Sarah Woodyard 

sewncompany@gmail.com | www.sewncompany.com

EDUCATION

The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta — M.A. Material Culture, 2017

  • Completed master’s thesis, “Martha’s Mob Cap? A Milliner’s Hand-Sewn Inquiry into Eighteenth-Century Caps ca. 1770 to 1800.”

  • Co-curated “Stitched Narratives” exhibition with Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Larisa Cheladyn, Stephanie Huolt and Robyn Stobbs.

  • Research Assistant to Dr. Anne Bissonnette: Created excel database cataloguing over 240 Gallery of Fashion plates from 1794-1799. Patterned and reproduced 1796 gown from the Colonial Williamsburg’s Collection.

The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio — B.S. Textiles and Clothing, 2007

  • Curatorial Assistant at Historic Costume and Textiles Collection.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Owner, Sewn Company, Williamsburg, VA — March 2019-Present

  • Teaches online live and pre-recorded hand-sewing classes through Sewn Company, Selvedge Magazine, Tatter Blue Library and other cultural institutions.

  • Stitches re-created hand-sewn garments dating from the 17th through the early 19th-century for museums and private customers.

  • Maintains social media channels: Instagram (@sewnstories), Patreon (Sewn Company), YouTube (SewnCompany), TikTok (Sewn Company).

Project Administrator, William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA  — April 2019-2022

  • Managed National Science Foundation grants for Dr. Heather Macdonald.

  • Responsible for maintaining budget, reimbursing project participants and paying stipends.

  • Proficient use of Excel, Outlook, BuyWM, Chrome River.

Office Manager, Black Creek Workshop, Williamsburg, VA — October 2018-January 2019

  • Proficient use of Excel for budgeting and billing.

  • Used QuickBooks to send estimates and invoices.

  • Streamlined scheduling with Google calendar and T-sheets for six crew members on multiple jobs a week.

  • Ran payroll.

Journeywoman Milliner/Mantua-maker, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, VA — September 2008- September 2018

  • Completed seven year apprenticeship in eighteenth-century sewing trades of millinery and mantua-making at the Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop.

  • Presented public programming about the trades of millinery and mantua-making while hand-stitching a variety of eighteenth-century style garments and accessories. 

  • Managed and implemented the recreation of clothing for two mannequins at the Museum of the American Revolution.

  • Collaborated with the Costume Design Center to create clothing for Colonial Williamsburg interpreters.

  • Donor group engagement through lectures and workshops. 

  • Produced recreated garments for “Threads of Feeling” and “Printed Fashions” exhibits.

  • Assisted in mounting recreated garments for “Threads of Feeling” exhibit.

  • Studied, patterned and created reproduction of Quaker cap in Colonial Williamsburg’s collection using proper garment handling techniques. 

  • Studied pattered and created reproduction of Van Ren shift in Colonial Williamsburg’s collection using proper garment handling techniques. 

SELECTED TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Workshop Presenter, Sewn Company, Williamsburg, VA — 2019 to present

  • “Historical Hand-Sewn Shirt,” “Hand Sewn Historical Chemise", “Historic Hand Sewn Seams” virtually with Tatter Blue Library, Brooklyn, New York.

  • “Hand-Sewn 18th-century Seaming Techniques,” “Hand-Sewn 18th-century Pleats and Gathers” virtually with Selvedge Magazine, London, UK.

  • Created a library of on-demand hand-sewing classes available on www.sewncompany.com.

  • Created hand-sewing tutorials on Sewn Company YouTube channel.

Workshop Presenter, Burnley and Trowbridge Historic Fashion Workshop Series, Williamsburg, VA — 2009-2018

  • Taught 18th and early 19th-century in-person clothing construction techniques to workshop attendees.

  • Selected examples: “Cutting an Eighteenth-Century ‘Sloper’: Mantua-making for the Modern Woman,” “Italian Gowns,” “Caps and Hair.”

Teaching Assistant, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta — September 2014-April 2015

  • Assisted professor in teaching two clothing construction classes. 

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

“Sarah Woodyard's Hand-Sewing Journey: From 18th-century Dressmaking Apprentice to Modern Day Hand-Sewist.” Mid-Atlantic Fiber Association. March 22, 2022. Invited Speaker.

“Remembering Charlot: Re-Stitching the Memory of Black 18th-century Seamstresses.” Materializing Race Activation and Engagement II: Making as Interrogatory Method, Virtual Conference, April 9, 2021. Invited Panel Presenter.

“From Collar to Cuffs: An Exploration of a Hand-Sewn Shirt. C. 1820-1840.” Tatter Blue Library, Virtual, March 30, 2021. Invited Speaker.

“Sarah Woodyard's Hand-Sewing Journey: From 18th-century Dressmaking Apprentice to Modern Day Hand-Sewist.” CVFG Guild Meeting and Program. November 7, 2021. Invited Speaker.

"Piecing Your (Sewing) Life Back Together: An Eighteenth-century Answer to Not Enough Fabric." Virtual presentation. Heritage Sewing and Skill Building Group. February 27, 2021. Invited Speaker.

“More Than Muslin: Changing Styles in the United States and England 1790-1820.” Federal Era Fashions Revealed: A Skill Building Sewing Weekend, Savage, MD, August 16, 2019. Keynote Speaker.

“Muslin and Lace: Fashioning the Mid- Atlantic Female Elite 1774-1784.” Details of Social Class & Style: A Skill Building Sewing Weekend, Keynote Speaker. Savage, MD. February 2019. Invited Speaker.

Keynote Address Panel. The Costume Society of America Annual Meeting and Symposium, Williamsburg, VA. March 17, 2018. Invited Panel Presentation. 

“Maintaining Fashion: The 18th-century Lady’s Maid of the Atlantic World.” CSA Regional Symposium, Winchester, VA. September 29, 2017. Juried oral presentation with Rebecca Starkins.

“Fashioning the Mid- Atlantic Female Elite 1774-1784.” The Art of Period Dress, Hunterdon County Cultural and Heritage Commission, Flemington, NJ, April 21, 2017. Invited Speaker.

“Maintaining Fashion: The 18th-century Lady’s Maid of the Atlantic World” Belair Mansion, Bowie, MD. November 2016. Invited speaker with Rebecca Starkins.

“18th-Century Female Mantua Makers and 21st-Century Makers: Uncovering the Skills and Techniques.” Dressing Global Bodies, Edmonton, AB, June 7, 2016. Juried oral presentation.

“Clothes for Bed.” Belair Mansion, Bowie, MD. November 2015. Invited speaker with Abby Cox.

“Martha Washington: The First Lady of Fashionable Footwear.” Cordwainers Annual Meeting, October 24, 2015, Invited Speaker.

“To Ribbons, and… and Caps Give a Grace: Fashioning Gender in 18th-century Women’s Caps.” CSA National Symposium, San Antonio, TX. May 2015. Juried oral presentation.

“The Tale of the Modern Day Apprentice.” Fashion Culture Network, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, 2015. Invited Speaker.

“The Morning Ramble, or The Milliner’s Shop.” Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Conference. “Millinery Through Time,” March 18, 2014. Invited speaker as Millinery Shop staff.

“Fashion or Anomaly?: A Study of a Gown from the North Carolina Museum of History’s Collection c.1785-1795.” 

  • Gadsby Tavern Museum Symposium. “Road to Regency.” Arlington, VA.  September 28, 2013. Invited speaker.

  • CSA National Symposium, Atlanta, GA. May 31, 2012. Juried oral presentation.

  • Costume Society of America Southeastern Regional Meeting, Ashville, NC. September 12, 2010.  Juried oral presentation.

PUBLICATIONS

Book Review: Lucy Johnston, 19th-Century Fashion in Detail, V&A Publishing and Thames and Hudson, London, England, 2016, The Journal of Dress History, Volume 4, Issue 1, Spring 2020.

Book Review: Susan North, 18th Century Fashion in Detail, V&A Publishing and Thames and Hudson, London, England, 2018, The Journal of Dress History, Volume 2, Issue 4, Winter 2018. Co-written with Michael Ramsey.

Contributor, Clothing and Fashion: American Fashion From Head to Toe, Volume 1, s.v. “Redingote,” “Robe a la Francaise,” “Robe a l'Anglaise,” “Robe Volante,” “Secondhand Clothes Trade,” “Wrapping Gown,” “Zone,” Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2016.

SERVICE IN PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Vice President of Education and Programs, The Costume Society of America — February 2020-May 2022

Award Committee Member: Millia Davenport Publication Award, The Costume Society of America,— 2019-2020.

Board Member, Southeastern region, The Costume Society of America — September 2015 - 2021. 

  • Chair of the Colleen Callahan Professional Development Grant.

Co-Chair National Annual Meeting and Symposium,  The Costume Society of America, Williamsburg, VA —March 13-16, 2018  

  • Organized the National Annual Meeting and Symposium for the Costume Society of America for approximately 300 attendees held at Colonial Williamsburg March 13-16, 2018.