Thorold resident Amy Shaw has realized her long-time dream of opening her own tailor shop on Front Street. At Amy Shaw Design, she wants to make people feel good about themselves.
“My favourite part of the job is doing custom clothing,” Shaw tells ThoroldToday. “I measure a person, talk about what they're after, and then build them something from scratch. But I do a ton of alterations like repairs and hemming — Just to make things fit better.”
Shaw is originally from B.C. and says that she learned to sew from a very early age.
“It's always just been part of my life,” Shaw says. “I was a very tall and skinny kid. Nothing really fit. That's when I learned alterations and how to make things work for me. A lot of my discovery was about taking things apart and then trying to put them back together.”
In 2019, Shaw moved to Ontario and started slowly building her own brand. After running Amy Shaw Design out of her home for the last couple of years, Shaw moved into her shop on Front Street over the summer.
“I fell in love with Front Street when I took a job with Shannon Passero,” she says. “I worked on their sales team for five months and now I actually do their alterations. I've gotten some really good support from the community on Front Street. Everybody’s really lovely.”
While Shaw completed a fashion degree at the Blanche MacDonald Centre in B.C., she says she has had many different mentors over the years.
“There are so many different ways of doing things,” Shaw says. “I've learned under a lot of different master tailors and seamstresses to really hone my skills. There's so much to learn just on the job by observing other people.”
Now, Shaw is passing on her knowledge by offering sewing classes herself.
“It's pretty self-guided,” she says. “I start everybody off from ground zero. We make a little handkerchief. And then the second class we make a tote bag. And then the third and fourth class we make a pair of pyjama pants. And then from there, I kind of let people choose their own adventure.”
Shaw prefers to work with natural fibres, such as cotton, wool and silk.
“There's always the discussion of what's good for the environment,” she says. “I feel that less polyester is better.”
When it comes to her own designs, Shaw pulls from many different inspirations.
“Sometimes I'll watch a TV show and I'll really like an article of clothing that somebody is wearing,” Shaw says. “When it comes to other people, it starts with them. What do you want? What makes you happy? Sometimes people bring fabric already. The fabric store can definitely be a good launching point.”
For Shaw, helping others feel beautiful is what makes her happy.
“I think just that moment when somebody puts something on and it's what they wanted,” she says. “ Whether it's a pant hem or something from scratch — they put it on and it's for them and they feel good. I just like to make everybody look and feel better.”
Amy Shaw Design is located at 24 Front St South, and is accessible through the rear entrance.
