Avenía Bridal has it’s own in-house alterations studio –not a common thing for current bridal boutiques. Last Friday, Nancy wrote about the reasons for having an in-house alteration studio. This week, I was able to interview one of our fabulous seamstresses, Mary M:

Cheryl: Mary, when did you first begin to sew?
Mary: I first started sewing in my early teens (11 or 12 years old). I was fascinated by costumes and pretty dresses in movies and wanted to learn how to make them. My mom started me off with tote bags and flannel pants and how to read store patterns and I used that until I met Aneladee Milne who introduced me to costume design. She taught me how manipulate patterns into the gorgeous costumes I wanted and she allowed me to help her design and build costumes for the South Davis (Utah) Homeschool plays. This costume design stuff made me want to learn even more about sewing so I enrolled at Margaret’s School of Custom Dressmaking, where I attended class once a week to learn pattern drafting and how to work with leather and other unusual fabrics. Costumes, pretty dresses, and learning new sewing techniques continue to be my passion.

C: Have you had any professional instruction with sewing? What types?
M: I learned how to sew mostly through self motivation and trial and error. I did study under several very skilled seamstresses and I received some professional help at Utah Valley University and Brigham Young University and Nancy, the Artistic Director at Avenía Bridal, is definitely refining my skills as a seamstress.

C: How long have you been sewing bridal gowns?
M: I started working with bridal gowns in College, around my 2nd year at UVU. What hooked me into the wedding industry was the way a brides face would light up when she saw herself in the gown of her dreams. It makes my day exciting!

C: What is your favorite fabric to work with?
M: I don’t have a favorite but there are a few fabrics that I definitely don’t like working with…silk charmeuse and silk chiffon are very difficult to work with.

C: Which is your favorite part: working with custom couture or doing alterations?
M: I enjoy custom couture. I enjoy the process of making a gown and the creativity that is involved.

C: Tell us a bit about your personal life.
M: I grew up in Bountiful Utah. I have been married 9 months to a wonderful man and we do not have children, yet.

C: Do you have any higher education?
M: I received an Associates in Theater Arts from UVU as well as a Bachelor’s in Theater Arts from BYU.

C: What is your favorite part about working with Avenía Bridal? With Nancy?
M: I enjoy working for Avenía Bridal because it is a company dedicated to both the customer and couture design. Nancy will do whatever it takes…and more…to make a dress perfect. She does not allow us to cut corners in our work and she is very detail oriented in her designs.

C: Do you listen to music while you sew? Talk? Need silence?
M: Once or twice a week I raid the Provo or Orem libraries for good books on tape. The other seamstresses and I love to listen to books and the longer the book the better. We go through between 3-4 books a week. Right now we are listening to the Charlie Bone series, but we’ve also listened to The Keys to the Kingdom, Twilight, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Jane Austen, and tons others.

C: Which designer has been your favorite to work with (gown-wise)?
M: The Priscilla of Boston collection are very well put together and easy to alter, but Sposa by St. Pucchi is my preferred Designer because it is such an eclectic variety of designs.

Thank you, Mary! Be sure to check back next week to read about another one of our talented seamstresses, Dalene B.