Cecelia has an undergraduate degree in Home Economics from the Universtiy of
Northern Iowa. Her introduction to jackets and the world of tailoring began
while she was teaching secondary school in northern Iowa. A summer tailoring
course at the University of Washington in Seattle introduced her to the
intricacies of manipulating wool fabrics using hand stitches and proper
pressing technques. She learned to produce beautiful, professional jackets
and passed this information on to her students.
After completing a masters degree in Clothing, Textiles, and Merchandising
at the University of Oklahoma, she moved to Canada to teach at the University
of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Not only did her students "tailor" a jacket but
they also designed their own patterns.
She subsequently moved to the west coast where she was co-owner of a fabric
shop for 12 years. Her teaching of tailoring principles continued at the
University of British Columbia. In the early eighties she began to realize
that jacket construction was changing. Fusible interfacings were widely
used by industry and machine stitching was replacing hand stitching. Her
focus with her students shifted to "contemporary tailoring" with the use
of traditional principles of shaping a garment. Today her jackets mirror
industry standards in their use of lighter and softer materials and techniques.
Once her fabric shop was sold, she became involved in exhibiting and teaching
at the consumer sewing shows across the US and Canada. It was during one of
these shows that the Threads editor asked her to write about jackets. Her
first article was on sewing an easy cardigan jacket and was so well received
that she was asked to write the Threads book, Easy Guide to Sewing Jackets.
With the success of her jacket book, Cecelia responded to fashion sewers requests
for a good-fitting jacket pattern by producing her Fearless Cardigan Jacket.
This pattern was intended to fit like ready-to-wear with more ease than
commercial patterns in the bust, waist and hip areas. She has since gone
on to produce other patterns including jackets, pants, shirt, skirt, and
dress.
She has been a contributing author to Threads, Sew News, Vogue, and Stitches
magazines. Her husband, Peter, accompanies her to the sewing shows when he can,
where he "mans" the exhibit booth. He is a visual merchandiser in his real job
specializing in high end ladies fashion. |
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