Sewing Circle

Ongoing

Sewing Circle collages vintage pattern tissue, classifieds, and found bits into small, seam-showing stories. Paper-doll optimism meets seam-ripper truth: darts as decisions, notches as alignments, seam allowance as room to breathe. ‘Women’s work’ as design, archive, and quiet rebellion—altering the pattern we inherited.

This series starts with what’s usually thrown away: pattern tissue, instruction diagrams, scraps of fabric, odd notions. I collage them with acrylic washes and drawing, then stitch in found texture—mesh, thread, ephemera—so the edits stay visible. The diagrams do double duty: Dart. Slash. Grainline. They’re about garments, and they’re about lives.

Sewing Circle looks at how “feminine” labor is precision engineering in plain sight. Paper-doll blouses lined up over a classifieds page read like a roll call of expectations. “See instructions before you slash” lands like advice and a warning. I keep the tabs, notches, and crooked edges on purpose—evidence of trying things on and trying again.

The title is literal and sideways: a table where makers share tips, and a whisper network that trades survival strategies. Bias is both the grain you cut on and the stories we grow up in; here, we cut on one to undo the other. The seam ripper is a tool and a thesis: unmake what doesn’t fit, then re-stitch with care.

These pieces are small on purpose—portable, personal, close to the body. They ask: Which pattern pieces did you keep? Which did you alter? Where do we need to draft a new shape altogether? Pin, baste, test, repeat. That’s the work: on paper and in public.