#15: Hand Stitching Clothes with Louisa Owen Sonstroem

Welcome to Episode 15! Have you ever considered sewing a garment entirely by hand? I must admit that it had literally never occurred to me until I got to speak with today’s guest, Louisa Owen Sonstroem. This is the first of two Check Your Thread episodes with Louisa, and in this one we learn how a trained pattern cutter who works in the NY garment industry became an expert in this slow-sewing practice. We talk about how she fell in love with making her own clothes, but had an epiphany about her output of self-made garments, which reminded me of my conversation with Judith Staley for Episode 12 in fact. Louisa’s response was to embrace hand sewing garments, which for her opened up a whole new facet of creating. Louisa now teaches in person and online workshops and has written a beautiful self-illustrated book called ‘Hand Sewing Clothing: A Guide’. In this conversation we talk about the ins and outs, the whys and the hows, and we bust a big ol’ pile of myths about hand sewn clothing.  In the introduction I recommended the following incredible podcast episodes to check out: The Wardrobe Crisis with Clare Press, Ep 150: Liz Ricketts - Waste Colonialism and Dead White Man’s Clothes HERE. The Sustainable(ish) Podcast with Jen Gale, Ep 118: A Beginner's Guide to COP26 HERE. You can find Louisa Owen Sonstroem HERE.  Louisa’s book and other products are available via her Etsy shop HERE. In the UK, Louisa’s book can be bought from Beyond Measure HERE.