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Louise Salgado

Amanda Louise is our wonderful resident quilter. Her skills, curiosity and abilities have helped many people through problems with various projects. She is a patient and skilled teacher. We love her!

 
Justin Avery

Justin has enjoyed 29 years in the garment construction industry.  He began in Berkeley, CA, teaching art, later attending UCSB and earning a degree from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles. His areas of expertise include, but are not limited to, pattern drafting, the design and construction of wedding dresses, general alterations, reconstructions, couture, formal dresses costuming and prop making.

Born and raised in Berkeley, California and Justin has lived in Southern California since 1989. He is the proud father of three and has been married for 21 years.

"In today’s culture, we spend far too much time contorting our bodies in order to meet the current standards of fashion. Fashion is far too fickle and unstable a thing to devote that many heartstrings to it.  My philosophy is simply to make the clothes fit the people and not to make the people fit the clothes. Fashion is to be used as a means of expression and creativity, not a standard of life or a measure of weight. Always remember, this is supposed to be fun, not soul-crushing work.  To be overly concerned about how a curve goes funny is very unattractive. It is very attractive, however, to see a person who is confident about the ‘unique exceptions’ of their body and strut their stuff as is. For example, a gap in the teeth will matter very little to those around the one who loves to laugh and smile. They will barely notice the imperfection because the joy is what radiates most.  I try to emulate this attitude in all my designs."

Learn more about Justin's work by visiting his website: www.jrahouseofdesign.com

Elizabeth Bryant

Elizabeth Vana Bryant is a Palmer/Pletsch Certified Fitting Instructor. She teaches in-person classes in Southern California, and virtual classes internationally through the magic of Zoom. She has been sewing for over 50 years and has specialized in garment fitting and couture construction for over two decades. She has studied couture sewing under Susan Khalje and is the founding leader of the American Sewing Guild Los Angeles Chapter's Couture Group.

"Sewing. It's not fun if your results don't FIT. Don't be frustrated; you, too, can sew beautiful clothing that fits YOUR unique figure."

Access her free videos and learn more about her private teach practice via her website, FitSewBeautiful.com

Amanda Kamlet

Amanda has always loved crafting and grew up doing a variety of crafts including sewing, crochet, and embroidery. She's been living in Santa Barbara on and off since 2015 and teaches social studies at Santa Barbara Middle School. She loves working with students and teaching them new ways of crafting and how to expand their ability of sharing their creativity.