about me

At the age of 11 years, I began to sew. At 14, I visited 2 years for its own sewing and modeling course and sewed another couple of years. Then I inserted a break from sewing for nearly 16 years. Through a visit to a fabric store my sewing fever has been ignited again and was inspired by countless creations of Eastern European women enormously.


Fell free to contact me via:sewing.galaxy@mail.de



Where are you from and/or where do you live now? What do you do other than sewing?

I am originally from the former capital of Kazakhstan, called Almaty, which I left 23 years ago. Currently, I live in Düsseldorf, Germany.

I am a 3D CAD technical drawer of Architecture. This is one of the reasons why I feel comfortable in the construction and design of clothes, like some of the self-made and designed dresses I uploaded on BurdaStyle.

If we were to come to your town, where would you take us?
Düsseldorf has been known as a European and world wide fashion metropolis since 1946. The entire well known street called Königsallee is almost dedicated to fashion. Quite a lot of notable designers have local affiliates here, like Prada, Gucci, Armani, and Chanel, which is my all time favorite. Whenever I window shop, I am totally amazed. I can’t get enough of its special charm.

Moreover, there are some wonderful haute couture fabric stores, like Stoffe Möller. Every time I am there, it is a great experience. I especially have fun talking to the shop associates, who are really [knowledgeable]. I am a maniac for such high quality fabrics, and love to sew and wear with them.

An inside view of Stoffe Möller

How did you start sewing? What motivates you to sew?
I began to sew at age eleven. My sewing machine was only able to sew a straight stitch, and not even capable of a zig zag. To do so I needed to walk to my [friend’s house and use their machine]. My parents tried to get a better machine for quite some time, but this wasn’t possible before 1988 as they were really rare and hard to get in the former USSR. I almost swooned when a new machine was bought [as a surprise]. My heart was beating and I could not sleep that night. That was a kind of real start for me. As a coincidence, Raissa Gorbatschova and Aenne Burda signed a contract that enabled all women in the USSR.My  first blouse and skirt from a burda magazine have been these.

Sewing in the USSR wasn't a hobby, it was a matter of necessity. My mother provided me the opportunity to attend a sewing training class for years. During the first year I learned to sew professional compareable to a vocational education in Germany. We started with simple constructions and calculations of patterns and the techniques of processing technology. The quality of this training was very high and excellent. In the end we learned construction design which allowed me to turn my own designs into a real pattern technical correctly.

Without this knowledge I wouldn't have been able to sew my own clothes, as also clothes were rare to buy during these times. Later on I earned money with sewing. I am able to tell that sewing allowed my life and living and Burda was of great help doing so.

Original Burda Magazin 1989

1993 I arrived in Germany and recognised that sewing is an expensive hobby and not really needed. With some exceptions (e.g. this skirt 1998) only I wasn't sewing at all. 

Original 1998

 

After a sewing break of 13 years I accidently discovered beautiful old patterns on etsy.com and exitently realised that my child dreams could come true by sewing original dresses from the 50th...

What’s your sewing secret weapon? What trick or technique do your sewing projects always tend to include?
When something doesn’t work out correctly, I start from scratch, because I know I would not wear it if it is not entirely satisfactory to me.

What is the most frustrating thing about sewing for you? What is the most rewarding?
I get extraordinarily frustrated and unmotivated when I recognize mistakes too late. In such cases, I have to strip down everything and start from scratch. I am really happy if I am 100% truly pleased about my project, but what is most pleasant is good recognition from my sewing master and other sewers about my work.