Alumni Chats: Tiana Herring

This month I had the chance to catch up with CPMG Alumni Tiana Herring.

N: “Hi Tiana, can you share your name, pronouns, age and where you located?”

T: “Tiana Herring, she/her 27, Cincinnati, Ohio.”

N: “What do you do for work?”

T: “I'm a program manager at a criminal justice nonprofit. We pair data engineers with prosecutor's offices across the country, and essentially my job is just coordinating the projects to make sure everything is moving along, but I've been in various roles throughout my career, all related to criminal justice work.”

N: “That’s really cool. Do you like it?”

T: “I do like it, Yeah. It's really important work, so it feels worthwhile.

I was most recently working on the death penalty. There's so much within this space that allows me to continue learning.

N: “Can you tell me about when/how you got started sewing?”

T: “The first time I ever sewed was in middle school. I made a quilted pillow, as an afterschool project, but I didn't sew at all after that, until the pandemic.

I was on TikTok like everybody else, and I saw people making their own clothes and I was like, that looks so easy, I could do that.

I got a machine and I spent, I want to say 3 years trying to teach myself how to sew just with YouTube videos because none of the patterns at a store would fit me.

I didn't really know about indie pattern makers that much, so I was just following all these YouTube videos, and surprise, surprise, that did not work.

It was a lot of self-drafting, but it was all straight size people drafting and teaching you how to do it.

And I realize now that the same methods don't necessarily work for a plus size body.

I bought my first pattern in I think 2023.

It was the Crosstown Crescent bag, and I made like 10 of those and was so excited to be making them.

And then, afterwards transitioned into making clothes and I just, I haven't stopped.”

N: “I feel like that must have been discouraging, to not be able to make clothes that fit. How did you keep going?”

T: “I am very stubborn. I was like, I bought this machine and my friends know I have this, my family, my partner… I know they're not really expecting me to be able to sew, but I was like, I want to show them that I can do this. Like I haven't invested all this money for nothing. It was the spite that really kept me going. I was like, there has to be a way to make this work. And it did end up working, especially once I discovered the indie sewing pattern community, And just realizing that there were really cute styles available for me for like the first time and it wasn't just relying on these like rectangle dresses, which are like perfectly fine, but I don't know, it was, it's nice to have something a little bit more involved.”

N: “Speaking of more creative styles. Who would you say inspires you?”

T: “There is one creator that I really like, her name is Marielle Elizabeth.

She doesn't sew, but she does fashion content. I love seeing what she's wearing and how she plays with silhouettes and also I don't know how to how best to describe this, but like, she will show cleavage. She shows off her body, I think is what I like about her.

It's not like trying to hide herself.

It's very much highlighting the things that you like about yourself, and I like having that inspiration.

Otherwise it's a lot of Pinterest, and I’m usually seeing things on a straight sized body instead of a plus size body. So I feel like a lot of the times I have to be my own inspiration.

And being like, well, I can't see what this would look like on somebody like me, because that doesn't exist for most people to buy. So I have to imagine what that would look like on myself and then draft it and see, oh, well, you know, this fits this person like that because like their bust is smaller: how can I get a similar fit with a larger bust, you know, so yeah, I think a lot of it is trying to use myself as my own inspiration.”

N: “How do you balance personal sewing, patternmaking/side hustle, and full-time work?”

T: “I honestly find this really hard to do, particularly once you're in the phase of pattern testing or developing a pattern.

It is so hard to find time to make things for yourself, like personal projects. I make tons of samples of the pattern that I'm working on, but very rarely do I get to make things from other people, so it always feels like a treat when I get to make someone else's pattern.

I'd say the one positive of making things for myself is that I know it always fits.

My block from CPMG is so good, that I almost always have a perfect fit, by the second go, you know, but balancing work and personal sewing and pattern making, and then I also do like fit testing and all these other things, It is very difficult, but I think because I love sewing so much, it makes it a bit easier.

It doesn't feel as much like work until you get into the pattern testing stage.

It just feels like I'm just dedicating myself to my hobby that I really enjoy, so I don't know, I'd much rather be sewing than doing full time work, you know.

So it still feels like a treat a little bit.

N: “ What is one piece of advice you have to give newbie patternmakers?”

T: “I would say for new pattern makers, my biggest piece of advice is to take your time with the fit-testing stage.

I think that's something that I didn't do as well with my first pattern - because I didn't know the right questions to ask.

I didn't think about how height affect this, should this pattern be based on your bust measurement, your waist, your hip, like to do all of these things matter for a high-ease garment, I don't know.

So I had different testers trying out different sizes to see what would fit them best.

and I mean, I think that's a perfectly valid way to do that and determine that information.

But because I was so focused on like which measurement do I tell people to use?

I think if I had addressed those problems in the fit testing stage and taking my time there, it would have been easier to be in the pattern testing stage because those problems maybe wouldn't have come up, because I would have already resolved them ideally.

Also, I have a few friends from CPMG that I still talk to every single week.

We have a weekly Zoom call and, we've all felt this pressure to get our patterns out quickly, I mean, yes, people are interested and excited about the patterns, but when you think about it, there is not a real deadline.

And you don't need to be pushing yourself to try to get this pattern out as soon as possible, just because everybody is like, oh my God, I can't wait to sew this, it, it's more important to like take your time with it, and really perfecting that fit.

N: I feel like with pattern testing, so much of the time, like there's so much that is learned during that process, and I think people who are new to pattern making, they really think that they have to have it all figured out before going into the pattern test, but your pattern testers are so valuable to you and they have such good information. It’s almost certain that they're going to bring questions to the table that you've never thought of before, and just because you haven't thought of them doesn't mean that you are doing something wrong or that like you made a mistake. That is just part of the process, I think.

T: I agree. I think the pattern testing stage is just a lot of trial and error and you have to be OK with that.

I was like so high strung for my first pattern test for like the entire 3 weeks. I developed an eye twitch because I was so nervous about all, all of the potential issues that could come up and like never knowing when someone was going to be like, oh, hey, there's a fit issue.

But I think the pattern testing stage did make me more confident in myself because every time someone brought up an issue, I would either know the answer or I was able to figure out the answer. So in the end, I became so much more knowledgeable about my pattern.

To the point where, people still like will message me regularly and be like, oh, I'm having this fit issue or I have this idea, what would you do?

And because of my pattern testers who were very gracious with their feedback and asked all the important questions, I can be like, oh, this is what I would recommend or Yeah, this is what other people have done and it's been successful.

So yeah, it's definitely a lot of trial and error, but it's worthwhile.

N: “Can you share with me one patternmaking favorite and one personal favorite of yours right now?

T: “I would say for sewing my favorite things are my projector and my cutting table.

I see a lot of people like cutting on the floor and I was trying to do that like early on, but I could not sew without without my cutting table. I don't know how I sewed before having a projector.

In my personal life, I'm really loving my Ninja Creamy right now.

I had one for a couple of years, but like I lost one of the parts and it took me over a year to replace it and I just got it back in and so I've been making ice creams again and it is, it is such a joy. “

N: “Finally, where can people find you?”

T: “I am on Instagram, @Tiana_ Hering, and then I also have an Etsy shop, Tiana Herring patterns”

If this interview inspired you, check out our Confident Patternmaking & Grading Program where you can learn how to draft sewing patterns, and join our network of incredible alumni creating beautiful size-inclusive sewing patterns for all people.