Local designer teaches students how to tell their own stories through sewing

Clothes are more than just clothes to Fair Fit Studio owner Andrea Eastin. They are works of art, conversations and stories.

Eastin created Fair Fit Studio two years ago to share this idea with students and teach them how to make their own clothing.

She launched the studio as an outlet for her love of sewing, designing and teaching. She had tried other jobs in the fashion industry previously—she owned two clothing lines, participated in national and international fashion exhibitions and worked as a costume seamstress on the set of Pitch Perfect 2—but didn’t quite feel the same connection as she does with teaching.

“I realized I was going about my dream in all the wrong ways,” Eastin says. “I wanted sustainability and a way to keep growing and keep creating.”

Eastin says the fashion industry often takes creative expression and converts it to generic advertising and mass-produced clothing. She loves clothes and fashion, but she wants to create items with a distinctive purpose. Her brand’s mantra is “Make clothes on purpose, with purpose.”

“Make clothes on purpose, with purpose.”

—Fair Fit Studio’s mantra

Eastin’s personal designs exude her spunky personality. She isn’t afraid to mix patterns or pair two unassuming colors, and she encourages her students to experiment in similar ways.

“I see clothing as a means of communication,” she says. “As a teacher, I want people to understand that clothing is a way to tell stories, and that they should design their clothes with the purpose to tell those stories.”

Eastin operates Fair Fit Studio from the first floor of her Mid City apartment, a cozy makeshift studio adorned with eccentric artwork and fabric wallpaper. It’s a personal space that radiates enthusiasm and encouragement.

The studio’s name comes from Eastin’s now-defunct clothing line, Fair Fit, which centered around the functionality of clothing. Eastin emphasizes the designers’ maxim, “form follows function,” in her own work.

She offers small in-studio classes, private lessons and a range of services, including custom clothing creation and alterations.

Her classes focus on a core curriculum beginning with the basics of sewing and machine technique before moving on to lessons that focus on patterns, design and garment construction.

Eastin doesn’t plan to expand her studio into a commercial space, but she does intend to increase her clientele. In 2016, her goal is to expand her website into an interactive online experience, complete with webinars, video tutorials and podcasts.

She will continue to teach small classes and one-on-one lessons in person.

Though Eastin’s business isn’t traditional and it isn’t quite commercial, she says Fair Fit Studio is evolving into what is best for her and the connection with her students.

“My dream is coming true, just not in the way I thought it would,” she says.

MORE INFORMATION: Visit fairfitstudio.com to register for classes. Fair Fit Studio is at 401 Longwood Court, Unit C.