Kirsten A. Moore
FORMAL WEAR TAILORING SPECIALIST
Kirsten’s career has meandered along a ‘go where the wind takes me’ path. She got her start sewing at age 3; her first teachers being her Bachan (great-grandmother) and her mom. She wasn’t allowed to touch a sewing machine until she was 10, but that didn’t stop her from attempting to make her own clothes using fabric scraps and a needle and thread. After that, she had a lot of different teachers and the curiosity to learn from whomever wanted to show her something new. This started with learning ribbonwork from her manager at her crappy fabric store job, which led her meeting a textile historian whose focus was in passementerie and ornamentation. She has always had a knack for meeting the right people, who gave her wealth of knowledge about specialized sewing techniques over the past 30 years.
A few years after earning a music degree from Portland State University in 1995, she officially started her business, Piper Ewan in 1998. Her original focus was on “fancy everyday clothes,” that were heavily inspired by pre-early 60s vintage fashion, and her obsession with vintage lingerie, antique textiles and trims. She really likes the idea of a small curated wardrobe, because it makes more sense to her to invest in your everyday clothes. Since one of her main specialty is in embellishment and hand finishing techniques, she ended up making custom bridal gowns and party dresses. Next door to one of her studios was a high end vintage store where she spent free moments inspecting everything; learning all about vintage clothing construction and how to repair and restore. Of course this inspired her to create new designs, and returned to making lingerie and corsets. Post-pandemic, she was offered a position at Silhouette where she got to learn another skill set!
Favorite part of alterations?
“Fit! I love making people feel comfortable and confident in what they’re wearing. Helping someone feel more comfortable in their body by making something not only fit, but flatter.”
Favorite things to sew?
“I love restoring vintage dresses, and mending old Kimono. I love giving new life to beautiful old clothes! Kimono are completely sewn by hand, and I find hand sewing meditative. It’s also a connection to my roots: I was taught how to pattern kimono by my Bachan using four fold newspapers.”
Top 3 most insane things I’ve made:
“A close friends’ wedding dress; the back of which is solidly coated with 4 spools worth (100 metres) of hand-sewn ribbon roses from shoulder to train. A performance art costume whose skirt was made from a 30’ parachute that I collaborated with a metal worker to make a custom armature that supported the performer. And the 9’ x 20’ three layer woodgrain pattern felt stage backdrop that hung in the old Doug Fir.”
Furry friend?
“I live with a very bossy Burmese mix cat who refuses to do any sort of work. She won’t even investigate crime nor eat spiders!”
Fun Fact!
“In the first ten years of my business, I went through 8 miles of ribbon.”