Billie Hall hard at work doing what she does best. |
Billie Hall loves clothes that don’t fit. Alterations have
been her specialty since she was a teen. “My sister was 5’8”
and size seven. I was 5’ and a size one. Everything she outgrew
or was tired of, I altered to fit me! By 19, the Charleston tailor
had started on a career cutting, tucking and reconstructing clothes
to perfectly suit other people.”
Born to parents originally from Clay County, Billie was raised in
Florida. When she married and moved to Seattle at 19, she started
working in a bridal shop. “But I told the owner I wasn’t
ready to work on $600 wedding gowns. She said ‘Sewing is the
same for a $60 dress or a $600 dress.’ And, she was right. In
Seattle I was fortunate to work with great tailors that had been trained
in Europe. They showed me there isn’t just one way to do everything.”
Billie says, “That doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty
of challenges! We had Saudi Arabian men that bought elegant strapless
gowns for women back home. Then, they asked us to add high necks and
sleeves to them.”
Four years after starting at the bridal shop, Billie had her own business.
“I loved doing bridal, because it was so creative, but people
often came to me when they couldn’t find what they needed. Like
the time I made 100 ceremonial gowns for ladies of the Eastern Star.”
When she and her young family moved to Montana, there was no market
for her sewing skills, “No one needed jeans and sweatshirts
altered!” Billie turned to home schooling her two daughters
and herb gardening. “I grew lavender, collected wild rose petals,
made soaps, herbal sachets and potpourri.” Ever the entrepreneur,
her pastime became a cottage business, Billie’s Sunshine Garden
Herbals. In 1999 while visiting her parents in West Virginia, she
decided to stay. “With a baby on the way and a marriage ending,
it seemed like a good time to come home!”
Though she started with a local tailor, after a few months, Billie
was ready to open her own shop again. The Capital Street Village Place
location “ has been great. With Ivor’s as a wonderful
neighbor and Richard Emory with Tom James Clothier as our main commercial
account, we stay busy but not swamped. My average turn around time
is two weeks, not six, and I don’t make promises I can’t
keep.”
Billie still sews everyday on the machine she bought at age 19. She
says, “I know what I do is a dying profession. There are fewer
and fewer people who can successfully alter clothes. It is a skill
and an art. There is a lot of risk involved. When you start with a
pair of scissors and a $2500 wedding gown or a $2000 suit, you need
to know what you are doing. You have to pay attention to how it came
apart so you will know how to put it back together. And, you must
know what is possible and what isn’t.”
Asked about what she does for those outfits that are suddenly too
small, Billie smiles. “We can reconstruct up one size, or if
there is enough fabric, even four sizes. It may not be worth the cost,
but it can usually be done.” She says for brides and bridesmaids,
it is usually worth it. “Brides pick out their gowns months
ahead. Pregnancies or diets or diets that never were started can be
a problem!
Traditionally, seamstresses sew for women and tailors sew for men.
Billie does both and is proud of her reputation as a tailor. She has
resisted hiring other seamstresses. “I like to do my own work,
so that I know what is done and I know it is done right.”
Although she no longer has time to design from scratch herself, she
is adding a line of bridesmaids dresses this spring “It will
be better for bridesmaids and easier for me with the dresses right
here!”
The future is looking pretty seamless for Billie. Happy to have found
her new husband,” a perfect fit!”, she is excited about
making a new home for them all in a historic home in Clendenin “with
a garden!”
The uncertain times don’t worry her. “This is a very
secure job! There is a constant demand. In a bad economy, people care
for their old clothes. In a good economy, they buy new clothes. A
good fit is always in style!”
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