A Trip Down Memory Lane
I got an email last week from someone who had run across my site while searching Pinterest for “Titanic” costumes. She stumbled upon my 1998 “‘Titanic’ Project” and clicked through, excited to see the photo diary. Alas, all but one of the photos were missing. Instead of clicking away, she took the time to email me and ask what had happened to that blog post. That started me down a rabbit hole of memories from the very early days of my sewing business—before I published my first pattern.
Turns out that, when I shifted from Wordpress to Squarespace, a lot of image galleries didn’t transfer correctly, leaving dozens of posts with broken bits of code instead of photos. My “Titanic” photos have been missing for years, I suppose, but I never realized it. I decided to take the time to fix that original sewing diary, along with all the posts of others who reproduced “Titanic” costumes around the same time. What a trip into the past! I had forgotten so much about the process of making those two gowns—and the insane media storm they created from USA Today to the LA Times to Access Hollywood.
Stacy and Joslyn and their dates, 1998
Sewing for others was such a joy when I first started out, and producing patterns so others could sew for themselves was the next natural step. I have always been SO proud of what my customers create. They’ve been stitching and reproducing fashions from so many eras LONG before the days of “cosplay” and “influencers.” I thought it would be fun to bring those back to the front page of the site today, and I’ve posted links below to the main galleries from that time period. Keep in mind we were all using rudimentary cameras and didn’t have access to anything remotely “high res.” But, oh, we had fun!
Click the links below to enjoy a blast from the past — and keep stitching, y’all! You inspire me constantly!
Sabine’s incredible dress from the “Titanic” Dinner Dresses section.
