Fast Tracking with Joi Mahon

It’s week 4 of our National Sewing Month celebration and today’s special guest none other than Joi Mahon. You may recognize Joi from her Fast Track Fitting class on Craftsy but her super cool retro vibe, fun personality and the clothes (ahh, the clothes!)…. make her a stand out in our sewing community! 

Let’s jump right into it!

Can you share a few fun facts?

Joi: Like many, I started sewing at a young age. I apprenticed for a tailor when I was 14 and learned to do men’s tailoring, alterations, design work, just about anything related to fitting. I learned to run the business etc… I studied fashion design and have a degree in design and product development. I obtained a patent when I was 28 and rather than regurgitating the same fit info that most people do I teach from actually fitting thousands of people over 20 years. I have worked professionally as a designer and patternmaker over half my life. I have a new book out, am working on another, have a new embroidery line out next year, working on fabric line, have been a Baby Lock Spokes designer for 5 years, won the Passion For Fashion competition (like episode of PR) travel all around the country teaching fashion sewing and design classes, love draping and I make all of my patterns from scratch- meaning from nothing. I am also very excited to announce my Designer Joi’s Sewing Holiday inaugural event sponsored by Baby Lock next summer July 22-25th. Watch for our website coming soon www.sewingholiday.com or you can email me for more info [email protected] we are featuring entertainment, banquet, top A List Sewlebrities, prizes, contests and sew much more. Space is limited to sign up early. Again watch for our official debut later this fall. Lots of work going on behind the scenes.

Outside of sewing I have two kiddos that keep me super busy, My hubby and I love to travel to historical places and we garden like crazy and I play the saxophone.

What is the one piece of advice you wish you knew when you started sewing?

Joi: Not sure, but I can tell you how I have grown professionally. Most creative people put their heart into their work. There is some sort of attachment- yet strangely when a client is paying I never have a hard time sending a design out the door.. You know you can’t please everyone and sometimes the customer is not right, but I developed a thick skin. As a designer I never take anything personally. I don’t care if someone does not like my style. I don’t like every style of music for example. It is not personal it is just business.  SO when you learn that you can learn to deal with difficult customers and do it well. I know many people that won’t work with difficult or picky clients, or they are a wreck emotionally. I don’t go there. I am a problem solver and some of my best customers and best work comes from picky people. Afterall, they come to me for a solution.  I have learned to talk openly and honestly. I tell people I will give them honest feedback.. It takes patience and a problem solving eye. This is something you develop over time working with people. As a 14-year-old I could not do this, but as a business owner now I can.

One tip I share to my design interns and others wanting to grow in their sewing or design and wanting to get into a business is to always be developing new content. Have a sketch book and always be articulating your ideas. In college I was NOT (make sure you get the NOT) NOT the one out partying every Friday night. I devoted my time to perfecting my art and my skills and frankly I did not have interest in that and it has paid off. Design is not about coming up with one idea, it is kind of a mindset and something you are always honing.

What is your favorite or most often used tool in the studio?

Joi: Aside from my amazing Baby Lock sewing machines I am PRO- having a good iron and I mean a heavy iron with strength and steam. You need heat and pressure for truly quality results. I use a Laura star and I also have an industrial gravity feed iron (which they are not expensive)  and tailors chalk- the professional kind- cant sew w/ that and lastly a sewing blade. I can do w/o other notions, but those are staples.

Where do you find inspiration?

Joi: I love to teach and talk about inspiration because it can come from anything. I am very visual so often a design literally pops into my head. That is how I know if my idea is a good one or not. If I Have to work to make it happen then I am trying too hard. It should flow natural. Inspiration can come from architecture, fabric, museums, something my kids say or do or whatever.  I often hear people commenting on exhibits saying “they don’t like a particular artist or style” and I have my likes and dislikes too, but you have to put that aside and you can still find interesting texture, details or whatever even from things or styles you do not like.

What is your favorite project?

Joi: I truly don’t have a single favorite. I enjoy what I do soooo much., It is a passion and each project goes through the same design process and I enjoy that process of bringing ideas together, and seeing the amazing results. It is more about creating the perfect thing for any one particular client and that could be a custom couture ball gown to a simple embroidery design. I very much talk out loud and walk though my ideas and for me the whys and thoughts and reasoning behind a design is just as important as the design itself.

Who inspired you to start stitching?

Joi: I started sewing when I was very very young hand sewing. Even when I was about 5-7ish I remember looking at my grandmothers Hershner’s sewing catalog (not sure if they are still in business) but I would circle things I likes and even then I would work the how tos of assembly in my mind. I made my own patterns at a young age. My grandma always gave me sewing kits for Christmas and Birthdays and really encouraged me. Of course my parents have always been supportive and would take me to the fabric stores to buy supplies for all my sewing projects. In high school I was already working for a tailor so I took sewing classes but I was off in my own little corner making clothing, gowns etc. . while kids would be struggling through pillows. When the teacher had to be gone I would teach the class for the substitute who usually did not sew.  Later on of course working in the tailor shop was such a stepping stone and Dr. Kundel in college was pivotal in helping me develop my patternmaking skills.

What is your favorite thread color?

Joi: No favorite thread color- Love them all, but I will say Mettler threads is my thread sponsor and I literally have a thread store in my studio which is a dream and they are all so vibrant and beautiful. I just love being able to go over and select whatever I want.  (be watching for more with the debut of my embroidery line next spring.)

Any exciting news?

Create The Perfect Fit just hit the stores. The idea behind my book is to NOT be the same old boring tissue fitting that everyone is used to. I don’t reteach traditional fit I teach what works and is relevant to bodies today, in an easy and approachable fashion. I feel fit is really taught and teachers often make it out to be hard and unachievable- as I travel this is what I hear from the sewing public. I like to teach a different mindset about how to use patterns and how to scale them before you even sew. It is direct, easy, and there is over 20 years of my experience with REAL people not textbook scenarios but fitting real people getting real solutions and making it achievable.  I love teaching live classes and seeing how happy it makes people to finally have solutions that work. I have a few myth busters as well: like not all areas of a pattern have or need ease so don’t divide adjustments all around a pattern, and I totally debunk FBA’s which taper out and do not custom grade or address the 4 areas of the breast and bust fitting- while I don’t talk about FBAs I teach my bust quadrant approach (which is custom grading and addresses all 4 areas and solves any bust fitting issue EASY!!!) I love my fitting chapter and spent time developing great body styling photos and my last chapter is my FAV with real people. I took a size 12 pattern and used the SAME one on everyone and showed how fitting is less about pattern size selection but knowing how to measure your pattern in smaller areas and adjusting those areas only to match your body. Also I designed all my art work for my book and oversaw all the photo shoots. I wanted it to be clean, fresh, yet eye-catching so all the fit samples coordinate with the white hand cut paper patterns not the icky tissue. I think you will like the look and feel of it.

Little fun facts…

• When I worked in a tailor shop I remember fitting all sorts of people. One day this larger older lady (she could have been my grandma) came in and instead of going in the fitting room she dropped her clothing off in the middle of work area and I had never seen so many wrinkles. Pretty much nothing fazes me now. For a 16-year-old girl that was pretty funny, or the time the minister was checking out and his shirt tail was sticking out of his trousers and this dear older woman who was the office assistant never missing a beat says “your total is XYZ amount and you might want to zip your fly” well the funny remarks started after that and the entire office could not work for about an hour. Of course I was blushing and you had to be there but it was probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen.
• My daughter tells everyone I am the best designer ever and I tell her she can have a PONY!
• I am actually a total cut up and we have lots of fun when I teach. I am the first one to make fun of myself .
• I was honored to be chosen as The American Sewing Expos’s Teacher of the Year last year which is selected by attendees and students.

Wow, Joi is one “On the GO” kinda gal! A big Thank You to Joi for sharing some insider skinny with us today. I am really enjoying getting to know her on a personal level and can not wait to hear more details about her Sewing Holiday event. Be sure to keep up with all of Joi’s adventures here:

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Stay tuned, more fun interviews are on the way! And ps- don’t forget to enter to win one of four amazing prize packages in our National Sewing Month Giveaway.

 

 

 

 

 

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