In October, we hosted our very first in-person event at Seamwork HQ. Nearly 100 Seamworkers gathered for Stitchfest, and we all spent the day together later. There was a panel of local patternmakers, a sample sale, and a live recording of the Seamwork Radio podcast.

In the live recording of the podcast, Sarai and our patternmaker, Robin, answer the 7 most common sewing questions we get asked here at Seamwork. You can listen to Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

This week, listen to a recording of the patternmaker panel with 6 amazingly talented patternmakers here in Portland, moderated by Sarai. They chat about all the secrets your patternmaker wants you to know, the differences between ready-to-wear and sewing, and their favorite parts about making patterns.

Here are the panel guests:

Erin Uerlings

Erin is one of the pattern makers at Seamwork. She studied apparel design at OSU and then spent six years in New York City before moving back to the Pacific Northwest to get her footing in athleticwear at Nike and childrenswear at Hanna Andersson.

Robin Ives

Robin is one of the pattern makers at Seamwork. She studied design in New York City but gravitated to pattern making because of the preciceness and logic of it. With more than 30 years experience, she's worked for Patagonia, UGG, Doen, and Hanna Andersson.

Peggy Mead

Peggy is the founder of Sew House Seven, offering unique clothing patterns appealing to sewists of all levels. She studied apparel design and got an internship at Patagonia right out of school. With over 30 years of patternmaking experience, she’s worked at Nike, Jantzen, Tommy Hilfiger, and Pendleton. She’s also designed a swimwear pattern for Princess Diana!

Becky Jo Johnson

Becky is the founder of Workhorse Patterns. She also brings you all the Portland Frocktails events where you can meet fellow makers, With a background in finance, she’s been on a passionate journey to make our sewing community a brighter place not only with her designs and pattern making, but also her talent for hosting a totally fabulous sewing party open to all.

Ellie Lum

Ellie the founder of Klum House, a bag-making shop and school here in Portland. She worked as a bike messenger and founded a messenger bag company called R.E. Load Bags before studying adult education at UC Berkeley and founding Klum House in 2015. Ellie is passionate about local manufacturing and empowering folks through hands-on skill building. You don’t need a fancy sewing machine to make professional, heavy-duty bags at home—all you need is some courage and a dash of creative grit!

Sharon Blair

Fashion entrepreneur, designer, and writer Sharon Blair founded and directs Portland Fashion Institute, a licensed and accredited career school that enables students to become industry-proficient in apparel design, construction, and business. Sharon’s apparel life began in 1990 with a custom clothing business, and she has a bachelor's and a master's and advanced studies in apparel. She’s even studied couture sewing in Paris!

We also filmed the patternmaker panel! You can watch it on our YouTube channel and turn on captions for a full transcript.