#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 .