Fabric Choice is Everything! a chat with LaTisha Porter

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LaTisha Porter

LaTisha Porter was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, where she currently resides. She is a mother of two amazing daughters, Maiya Nicole and Makenzie Elise.

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LaTisha decided to make garments for women adding later both children and men to her line of custom sewing. The choosing of her company’s name, NicoleElise LLC, was developed by her desire to leave a legacy for her daughters using their middle names, Nicole and Elise. Her love for all things fashion has been since she can remember.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this episode:

• LaTisha’s sewing story
• LaTisha’s transition from a reluctant apprentice to where she is now
• What sparked LaTisha’s interest in sewing
• Philadelphia’s sewing scene
• Latisha’s experience in a magazine 
• How she overcomes the challenge of fitting another person

Quotes from the show:

• “The feeling that I got when I got into a fabric store was just overwhelming, so it just made me want to make things” –LaTisha Porter in “Stitch Please”
• “The Philly sewing scene is unscripted if you will, it’s very organic. No one is scared to be themselves and present what they like for themselves. No one sews alike, but everyone is bold in what they do, that’s the major thing” –LaTisha Porter in “Stitch Please”
• “I try not to conform to what everyone else does. If I like a pattern, and I wanna wear that pattern, and I’m gonna make that pattern about 50 thousand times. I’m not a one and done” –Latisha Porter in “Stitch Please”
• “One of the things about making 50 dresses in the same style: the difference between you doing that and maybe some fast fashion house is that every single one of yours is different”  –Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “A lot of times, people want something that they have seen me in. I mainly sew dresses and skirts for people” –Latisha Porter in “Stitch Please”
• “There’s no better time than now. If there’s something you wanna do, just do it. We have to turn the volume down on life, and listen to ourselves, and hear our hearts, and follow our path” –Latisha Porter in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Latisha Porter

Instagram: LaTisha Porter

Website: https://www.nicoleelise.shop/

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.