Bikini, lingerie, corsetière and brassiere: inside Carolina Gi’s world – LIVE

Lingerie, corsetière, brassiere: I’m a little confused about those words, and Carolina Gi’s blog makes me enter this planet of made-to-measure underwear with curiosity. The possibility of wearing lingerie that fits perfectly, is painless to wear, and is constructed to flatter your curves is very appealing; it’s so easy to buy bras that annoy and give discomfort! Carolina makes and teaches how to make underwear that doesn’t make you spend your days wanting to run home to get rid of it, or to find the right bra by extricating yourself from the sizes and models on the market.

I’ve been following Carolina on Instagram for years, I finally manage to meet her in Rome, to record a live episode of the podcast (Pop-up Green).

We are on a June afternoon, during the course she is holding “Create your bikini” at  PuntoPieno shop. With her, there are 3 current and former students: Cinzia, owner of PuntoPieno; Tamara, who took sewing courses with Cinzia; Emma, a very young trainee struggling with her first bikini.

You can listen to our talk here, where we talk about DIY swimwear, tailored underwear, craftsmanship and fast fashion. Do you know, for example, what a “bustaia” (corset-maker) is? Or where can you discover vintage lingerie? Or how feasible is it to make a bikini yourself?

Below we report the text of the episode. Take also a look at the photos of the swimwear created!

To follow Caroline: Website; Instagram.

Carolina, I was immediately struck by your initiative “Create your bikini”. What exactly is it about, what are you doing in this course?

Carolina: “In this course we help people who come to us to design a basic pattern, cut the lycra and build a wearable bikini with the cut lycra, applying the elastic. In addition, in the modeling part I always try to help understand how to modify the bases to have different shapes. For example, Tamara uses very small bikini bottoms. In her case we have created something a little taller, but very high cut. Starting from a base, it is modified to obtain the desired result.”

I just wanted to ask, are there any predefined models or, coming to the course, can you choose a model based on your shapes?

Carolina: “So having the base you can make changes. This is a triangle course as top. Modifications can be made starting from the triangle: a slightly longer band, they can be done differently with the seam, without seam, etc. But basically it is that, because unfortunately the modeling of the bra cup with underwire is a whole other world.”

The bottom instead can be modified, smaller as for Tamara.

Carolina: “Actually, changes can also be made for the top. For example, the triangle cup instead of the gathered seam, with the pence, with the padding inside, is still an alternative.”

How did this bikini course come about?

Carolina: “We’ve known each other for some time, she (Cinzia) was already taking courses. We said we wanted to organize something different together”.

Why bikini?

Carolina: “It’s because of her! (Tamara).

Tamara: “I don’t have the same size top and bottom. The bigger size of the ones on the market doesn’t suit me, I started having girls make custom-made costumes. When I started sewing I said to myself: ‘why can’t I do it myself?’.

Carolina: “She was there that day, and we said: ‘What shall we do?’. For me it is essential to have the opportunity to teach how to do things according to one’s own measurements. In fact, this is not a course on cutting. You use your own measurements. From there we developed the idea, it’s summer, so the bikini.”

How many lessons have you done so far?

Carolina: “Four lessons of two and a half hours. We are in the third lesson. She (Emma) has already finished the top. Since it goes fast, we’ll do a variant with the cup inside.”

Why make your own bikini instead of buying it?

Carolina: “First of all, the satisfaction of creating something with your own hands, which no one does anymore. We are in a world that is now accustomed to buying, using, throwing away. There is no longer the conception of what is behind it, we don’t know how things work. And there is no longer even the habit of manual skills. Here, patience is also lacking, we are no longer used to patience, we are all in this circuit of ‘everything at once’. Instead, manual skill pushes you to understand that everything has its time, its rhythm. It may happen that you unravel, start, but then you have something finished that you can say ‘I did it!

That is priceless! I wonder if you have any advice for anyone who wants to try to do it themselves.

Carolina: “Patience. Do it yourself. I always say give it a try. Today on YouTube, on the Internet you generally find a lot of things. Surely there comes a time when you need to have a guide, if you’ve never done what kind of work. If you do something different that you haven’t done, I say try it, if you see that you like it you have to meet someone who gives you at least some guidelines, at least the basics, and then you go on from there”.

To do things precisely and correctly. Like Emma, who started doing it herself, trying, and then she felt the need for the course.

Carolina: “Of course, for example, also remaining in the swimwear course, knowing how to put the pieces on the lycra… Because it is true that it is an elastic fabric but it has a sort of direction to be preferred.”

 

Who can take this course?

Carolina: “The course is for someone who already knows how to sew a little. Because you have to learn to sew a fabric that is a bit difficult, let’s say. Because it’s stretchy, most of the time it’s made of polyester and nylon, so it’s also really hard to sew mechanically: machines hate it! It takes at least knowing how the fabric works and therefore already knowing how to sew the fabric. Then it is not important to know the model because I teach modeling here.”

The difficulty is mainly the fabric, right?

Carolina: “Yes, and the elastic band”.

So you should have some dexterity with the type of fabric. A person who even has only basic knowledge but has a lot of dexterity can do well, which is the case for Emma.

Carolina: “It’s her case. She took a basic course with Cinzia which evidently allowed her to become familiar with the fabric. She took us to show things that she already does independently”.

Yes, today we have an excellent student here with us, as we said before, who excelled in the basic course with Cinzia.

Cinzia: “She was great”.

What’s your name?

Emma: “My name is Emma. Actually, I used the sewing machine even before, but it was always things I did on my own, nothing taught by anyone, just a little bit. My grandmother gave me a sewing machine for my 18th birthday and from there I started tinkering a bit. But then after a few years I said: ‘But I continue to do these somewhat basic, ugly things’. So mom gave me this basic course to learn the ABC.”

It’s a nice gift! Then you stood out for your skills and were able to attend the most advanced course. Now we have loaded her with expectations! What a pressure, really! Don’t worry, Emma, as if we weren’t there.

I ask you too. How did you start this sewing adventure?

Cinzia: “I’m Cinzia, I’m the owner of PuntoPieno. I opened this place about two and a half years ago, in December of 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. There is someone who says: ‘Eh, courageous!’, I would perhaps say reckless, but in any case I am still here, thanking heaven. I love teaching sewing, I love to sew, I always have. While I did the classic secretarial and managerial assistant jobs, as soon as I had a free moment I would sew at home or even take sewing courses at a rather high level, in a professional tailor’s shop. This allowed me to be a seamstress to all intents and purposes, but above all to specialize in teaching.”

So it was a plan B, a hobbythat eventually became a job.

Cinzia: “In 2017, unfortunately, the company I worked for had a major crisis and I was fired. I asked myself: What do I do? Am I looking for another job as an assistant manager or do I give it a try? I gave it a try, and from 2017 to the end of 2020 I was able to carry out this challenging project. I met Carolina in a women’s business association called Rete al femminile, also at I mercoledì della mansardina. When you have mutual esteem, the desire to work together is easily born. I invited her here to teach a pilot course, where Tamara and I were two students. Tamara is a long-term student of mine, who is practically planted here in a permanent location with my great pleasure.”

Tamara: “In a while I’ll have my residence here, the documents are arriving!”

Cinzia: “We did the first pilot course, we loved it, we revised the timing, the necessary materials so as to be able to offer it in the best possible way to everyone and we have now re-proposed it in June. We hope to be able to do it again in July.”

Yes, because these things must be encouraged!

Cinzia: “Self-production enriches self-esteem, makes us make new connections, enriches creativity. Self produce, anything. Obviously I love to sew, I’m in this area, but self-production is truly something extra”.

What do you do with fabric scraps?

Cinzia: “With the waste of fabrics used during the courses, even simply in my production, there is a certain amount that is discarded. I always try to recover and reuse all the pieces for which I create small objects that can easily be used”.

What did you like the most about the pilot course and what made you say: “This is a course to be repeated”? What is the best thing about the course you did?

Cinzia: “The feeling of having the finished product. I’ve been sewing for several years already, I have experience. I must say that lycra made me a little nervous. It’s not that easy to sew. Obviously with all of Carolina’s tricks and teachings, I’ve already reached the third bikini! And I definitely intend to sew more. The thing I liked the most is having the first bikini in my hands. And immediately wanting to make another one, and then another one. This is one thing that I liked without a doubt the most.”

Carolina: “Let’s say that during the course she wasn’t really that happy! ‘Don’t worry, we’re getting to the end’, I said.”

Tamara: “Lycra is a bad impact. During the course there were moments when I looked at Cinzia and said: ‘But I can continue to buy them! No, why do I have to make them myself??? I do something else by myself, I’m already sewing, I’m doing something else! In reality, what Cinzia says is true. The first bikini, with all the limitations of the case, can’t be perfect, but beyond everything, I also chose the lycra badly. It’s only right that Cinzia chooses it, it wasn’t a ‘nice to sew’ lycra. Even Carolina admitted it. It’s one more difficulty. So, having removed this obstacle of the first bikini, we bought lycra together, we made the second bikini together independently and… I actually went down to the beach wearing this bikini (I have so many, I have a drawer full) in my opinion it was the most beautiful bikini. Then you feel like duplicating them. She had told me: ‘If you want in the future you can add the cup’. In the third bikini I put the cups and it went very well.”

I saw a photo of you wearing it, then I don’t know now if we can publish it to show the final result, nice! You can see that it fits perfectly.

Tamara: “I like that. Beyond the aesthetics of the bikini, my biggest doubt was: ‘Having done the bikini, if I wear it, is the effect similar to what I buy?’. Actually I have to say yes. I particularly like it, because obviously when the fact that you did it yourself intervenes, it has a value. I finished this one yesterday and I can’t wait for tomorrow just to put on my new swimwear.”

You make me think, you know?, about this. Because in my opinion the fact of self-production also gives satisfaction. It also serves as an anti-stress, there are a myriad of reasons, you can choose materials, perhaps even recycled. Having done it ourselves, giving it a different value than the one bought, it touches on an aspect of sustainability that I hold dear. Just to make the things we have last as long as possible, right Carolina?

Carolina: “Of course, when one sews something, she/he does it with the fabrics you prefer. Maybe quality, because it’s clear that if you go and buy things that are already made you’ll find the fabric they use, which isn’t always the best, we know that. Instead, by doing it yourself, you can also find quality fabric. If you have done something well, cut it well, it fits you well, you keep it. You use it and you don’t need much to make it always new. You can also modify it if you increase or decrease it over time or if you want to change something about the style. You can always intervene on the garment that you made yourself. With a garment you buy, which has no seam allowances, which is made with poor quality fabrics, you can’t intervene much.”

This matter of materials, I was also pleased to touch it because probably someone who will then listen to the podcast or read the article knowing me will think: “Are you talking about materials such as polyester, lycra, synthetic materials?”. I talk about it and I like to talk about this project. Apart from finding alternatives, such as recovering old fabrics.

Carolina: “Old swimwear, for example, or other things that can be recovered. Because the elastic bands unfortunately decay over time. If the time comes they crumble, they last a few years, but you can actually reuse the fabric. Now you can also find recycled lycra.”

Perfect! They are also studying new materials. Moreover, I love recovery.

Carolina: “I make a swimsuit that lasts as many years as I want.”

On the other hand, it is one thing to buy a 100% polyester dress from a fast fashion brand that I maybe wear for two months and then I turn it into textile waste.

Emma: “Speaking of Shein and the various fast fashion chains, it’s something that is very close to my heart, because it’s been like 4-5 years since I’ve been in these stores anymore.”

Were they all like you, it’s nice to hear so!

Emma: “Now there are so many alternatives. Markets, small markets, those sites like Vinted and second-hand sales. I’ve realized now, after so many years of buying only used, vintage things from mum’s and grandma’s wardrobes, when I go in (those stores), just touching the fabrics, that it’s a bad quality. And not only. Just doing this course I realized how impossible it is for a pair of trousers to cost €10 on Shein! Because only the fabric, I paid €30 for it, then you have to add the labour”.

Tamara: “Theoretically also the energy you use for the sewing machines. But in fact anyone who does not sew does not realize. For example, last time I made trousers, now I’m making a suit, 2.20 meters of fabric. If the fabric costs around €20 per meter of fabric alone, it’s more than €50”.

Emma: “They are certainly much faster processes than the ones done by hand, because everything is industrialized and so on. But it is clear that it is inevitable that the worker is underpaid, or even she/he is not paid at all, because otherwise it is not really sustainable!”

In my opinion this type of activity really serves to understand the work behind it, which should then actually be done with every product, object that we buy. Because we’ve maybe lost touch with the production side. Not knowing what lies behind it, we tend to underestimate a lot, we are unable to give an economic value.

Cinzia: “In fact, craftsmanship, in addition to tailoring, when one goes to the seamstress to have a made-to-measure suit made, is thought to have absurd prices. Not true, they are the right ones. Because apart from the material, the hours of work needed and not only that, even the skills we have, which we have built up over the years, are in any case added values that we put into the finished product and therefore it would be fair to repay it adequately. But what’s the difference? We see that we are placed on the same level as chains like H&M, like Shein, like Zara. There is no comparison and yet we are compared. Not us in general as craftsmen, but the final product itself is compared, when it is actually on another planet. Unfortunately, a handcrafted product is considered a luxury product. And it shouldn’t be like this.”

Yes, that’s what I often say, that it’s distorted: the right price has become expensive because it has dropped, there is someone who has pulled it down a lot. So we have lost a correct term of comparison, instead this would be the correct price.

Tamara: “The other day I was talking to a friend of mine who said to me: ‘Tami, I bought trousers from Shein. It stinks a lot of oil, what can I do? I told her I wouldn’t wear it in any case. Do you know what she answered me? ‘You know what? I wasn’t convinced, but it cost so little that I thought that even if I put it on twice and throw it away…’.
I also happened to go to flea markets, the first thing I do now is to go around and look at how it is sewn. ‘This is all wrong!’ I practically took the clothes apart, and walked away. I love flea markets, I spend a lot of time there. After the second market I go to her (Cinzia) and I say I will never buy anything again!”

This made me remind of my grandmother, who every time I brought her something and said “Can you make it shorter”, she looked at it, immediately turned it upside down, looked at the stitching and said “It’s all sewn wrong!”. I would like to ask you too, what did you like most about doing the course with Carolina?

Tamara: “That despite everything, lycra can be sewn! First of all, the possibility of wearing a bikini made entirely by me.”

Quanti ne hai fatti? How many did you make?

Tamara: “Three.”

And are you ready for the forth?

Tamara: “I’ve already bought the lycra and next week I’ll start the forth.”

I like it very much, I’m curious to see the fourth too then.

Carolina Gi is not only swimwear, it is also another world and I have accumulated a bit of curiosity. Could you briefly help me sort out the various terms related to your business?

Carolina: “Actually, they are all part of the same discipline. Brassiere is the French word for bra. Here in Italy, however, it indicates a certain type of bra, which is not very structured. Almost like the bralette, but while the bralette, more in lace, is more aesthetically elaborate, the brassiere is a bra without underwire, perhaps of the undershirt type or in any case in cotton, more practical. Corsetière could be the correspondent of ‘bustaia’ but linked to the world of corsets. Lingerie indicates the sector of the bra, the petticoat, the garter belt, the whole world of intimate apparel, but also something more linked to the more aesthetic than functional side.”

So we clarify a bit, we no longer even ask ourselves what is behind it and if they have different names because there is also a different craftsmanship behind it. Earlier you mentioned the ‘bustaia’ (corset maker). I read in your blog that you were talking about it regarding jobs that disappear.

Carolina: “Bras have entered our history, our life, not for a long time. There were no shops where you went to buy bras. There was the seamstress who specialized in the sector, the corset maker, who made the bra, made the body shaper, the girdle. Again, things were made to measure. The ready-to-wear shop wasn’t there. Department stores started appearing, but not everyone went there. Not everything was there either. Many people did things at home. Many went to the seamstress, and if you wanted something special in terms of underwear you had to go to the ‘bustaia’. There is a different preparation, you are dealing with different fabrics, with different shapes and patterns. If you wanted a bra or girdle or corset because maybe you wanted to tighten your waist a little, you went to the corset maker.”

Can we define you as a modern ‘bustaia’?

Carolina: “Yes, I use the word corsetière, first of all it seems to me a somewhat French term. But it is no longer found. If you go looking, you’ll find someone who has kept the name, perhaps they are shops that still have a certain longevity. But when they refer to the ‘bustaia’, they mean a person who, if you go there, buy the bra and have to make the change, does it. They don’t do the “made to measure”. I couldn’t find other people. Not only in Rome, not even around Italy.”

 And abroad? Because you wrote ‘Abroad is another matter, maybe I’ll tell you, this is another story’.

Carolina: “Yes, then I never told it! Abroad, meanwhile, there are people who do the same job as me, but do-it-yourself works much more. There are many people who sell the model in multiple sizes. There are many groups where you enter and ask for help because maybe you are not able, because you take a size, the one that comes closest but you have to do the fitting of the thing you know you have to create for yourself. In that case, if you don’t know how to do it, you have to get help. So there are many who help each other. And then they sell the sets. There are companies that sell the piece of lace, the piece of fabric, the elastics, the closures, the caps. There is a huge world, there are also many online courses.”

Carolina, why did you choose this job?

Carolina: “I come from a fashion academy, I’m a stylist, a model maker. For many years I have dealt with clothing, both in tailors and on my own privately. Then came a moment… Do you know those things that are in front of you, but you don’t see them? One day I was on the verge of desperation, I said: ‘I can’t take it anymore, I’m going to look for bras for myself and I can never find them (I have a large size). But why don’t you do it yourself?” My light bulb went on. I’ve actually always had a great love for lingerie and corsetry. Corsets are already slightly different from lingerie, a parallel, beautiful world that I love madly, but it’s a little different. So, I started experimenting, looking for information, seeing people, talking. In short, slowly I bought the modeling books. In Italy there are no courses. Being already a pattern maker it was easier for me. If you don’t have the basics it’s a little more complicated, above all because, in fact, there are no schools in Italy. I’d like to create a school where one can learn to make lingerie and corsetry. Now some girls have started doing something, but they’re always limited, they never arrive at the real tailored made. They are always tailored made, made to measure, always standardized things. So it’s hard to be able to solve exactly that kind of problem.”

Cinzia: “In the meantime, however, we could do some courses here.”

Let’s think big, we start small, and meanwhile in the long term…

In your opinion, in this society which is dictated by frenetic pace even in consumption, by the rush to own garments based on the brand, by the loss of sight of the importance of quality in favor of quantity instead, according to you, do we underestimate, out of ignorance, the importance of wearing tailored underwear?

Carolina: “Yes, especially in the bra sector. We are led to think that we buy a bra, make it wearable and we have solved. Too bad it’s not like that. A bra must support a certain way, it must not hurt you when you wear them, it must not give you back pain. It has a structure. Going back to the previous discussion, for example, maybe I’d go looking in the shops, find the fifth D bra cup for me, tie it on and I’ve solved it! But after two days it didn’t fit me anymore, because the cup wasn’t the right one, the underbust, the band wasn’t the right one.”

Vintage lingerie, your passion. What do you particularly like about vintage lingerie? Is there any piece that makes you feel this passion?

Carolina: “I grew up with those wonderful Hollywood-style films, including Italian ones, with Sofia Loren, with all the most famous actresses, best known all over the world. They were often represented in films in romantic scenes with a dressing gown, guêpière, garter belt. I have those references that were objectively very beautiful, I’m in love with that aesthetic. I like to search from photos to information. Every now and then I enjoy reproducing, for example, a bra following a model. I had a book of models, there are photos with the design on graph paper, so it could be redone in exactly the same size and so I did, I was able to redo those things. Bringing back the garter belt, bringing back the guêpière, these things here, why not?”

I would ask you if you have a book to recommend for discovering vintage lingerie.

Carolina: “More than a book, I’ll give you two websites, ok? One is a site that you actually enter with a subscription, but has tons of articles that are also accessible for free: Foundation Revealed. You can find everything related above all from corsets to swimwear. It is a large Anglo-Saxon community that loves costumes, loves proposing and recreating them, everything that was worn underneath, that is, they are truly very very particular historical reconstructions. Another wonderful site is Underpinning museum. Someone with this passion did a crowdfunding and set up this museum where there are all the vintage garments, from all eras, and continues to add them. Some are reproductions, some are originals. It is a virtual museum. I don’t remember if they are British or American. It truly is a wonderful archive of photographs, full of spectacular models.”

Let’s talk about some ideas for courses. You can’t find the beautiful bodysuits of the past anymore. I found myself, for at least 2-3 years, with a desire for those very very feminine bodysuits. What about a course to make them?

Cinzia: “We will do everything!”.

Carolina: “Here it’s getting difficult!”.

Slowly, slowly, I’d love to make one of those, perhaps starting with a simpler model. When you come here to sew are there machines available?

Carolina: “She (Emma) brought hers, she set it because so at home it already starts from ‘to make this seam we use this stitches and this thread tension etc.’ But there are also some sewing machines available. In the pilot course we used all the machines we have here in the laboratory to understand which were the best settings based on each machine, the right needle, the size of the stitch, the type of thread to use. We invite you if you want to sew at home too, maybe if you have the opportunity to bring your own machine, because it’s a particular setting, then it’s worth it”.

One leaves the world outside. She/He sits there, thinks about sewing. There is herbal tea, a biscuit. I really like this dimension, that is, it’s not just the course itself. We come here, we chat, which is not just ‘you make your own bikini’, but you create a world, a network of people to be with.

Tamara: “Indeed, a world opens up for you. The first few times I needed Cinzia, I always need Cinzia but now I can understand. I didn’t call Cinzia and tell her: ‘I have to make an electric toothbrush case’. I called Cinzia and said: ‘Among the waterproof fabrics, which one can you give me?’.”

And then she gives the advice on fabrics.

Tamara: “I have to be honest about the suggestions for fabrics: I’ve never seen them quite as beautiful as here at Cinzia’s. The quality, the choice is really something special.”

Cinzia: “When I can, I also try to choose totally or partially recycled fabrics. One thing I always say is that polyester is demonized a lot, and it’s true, absolutely true, but unfortunately cotton doesn’t have a particularly low impact.”

I totally agree, there isn’t the perfect fabric, but many people think: “It’s natural!”, actually natural doesn’t mean it’s sustainable. it doesn’t actually exist. Polyester has pros and cons, the cons of course being that it comes from petroleum. The pro is that it doesn’t use as much water as is used for cotton. One fabric cannot be demonized over another.

Carolina: “Mine, among other things, is a sector where it is difficult to say: ‘We sew sustainably’, because for example natural fabrics that can be used are few. Clearly, according to common feeling, most of the fabrics used in lingerie are polyester. It’s clearly demonized by now, but yes, wait there too. It gives you features that help you wear it in a certain way, it’s long-lasting, because in any case it takes time before it breaks.”

This is why it is important that you like it a lot, to keep it for a long time.

Tamara: “I am in contact with young people in my work, and they don’t have this culture.”

Cynthia: “Except Emma!”

Tamara: “She’s really are a rare case!”

Emma is our gem.

Tamara: “Even my pupils and others, even the generation immediately before (like that of my nephew), grew up with the possibility of buying at low cost and having a thousand alternatives. When I was younger it’s true that maybe I bought anyway, but it was much more expensive regardless, and you didn’t have all this variety that allowed you to have such an affordable price. Even if the sweater for me, the trousers cost me enough, it was a more conscious choice. Now if you go to the shops the shirt costs €10, if you’re not convinced you buy it anyway.”

Carolina: “Let’s say that this fabric costs €2 per meter for the industry. Then there’s the thread, the current, the lining, the buttons, the zipper. We add 5 €.”

It doesn’t add up…

Tamara: “But the fabric is the one that takes the most money from me in the project.”

Plus the working hours.

Tamara: “Work must be quantified”.

Cinzia: “Work in the sense of how long it takes you to do the thing”.

Tamara: “Yesterday a girl said to me: ‘How beautiful this is! Well, how long does it take you to make the pants?’ That’s not how long it takes. You buy the fabric, you buy the thread”.

Emma: “It’s not just ‘you buy the fabric’ here. It’s ‘you go out, get in the car, go get the fabric, choose it”.

Which is the same thing that smaller brands do.

Emma: “I’m lucky because I studied sculpture and installation, so I really know the value of handmade things, plus I also had my grandmother who sewed. Hence also the importance of taking used things. In all the work I do, even sculpture, I always try to have as little waste as possible, use as little plastic as possible, natural elements. Even in that field, which is very difficult.
Grandma wants a hand modifying her swimsuit!”

Cinzia: “Now you give her a hand, instead!”.

(Emma shows the bikini she is sewing). All: “Wow. How beautiful, very beautiful!”

Cynthia: “Can I tell you something? My first bikini didn’t turn out so well! Mine was much wavier.”

Carolina: “In fact I was about to say: ‘Ask them how it was!’ I guarantee you that to be the first bikini it’s coming out great!”

Now a curiosity: I still can not sew straight!

Cinzia: “Ok, come and have a lesson with me! Look, actually you lack the reference point. When you’re in a car, what keeps you going straight is following the lines out of the corner of your eye. On a deserted road it’s the lines that allow you…, in fact when they aren’t there on a country road, it’s only asphalted for example, it’s difficult to stay in one’s lane. When you sew it’s a bit the same thing. When sewing you need to choose a reference point, whether it’s the edge of the foot, the notches on the needle plate, a guideline, a reference point”:

Mi piacerebbe venire a fare il corso! I would like to do the course!

Cinzia: “Great”

Grazie per questo pomeriggio insieme! Mi piace pensare che un mestiere come quello della bustaia non stia scomparendo, che sia qualcuno/a che continuerà ad appassionarsene e a raccontarne la bellezza, magari imparando proprio da Carolina, incuriosito/a dalla sua intervista e dal blog. Ci meritiamo di indossare un intimo comodo e bello!

Thank you for this afternoon together! I like to think that a profession like that of  ‘bustaia’ is not disappearing, that there’s someone who will continue to be passionate about it and tell its beauty, perhaps even learning from Carolina, intrigued by her interview and blog. We deserve to wear comfortable and beautiful underwear!

Carolina Gi website; Instagram

Photos by: cover, Riccardo Scrocca; Carolina Gi, Cinzia, Tamara, Emma.