Today we’d like to introduce you to Elin Estelle.
Hi Elin, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My sewing journey started in middle school when I asked my grandma to help me recreate a coat I saw in a Disney Channel movie. My grandma was a great artist, gardener, and seamstress, so she was happy to help me learn! Growing up, she made my and my brother’s Halloween costumes every year and created an amazing collection of dress-up clothes for each of us. At the same time, my grandma and I could not finish the coat together before she passed. The half-finished garment was impressive enough to land me a spot in the hybrid high school/college fashion design course at Central Campus in Des Moines, Iowa, for my junior and senior years of high school. For two years, I split my high school days between regular classes at my high school and fashion design classes in downtown Des Moines. From there, I studied Apparel Design at Iowa State University. While at Iowa State, I had the opportunity to study abroad at the London College of Fashion, and I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in the fall of 2015. After college, I moved to New York City, where I worked in the fashion industry for five years.
While working in the NYC fashion industry was everything I had strived for, I still wanted to design outside the box. Using the best resources, I found myself sourcing the mom-and-pop fabric shops in the Garment District. I discovered I was more inclined to reach for the fun novelty prints and work with fabrics I didn’t get to work with in my corporate designing jobs. In January 2019, I published my website and first blog post under ElinEstelle.com. Living in New York City, I was surrounded by unique experiences and places to photograph my designs. This inspired me to design clothing that would embody each experience I planned to participate in. I photographed my first blog post at the Rosé Mansion. I also made a shirt for Refinery29’s 29Rooms, a dress for Fashion Week, a shirt for DVF’s pop-up display in the meatpacking district, and many more. I still find myself most excited by the challenge of creating a garment for an event or experience, especially knowing that I can have fun with colors and prints. Finding the perfect conversational print for an event is the best feeling.
In March of 2020, I decided to take my blogging one step further by starting a YouTube channel where I walk people through sewing the patterns I am making. I have found great success on the platform and continue to grow in viewership daily. During Covid, I had much more time to sew, so I excited my blogging and vlogging. Still, with so many businesses temporarily closing, I was uncertain about my career in the fashion industry. A job offer from a friend in Minneapolis brought me to Minnesota, where I’m continuing my career in fashion and now have my sewing studio in my home.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a smooth road?
I certainly have not always been determined to create a career out of fashion. Growing up for nearly 15 years, I took dance classes 7 days a week, taking tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, pointe, and more. I didn’t know anything else because I had no time after school to do anything else! It wasn’t until the beginning of high school that I started to get asked, what do you want to do after high school? I never thought about that very hard. I just took things one day at a time. That’s when I realized I didn’t want to be a professional dancer, so what else could I do?
This was when I realized I knew how to sew, at least what little I had learned from my Grandma. But I was far from being a professional. I would often cut corners and never really care about taking my time because I was always about instant gratification; the end product is what gets me excited about sewing. I also didn’t think I needed to go to college. I thought I could “be” a fashion designer. My parents encouraged me to look into colleges, and we even traveled to New York City for a summer intensive at a fashion school. However, their curriculum was nothing compared to Iowa State University. So I took advantage of in-state tuition and stayed another 4 years in Iowa.
Though my fashion career has been abundant, I have had to hustle to get the opportunities I have. My boss at my first internship in Brooklyn recommended me to work as a Production Assistant backstage at New York Fashion Week, where I worked for 3 seasons. While my second internship did not turn into a full-time position, I met several stylists, photographers, and producers who hired me to work on set with them at Vogue Italia, InStyle magazine, and Fossil. Seeking opportunities on Indeed and Craigslist, I also worked for Brooklyn Fox Lingerie in Williamsburg, DKNY as a showroom assistant, and Tuleste, sewing feather boa earrings by hand. I may still not have a lucrative business with my pattern-making and sewing skills. But with my full-time job as the COO for an independent wedding dress designer, and the flexibility to sew for myself, I found that taking things one day at a time works for me.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I find that while I am still not always patient when finishing sewing projects, I love to see the end product come to fruition. I also may not use my pattern-making skills every day. It took a long time for me to find my groove, and I realized that I love to use sewing patterns from the McCall’s and Simplicity families to combine with fabrics I source worldwide. I am always on the hunt for kitsch novelty prints and bold colors.
I love to sew fun and unique clothing, creating clothing that I can’t find anywhere else! I listen to sewing podcasts like Love to Sew and found that their “Sew Frosting” episode resonated with me. Dresses have always had a special place in my heart since kindergarten. I exclusively only wore “twirly dresses” and stuck with that.
When it comes to my proudest creation, I always top my latest and greatest creation. I have two coats I find myself eyeing in my closet. Lately, one is a sparkly pink plaid coat, and another is a faux fur coat that I made with deadstock Alice and Olivia’s printed fabric found in Mood NYC.
What changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Home sewing as an industry has changed. Hardly any stores carry fabrics and products for home sewers anymore. Not to mention the decline in companies that manufacture sewing patterns. McCall’s, Vogue, Butterick, and Kwik Sew are all owned by one company that also recently acquired the Simplicity family of patterns, including New Look and Burda. Unfortunately, if the company cannot sustain the business, all of these pattern brands may be obsolete. Living in New York City, I met many creative people studying fashion and patternmaking. Therefore, finding these patterns took more of a hunt and often meant finding JoAnn fabrics on Long Island to purchase them. Ironically, McCall’s and Simplicity are both headquartered in Manhattan! I had the opportunity to meet the head designer of McCall’s and social media director at a “Sewcial” meetup hosted by Tabitha Sewer in Brooklyn in June 2019.
I would love to host a Sewcial event for all home sewers in the Minneapolis area. I have found my best friends through social media and social events for sewers. Sharing a passion for sewing is something special and should be celebrated! I am happy to support the sewing community and teach others how to sew their clothes so we can all be empowered to design and create. A rise in independent pattern makers has come around in the last 5 years with the increased accessibility to digital software. Sewers are finding that they can create a pattern, have it graded to different sizes, and digitized so that anyone may purchase the pattern and print it out at home. I, too, have found myself creating patterns that I hope to soon release for anyone at home looking to start sewing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elinestelle.com/
- Instagram: @elinestelle
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElinEstelle/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/elinestelle
