Meet the Maker - Angie Chia

Hi I’m Angie, otherwise known as pocketful_of_rainbows88 on IG. I grew up in Singapore and have a 7 year old child. I love anything creative such as baking, cooking and photography. I grew up in a crafty extended family and I was taught to sew by my grandma and mom. One of my earliest memory of crafting was sitting next to my grandma while she is sewing something up by hand while I was cutting up scraps next to her. My mom also started me with cross stitch sets back in the 70s to keep me busy. A lot of my happier childhood memories consist of spending time with my extended family either baking, cooking or crafting together or going with my dad for photoshoots as his muse.

I learnt some basic hand sewing skills and using the sewing machine from my mom. In addition, I also dabbled with sewing when I took home economics in my teenage years. I started sewing clothing for my dollies by hand when I was younger and then more practical items on the machine such as curtains and cushions / pouches on my mom's sewing machine when I was older. I nearly attempted to make my own prom dress too but my mom decided that it might be too risky and she took over my design. After I had my daughter, I took a career break. At one point, I wanted to make some dresses for my then 4 year old as she is so slim and tall. Ready to wear clothing are either too short if it fits her width or too loose when it fits her height. After drafting and sewing up a couple of too tight garments in my first few attempts, I went back to sewing school and took a few professional certifications in drafting and sewing to brush up my knowledge. That started my second journey back into sewing again.

Hmm that's a tricky question for me but I'd say anything viscose at the moment. I love wearing viscose blends but not all viscose blends are made the same. For my daughter's clothing, I prefer to work with cotton poplin, Japanese double gauze and linen.

Oh dear, for woven it's a toss up between Jasmine or Gardenia. Knits - that'll be Periwinkle hands down.

I'd like to sew more for myself and my very patient long suffering husband - hopefully I'd like to use up more of my fabric stash too sewing for garments for adults.

Pressing your garment. Press it before you cut as well as press it during the sewing process really makes the difference in the finishing of your garment. I feel that this makes the sewn garment from looking homemade to handmade.

I drafted my own basic pants block and used it to sew my own fitted trousers! That was the HARDEST and biggest challenge to date. Unfortunately I have since grown bigger and I am unable to wear those fitting trousers anymore.

Practice makes perfect - it's a cliche but it's true. From personal experience, I found that once I started sewing loads due to pattern testing, my general sewing has improved heaps. It all boils down to loads and loads of practice. Looking back at my first attempt making a garment for my daughter, I cringe and had to laugh at how awful it looks compared to current ones. Oh and another thing - trust the body measurement chart and sew to size for adults or children if you want a garment that looks good and fit well.