A little about Heather Lee Bea:
- Mostly self taught seamstress with attention to detail. My pet peeves include sloppy finishing/pressing and people who don’t switch thread colours to compliment the current project.
- I’m always doing new and interesting projects, and rarely repeat myself due to the nature of my work. This means I am constantly expanding my knowledge/skills!
- Has worked for independent / regional theatre and private clients. I find my theatre training is a big asset for thinking outside the box and making the impossible happen. I often do ‘weird’ things that other seamstresses might not tackle.
- I love researching projects and getting nerdy about authentic details of style and construction. Sometimes you just have to make things up based on your knowledge and experience though!
- Subscribes to the “make do and mend” philosophy – to repair or re-vamp if possible and give new life to existing items.
- Fashion and function are equally important. If something isn’t comfortable or usable it’s not worth making.
- Educating yourself and others on fashion history and proper fitting is important to making everyone look their best. I can’t tell you the number of clients who thought they ‘couldn’t’ wear a certain style, but were pleasantly surprised that you just need the right support and proper fit.
- Uses mostly vintage sewing machines – they tend to keep up with me! Currently I have a team of 1950s Elna Supermatics.
- Loves her
cordless iron!UPDATE: The cordless iron steam function stopped working so now I use a hefty c. 1960s iron that’s as close to an industrial as I can manage in my space. - My favourite fabrics are cottons and wool suiting, but I am quite often building things out of all sorts of materials.
- There is a time and place for crepe back satin and it’s not for formal wear : )
- In 2015 I (and my bf) bought a house built in 1897, but had been used as a rental property and not very well taken care of. It’s an ongoing project using our practical and creative skills and I have been attempting to document it here.