Threading a Life She Loves
Bree Wardlow and Her Passion for Sewing
“I do a version of Swedish Chef which is pure comedy. I have hamburger buns that are on my butt, so I drop the back of my pants and expose my buns, and then take them off and put them on a table. And my shimmy belt is meat and cheese made from felt. So I’m stripping pieces of meat and cheese, and peeling lettuce off my boobs to build a sandwich. And I had such a blast building it.” — Bree Wardlow
Bree Wardlow adjusts the ruffles on her gown, stepping back to admire the creation before her. The fabric — a lush peachy salmon brocade — catches the light, its gold detailing sparkling with understated elegance and contrasted by the deep turquoise silk trim around it.
“It’s perfect,” she thinks, securing the last bow. “I feel like a princess.” Having saved the fabric for a special occasion, Wardlow is thrilled to debut her Marie Antoinette-inspired gown at the Labyrinth of Jareth, the legendary masquerade ball and cosplay event held each year here in Los Angeles. The dress is a labor of her lifelong love — sewing.
“I’m a sewing enthusiast,” she says as she brushes a strand of her purple-and-blue colored hair from her shoulders. “I love creating costumes and clothing… and I especially love teaching other people to also create their own items, whether they only learn to like sew a button on, mend the hem of their pants, or go on to create full blown costumes themselves.”
Today, Wardlow is known for her creative and technical sewing ability and has made everything from intricate Victorian wear to Burlesque costumes to spacesuits — you name it, she’s sewn it. Her story shows that a deep love for one’s craft can lead to endlessly diverse expressions of that passion — as long as you stay open and curious to new opportunities.
As so many passions do, Wardlow’s first showed up in her childhood. Her mom was an art enthusiast and kept art books around the house. Wardlow couldn’t take her eyes off them. She remembers being especially enamored by the works of Erté, a celebrated fashion and costume designer known for his art deco era designs of luxury clothes and stage costumes. She still is all these years later.
“I remember being four or five years old and telling my mom, ‘One day I’m going to make clothes like that,’” Wardlow says.
Before long, she asked her mom to teach her to hand sew. They started with embroidery on rough fabric using a big yarn needle to make it easy for her little fingers. Wardlow loved how creative and colorful the work was, and treasures the pieces she made from this time, including one with a sun over some hills and flowers. She also started making clothes for all her dolls — sometimes successfully and sometimes not so much.
“I remember sewing something into my lap one day,” she says. The light catches the multicolored beads of her necklace. “I was wearing corduroy culottes” — this was the eighties, she reminds me — “and I looked down and I had sewn the doll dress into my pant leg.”
Wardlow’s adventure-seeking parents divorced when she was young, and she moved a lot as a kid. Hand sewing was her refuge — she loved that she could do it anywhere. As a preteen, she lived in Ibiza for a year and made little bandeau tops and miniskirts to go clubbing in, because, as she says, laughing, “that’s what you did in the eighties when you’re twelve in a foreign country.”
Wardlow's almost inevitable formal entry into the fashion world began at a Gunny Sack and Jessica McClintock outlet store near her dad's house in Huntington Beach, where she moved back to the U.S. for high school.
She sold everything from prom dresses to wedding gowns and enjoyed the retail work. But what she loved most about the job was the back room filled with the odds and ends that had fallen off the dresses that employees were allowed to take home.
“I would get these beautiful bows and swags of fabric and go home and make stuff out of them,” she says, brightening up. “Some of it was great, and some of it was hideous.”
She tells me about a time when she took a pair of white polyester sheer curtains that had ruffles on the top and bottom and fashioned a mini dress out of it.
“It was just like ruffles everywhere,” she says. “And these big puffy sleeves. And I would wear it over a black tank dress with black combat boots and black tights, and like this big, white, ruffly, monstrosity of a dress.
“Looking back, I’m like, ‘Oof, that was a choice!’”
In high school, her dad bought Wardlow her first sewing machine, a secondhand “big metal beast” from the sixties. She burned the motor out by trying to shove eight or ten layers of velvet under it making an Elizabethan outfit. But she wasn’t deterred — she continued to refine her skills, making her own clothes and, eventually, costumes for the local Rocky Horror Picture Show, a Saturday night ritual for so many teens growing up then.
After she turned 17, Wardlow got even more serious about her passion when she joined a small, family-run company specializing in Renaissance clothing. She worked closely there with her co-workers to craft intricate designs while spending weekends immersed in the vibrant world of the Renaissance Faire — a festival that transports visitors back to the 16th century with elaborate costumes and historical reenactments.
Then she got her lucky break — an opportunity to work at Patagonia in their sample room making prototypes of their products.
This shift to sports and outdoor wear presented new challenges — and Wardlow thrived.
“It was incredible,” she reflects, wiping tears from her eyes. “I learned so much. I learned how to use all these specialty machines and materials, like how to make sports bras and anything that’s stretchy and annoying to sew. And I loved doing it. It was such a fun, unique challenge.”
In her free time, Wardlow also embarked on a self-taught journey to master corset making. This was before the internet was what it is today, so she relied on library books to uncover the secrets of the craft — no easy feat in those days. It took a lot of trial and error, but eventually, she developed her own techniques.
“I used to get this heavy-duty boning,” she says. “It was meant for use in hoop skirts. I would take that and hand mold it into the shapes of the waist curves of the corset because I didn’t know any better.”
“I’m really, really proud of the journey I’ve been on,” she says while looking back on those early days of becoming a self-taught corsetier — her voice a mix of pride and nostalgia. “I love making corsets.”
After four years at Patagonia, Wardlow seized the opportunity to further her education. She moved to New York City to attend the renowned Fashion Institute of Technology, earning an associate degree in accessories design. There, she further expanded her sewing repertoire, learning how to make shoes, handbags, gloves, and belts.
The tears start again, and this time she explains why. “I’m crying about all this,” she says, “because it was so amazing.” I almost start crying too — getting to witness the enormous power of passion is exactly why I started On Fire.
After school, like many at that age, Wardlow floundered a bit. But she never let up on her passion. Even when she was living on couches or crashing at her friends’ recording studios in Los Angeles, she kept sewing, both for her own love and enjoyment of it and as a creative way to pay her bills.
“I paid all my bills one winter making custom dog clothes and leather bracelets,” she tells me. “You name it, I’ve tried my hand at it.”
Wardlow found her footing again when she discovered burlesque. This performance art, known for its blend of satire, comedy, and dance, captivated her from the start. Before long, she was creating costumes, drawing inspiration from some of her favorite historical periods including the Victorian era, the 18th century, and the 1950s.
As she was becoming known for her unique and creative designs, she also started performing under the stage name Anastasia Von Teaserhausen. That was 17 years ago, and she hasn’t looked back since.
“I love how beautiful and creative and fun it is,” she says when I ask her what she loves about it. “You can have so much fun with burlesque. You get to be your own everything. You design it, you direct it, you produce it. You get to tell the story the way you want to tell the story, and you find the music, the choreography, and the costuming.”
Clearly, the costuming is her specialty. She tells me about one of her acts, where she made an entire costume from scratch using felt, rhinestones, glue, and plenty of glitter.
“I do a version of Swedish Chef which is pure comedy. I have hamburger buns that are on my butt, so I drop the back of my pants and expose my buns, and then take them off and put them on a table. And my shimmy belt is meat and cheese made from felt. So I’m stripping pieces of meat and cheese, and peeling lettuce off my boobs to build a sandwich.”
Despite her success and passion for the burlesque scene, Wardlow’s drive for exploring new frontiers never waned. So when she got the call from a small aerospace company in Southern California to work as a sewist in their thermal protection systems department, she jumped at the opportunity. She started with thermal components, working on engine and micrometeoroid blankets and other critical items for rockets. Eventually, she transitioned to the spacesuit department, where she has spent the last decade.
“It’s been a wild ride,” she says. “We have gone from concept and development to actually returning astronauts to flights leaving from American soil to the International Space Station. It’s amazing.”
Again she wipes away tears and I can’t help but be moved by this sewist in front of me and what she stands for. She emanates so much gratitude for every step of her journey. The learning curves, the challenges, the community that she's become a part of — all of it, she embraces with open arms.
Next month, Wardlow is embarking on another adventure: she’s moving to my hometown of Portland, Oregon to open her own sewing center. As usual, she can’t wait to see where her next challenge brings her. She loves teaching and sharing her passion with others, especially when she can help them mend their clothes to wear them longer or make things out of thrifted or second-hand materials.
“Sewing is such an art form and a skillset that's so valuable to keep alive,” she says, “and I am really dedicated to keeping it alive and sharing it with other people.”
Takeaways
Here is one big thing I learned this week about passion, one exercise you can do to stoke your own inner fire, and one aspect of Wardlow’s intense enthusiasm that rubbed off on me — and that I now want to learn more about, too!
One Lesson: One Lesson: Staying Open and Curious to New Applications of Your Passions
Bree Wardlow's journey from a young sewing enthusiast to a multifaceted creator across various domains of fashion, costume design, and even aerospace showcases the boundless opportunities that can arise from a deep-seated passion. Her story exemplifies how a love for a craft, combined with a mindset of exploration and learning, can lead to a rich and varied path. It's a testament to the idea that staying curious and open to new opportunities can allow one's passion to evolve in unexpected and exciting ways.
One Exercise: Keeping a Passion Gratitude Journal
We’ve all heard of the benefits of keeping a gratitude journal — but Wardlow’s immense levels of gratitude for her journey made me think how powerful it could be to keep a gratitude journal specifically around our passions. Dedicate a few minutes each day or week and jot down:
What you love about your passion or craft. Reflect on the joy, satisfaction, and sense of accomplishment it brings you.
New things you’ve learned or tried. Whether it’s a small skill or a completely new project, note down your learning experiences.
Opportunities and connections your passion has opened up for you. From meeting like-minded individuals to exploring new career avenues, recognize the doors your passion has opened.
Moments of challenge and how you've overcome them. Acknowledge the hurdles and celebrate your resilience and creativity in addressing them.
One Curiosity: Mindfulness in Fashion Choices
How can we support sustainable fashion? Wardlow's approach offers a guide: be mindful of our fashion consumption. This includes choosing quality over quantity, understanding the lifecycle of our garments, and considering alternatives to fast fashion, such as sustainable brands and thrift shopping. Learning to sew or mend clothes ourselves promotes a deeper connection with our wardrobe, echoing Wardlow's commitment to thoughtful, sustainable fashion.
Links
(Wardlow is very clear she’s not a technology person… she says she is not very Google-able and has purposely stayed under the radar! But if you’re interested in online or in-person sewing lessons, send her an email directly at anastasiavonteaserhausen@gmail.com :)