An Interview with Cajun Baglady
Cajunbaglady, aka Theresa, is the owner and designer of Chat’s Designs on Etsy. She has a range of quirky items for house, wardrobe, and home, and has now extended her services to custom plus size designs.
How did you get started creating plus clothing designs?
I have always been a plus size girl myself and couldn’t find that perfect pair of pants,shirts,skirts,shorts,or dresses. We all don’t have the same figures and all I could find were people who created plus size clothing for either older ladies or boxy styles to try and fit all shapes at once that gave you no shape when you put them on. So I started designing my own clothes to better suit my figure.
Where do your designs come from? Are they your own? Do you use patterns?
I have used patterns in the past when I was first learning to sew but have since gotten books and better educated myself on the pattern making process and have designed a lot of my own things from my own drawings and designs.
What is the most challenging part of creating plus sized clothing?
Creating a piece of clothing that isn’t exactly for yourself and not custom ordered to fit several people at one time for their body shape.
Explain what’s involved in constructing and tailoring a clothing piece. What can the customer do to make your work easier?
Proper measurements is the key to making the perfect garment. If your measurements are even 1/4 inch off the garment could either be too small or too big depending on what way the 1/4 inch was taken wrong. I try and have the customer measure then
reameasure and measure a slightly different way to ensure all the measurements are accurate for a good fit. And no one is the same height weight and shape so when ordering something please give your shape,height,and where your problem fitting
areas usually are so that the fit will be for you.
What plus item that you’ve made do you consider your best work to date?
I had a customer send me some clothes that no longer fit that she wanted me to design something for her that was up to date fashion and had a good fit. I took a button down A-line dress and made a shrug from the top portion and a two-toned skirt from the
bottom section. She loved the design and the fit.
Do you have a pet peeve about plus size fashion, or about the plussie fashion industry?
Even though we are plus size we can still have hourglass figures even though they might be a larger hourglass they are still hourglass and we would like to show that off dresses especially that just fall straight down with no style or shape does nothing for our figure and in turn makes anyone wearing them look bigger than they actually are.
What upcoming trends do you see in plussie looks? What would you like to see?
The seventies styles are back and hot right now. knee high shorts,pedal pushers,printed T-shirts,cute shrugs,A-line skirts,sundresses are a rage this summer. and of course the baby doll tops and dresses are a huge hit.
I would love to see straight skirts with a little flair to the bottom. I have not seen any. Maybe I will have to design some.
What would you like Fat Chic readers need to know about you?
I was taught by my grandmother to sew at an early age and then took 4 years of home ec in high school. so I was taught several ways of how to do things the right way. I now have been sewing for 25 years and have come up with my own right way of sewing.
I learned how to design my own patterns,sew more efficiently, and several different tricks and techniques to make things more durable. I love to craft and come up with new and innovative ideas. I design so that others can buy handmade items that are
quality work with loving care in every stitch and turn. I have an embroidery machine to enhance all my projects. Hope you enjoy everything that you see. Everything I make is made with loving care in every stitch. Every product is based with the thought of trying to make it practical as well as affordable.
diana,
thanks for the tip how much does she charge ?
Your best best would be to send her a convo on Etsy and ask. If she’s like most custom seamstresses, there is no consistent charge – it will include her time and materials costs. I’ve seen her sell items as high as $180, but it looks like her “base rate” for starting is $50.