"A Day in the Life of"... a Tailor

All right, my name is Chelsea Hilton. I'm a tailor. Professionally, I've been doing it for about eight years. On my own, I've been sewing since I was eight. I do all sorts of things. I alter clothing mostly. I do wedding dresses, formals, men's clothing, a lot of hemming of pants. That's the biggest one. Honestly, it comes easy to me. I enjoy the creativity of it. I do a lot of cosplay for my kids, so this just kind of plays into all of that. So, it's mostly a creative outlet. I get here about 8 30 and leave usually around 2. So, some days I have, you know, appointments where people can't come in, so I change my schedule up a little bit, so I'm here longer. But for the most part, I'm 8 30 to 2. It all depends on where you work. Some people are a little more strict. Honestly, a lot of picking things apart, it takes longer to pick things apart to remake them than it does to put them back together. So, a lot of picking apart. I do a few fittings. Every few days I have a couple fittings come in, but a lot of it's just sitting at the machine and sewing. So, this job, I'm technically part-time here, so I only work three days a week for five to six hours a week because it works with my kids' school schedules. So, that's basically why I'm here because it's a job I can do and still be a mom. But I know a lot of people who do this full time and work in like bridal shops, which is where a lot of the money is, to be honest. So, if you can learn bridal, it's a lot more income than just your average everyday stuff. So, for me, it's a little different because I have been sewing since I was 8. I used to compete in like 4-H and do those kind of sewing competitions. So, I learned a lot along the way. I learned a lot from my mom. I know a lot of people, I mean, you can go to school. There's some, like, fashion design, that kind of thing, where you can take classes at local shops. A lot of mine was learned from, I started with quilting. So, that's always a good place you learn a lot of your basics of sewing that way. The job here, not just experience, really. Just coming in and having that experience and being able to do what I do, essentially. I have a lot to it, to be honest. It's just having that knowledge and being available. I would say find your locals, like fabric shops or anything like that. A lot of them do classes and lessons. So, you can start there and just learn your basics of sewing. Even your quilt shops teach you how to use the sewing machine. And then, find somebody who knows how to sew and learn from them. Because experience is really what a lot of it is. I mean, you can learn your techniques, but your experience is really what you need. Start with sewing your own stuff. Like, go get a pattern from Joanne's and sew your own clothing. Or, you know, get into costumes or quilting or cosplay. Any of that stuff that gives you that good experience and learning how things are made and put together. Because that's a lot of it. Find something you love and are passionate about. Make working more fun. That's the big thing is just finding. I'm Chelsea Hilton and I am a tailor.