Curated By You: Sadie Egan makes Merchant and Mills September Duster in Heavyweight Linen

Merchant and Mills September Duster in FS BROWN SUGAR Heavyweight Linen

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do.  

My name is Sadie, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband and two small kids.  I work for students with disabilities as an assistive technology specialist and a special education lecturer at a local university.  Before this work arrangement, I was a special ed teacher for students with extensive support needs and I hope to return to the classroom one day when my kids are older.  My Instagram handle is Spaghetti_Western_Sewing because I lived in Italy for a couple years and love the vintage dessert aesthetic.  A little silly, but I think it works for now.

Why do you sew? 

I’ve always been crafty (thanks to a crafty mom!) and enjoy ceramics, watercolor, photography, collage, videography, throwing theme parties and making Halloween costumes. I love making things and always have a couple projects or plans going at once. I originally started sewing in November 2019 because my 2020 goal was not to buy any fast fashion, but sewing completely changed my life and is now one of my main acts of self-care and expression.

Merchant and Mills September Duster in FS BROWN SUGAR Heavyweight Linen

What do you like to listen to when you’re working (and why)? 

I’m all over the place!  If I’m in the mood for music I love soul, disco, surf punk and old country.  Al Green, Shannon and the Clams, Etta James, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Patsy Cline, Alabama Shakes, Leon Bridges, D’Angelo, Blaze Foley, King Khan & BBQ Show, Hunx & His Punx, and Hank Williams are some ultimate favs.  I also listen to lots of audiobooks, mystery with strong female lead characters are my favorite!  Jane Casey, Dervla Mcctiernan and Tana French are such good authors in this genre.  Sometimes I’ll also listen to podcasts and most Tuesday nights I get to sew while I tune in to my local city council meeting.  It’s been a great way to stay involved in things that are important to me while getting sewing done at the same time.

 As a child, what was your first encounter and memory of beauty?

Ohhh, I really love this question! I have strong memories of seeing fog creep over the San Francisco skyline, bay and the hills in Berkeley as a child and feeling really moved by the beauty of that.  I was raised to associate beauty with nature and art and personal appearance/style to be associated with personality and self expression which is something I am so grateful for and hope to pass on to my children.  I don’t know that I fully conceptualized this thought until thinking about this question, so thank you.

Merchant and Mills September Duster in FS BROWN SUGAR Heavyweight Linen

Where is home and how does it affect what you do?

I live in Richmond, a city on the water across from San Francisco.  I grew up here, lived in SF and Italy for a bit and then returned to raise my family.  Living in the Bay Area keeps me constantly inspired by all the diverse mixes of cultures, people, natural environments, food, art, music. I think I definitely adopted some flair for drama and la dolce vita lifestyle from my years in Italy too though.

 How do you balance motherhood and the importance of staying creative? 

It’s…hard!  Maintaining a strong sense of self and creativity is really essential to my happiness and well being and that means I sacrifice other things like sleep, tv, laundry, house cleaning.  I’m endlessly fortunate to have my husband, mom, cousin and daycare that help me carry all the parenting tasks too.  I think it is really healthy for my son and daughter to grow up seeing a mom that prioritizes creativity, a sense of self and personal well being.  At the end of the day, I ask myself if I would rather my kids remember a perfectly clean and orderly life, or a messy and creative one and then I ignore the laundry for a while longer.

 Name a book that you’ve recently read which inspired you and why? 

This might be cheating a bit, but I usually listen to books to escape, and podcasts to learn/inspire.  Lately, I’ve been listening to The Integrated Schools Podcast and it has inspired me to really examine my own prejudice and narratives around school choice and day to day decisions that impact my community.  I end almost every episode with an “Ah Ha!” moment.

What was the first thing you ever remember making on your own? Tell us about this memory. 

Growing up I used to spend HOURS listening to books on cassette tapes from the library and making tiny food and animals out of clay.  I can smell fimo clay and feel it on my fingers just thinking about it.

 Who are your muses and inspiration?

Oh man, SO MANY! I get a lot of inspiration from the drag community and how they assemble “lewks” from an amalgamation of time periods, icons, media, society etc. I love looking through vintage photos and movie stills, modern women owned indie clothes labels, and street fashion, specifically of the elderly and Outer Sunset (a fav neighborhood of mine in San Francisco).  I think my Instagram bio of “1940’s spaghetti western prairie goatherd-ess momcore alpine ski lodge vibe” gives you a pretty good idea of where I want to get with my inspiration and makes.

Do you have a community of crafters/ makers around you or do you find you are on your own?

I am lucky to be surrounded by many creative people, but during the pandemic I felt really out of touch and isolated not being able to connect with them.  In the past I’ve also felt self-conscious about how crafty I am, it can be uncomfortable to talk about it with people in your day to day life if they don’t share those values.  I never really know what to say when people ask me how I do it with small kids.  That’s when the Instagram sewing community became such a huge source of support, friendship, and shared creativity for me.  It’s been amazing being able to connect with people all over the world learning to make and express themselves through sewing.  I tease my husband by telling him “I’m big in Australia” every time I wake up and check Instagram to see what my pals half way across the globe are up to.

Merchant and Mills September Duster in FS BROWN SUGAR Heavyweight Linen

 How important is it to make something with your hands?

It is an essential coping mechanism for me.  I feel most myself and at peace when I am creating something.

What does success mean to you?

Success is being able to use your strengths and privileges to better your community and make the people in your life feel loved and cared for.

What have you chosen to make out of FS linen and why? I am so excited about this make!  I chose heavyweight linen in BROWN SUGAR to make Merchant and Mills September Duster.  I try to be thoughtful about the garments I make and imagine all the different places I will wear them and ways to style them so that once my garment is done I know I will make good use of it.  Living in a mild coastal climate means you don’t go anywhere without something to throw on in case it gets chilly and peel off if it gets toasty, so this duster will be perfect for almost all seasons here.  I chose to add a cuff and gather to the sleeve and close the back flap of this pattern to give it a slightly more elegant and feminine silhouette, and I’m very happy with how it turned out.