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I’ve started a blog series interviewing other sewing bloggers, teachers, and professionals to find out about how they started sewing, and what inspires them.
Sewist Interview #2: Tricia Camacho, Creative Costume Academy
Q: Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself and your sewing journey?
Tricia: My name is Tricia Camacho. I grew up in Southern California and I have spent most of my life in a career making costumes for big theatrical productions. I still have a company where we make costumes for major shows like Blue Man Group, Broadway Shows, Cirque du Soleil and Disney. I also teach pattern making online.
I started sewing as a young girl from both of my grandmothers. We (My sister and I) used to spend a week with each of them during the summers and we would learn from them. There was one Halloween that I was determined to make my own dress so I could destroy half of it and be half dead and half alive. This was age 7. I ended up with something that looked like a dress. From there, I was officially hooked and continued to sew through school.
It started with Halloween for me. Then I loved experimenting in high school making things to wear that I really loved. It became a way for me to express myself through my style. I also fell in love with theater and live performance in high school. When it came time to graduate, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I loved sewing but I didn’t think that Fashion was the right avenue for me. I also loved acting, but I didn’t think that was right either. So I traveled for a little bit and the idea finally came to me to work with costumes so I could do both things that I loved without having to fully commit to the parts that I wasn’t really interested in. I came back to California to start learning more about what it meant to get involved in the costume business. I started with volunteering at local theaters. Then I decided to go to school to learn the things I thought would help me the most.
When I started school, is when I was introduced to the power of pattern making!! That changed my whole sewing life!! I suddenly understood how to get to my desired result in a much more logical way than the trial and error method I had been using for years. It made perfect sense to me and I wanted to learn everything about it! I noticed others struggling to understand the concepts, so I would help my peers when I could.
From there I moved onto a National Broadway Tour of the “Full Monty”. Then landed in Las Vegas for 11 years after that. I never stopped craving to learn more about pattern making. It helped me in my work so much! Eventually, I had coworkers asking me about how they could learn about pattern making also. I tried my hand at teaching a class back in 2013, It was a huge hit! It made me happy to share this powerful skill in a way that people could understand. It brings me so much joy to see the inspiration that comes alive in people when they learn from me!
Sewing, Pattern making and fitting are subjects I have studied since I was a little girl and there are still things that I learn every day. This knowledge is extremely powerful, but it is not something that you learn once and you completely understand everything. It’s a journey of expression and exploration. Enjoy the journey! Also, give yourself grace!
Learning a super power is going to take time. No one is an expert at anything when they first start learning. Every mistake is an opportunity to learn something new.
There is a reason why they make seam rippers! Lol. It can be enticing to want to learn all the things at once and take on big projects. This can work for some people, but I have also seen it lead to frustration and people wanting to give up.
Q: Tell us a bit about your approach to learning to sew
Tricia: I like to have a more challenging project I am going slow on and taking my time to learn as I go. Then I like to have some quick easy projects I can switch over to as I come to points in the challenging project. I can give myself a confidence boost and a break.
Take advantage of opportunities to work with others and be open to learning new methods. There are several different ways to do things. Enjoy the learning process and pace yourself.
Those are my biggest tips I can share in keeping the learning enjoyable.
Q: Tell us about a favourite sewing project
Tricia: I am a person who loves a challenge….. It is hard to pick a favorite project because I have been blessed to make so many fun things! I have different favorites for different reasons….I would have to say my most challenging pattern I ever worked on was making giant monkey statue costumes. There were 5, two of them were upside down and we had to make 2 sets of costumes that could be removable for cleaning. They were to be wearing 17th century coats and vests to look like they were blowing in the wind. It was a challenge and LOTS of work, but I love how they turned out!
Since 2020, I have had more of an opportunity to make myself clothes again. I have really fallen in love with that. I have several favorite garments I have made and love to wear regularly like my favorite jeans and zip up hoodie. ( I am actually wearing them both now!) I really feel like making clothes for yourself is a form of self love!
Q: Tell us about a sewing mishap:
Tricia: Making mistakes in sewing comes with the territory. Again, the reason why seam rippers exist! My biggest mistake I can think of was making a pair of wrap pants when I was younger. This is before I went to pattern making classes. I had not accounted enough for the overlap and they barely closed at the sides. I used this really pretty satin with a print and it basically looked like I had a very deep split up the side of my pant leg. While I was young enough to pull it off, it wasn’t the look I had in mind.
I went back to the fabric store to get more fabric to add at the sides, but they were out of the same color. I opted for the same print in a different color and added a “contrast” at the sides. They came out great in the end and I wore them for years until a friend stole them from me because she loved them so much.
Warning when this happens: I was wearing them once and my mom was with me when someone complimented my pants. I said “thank you, I made them” My mom proceeded to tell them about how I messed up and this is why I had the contrast color. – I let her know not to tell that story….I am letting people believe this was the original design! Lol. Mistake into Design is one of my favorite sayings!
Q: Can you share some sewing advice?
Tricia: Enjoy the journey. Think of it as play. If you are getting frustrated, step away and focus on something that is more fun for a bit; an easier part of your project, or take a break altogether. That is often times the best thing to do. When you come back to your project, you can come back with a new perspective and less frustrated. It’s surprising how often that seems to help.
Q: What are your favorite tools?
Tricia: See-through ruler, needle wheel, snips. I like to wear my snips around my neck on an elastic so I don’t lose them. For beginners, seam rippers are extremely handy and there is no shame in using them! I still have to take out seams even after 30 years of sewing! I have learned to use my snips for this over time, but in the beginning, the seam ripper can be your best friend.
Q: What is something you want to learn how to sew?
Tricia: I have always wanted to learn to make my own shoes! I have several friends who make theirs and I have an idea, but I haven’t made the time to try it yet. Hopefully, I can work that into some fun sewing for me in the near future.
Q: What is on your sewing table right now?
Tricia: On my sewing table right now is a matching vest and pants. Self-drafted. I am going for a Vivian Westwood, Alexander McQueen, punk rock vibe. The choice of fabric is between 2 different blue wool plaids. I have done the mock ups and fittings, next is pattern adjustments and diving into the final garments. I’m pretty excited about it! My costume company just finished some dresses for Jersey Boys opening in Vegas and soon we will start working on some Frozen costumes.
Besides my suit, I am making a boat load of gifts in the next couple weeks, so I don’t have any future projects in mind at the moment.
Q: Do you have any parting words you’d like to leave our readers with?
Tricia: My biggest message to everyone is, if you like sewing, even if you are a beginner, give pattern making a try! It is so incredibly powerful and gives you so much creative freedom! I was making patterns without even knowing that was what I was doing and when I learned how to really understand pattern making it made my life SO MUCH easier!!! I could make what I wanted with much more ease and fitting made more sense also. It’s powerful, but most of all FUN! Release this thought of it needing to be a hard serious thing….I promise, there are other ways to learn!
You can find out about me on:
My website: https://www.creativecostumeacademy.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creative.costume.academy/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@creativecostumeacademy
You can try out my FREE class here: https://www.creativecostumeacademy.com/freepatternmasterclass
Thanks so much to Tricia for the interview!
Photos provided by Tricia Camacho. Interview questions by Elise Chase-Sinclair.
Read Sewist Interview #1: Jenni Miller, Let’s Get Sewing Now