A warm welcome! My name is Cara, and I'm the Santa Barbara seamstress and blogger behind the couture sewing and fashion blog, Celebrity Dressmaker. Subscribe below to follow along and learn haute-couture sewing secrets. I will share the stories and the special creations of the talented visionaries who were once internationally known fashion brands. My passion is to recreate and re-imagine ensembles designed by famous dressmakers with a specialty in the period from Dior's New Look to the mid-sixties with Jackie O. This blog is not monetized and is for educational purposes only.
I created this blog to honor and highlight the significant, enduring legacy of the world's most famous, historically-recognized dressmakers: the couturiers who designed for celebrities over many decades, including Princess Grace, Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot, and even for royalty!
I am also the founder of the Couture Pattern Museum based in sunny Santa Barbara, CA. The Couture Pattern Museum oversees one of the world's largest and most significant collections of commercial haute couture and high fashion sewing patterns released by international and American fashion design houses during the golden age of couture and dressmaking. The museum's mission is to organize, digitize, and recreate the most important couture sewing patterns released by world-famous designers before their fragile paper patterns disintegrate.
You may be wondering about my past life before this dressmaking passion took over. My college degree and career were in Finance. I worked for UBS through college, then worked as a Business Management Officer in international factoring and trade finance for a boutique capital firm in Los Angeles, which eventually led me to the entertainment industry in business development and portfolio management at an entertainment bank, as an officer and AVP with offices in both Century City and Beverly Hills.
Although my career in Finance was interesting, I felt a calling to switch industries to a more rewarding healthcare position at a Heart Hospital. I moved to the midwest to be exposed to Indian Health Medicine, and also to complete two Master's certificates at the Mayo School of Health Sciences. In between nursing classes, and working demanding hours at the heart hospital, I began sewing for those in need in the nursing home, making made-to-measure adaptive clothing and other useful articles.
I finally moved back to where I feel most at home, in California, started this sewing blog during the pandemic in 2020, and have since expanded my sewing interests to begin sewing professionally for others.
This blog was created for educational purposes only, to support and honor the dressmakers, designers, and seamstresses who have a love for sewing, and for anyone who has a love for the history of fashion and appreciates fashion as art. I hope to provide some helpful ideas, tips, and inspiration as we recreate dresses from famous design houses. Together, we can also enjoy the beauty and elegance of the finished product.
Please subscribe below so you don't miss out on the latest creation. Also, don't forget to subscribe to the Couture Pattern Museum's website for the latest news!
I hope you enjoy making designer couture dresses with me!
