measurements as well, all in one place. And then you can just give that to a designer or give that to a manufacturer. Because I also do manufacturing. What if there was a book for that? So that’s why I created it. I wanted a place that had straight size, plus size, and men croquis that we created ourselves. My incredible assistant, Christian Chacon, he made all of the illustrations and all of the croquis to scale, nine heads tall. And then I added all of the different types of measurements at the bottom. So you can put all your clients’ measurements on that page. Then on the back of that, every page is your pattern card, that has what yardage of fabric, what type of fabric. You can put your swatches on there. You can do your technical sketch. You can put your buttons and zippers and trims and any notes about hardware or any notes about the client on there. And then you can take that to your designer or to your manufacturer and it’s all in one place. Or, as a person who maybe doesn’t do professional tailoring or professional sewing, and you’re just a home crafter or a home sewer who does things, like, for their friends and family, this is a place to put all of your ideas and all of the swatches. And sometimes you just sit and sketch an idea and then you find fabrics that you would like to put it, you know, put it on or put it with. So now you can put all of that in this book. And now you have a book that has all your ideas, with those fabric swatches, with what you need for the pattern, all in one place. And then you can come back to it when you’re ready to actually do it. And so that’s what this book is for. It’s not just for professional sewers or, or designers. It’s for the home crafter. It’s for children. It’s for teenagers who want to get into fashion.

My nieces both love to sketch and love to sew. And my seven-year-old niece is an amazing artist, like, amazing. Like it’s kind of weird how good she is. And she loves to draw clothing. And then my older niece, she loves to actually sew. And my mom and me showed her how to sew and how to embroider on the embroidery machine. And so this is for them as well. This is like a love letter to design and fashion and the home sewer because I am a home sewer who turned professional. That’s my pitch.

Helen: I love this. I can definitely see our listeners using this book, like, in their home sewing practice, because we always need to sketch out our ideas and concepts. And I like the idea of having the place to include the measurements and notes and notions and all of that good stuff. So I encourage our listeners to go and check out this book because I know people out there are looking for a sketchbook that does include more variety in the croquis. So thank you, thank you, thank you for that.

Michelle: Yes, and one other thing about it is, I actually have, like, a little fashion kind of reference guide in the, in the front. So, we have measurement sheets in here so that you can understand how to measure a body. And we have them on straight size, plus size, and men, and it shows you exactly where to measure, how to get this measurement, like, from the neck down to your shoulder cap, this is your across your shoulder, this is your bust height, this is your across the front. Like, it points to everything. So it’s easy to understand how to measure, because I know that a lot of people don’t know how to measure their selves or measure other people to make clothing for them. We also have a reference guide for, like, body form silhouettes, dress silhouettes, neckline, sleeve styles, skirt styles, and pants styles, because sometimes you’ll have a client and they’ll say, “Oh, I want that kind of, you know, those kind of pants at the bottom. Like they kind of flare out kind of like a bell bottom, but not that big.” So now you have a kind of a reference guide to point to. And like, “Oh, like this?” Or “I want the neckline, you know, how it like kind of ovals or, you know, you know, the thing?” And you’re like, “Oh, like this.” And like, “Yeah, I want that neckline and I want those straps and I want that sleeve.” And so this is just another way to, to help you with your clients or with your, your friends or family to show them kind of a reference of what they’re looking for. And it just makes it easier for you to make those illustrations. So I just kind of wanted a little bit of everything in here.

Helen: Yeah, so smart. I love that we can hear you flipping through the pages. You’re, like, really bringing us into your world right now.

Michelle: I didn’t even realize that. Yes, yes. I’m just really proud of it.

Caroline: It’s great.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: If our listeners wanted to get their hands on a copy, where can we get that?

Michelle: Oh. So we have it on our Etsy, @thekutstudios. We also have it on our website at thekutstudios.com. And that’s “The Kut” with a “K.” You can also purchase it on our Instagram and on our TikTok. And it’s all @thekutstudios.

Caroline: That’s actually a perfect transition, ’cause we did wanna talk about The Kut Studios. This is your co-working space for designers, and you also teach sewing classes there. So can you tell us a little bit about this space? What’s the vibe like? Give us the lowdown.

Michelle: Well, the vibe of The Kut Studios is funky and messy and cool. And so, in the front of our studio, we actually have a storefront in the world-renowned fashion district of LA, right next to Santee Alley. And so you walk in through the doors and you’re greeted with, like, a big closet full of the craziest-looking clothes and the most random things that you’ve ever seen. I have multiple designers, local designers, here, of colour, that have their different walls where they sell their pieces. And there’s costumes, there’s ready-to-wear, there’s more, like, there’s thrifted pieces, things that we found online, and then pieces that we make, things we’ve upcycled, things we made from scratch, costumes for, like, Burning Man and raves. And then we have things that you would see just on a television show, like, ready-to-wear, and then really unique pieces.

And then when you walk through, we have a massive wall that we built. And you walk through the wall and then you’re transformed into this workspace, like, a workspace that has big cutting tables, two huge cutting tables, and some of our merch. There’s a mural that we painted on the wall that my, my assistant did, and six desks full of sewing machines by Brother, our favourite sewing machines. And there’s fabric rolls and all of these totes and trays and things under the tables with labels on it for notions. And we have a fabric room back here. We have dressing rooms, we have heat press, just everything you could possibly want in your sewing studio. Dress forms and mannequins and all, and sewing patterns and everything. And designers and crafters alike can rent time in our space. They can become a tenant and actually get keys and have a workspace. We actually have an extra office here that we have a couple of different designers who actually work here full-time like that. So their office space, and then we have an option where you could just rent by the month, just monthly or by the week or by the day. And you can work in our space, use all of our fabric, because we get all of the fabric donated. People all over will just donate fabric to us, which I love. Our students, too. So you can use our notions, our fabric, our tools, our measurement tools, everything. And you can just work in our space. And it’s a community. It’s fun. There’s no competition. Everyone here is helping and everyone here kind of does different things. And so there’s, it’s a resource for you if you’re, you’re trying to learn how to do something or you just want to have a bigger space to work out of and not have to work out of your apartment or your home. It’s a very creative space. And we love watching RuPaul’s Drag Race. So that plays 24/7 on our television while we’re all in here working and talking. It’s our favourite thing. And we’ve had so many of the drag queens come in and get things. But It’s just a really fun, collaborative space and everybody kind of just shares what they have, their knowledge and their materials, if they have leftovers. So, really collaborative space, really funky and cool. And it’s two blocks away from where the fabric and notions are, where you can buy them in our fabric district. So you can walk, go get what you need, and come back. And I’m really proud of this. This is what I’ve always wanted. And this is my fourth studio. So we’ve grown to this. And I’m very proud of what we’ve done here. And we’ve had different designers and stylists come.

We do, also do classes here every Sunday, I mean, Saturday and Sunday. We do intermediate classes on Saturdays. And then there’s an intermediate class at 10. And then we do different classes every Saturday. So we have a tailoring class, a Spanish-speaking only class that my assistant teaches for beginners. We do a new kids’ class now on third Saturdays for ages 7 to 15. And Then we do a Sip and Sew, which is basically like a workshop that’s, like, four hours long. We usually do like a bigger project that you can get done in the four hours. And maybe a little sangria, a little, a little something, nothing too heavy. You know, optional, if you like. And then on Sundays we have two beginner classes, 10 o’clock and 1 o’clock. And the beginner classes are great because, like I told you before, my friend was not very patient with me. She is still my best friend to this day and we laugh about it all the time. But I said, if I ever really learned how to sew, I would want to teach. And my husband, who was amazingly supportive, he just kept pushing me to, like, “It’s time. You need to teach.” And so, about two, maybe two and a half years ago, we finally started doing classes. And I, I feel like I’m not a good public speaker. Like, I feel like I ramble and I make jokes a lot. And, but when I did my first class, everyone seemed to really enjoy it. And I think that’s my way of taking the nerves down. And now we got it down to a science. So in the two hours that you’re here for class, you learn how to sew in 30 minutes. And when I say in 30 minutes, you will know how to use a sewing machine. Even if you’ve never even seen one in person, you will know how to use your sewing machine. You will feel confident on that sewing machine and you will sew a complete garment by the end of the class. So the next hour and a half is you making a garment.

We do different projects every time. So we did pants this Sunday, this past Sunday. So they learned how to make pants. You’ll learn how to make jackets, dresses, skirts, things that you thought, “I don’t know how to sew. So how would I know how to make those things in two hours?” But I have it down to a science on how to teach someone how to sew and be confident. And they’re just so surprised after about 45 minutes, I’m like, “kay, you’re going to pin this. And then everybody go back to your desk and go ahead and sew that side seam and then come back to the table with your pins.” And then they just go sit down and sew. And so they don’t ask me how to do it again. They just do it. Like, and, and I’m like, I always make this joke. I’m like, so, “You know, you guys are all sewing now, right?” And they were like, “Yeah, that’s so weird. Like, it’s so weird that we’re just sewing, like, we’re just making clothes now.” And I was like, “So now the next thing is, since y’all are doing so well, we locked the doors and everybody goes into our little dungeon and you start sewing for us.” You know, and they all laugh and they, but they, but they all feel so confident. And to see their faces when they turn those pants inside out and realize they made pants. And they put them on in class and they’re, like “I made pants that fit me. And they’re, like, really cozy. And this is really cool. And I made pants.” Like, it’s just such a rewarding feeling, every single class, to see the joy on people’s faces for learning a new skill. So, yeah, The Kut Studios is a magical place, we say. And It’s a very supportive community of designers and students who just wanted to learn and take a little time for themselves to learn a new skill.

Helen: It does sound like such a magical place. It’s funny that you mentioned RuPaul’s Drag Race, because I was picturing the workroom from RuPaul’s Drag Race. I don’t know if it looks anything like that, but that’s what I’m picturing.

Michelle: It’s very, it’s very similar to that. Yes, yes.

Helen: Oh, so fun. I definitely think you’d be a great teacher. I love that you keep mentioning instilling confidence in your students. That’s something you talked about earlier, too, just knowing that you’re good at it, that you got it, that you can do it, not second guessing yourself. And I really love that. Especially with sewing, I think it can be easy to get a little bit bogged down and feeling worried about what might happen when it’s really not, it’s not that hard, you know, we got this. We can do it.

Michelle: No, like, you got this. And at the end of the day, like, I always tell my students, I’m like, “Guys, we’re not curing cancer here. We’re making clothes, you know what I’m saying? We’re making clothes!” Like, I always do this thing, when it’s their first time actually putting their foot down on the pedal and having to, like, when we start sewing, we’ve gone through all of the things and the anatomy of the machine and how it works and, and they’ve threaded their machine. And now it’s that it’s time to put your foot on the pedal and to actually make that machine move. And I always say, “Okay, so before we start, unclench your butts. Relax your jaw. Take the tongue off the roof of your mouth. Relax your shoulders.” Because everybody’s hunched over their little machine because they’re so nervous. And I was like, “Just relax. We’re just sewing. This is supposed to be fun. There’s no deadline. If you do it wrong, that’s why you’re in class. You will learn how to do it right. Relax. This is supposed to be fun.” And I was like, “I should be the one that’s worried. ‘Cause I need you to want to come back to my class. You know, I should be the one that’s worried, because I’m on a deadline with that when I make, you know, do manufacturing and make clothes, but you are simply learning a new skill. And give yourself some grace. Because you don’t learn things overnight.” And I still learn, I still teach myself how to do things. I get requests for different things that I don’t know how to do. I know what they are, but I’ve never had to do them. And so what do I do? I go to YouTube university and I look it up and then I practice. And now I know how to do that skill.

You know, I had a client just, that I’m working on something right now. She’s like, “Oh, I want to have all the inside of the seams, be French seams.” I’ve never had to do a French seam for any reason. There’s just no real reason for me to do it. So I’ve never done it, but I know what it is. I looked it up, took me 30 seconds. I was like, “Oh, okay, easy. Done.” And now I’m doing French seams on the inside of everything that she’s, I’m making for her. Extra step, but it looks beautiful. And I’ve been doing this this long and I professionally sew. I’m always going to be learning and I, and I implore every person, designer, every home sewer to continuously learn. Never stop, because you’re good at what you do. There’s always a better way to do it, a faster way to do it, a more efficient way to do it. So always keep learning, always keep your mind open and give yourself grace when you’re learning new things.

Helen: Oh, timeless advice, for sure. I really appreciate that. Okay, Michelle, we talked about so many things today. I mean, you’re teaching classes, you’re mentoring new fashion designers, you’re doing your own fashion design, custom things, Versace alterations. How are you doing all of this? How do you balance it all?

Michelle: Ooh. Well, I have a problem with sleep. I don’t sleep a lot. So I have, like, really bad insomnia. And so, and that’s been an issue for years, because my mind won’t turn off. I feel like I’m always thinking of a, of a new thing, or I see, like, I’m watching a TV show and I see, like, the collar of somebody’s shirt and I’m like, “Oh, that would be really cool if…” I can’t, you know…or,” What’s the texture of that fabric? What is that? I need to find that fabric.” Like, I’m always thinking of things or ideas. So I just, I don’t know. I thrive on being rushed. I think, because this industry is so quick and everything is so fast and, like, hurry up and wait or do it now, do it now. And working on TV and film, it’s like, we need this right now. Like, “Can you sew this really quick?” And so I’m so used to, like, this, these time crunch pressures that I tend to procrastinate when I have too much time. Like, if someone says, “Oh, we don’t need this until, like, a month from now, I will procrastinate, because they gave me too much time when I’m used to, like, if somebody gives me two days to do it, I start immediately and get it over with. I just, I have to keep moving. And so, I don’t know how I balance it.

I, and I’m married, I just got married a year ago and I have a whole husband and I have two dogs and, you know, I have a lot going on, you know? But I also have support. You know, my husband is very supportive. Shout out to him. He’s amazing. And I also have a really supportive team. I have an amazing assistant that I’ve mentioned multiple times, Christian Chacon, who has been with me for almost four years now. And he was simply just a guy that came in here looking for something to wear for his birthday. And something about him, he didn’t even say he sewed, and I don’t know what it was. And I’m very particular about this space. And he had just a light. And I asked him if he wanted a job and he was like, and his friend said, “Yes, he does. He hates his job and he’s an amazing sewer and he’s an amazing artist and he wants that job.” And he was like, “I work at a grocery store in a bakery.” And and the next day he became my assistant and he’s been here ever since. And he does all the videos that we do, too. So I’m, I’m amazingly supported with him. I also have an internship program, so I have lots of young designers and students that work here and get to learn, they get to do jobs with me, they get stipends for helping me with projects and, and manufacturing. And so, I’m lucky to have these young people who are so excited about design and excited about getting into the industry and learning the ins and outs. And this is a very fast-paced place because we, you never know who’s going to walk through our doors. We get celebrities that just randomly walk in here ‘cause they saw the store open. And now we’re, now that they’re our new client or we get a manufacturing job or I get a call to do a dress for Fantasia for a music video, but we need it in two hours, like, like those things happen so often and they kind of just thrust into these projects with me that they’re learning, like, on the job, really quick. And they’re very supportive. And so, I’m grateful and lucky to have them to also be here with me and stay late with me and help me because I am not much of a delegator. I’m more of a hands-on, I’m gonna do it with you. We’re gonna do this together. And teach at the same time. So balance, to me, is just having a great team around you who support you and family and friends who are cheering you on.

And because I love this so much it doesn’t feel like work. It is work. It is work, but it doesn’t feel like work. And I tell, you know, my students and I tell my, my team and my friends that the way I wind down is to sew. So I could sew all day for 12 hours. And the way I come down from all of that busy hustle and bustle is to sit and sew and to create something else. And I can’t help it. I can’t. So I’m always moving and my brain is always working. Because I love this so much that I could not see myself doing anything else. And eight years ago, this was not even a thought. 13 years ago, when I moved to LA, this was not something that I even knew I could do. I used to own a dance studio, so fashion was not a part of my life. And so, to go from doing HR, and that’s what I came here, I just came to LA to, to have a change of scenery from Houston and just live in LA and that was it, have a regular job and have a regular life, to this. Your path is not certain for the rest of your life. You can want to do one thing. And, and I always speak about God because he’s the only person who is keeping me afloat and keeping me through this, but he is the one who set me on another path and said, “You’re not meant for only one thing. And you have other gifts that you’re not aware of. And I’m going to plant those seeds and I’m going to lead you to those things. And I’m going to, it’s going to be hard and it’s going to be upsetting and it’s going to be great. And you’re going to cry and you’re going to laugh and you’re going to have a great time and you’re going to have a miserable time. But you’re going to love this so much that it will be worth it. And you, you will wonder why you continue to do this when you’re broke or when you have all the money in the world and when you lose it all, and when you gain it all, and you’re going to wonder why you continue to do this. And if you can continue to do this and I will show you that I will continue to provide and it will continue to be worth it.”

And so, I breathe this. Like I, I breathe this. Every aspect of it, every part of it is me now. And it’s the only thing that I love more than my family and my friends. It’s what drives me and keeps me getting up and seeing the smiling faces when they get the garment that I made or when my clients look amazing on set or they feel good in their clothes when they’re on that red carpet. And, and when my students are surprised at what they can do and how they didn’t know a skill before they walked in here and they’re walking out with a new skill and a new love and a new path and a new passion. That brings me joy and that gives me balance. That’s how I can do it all.

Caroline: Wow. Well, I think that’s a beautiful note to end this conversation on. It’s been incredibly inspiring to talk to you today, Michelle. And I know that our listeners are going to be dying to find you online and follow you if they aren’t already. So can you please share with everyone where they can follow you and your website and all that good stuff?

Michelle: Yes. So, my website is thekutstudios.com, and that’s “The Kut” with a “K.” And our Instagram is @thekutstudios. Our Facebook is The Kut Studios. You can also follow us on TikTok, @thekutstudios. So you can see all of our classes. We also have a Patreon, @thekutstudios, and where we have some classes and some, like, some tips and tricks. We’ll be adding more videos there. If you want to follow me directly, it’s @auntfunkyscloset. And you’ll see that on @thekutstudios that I’m the owner. But @auntfunkyscloset is my personal brand and you’ll see a lot of my tailoring and things like that. And things that I make, new pieces that I make and create. And you can always, you know, look us up on Google. You know, a review on Google is great for us, too. We’re also on Yelp. And if you’re in LA, or you ever, if you’re in LA and you are looking to just stop by, which does happen often, we are open Monday through Sunday, 11 to five. And we are in the fashion district on 11th and Santee, and you can see that on our website, where our address is, and you can always pop in and see the studio, see our classes, see what we’re making today. And I appreciate you guys for even having me on, and this was so much fun. And just keep sewing, guys. Just keep sewing.

Helen: Oh, we will.

Caroline: Just keep sewing!

Michelle: Just keep sewing. I love it. We have our little hashtag, #sewinthekut, and sew in that, and sew in that quiet place. Sew in that corner, sew in the kut.

Caroline: That’s terrific. We’re going to link all of that up in the show notes, and we’ll be sharing lots of pictures from this conversation on social media this week. So please go give Michelle a follow, everyone, in The Kut Studios, and check out the book. And Michelle, thank you so much for chatting with us today. Honestly, I’m in awe of the work that you do and your career journey. So thank you for sharing. Thanks for coming on the show.

Michelle: Thank you. I appreciate it.

Caroline: Thank you so much.

Michelle: Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate you guys. Your platform is amazing. You have so many sewers and inspire so many sewers around the world. And I am blessed and it’s been a pleasure to talk to you guys about what I love and what so many other people love to do. You guys are doing the lord’s work. I love it. You’re amazing. Thank you.

Caroline: You’re amazing.

Helen: Oh, likewise, Michelle. No, you’re amazing.

Michelle: No, you’re amazing.

Caroline: No, you’re amazing. Oh my gosh. Okay. Well, thanks so much, Michelle. Take care.

Michelle: Okay. Bye bye.

Helen: Bye!

That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Helen, at Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co. and Caroline at Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns. We’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: You can support Love to Sew and get access to bonus content by subscribing on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. You even get access to the back catalogue of bonus episodes. That’s over 75 hours of Love to Sew. go to patreon.com/lovetosew or check out our podcast page on Apple Podcasts for more info.

Helen: Head to lovetosewpodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and gorgeous pictures of Michelle’s custom work from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, you can leave us a message at 1-844-SEW-WHAT. That’s 1-844-739-9428. Or send us an email at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com.

Caroline: Thanks to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant and Jordan Moore of The Pod Cabin is our editor. And thank you all for listening. We will talk to you next week.

Helen: Bye bye!

Caroline: Bye!

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