👋Hi there!!

Let's Chat! ☕

In case we haven't met yet... Hi, my name is Kristen Kemp. I am a Professional Sewist by career, specializing in Clothing Alterations on regular clothing and Formalwear, like wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses. I am also a Certified Bra Pattern Drafter and Instructor (Bare Essentials Method) by hobby.

The nitty gritty: 

I grew up in the heart of farm country where we aren't so very far removed from a time that someone in your household sewed or you didn't have clothing to wear.  I still have blankets around the house that Great-Grandparents made from threadbare clothing that was no longer wearable. In that era, when someone got married, the family got together and made all the dresses.  

When a back injury ended mom's nursing career, she went back to sewing and started Sewing by Carolyn in 1991 (I was 9). I sewed various projects as a kid, and even helped in the business as a teenager. After a very degrading prom dress shopping experience, I made my dress because our store didn't carry "plus sized dresses." Suffice it to say that sewing runs DEEP in my bones.

I was destined to be plus sized from day one, and had a terrible body image for the longest time. I was married in my mid 20's and I can remember having conversations with my (now ex) husband about how hard it was to shop. Stores that carried my size in clothing didn't carry my size in bras.  

The plus sized stores that carried bras had these awful bras that were uncomfortable and unflattering and a total let down (literally, saggiest bras ever!) Not to mention the clothes they sell that "technically" fit, but somehow they're too small and too big, all in the same garment!

Any of this sound familiar? If you're having trouble shopping and it seems like nothing fits, oh goodness, I totally get you!  

My solution was to solve my clothing problems the same way I solved the prom dress problem! I figured, "Hey, you know what? I sew, why not just sew clothes myself?"  

The trouble with sewing patterns:

But then I realized... the sewing was not really the problem with this idea. The problem is that many patterns are also created with the same average specs as clothes you buy in the store.  

Companies expect people to fit into these "average" proportions and the resulting shape is not shaped like a human! My boobs weren't too big, the bras weren't designed for actual humans. My body was not a difficult shape, the clothing was!

This is what led me to sewing and to turn it into a career. I wanted to know why clothes were designed terribly, what alterations could fix it, and I wanted to gain enough skill to sew anything I wanted.

I got your back:

I've been obsessed with bras patterns, clothing design, and alterations for more than a decade. I spend a large amount of my time volunteering in bra-making groups, because I don't want other people to suffer terrible body image as a result of ill fitting clothing that isn't shaped like the humans that wear them.

I didn't think I was good enough to start a business when I got started. Looking back, the only difference in the process I'm suggesting today is the paperwork of "being in business."  I happened to find a job with a company, and then was able to work in the family business.  I *KNOW* what a privilege it is to have that support system, and the online teaching I'm doing today is to help empower those who don't have the support I had.  

I'm here for you.  You got this.