We interview Cornelius Quiring, the beloved internet sewing teacher and content creator! We chat with him about his unique sewing journey, his minimalist design perspective, how he teaches difficult drafting concepts, and his favourite things to sew.
The transcript for this episode is on this page at the end of the show notes.
Show Notes:
Find Cornelius Online:
- Website: Cornelius Quiring
- YouTube: Cornelius Quiring
- Instagram: @CorneliusQuiring
- TikTok: @CornQuiring
- Patreon: Cornelius Quiring
- Courses: Cornelius Quiring
Other Mentions:
- Cornelius’s Story on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
- “How To Draft Your Own Patterns” on YouTube
- “How to Make a Button Up Shirt from Scratch” on YouTube
- “How to Rescue and Old Sewing Machine” on YouTube
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 basically all we wanna talk about.
Caroline: Today’s guest is Cornelius Quiring, the beloved internet sewing teacher and content creator. We ask him about his unique sewing journey, how he breaks down difficult concepts so they’re easy to understand, and where he gets all his amazing tips.
Helen: If you love to sew, this is your show. Hello, Cornelius. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Cornelius: Well, thank you for inviting me. It’s, uh, I feel like I’m a big deal, being on the show.
Helen: Oh my gosh. We’ve had so many people request to have you on and we’re so excited to chat with you today. So can you please introduce yourself to our listeners?
Cornelius: Well, hello, my name is Cornelius Quiring. I am a content creator. I make sewing videos on the internet that can sometimes be a little bit silly and hopefully educational.
Helen: I feel like they’re more educational than they are silly these days. You are just, like, dishing out knowledge left, right, and center. It’s absolutely amazing. Where are you from, Cornelius?
Cornelius: These days I live in Ontario, Canada, but born far, far away in Paraguay, South America.
Caroline: Amazing. I am from Montreal. So not too far, not too far away. But we’re both on the west coast now.
Helen: How long have you lived in Canada for?
Cornelius: The majority of my life. It was a bit of back and forth. So when I was five, we moved here, and we were here for about five years, and then back to Paraguay again and spent some time there, and then back again. So my childhood was back and forth, but then I’d say my teens and adult life have all been here.
Caroline: Sweet. Okay, so tell us about sewing. How and when did you learn to sew?
Cornelius: Sewing has always been a part of my life. My mom was always making things and at the sewing machine. I mean, the whole community I grew up in was always sewing, so it’s kind of just existed around me. And then in my teens, when we start to think about the way we look and those sorts of things more often, I wanted to make clothes. So mom taught me some of the basics. And then in high school I took some sewing classes. I did this on and off for most of my teens. And then in my twenties, early twenties, when I really started to take it serious and learn how to properly make my own clothes and draft. And I’ve been doing it ever since.
Caroline: Very cool. And you mentioned in some of your reels that you grew up Mennonite. What was sewing like in your Mennonite community, growing up?
Cornelius: That was why sewing existed so much. Every Mennonite likes to do as much as they can themselves. And so mom was making our clothes, but all the other families were also making their own clothes. It was a very specific style to the community that you couldn’t just go out and buy. So it was very omnipresent, if you will. Like, I don’t know what life is without it. So coming to Canada is when I realized, like, oh, this isn’t a normal thing.
Helen: No, that’s true. But it’s such an amazing skill to learn when you’re young, and I’m sure you had so many incredible sewing mentors in your life when you were growing up. That must have been awesome.
Cornelius: Mom, I think mom was the big one. She made everything. And so I learned quite a bit from her and still do.
Helen: Did you ever have a break from sewing in your life or have you been sewing ever since you learned?
Cornelius: I would say, in my teens and early twenties, it was on and off. It would be projects here or there, things as I was experimenting and learning a bit more. But then I would say, from my mid-twenties on, it’s been a pretty consistent thing. I haven’t bought very many clothes since then.
Caroline: Awesome. So, we wanted to talk a little bit about fitting because your clothes always fit so beautifully. So can we touch on that a little bit? How you learned to fit your body?
Cornelius: Yeah, a whole lot of trial and error and making mistakes and ill-fitting garments. I tend to learn just by doing. And so I would find tutorials on the internet. I don’t know if Lycos, if you remember this at all, but it was one of those make-your-own website platforms where people would make their own websites. I’d find people sharing things there. And then just taking apart garments as well, seeing how they were constructed, the shapes, and looking at patterns. When we moved to Canada, mom started buying some patterns, so observing the shapes there. So nothing formal, per se, but a lot of hands-on trying things.
Caroline: Amazing.
Helen: I really like how much you share that in your content. Just making a point to let people know that adjustments are normal and that you might need to make multiple different adjustments for your body and that’s totally fine. And we also noticed that you do asymmetrical adjustments, which is something we haven’t covered that much on the podcast. Can you tell us a bit about the asymmetrical adjustments you make for your body?
Cornelius: That was really the main reason I got into it, was I had an accident when I was three years old. I say I; it was several people on the farm. This big old piece of farm equipment fell on top of me. And so several muscles in the right side of my body atrophied and never developed as I grew, and so things never fit the way I wanted them to. And in my teens, like I was saying earlier, we become aware of our bodies, and that made me realize, like, why don’t I just make them fit me? Like, I don’t have to wear clothes that fit everybody. The whole point is to do it myself. And so, from there, I started experimenting with it. In the beginning, it was just altering already-existing garments. So I would sew the right side narrower, like I’d mark the sleeve down through the side, just sew that off. But as I’m sure many folks are aware, it’s very specific shapes in the sleeve there that, when you sew it off, it doesn’t perfectly just scale it down. And so I realized through those sorts of things, like, oh, I gotta actually figure out how to understand these shapes and then adjust to fit my body. And so that was a large part of why I got into the pattern drafting side of things and spent a lot of time learning, so that way I could make it exclusively fit my asymmetrical body.
Helen: And it’s really paying off, because your shirts, in particular, just fit beautifully. And it’s remarkable, the difference between a shirt that’s not perfectly fitted to your asymmetrical body, and then one that is, and just how good it looks, you know?
Cornelius: It was a lesson I learned in design school as well, is that when things look great or are well-done, you don’t notice them. But it’s only once you see something that’s ill-fitting or there’s mistakes that you notice the thing that should be fixed. And so by making those little tweaks, like taking an inch and a half out of the right side, suddenly I’m not getting all those wrinkles and folds on the right side. And then most folks, candidly, don’t even recognize that I do have an asymmetrical body.
Helen: Yeah. That’s so interesting. You would think that it maybe would draw attention to it, but in fact it almost hides it in a way or masks it so that they can’t even tell.
Cornelius: Yeah, that was one of my big hesitations early on. I was like, well, I don’t want to further show this difference. But then I realized, like, oh, right, no, no, that’s the point, is then you don’t see it. It’s amazing how much we don’t pay attention to in our daily lives.
Caroline: Do you find these adjustments have become kind of, like, second nature to you? Like, they come more easily now that you’ve done them a bunch of times? Or do you still find fitting can be challenging sometimes?
Cornelius: I think I’m going to struggle with fitting, in general, my whole life. I feel like it just doesn’t get easier. But I do have a better understanding of them. Like, at this point, I have a decent understanding of my body and the adjustments I make. So I do them with everything that I draft.
Helen: Well, I think that’s good to hear for our listeners, that they’re not alone, if the fitting is not getting any easier. It’s an ongoing struggle. We also noticed on your website that you mentioned you worked on a glove to help with mobility in your right hand. What was that experience like?
Cornelius: That was a good learning lesson for myself in the sense that, before I really gave this pattern drafting thing a go, was, I wanted to “fix” the right side of my body. And so I figured, if I can make my hand work fine, well, then I’ll be fine as a person. And so I started off by just putting elastics at the top, ’cause it’s the opening that I can’t do with my right hand. And it worked. But then it introduced new problems because it turns out when you have elastics pulling your fingers open all the time, well, that’s a completely different strain that the body isn’t used to. And so then I’d get fatigue in my fingers. But then there’s also pressure points. And so then I thought, okay, well then maybe I introduce some electronics into this where I can, you know, stimulate some kind of a spring when I want it to. And I went down this road for a little while and realized that the body is surprisingly complex and nuanced. Turns out all this evolution that has happened over time is not something that can be engineered in a year or two. And so going down that road of working on that, A, made me respect the intricacies of our bodies, but also was a learning lesson in that realizing that it isn’t the accident that’s the problem, it was my feelings and self-worth around it. And that it turns out if I’ve worked on myself inside, instead of just trying to fix the outside, that was going to be the better approach. And so, something that I eventually abandoned, but was a road that I had to go down to learn that about myself.
Caroline: Oh, it’s really moving and inspiring and very cool that you are sharing this and, and that you shared it on your, uh, site as well. I remember reading something that you said about how going through that process sort of made you realize that you didn’t need to change anything. And I think a lot of our listeners can probably relate to that and, and will find that really inspiring. I wonder, too, like, how you’ve sort adapted your sewing practice to work with your limited mobility in your hand. ‘Cause we hear from a lot of different sewists who live with limitations. So what kind of things have you done to make sewing a little bit more accessible for yourself?
Cornelius: Well, I’m right-handed. I was allegedly right-handed. I don’t remember. I was too young. But as a result, I’ve had to learn how to do everything with my left hand. So finding left-handed tools has been one thing for me that has made a big difference. I didn’t realize there was left-handed scissors. And my fingers would go numb all the time. And then when I finally made that switch, that made a big difference. And then the other thing would be, I guess it’s not necessarily a specific skillset or tool, but this concept of working inside of myself to be okay with who I am was also big in that I realized like, oh, it’s okay that I just do it how I can. Right? Like, so I don’t use my right hand for a lot of intricate work. And so it’s all done with my left hand. And it takes me a little longer to make things, you know? But that’s my process and that’s how I do it. And only I can do it that way, you know?
Helen: Yes. And we love to preach on the show that there is no right way to sew. However you’re doing it is just fine.
Caroline: Yeah.
Cornelius: It’s something I try to say in my content as well, from the pattern drafting to any of it. It’s like, there’s many different ways to do it. I did design work before I was doing this full time, and I particularly like typography. And so the metaphor I use regularly is: there’s no shortage of different fonts and they all display a letter differently, and yet we all understand concept and they all work. So in the same way, we’re all just different fonts that are very readable.
Helen: That’s really great. I can definitely see the typography influence in your content because you have this, like, very bold, graphic look to the stuff that you post, and there’s a lot of text on there that looks so good. So let’s talk a bit about your content. We’re big fans of your work on social media in particular. Love your videos. So why did you decide to start posting and sharing your sewing knowledge online?
Cornelius: I’ve always liked entertaining. I’ve done plays and theater and things like that on the side for fun. And then in my twenties I decided I need to do what I want with my life. And I thought that was gonna be standup comedy. And it turns out that that’s a world I don’t fit very well in. But I was doing it and I was struggling to get stage time, so I was like, well, let me just start making videos, ’cause that’s something I can control. I was making my own clothes. And it’s like, I thought to myself, well, let’s just make content about sewing. And so it started from that place of like, well, let me just fill my time with this while I make that other thing work. And of course, going through that process, I realized, like, oh, right, I don’t actually, don’t wanna be on stage doing standup comedy. This is the thing. And so that’s how I ended up in sewing content. And then also thinking about the fact of what I like to watch. I realize I like a lot of documentaries, those sorts of things, and learning, specifically. So I thought to myself, well, why don’t I make educational content as well? And so that’s how I pivoted from me just making sewing videos. Here’s what I’m doing, here’s what I’m working, to well, let me share what I’ve learned, ’cause that must be interesting to other folks. I thought it was interesting. And then I can help the medicine go down with a little sugar in the form of silly presentations.
Caroline: It’s amazing, ’cause you do make these difficult concepts and techniques so clear in your videos. You’re such a great teacher. And I wonder how you became so great at that aspect of content creation.
Cornelius: It was one of my former colleagues, back in the days when I was still doing design work. I was making websites as well, and I was having this problem that I couldn’t solve and I was very flummoxed by it. And he helped me out with it and walked me through the process where we figured it out together. And he taught me that I need to not worry about getting the solution, but having tiny little steps that I can manage. And so, without getting into technical details of the issue I was working on, I needed to present some information on a website and it wasn’t showing up. And so he said, “Well, let’s start off by just seeing if there’s a connection.” And so then we did that. And then from there, it’s like, “Okay, well now let’s see if we can pull this information.” And there was a light bulb moment for me where I realized that the key to learning something isn’t understanding it as a whole, but anything in small enough chunks is manageable. And so that is a thing that I still carry with me in my life. But the content that I create, that, let me just make this small enough that it’s digestible and you pair them together and eventually you get your goal. And so I have him to thank for it. So Benjamin, you’re probably not listening to this, but you have been pivotal in helping shape who I am today.
Helen: Oh, I love that. It’s really great because it connects so perfectly with sewing as a practice. We are doing one step at a time. And I’m always telling people that it’s really daunting when you think about making a pair of jeans, for example. But when you break it down into the steps, you are just sewing one seam after another. And you know how to sew a seam! You can do it. You are going to be able to complete this entire pair of pants one step at a time, just focusing on the next task at hand.
Cornelius: Exactly. Yeah.
Caroline: So Cornelius, you also teach online classes, and we wanted to ask you a little bit about that. What are those online classes like? Who are they for? How can our listeners access them?
Cornelius: I make courses for people like me who wanna make their own clothes from scratch. So I’m specifically creating courses for home sewists making their own garments or for a friend. That is a very specific niche that I focus on ’cause that’s what I do best. I don’t do any sort of pattern grading for industry, any of those kinds of things. And so the goal with them is to help people figure out how to do it for themselves. And so something I say in the courses as well is: there’s no one right way to do this. There’s no one magic formula that’s going to be able to be inputted and then boom, poof, every body type and every size and dimension and shape is magically gonna work. So I try to give guidance, general principles, and then I talk about adjustments. Like maybe you need to tweak it like this, if this is how you are and those sorts of things. And maybe this won’t work at all, and it’s not your problem, right? Like it’s, it’s just the reality that there’s no one perfect solution to anything. And so I’m trying to guide folks through that and then offer alterations and encourage them that it’s not going to be easy. Like it won’t be a, you do this and you have clothes. You’re gonna make alterations, you’re gonna adjust, you’re gonna try again, you’re gonna fail, you’re gonna get very frustrated, as well. And then, hopefully, after way too much effort, you’ll have done something that you’re proud of. And then that could be motivation for the next step.
Caroline: Very cool. And are the classes centered around different garments, like each class focuses on a different garment, or is it more just like sewing basic techniques and fitting and that kind of thing?
Cornelius: So at the moment, it’s focused on creating a block first. So that would be the, sort of the basic template for a pair of pants, and then a basic template for a top. And then the additional courses take those blocks and then turn it into a specific garment. So I encourage people to take those courses first, so they have their basic template for themselves, and then if they want to turn that into a pair of classic tailored pants, there’s an option. I’m working on a jeans variation at the moment, and then different shirts, button-ups, those kinds of things. So that’s the methodology, I guess. That’s not original. It’s very common in the industry. But that’s the approach. So it’s very garment-focused, making specific garments, but starting off with a block first.
Helen: Yeah, it’s so cool to have courses like this available to people, especially folks out there who maybe aren’t having a ton of luck with commercial patterns and would like to try having their own block to base things off of, because it will get you a better fit in the end. And it makes you feel like a magician when you’re taking this simple block and creating an entire garment and design out of it. It’s pretty magical stuff, I have to say.
Cornelius: It’s certainly changed the way I approach clothes. I have actually done very little with commercial patterns, but I found one of the things that I struggled with when I was first learning myself was there was a lot of do this, do that, numbers, math, but not a lot of why. And so that’s one of the things I try to answer along the way, as well, is why is it done this way? What impact will it have if this other thing is done? And so trying to answer why is what I struggled with when I started and what I’m now hoping folks will get that out of it.
Caroline: Amazing. And where can our listeners find these courses if they were wanting to explore them?
Cornelius: Well, if I may have the opportunity, I’ll use the shtick that I use at the end of my videos.
Helen: Oh my gosh. Please!
Caroline: We’ve been waiting for that!
Cornelius: It seems to be a favourite. But if they go to Cornelius.ooo, they’ll find it. And that’s three O’s, as in “Oliver.” Cornelius.ooo.
Helen: I have to ask, Cornelius, was that a conscious decision? You did a dot O-O-O so that you could do this bit in your videos?
Cornelius: I wish I was that clever. But no, the main goal was I wanted a Cornelius-only website name. And of course, all the major ones are taken. Kellogg’s owns Cornelius.com and they refuse to sell it to me even though they don’t use it. And Cornelius.ca is gone, and .info. So all the major ones were gone and I did a domain name search to see what’s out there. And it turns out there’s .ooo domain names. Now, they’re a bit harder to get, but for a time there, Google was selling them, and I managed to get in just in the nick of time. And so now I have it and I can keep it and it’s became a fun little bit that I did, uh, on a whim once and it stuck, so.
Caroline: Yeah.
Helen: I think it, honestly, it makes me watch all of your videos to the very end because I just wanna hear you say it.
Cornelius: Again, I wish, I wish I had, I was this brilliant and scheming, but my best stuff is always an accident.
Caroline: Okay, so you have these online classes. You also have a Patreon, a YouTube channel. You’re on Instagram, you’re on TikTok. And how do you juggle it all? Is this a full-time gig? How do, how do you manage to do all of these different things?
Cornelius: It is full-time now. I’ve been doing it for about two years full-time. But before this, it was just a whole lot of me and early mornings and late nights getting it all done. And now that it’s full-time, I also work with an editor now so I can pass off some of the more production side of things. So I wish I could say it was all me, but there is a, a silent helper in the background that, uh, helps me, me look good.
Helen: Well, they do an amazing job. You definitely have a signature look and feel to your videos. Could you describe it for our listeners?
Cornelius: Yes, it’s very pared back and minimalist. The clients who didn’t like my work as much back in the day, they called it industrial, but it’s, it’s black and white. I love black and white design. It just speaks to me and it feels timeless, and I always feel good wearing a pair of black pants and white shirt. And so I realized, like, well, hold on. This is my design aesthetic. Let’s do that. And then from the typography perspective, I keep it as a very sort of geometric sans serif font. And that way I find that the visual noise gets pulled back and it focuses on the message and allows my personality, I guess, to do some of the talking as well. I have a whole Ted Talk ready about how much visual noise and clutter we have on all our online platforms. And so I find the more I pare mine back, A, I love it, but B, it also helps it stand out from everything else that is yelling at us, if you will.
Helen: It really does stand out. Every time one of your videos pops up on my feed, it feels like a visual rest, which is such a lovely thing these days. As you pointed out, we have so much noise everywhere and your videos just feel like a rest for the eye. I love the way you speak into the microphone nice and clear, but soft and, I don’t know. It’s comforting, in a way, even though it is, like, very minimalist.
Cornelius: I’m glad to hear that’s how it’s received, ’cause it’s chaos when I’m making it. But hopefully the final product has a nice, smooth aesthetic and is calm feeling.
Helen: Yeah. I imagine it must be a lot of work to get your setting so clean and the lighting so perfect. Like, it looks like there’s absolutely nothing going on in the background. Where are you filming these magical black box videos?
Cornelius: I am lucky in that, about a year ago, I moved into a house with a basement that had a very tiny window. And so I blacked out the window so there’s absolutely no natural light coming in. So it’s all studio lights with black and white backdrops. And that way I can perfectly control the lighting, the colour temperature of the video, and the sound and all those sorts of things. So there’s a, what you see on screen is a very small part. If I were to zoom out, you would see a, a chaotic looking room full of stands and lights and all sorts of things.
Helen: We need a behind-the-scenes video. I’d love to see that.
Cornelius: I might have to do that.
Helen: I also just had a thought that, earlier you were talking about how much you love presenting and you used to do plays and things like that, and your videos do have a stage-like atmosphere to them. Like, all the lights are down and the spotlight is on you and it’s all black. It feels very much like looking at a stage.
Cornelius: I, you know what? I hadn’t thought about it, but I’m gonna say that’s what it is. And I may tell people in the future that that was, uh, one of my theories.
Helen: Perfect. I’m glad I could be a part of this.
Caroline: Oh, it’s interesting that you talk about how it feels sort of chaotic on your end because, obviously, like we said, from our end, it looks so polished and so, you know, easy to absorb and, and just, it’s chill. It’s, it doesn’t feel chaotic at all. But would you say that your content has evolved? Like, how did you hone and find that voice and perspective? And if we were to go back and look at old videos, do they all look like this or have you sort of changed over time?
Cornelius: Oh, it’s been a real evolution over time. I don’t know if you watch YouTube very much, but there’s a very specific aesthetic to YouTube where everyone has some sort of a shelving unit behind them and it’s filled with stuff that’s supposed to represent them or the type of content they have. And I know why they do it, because it reads well on screen, especially if you organize it properly. It creates visual intrigue. And that’s where I started, as well. And then I just kept adding more and more and I hated it more and more. But that was what people did. And anytime you start something, you do what you see. Right? That’s when I realized it’s like, oh, hold on. No, no. This is not who I am. As a designer, I’m also very minimalist, very clean. My website is black and white. So I have this design aesthetic, it’s what I like, but then why am I in the videos doing this other thing? And that’s when I realized, like, oh no, scrap this. I don’t have to do that. Let me just bring my design language into the video as well. I mean, video is just moving pictures, right? And so that’s when I took that leap and was able to focus in. It was also the same time I started doing educational-type content. And it also allows me to focus in on what I’m talking about, so there isn’t all that distraction. So the very old YouTube videos are drastically different. And the gear wasn’t as nice either.
Helen: We will admit, we watched some of those…
Caroline: Yeah.
Helen: And I found it really endearing seeing how much your style has changed and watching you in your old space and watching you make your projects. That was really fun. But of course we love where you’re at now, too, and all the content that you deliver for us. How long does it take you to make a video? Can you walk us through that process a little bit?
Cornelius: Yeah, so it depends on…some videos just come together perfectly, and those are rare unicorns, but a video that I make for Instagram, for example, that can easily take a whole day. So a minute and a half of content will be a day’s effort once it’s all combined. So it’ll be a little bit of time writing out a script, and then usually half a day of filming and then editing and revisions, and then making a little thumbnail for it and those sorts of things. So it ends up being more time than it seems. And then YouTube videos. Some of them have taken way too long. They’ve been up to a, a week’s worth of effort, which I’ve realized I can’t do anymore, and so I’m paring that back, as well. I’m forcing myself to be creative in limited times, but it’s too much work every single time and I can’t help myself.
Helen: Well, I think your perfectionist streak is why your content is so wonderful, um, and well-made. So maybe it’s your secret sauce.
Cornelius: Well, thank you.
Helen: How do you gather all of these tips that you want to share? You have so many great ones. Do you keep notes, you know, while you’re making something and write down ideas for things that you might wanna turn into tutorial videos?
Cornelius: Yeah. I have a few different ways I come up with this stuff. The first one is just, ideas pop up as I’m making stuff for myself. I force myself to create garments on a regular basis because of that learning that needs to keep happening for myself. I also get a lot of suggestions for content ideas, and there’s always a few that I’ll pick out here and there. And then one of the unintended consequences of making content and having an audience is people are sharing their techniques with me, as well. So I’m constantly figuring out new techniques from reading what people share. And so that, I find, is one of the biggest goldmines that I would never have figured.
Caroline: That makes a lot of sense, and that’s very cool that you can draw inspiration from your audience as well as, you know, your own sewing practice. It kind of made me think of how, I know Helen and I have businesses in the sewing world and we’ve sort of turned our hobby into a business. And you just said that you try to force yourself to sew fairly often. So do you ever sew just for yourself or are you always, like, making content from the things that you’re sewing?
Cornelius: I got to a point where I wasn’t sewing for myself anymore, just because everything related to sewing was content. And then, eventually, the content completely took over where I wasn’t making anything for myself, and it got very stale and started becoming this self-reinforcing loop, and it made me realize that, if I’m gonna keep doing this as a business, I have to actually continue to enjoy the thing it’s based around. And so I have scheduled time in my calendar that I have to go and just sew for myself. Not that I’m forcing myself to do it, but it’s easy to get into the mindset of like, oh, I need to do this for the business. And then there’s that other thing, and I’m sure you have a very intimate understanding of this, that there’s always about five to ten or more tasks that need your attention immediately. And so putting those aside and focusing on just creating for myself in that moment, enjoying it and having fun.
Caroline: Yeah.
Helen: Yeah, I can totally relate to this. I’m sure Caroline can, too. It’s like, it’s very challenging. And I use the same strategy. I set aside time that is specifically not going to be work-related sewing, just whatever I feel like making. And I’m not gonna film it, even though I always wanna film it. I’m not gonna film it and I’m just gonna let myself enjoy the sewing and have a nice time. And it really is an important part of my process these days.
Cornelius: They’re my little vacations from, from my daily work. I’m by myself in the basement there, just whittling away on something.
Caroline: Sometimes, I find, those are the moments when inspiration will strike, as well. When I’m, I’m not actually trying to work, I’ll have a moment of like, oh, I should maybe make a video about this or, or, and I’ll write it down. I find it helpful. It’s like taking a break from work. It will help me keep me inspired, making more authentic content.
Helen: For sure.
Caroline: I wanna circle back to tips for a second because you share incredible tips. And I wonder if you could share one of your best ones with our listeners right now.
Cornelius: Yes. So the one that got me the audience that I have today, I think, still stands. In that a sleeve is just a cylinder cut at an angle. That shape at the top confuses a lot of people, that wave shape. And they get flummoxed by it and how to adjust that. And so what I encourage people to do is simply take a piece of paper, roll it into a cylinder, draw a circle around while you’re holding it, at an angle, and then cut it out. And then as you unfold it, you’ll see that shape emerge. And then experiment with different angles, and you’ll start to see how that will change based on whether it’s pointing straight out or pointing much more down. But that idea of taking a 3D object and turning it into a flat object is the key to pattern drafting. And a sleeve is a great place to do it.
Caroline: That’s a great tip.
Helen: Amazing. I mean, I love those mind-blowing moments and I really like how you help people to visualize simple drafting techniques using paper in your videos. It’s always really satisfying to see that. Okay. I wanna move on a little bit and talk about your personal sewing. We just talked about how you are making time for your personal sewing, but what about your personal style? How would you describe your personal style these days?
Cornelius: My style is functional, and I think there’s a beauty in function in that when something isn’t trying to be anything other than what it’s supposed to be, it can be refined and refined and elevated until the point where you don’t see what’s gone into it until you learn about it, and then you realize the brilliance of it. Understated, I guess is what I would call that. And I realize I’m really, like, blowing up what I say about my clothes here, but I like a pair of black pants and a white shirt. I want it to make sense for how I move throughout my day. For example, my collars. I’ve taken the flappy over bit at the top of a collar and removed it. It exists there mainly to hide the band of a tie, from what I understand about it. I don’t wear ties, so why is it there? So I just have simple band collars. My pants, I sit at my computer on a daily basis, editing emails, those sorts of things. So putting a phone or a wallet in the back just doesn’t make sense for me. And so I thought to myself, why am I having pockets on the back of my pants? And so I shifted them over to the side of my pants. So I basically make cargo pants, is what I’m saying. But I’ve also been thinking about that recently. I was like, well, why am I doing welt pockets on the side? They’re a little noisy, if you will. Maybe I could just put a one long slash down the side of the pants, like a tuxedo pant, but make it extra wide. And then I can do a single slash, and then that will be the pocket. And so that’s gonna be my next pair. So my sewing, I guess what I would say is technical and refined, maybe? Minimalist. Very minimalist.
Caroline: Yeah,
Cornelius: I hope that that answers your question.
Caroline: No, it does. It, it mirrors the style of your videos, which I think creates a really nice synergy in the content. But I also wonder, like, I have to ask about your hats, ’cause I feel like that’s part of your signature look, the cowboy hat. At least in your more recent videos. Can you tell us about that? Are you a cowboy on the side? Or do you wear these hats outside of your videos?
Cornelius: I do wear it outside. Actually, I’ve been wearing it a lot this summer. It’s been nice and hot here. But I’m the softest-palmed cowboy you’ll ever see. The specific branch of Mennonites that I was raised in immigrated to Mexico in 1922, into what is the Cowboy Belt. And naturally, when you go somewhere, you kind of take on the things of the area. And so cowboy hats became a thing. A lot of those Mennonites then moved to Paraguay in the seventies, which is where I was born, and they took that with them. But it was only the grown men that would wear the cowboy hats. And I was a young boy. I couldn’t have one, but I wanted one ’cause that signified that I was a big guy. You know? We left before I ever got one and I forgot about it over time. And then as I, I became an adult, that memory came back and I thought to myself, well, hold on. No, no, I get to, I get to wear what I want. Let me bring that hat back into my life. I bought one and it just immediately felt right. And maybe it also soothed that little boy Cornelius deep inside of me. But ever since that moment I was like, oh yeah, you know, cowboy hats are nice. I like these. And so I started wearing them in my videos because I just thought it was visually intriguing and, not gonna lie, the branding side of me also thought about how it was unique and recognizable. And so it comes from a place of my history. But the business Corn in me also understands why. And I do actually wear them. This is genuinely a thing I like.
Helen: Well, I absolutely love them. I also love when you refer to yourself as Corn in your videos and like you did just now. It’s so great. Have you ever made a hat? Have you ever gotten into millinery? Millinery? Is that how you say it?
Cornelius: I’ve watched too many videos about it on YouTube, and it’s on my list of crafts to do when I’m eventually a millionaire and don’t need to work for money anymore. I want to make hats. Watching craftsmen make them in studios is amazing. Shoes is another thing. I would love to make shoes, but I just don’t have the time for these additional crafts. So eventually, yes, I will make my own hats. I do reshape them and stuff with, uh, steam, the way one can do. But that’s usually for maintenance, not actual crafting of the hats.
Helen: I look forward to your hat journey later on in your sewing career.
Caroline: The Millionaire Milliner.
Helen: Yeah. Oh, new brand.
Cornelius: You know? Oh.
Helen: Millionaire milliner dot ooo.
Cornelius: We, we need to have more of these. These are, these are great ideas.
Caroline: Yeah, we’re available anytime for brainstorming. Okay, I wanted to also ask you, in terms of sewing, what is your favourite thing to sew? Your favourite type of garment?
Cornelius: My favourite to make, I would say, is coats, like fancy coats and things. But the truth is, I never have any need for them or use for them, and they’re not very functional. So those are the funnest to make. But outside of that, honestly, shirts and pants. I don’t know. I just, I, I’m not wild, I guess? Perhaps? I’m not that creative. Again, my clothes are black and white, but just, like, a well-made shirt where I got the stitches nice and straight…
Caroline: Mm.
Cornelius: The fit is, mm, just perfect. You know? It’s, I think, less the specific item that I like. It’s the process and if I can do it well and it goes well. Oh, that makes me happy.
Caroline: There is something about shirtmaking with a crisp cotton when everything is going well and everything’s looking really tight and good. It’s, yeah, it’s…something special about that, for sure. I agree. What about fabric? What are your favourite fabrics to work with?
Cornelius: Oh, I am so boring. A good old-fashioned cotton, a good quality cotton, is my go-to. And knits, without elastic. Ideally, I don’t want any elastics in it. Just a traditional, a hundred percent cotton knit. Wools, as well, actually a nice boiled wool. Organic. Alright. Organic. I like organic, uh, uh, fibers in, uh, in the garments that I sew.
Caroline: Yeah, natural, you’re working with a lot of natural fibers. That makes sense. Oh, do you have fabric stores, uh, near you? Are you able to shop in person? Are you shopping online?
Cornelius: I used to have a wealth of options back when I lived in Toronto, but I’ve moved to a smaller town now, and so I’ve just got some of the, the basics around here. Fellow Canadians will know about Fabricland.
Caroline: Mmhmm.
Cornelius: That’s all that I have at the moment, so I go there. But that’s currently the only place I have at the moment. So outside of that, it’s online. I’ve started shopping online more, and so, ordering swatches to get a feel for it, and then that way.
Caroline: Nice. Yeah. And with the, the type of sewing that you do, the classic black and white, I’m sure you have some fabrics that you’ve found that you love and that you’ll come back to again and again.
Cornelius: I buy a whole bunch of it when I get some of that.
Helen: Well, we’ve got a bit of a question that’s, um, unrelated to all of this, but we noticed you had a great video about rescuing an old sewing machine, and we were wondering if you still use that machine? And also, what are your thoughts on vintage machines versus new machines, which is an ongoing debate in the sewing community?
Cornelius: It gets a bit testy sometimes, as I’ve realized in my comments. That sewing machine, I still have it. Truthfully, it kind of sits on the side. I’ve been very lucky in terms of having a bit of an audience and having companies send me machines. And so I have some, some Cadillacs of sewing machines, if you will, which I, uh, tend to use most often now. But interestingly enough, I am planning on buying another vintage machine. This one that I rescued, turns out, is, well, it’s lived a full life. And outside of spending a lot of money on it…it’s a lower end machine, not really worth it. I want a classic, good old fashioned fifties or sixties machine as well, so I don’t pick or choose, uh, vintage versus new. I think they both have their merits. So choose what you want. And what works for you is not necessarily gonna work for someone else. So I don’t pick, I don’t have favourites. I like them both for very different reasons.
Helen: Mmhmm. Yeah, I am inclined to agree with you. I think it’s tough when you’re first starting out and you wanna get a machine and you’re not sure whether you should go for, you know, a lower-end new machine or a vintage machine that you might find on Craigslist or something like that, because you also don’t really know what you’re getting with that. And if you’re just starting out, you don’t know how to necessarily evaluate the merits of either of those things. I’m always inclined to be like, the vintage one’s probably gonna be a better quality buy over time, but then it depends on what condition it is in currently.
Cornelius: Yeah, it gets a little tricky, but I tend to say, don’t spend too much money on it. ‘Cause you’re also not very good at sewing yet. And so you don’t know what you want. And so spending a lot of money is gonna be a waste. Get something vintage, something that works. Read the description. Ideally, if it’s someone’s grandma who’s passed away who used this machine, it’ll be in good shape and that’ll be a good buy. But anything over a couple hundred bucks, I’d be wary of suggesting.
Helen: Yeah. Fair enough.
Caroline: So we have a couple more questions before we wrap up. One of the things Helen and I have been thinking about a lot is how the sewing world seems to be changing and evolving at the moment. And we just kind of wanted to get your take on that, where you would like to see the sewing community go in the future.
Cornelius: I think about this regularly. And I think it’s interesting, ’cause there’s fashion and then there’s sewing and there seems to be a divide between those two. But one can’t live without the other and vice versa. And so I have faith that each generation eventually figures that out. And it is definitely shifting with the whole world of sewing online. But I’m happy to see that there’s young folks both in my comments, but online in general, who are making their garments. And it usually starts with them wanting to create their own clothes or alter things. So for me, I think encouraging that side of things. Less on the how to sew and more on the how do you want your clothes to look? What do you want to wear? And it’s fascinating how there’s always reactionary movements. And so, with a lot of fast fashion, there’s a lot of reactionary, “Oh, this isn’t good quality. This doesn’t last. How can I make what I want?” So it seems like the world of sewing is sort of dying, if you will, online, in general, but there’s a new community that is going through the cycle of the learning process that, oh, all this easily accessible, I hesitate to call it garbage, but all this garbage you can buy isn’t the answer to your fashion desires. And of that, a crop will discover this craft of sewing, and hopefully I can be a small part of that voice that encourages them to give it a try.
Helen: Yeah, for sure. And I, I think calling it garbage is fair, since most of it does, in fact, end up there. And I like that idea of it, sewing, giving people a new appreciation for quality and craftsmanship and making folks realize that fast fashion stuff is not nice. And your body deserves better, you know? Better quality, better fit.
Cornelius: I’m gonna have to use that.
Helen: Teah, yeah. Your body deserves better. We’re seeing a lot of young folks in the sewing community, as well, getting excited about it. And it’s fun to also learn from them and their excitement, uh, especially when it comes to using social media for sharing and stuff. So, yeah. Thanks for your thoughts on that. We wanted to also ask you about your mom, because you mentioned her earlier and you have some great videos and reels that you’ve done with her. What is it like for the two of you to share the love of sewing?
Cornelius: It’s been a good bonding experience. I think I’m just the next version of my mom. I get a lot of my silliness from her and the desire to make things from her. She’s very hands-on. And so I like to just have fun with it. And we have fun with each other doing it. So it’s a, it’s special for the two of us, and I like to think it translates on screen as well, that relationship that the two of us have. And so sharing that just demonstrates a bit of who I am outside of this black box that you see online.
Caroline: It does translate. It’s so sweet. I love seeing your mom in your videos and it reminds me of my own relationship with my mom and sewing and my grandma and it’s just, I think a lot of people that are watching probably can also relate. So it’s really nice to see. It’s really heartwarming.
Cornelius: That makes me happy to hear.
Caroline: Alright, Cornelius, so we had a great time chatting with you today. Can you tell our listeners, if they wanna find out more, if they wanna follow along, where can they find you online?
Cornelius: Well, uh, just go to my website, Cornelius.ooo. And all the links are there. Everything I’ve got going on is there. It’s a central portal that’ll spread you out to my many activities online.
Caroline: Perfect. And we’ll get all of that linked up in the show notes, as well, so that folks can just find those links there. But it was so great to chat with you. Thank you so much for sharing today and thanks for coming on the show. It was such a pleasure.
Cornelius: Well, thank you for having me on. I’ve been aware of your podcast from the early days of me sharing online, and so the fact that I actually get to participate now makes me feel like I finally made it. So a giant “thank you” for having me and, uh, it’s really been an honour to, uh, to have a chat with you guys.
Helen: Oh, that’s so sweet. Thank you so much, Cornelius. We’ll see you online.
Cornelius: See you there.
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 catalog 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 all the links and pictures from this episode. If you’d like to get in touch with us, leave us a message at 1-844-SEW-WHAT. That’s 1-844-739-9428. Or send us an email at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com. And we’re on social media. Follow us on Instagram and Pixelfed @lovetosew.podcast, on Bluesky @lovetosewpodcast and on facebook.com/lovetosewpod.
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 for listening. We will talk to you next week. Bye.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
