In the Press

The News/Times/Carol Kaliff

When Edna Dunston was in sixth grade, her mother bought her a sewing machine. It cost $99, a lot of money back then, Dunston says, "... but my mother is one of those women who believes children should be busy every moment of the day.  Mother had already taught me to knit, crochet and sew by hand. She expected me to teach myself to sew on a machine."

The investment paid off. Today Dunston owns Sophisticated Tailoring For Women, a one-woman company specializing in custom-made bridal and special occasion gowns, alterations and tailoring. The business is based in her meticulously organized Brewster, N.Y., home, out of which she teaches sewing as well as at the House of Fabrics in Brookfield. Dunston, who declines to give her age, has a friendly, gracious, yet measured manner. A native of Portchester, N.Y., she lives in Brewster with her husband, John.

"About three years ago, John and I were at a party where I saw a dress that caught my eye. I could make that dress and make it even better, I whispered to John. Then do it, he replied. I had a bachelor's degree in social work from Syracuse University, and I had a job in telecommunications, but John said these days that may not be enough. You also need a skill, he said. You never know when you might get laid off someday."

"I guess that's all I needed," Dunston says. "His advice motivated me to do something I'd thought about for a long time, but didn't want to do because it meant two years of Saturdays spent in New York City. I signed up to study women's tailoring at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. And it was a good thing. A week after I got my certificate from FIT, I was laid off from my telecommunications job."

Dunston is not a designer, she says, nor does she simply copy other peoples' work. What she's good at is combining design elements, sleeves, necklines, et cetera, to come up with something her customers want.

Dunston prefers dress patterns made by Burda Pattern Co., but also uses those made by Vogue and Butterick. Her dependency on ready-made patterns, however, may lessen after she masters her new computerized sewing software program.

"I can enter a customer's measurements into the system, select the desired elements, push a button and out comes a full-size, customized pattern," she says. "You don't even need a special printer. The pattern pieces are designed to be printed on a standard-sized printer and fitted together. It's wonderful."

"I don't tell anyone what to buy, I guide them. If they are shaped like a triangle, have big hips, uneven hips or a tiny waist, someone like me can make the difference. That's one of the advantages to having something custom-made. It's going to fit you correctly. But it's not inexpensive," she adds. "I had a customer recently who came in with a bridesmaid's dress that was way too small. The manufacturer wouldn't take it back, so it had to be remade. I had to pick the dress apart without cutting any of the fabric. Then I had to restyle it and re-sew it. I felt sorry for the young woman. She paid $110 for the dress and $170 for me to remake it. If I had made it from scratch it would have been cheaper. But the dress fit perfectly, and she was thrilled."

The average custom-made bridal gown takes 100 to 120 hours to make; Dunston likes to have at least eight months notice. The process starts with a free consultation to determine what the customer wants and expects, and proceeds with Dunston taking more than 30 measurements and discussing weight maintenance. "Brides are forever on diets, which is fine," Dunston says. "But they have to give me a cut-off time; I don't want to be altering the gown the day before the wedding. Once I know what they want, it's time to discuss fabrics, including lining, inner lining, satins, silks and lace. Then I order fabric swatches, which have to be approved before I order the actual fabrics." Though Dunston keeps hundreds of fabric swatches in her studio, she prefers working with silk shantung and Italian satins. "They're a little more expensive than domestic fabrics," she says, "usually between $25 and $29 a yard. But their weight and feel and draping characteristics are far superior." Fabric for a traditional gown, not counting trims, may cost more than $600. Dunston will work on the dress between five scheduled fittings with the bride, juggling a workload that may also include another wedding gown with a full complement of bridesmaid dresses, and custom-made draperies.

As an African-American, Dunston says, one avenue she would someday love to explore is native bridal wear. "I haven't been hired to make an African costume yet. But I do have a source for beautiful fabrics made in Kenya, and I'd love to make traditional African costumes for brides as well as grooms," she says. She shows a photograph of a bride in a gown of brilliant African fabrics and a large headpiece called a "Yoruba" or "fila."

"In my own wedding, my attendants and I wore traditional European-American-style gowns and the men wore tuxedos. But we did incorporate a few African traditions. I made the men's cummerbunds and bow ties out of Kenti cloth from Nigeria. We also observed the tradition of jumping the broom, which dates back to the days of slavery."

Edna Dunston in the workroom of her home-based business, Sophisticated Tailoring in Brewster, N.Y.