If it’s one thing every girl needs in her life, it’s a new dress. If you’re seamstress sensation Jamie Lau of BurdaStyle, you need four new dresses—one for every promo event of your new book “BurdaStyle Sewing Vintage Modern: Mastering Iconic Looks from the 1920s to 1980s.” For the NYC book launch at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn, Lau kept it simple w/ a hand-tailored fit-and-flare blue dress, though the fabric choice was anything but simple. Fabric, it turns out, is what drew Lau to the sewing machine five years ago. Before she began making her own clothes, she was an avid shopper. But then she found herself with a serious fabric obsession.“I told myself I needed to get better at sewing if I wanted to really use these nice fabrics,” Lau said. So, with no formal education in fashion or training in design, she taught herself. Now, in addition to her title of co-author and lead designer of BurdaStyle’s latest book, Lau is also the company’s editorial and e-commerce manager. On various days, she teaches sewing classes at 3rd Ward, where she comes into contact with other fashion lovers who want to express themselves creatively through wearable artwork.“People want to be unique,” Lau said. “They don’t want to wear the same thing everyone else is wearing.” She calls sewing a “life skill” and attributes its value to individuality. “You can pick your own fabric and make your own clothes,” she said, a desire made a little easier by her new book.With over half-a-million registered members worldwide, is an online sewing community committed to the DIY trend. “BurdaStyle Sewing Vintage Modern” is a compilation of five base patterns that can be modified to create 19 different projects, with inspirations stemming from the iconic looks of the 1920s through the 1980s.“There’s something for everyone in this book,” Lau said, noting that beginning sewers won’t find themselves discouraged and even expert seamstresses will find things to challenge them. And hopefully, with the help of Lau, we can hash out four party dresses in no time.“BurdaStyle Sewing Vintage Modern,” co-authored with Nora Abousteit, is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 

Photo & Writer Source: Sierra Leone Starks