Lauren Taylor – Lladybird

(Originally posted September 20, 2015)

 

00headshot1Lauren Taylor of Nashville, Tennessee, is the beautiful young woman behind the popular sewing blog, lladybird.com.  Mood Fabrics invited Lauren to become a Mood Sewing Network blogger because her garment sewing is impeccable and creative. Lauren has a passion for sewing, a gift for writing, and an irreverent, joyous attitude about life.

When asked about her current sewing, she said, “Right now, I’m focused on transitional pieces that will work for the wishy-washy Tennessee weather — leggings, long sleeve t-shirts for layering, light jackets, and knit dresses. The weather in Nashville can change from below freezing to pushing 70 degrees in the matter of an afternoon (and we’ve got the tornadoes to prove it!). I’ve also started planning my summer wardrobe — mostly in the form of happy day dreams 🙂 — I’m thinking lots of breezy lightweight cotton dresses and linen shorts. “

In her adult life, Lauren has mostly worked non-sewing jobs.  She spent six years answering phones at an ad agency and now works as a personal assistant for a female entrepreneur.  She also has a small part time job helping a local clothing designer with assembling piece work for her line (she LOVES that job). Lauren would like to teach sewing classes in her local area.

Lauren modeling her Fabulous Birds dress.

Lauren modeling her Fabulous Birds dress.

Birds often serve as Lauren’s inspiration. At one time, Lauren had a local clothing line, LLADYBIRD, so that’s what she named her blog. Ladybird is a nickname people gave her because of her bird tattoo.

Her lifetime favorite garment is her Fabulous Birds dress.  Inspired by a vintage pattern from the 1940s — she chose a silk georgette by Marc Jacobs from Mood Fabrics. Making the dress was a true labor of love — from the initial muslins (and the fact that her pattern was lacking its original instruction sheet!), to learning how to handle the 00quotefabric. “SCHMETZ is my sewing machine needle of choice — and the 70/10 Microtex needle makes perfect stitches in fine silk. The most important thing when working with silk is to always start with a FRESH, new needle.” After the whole dress came together beautifully, she pulled out the big guns and made a bias cut slip of 4 ply silk to wear underneath. The end result is perfection and she can wear it for pretty much any occasion that comes her way.

When sewing on knits, Lauren loves to make hems using the SCHMETZ Stretch Twin 4.0 needle. Her special tip is to use Wooly Nylon in the bobbin — which gives the finished hem some nice additional stretch.

When asked what sewing brings to her life, Lauren thoughtfully replied, “Sewing brings me PATIENCE. It forces me to slow down (sometimes I feel like a hummingbird, the way I race around all day!) and focus on the small parts that make up a whole. It gives me a wonderful creative outlet and a reason to be a perfectionist at something. It also challenges me and forces my brain to think outside the box when faced with an issue. Oh, and it gives me some pretty sweet clothes.”

Lauren with fellow Mood Sewing network bloggers in New York City.

Lauren with fellow Mood Sewing
network bloggers in New York City.

Lauren recently went to New York City to meet up with some Mood Sewing network bloggers. “Fabric often inspires me. I bought a gorgeous piece of silk in vibrant colors of blue and purple, and every day I think about that fabric. I don’t know what it will become. But I am obsessed . . . .”

Lauren is lucky because she has a big, bright, inspiring, dedicated sewing room. Her landlord even agreed to paint the room her favorite shade of turquoise. She has space for her sewing machine and her serger so each has their own table and work space. She has room for a cutting table and ironing board, and lots of storage for fabric, books, and patterns.

Like every busy woman, Lauren has the problem of TIME.  “Whether it’s getting up early to do a little bit of sewing before work (part of my ~power hour~ in the morning, yeah I know that’s dorky!), or sneaking in 10-20 minutes when I can find it . . . I always find a way. If you want to do something badly enough, you will find the time to make it happen.”

Comments

  1. Chip Hankins says

    i have recently acquired a vintage montgomery ward reversew machine and in order to get it to make a stitch i have to drop the standard needle down in the clamp slightly. I was wondering if you know if there is a different needle that i should use or if there is something on the machine that i need to adjust?

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