My Story
“I ‘m often asked ‘where do you get your ideas?’ It’s like asking where do you find air to breathe? Ideas are all around you.” Twyla Tharpe
Thank you for taking the time to read My Story. I have been sewing since the 4th grade when my mother taught me to make my own clothes. In a family with 5 children, 4 of them girls, it was the only way to have cute clothes. I have never stopped sewing although I had different priorities for a while. I majored in vocal music and worked for many years as an actress in commercials, industrial films, and dinner theatre as well as singing with an opera company. Because of my experience on stage, I understand the value of a well designed and professionally engineered costume.
To make sure that my sewing skills were as professional as possible, I studied patternmaking and tailoring at FIT in New York, draping at the Baum School of Art in Allentown and took a design class at Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. I spent 8 years as Costume Shop Manager for Sesame Place, one of the Annheuser Busch Adventure Parks and have been working with dancers for the past 25 years.
MY PROCESS - The process of creating a costume is a collaboration between my client and often the choreographer or dance teacher and myself. You may come with a sketch , a cloudy, incomplete vision, or just a song and dance style and I will help you work it out. After we have worked out a design, I will provide color samples and ideas for embellishment. I will then make a fitting sample based on your measurements. If you are a long distance client, I will send you the fitting sample to try on before making the final costume. The number of hours it takes to create a costume may vary between 15 and 40 hours on average. In the Fall, it may take 3 -4 months to get your costume, depending on when you book me. In the Spring, I can often make a costume in less than a month.
EXPERIENCE
My experience includes :
10 years costuming World Champion Salsa Dancers Loretta Chianese and Jose Maldonado
10 years Costuming Salsa Teams including World Champion Calle Luna, Calle Sol, Las Estrellas, Estillo Dancers, Algorythm Dancers, and KViva
Design and Construction for the following Dance productions: Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Oklahoma, Wizard of Oz, Snowman Ballet, Damn Yankees, Singing in the Rain, Hercules, Peter Pan and Aladdin.
8 years Costume Shop manager for Sesame Place, one of the Annheuser Busch Adventure Parks.
25 years total costuming solo dancers, duos and teams in Lyrical , Contemporary Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Foxtrot, Salsa, Bachata and Latin Hustle, skating, yoga and twirling and German Folk dancing.
I am also experienced in fine alterations of evening and bridal wear.
I have recently relocated from the suburbs of Philadelphia to the suburbs of Pittsburgh.