Final stitch. After hours of threading, piercing, and guiding the needle through the fabric junior Olive Reining has finally finished her creation. She takes her foot off the sewing pedal and places the piece on her mannequin. However, it’s not a dress or a shirt; rather, it’s a Halloween costume, one that she has been creating for months, continuing a tradition of ten years.
Reining has been sewing since she was eight years old. During the pandemic, Reining fully immersed herself in sewing, teaching herself how to make a variety of her own designs.
“In sixth grade I really got into it,” Rening said. “I was a really bad sewer but I wanted to be able to make my Halloween costumes at home.”
Reining said for the past five years, she has been taking sewing classes, which have allowed her to continue her creativity and learn how to make new pieces.
Reining has entered the California Make it With Wool contest the last two years. According to the contest’s website, the contest promotes creativity and the versatility of sewing, knitting, and crocheting using wool fabrics and yarns.
“I got fifth place this year and fourth place last year in the competition,” Reining said.
In addition to entering competitions, Reining also uses her talent to teach kids sewing lessons.
“The place I take classes at offered me a job to teach other kids during the summer and everything was pretty much already set up so it’s been super fun,” Reining said.
Reining’s annual Halloween costume creates excitement during the month of October among her friends as they try to guess what costume she will be making.
“She will usually keep it secret until Halloween and we all try to guess what she’ll be wearing,” junior Elena O’Connell said.
Along with sewing Halloween costumes, Reining also spends her time creating skirts, pants, and shirts. However, her creations don’t stop at clothing– Reining helps her friends with sewing pointe shoes for ballet.
“We were around eleven or twelve when we got our first pair of pointe shoes and that’s when she would help me sew them,” O’Connell said.
Not only has Reining’s passion for sewing influenced her friends’ lives, it has also allowed her to start a tradition of creating handmade Christmas presents for her family each year, including a dress for her mom and a quilt for her dad.
“It’s always been our tradition to make each other handmade presents,” Reining said. “I don’t think I intentionally started sewing for the Christmas presents but it has definitely become a big thing that I like to do during the holidays.”
Reinings sister, Rose Reining, has said that her sister has helped her with her failed sewing projects, one of them being an apron.
“It’s like my favorite thing that she’s made for me because it’s also super useful and I use it all the time,” Rose said.
While watching TV, both Reinings will sit with each other while one of them sews and the other crochets and knits. Rose watches her sister work on her projects and sees the steps that are taken throughout the process.
“She does a great job of drafting patterns that are really high quality. When she makes things she really spends a lot of time using the right materials,” Rose said.
Olive said that she is considering double majoring in college with a focus in costume design as a way to continue her passion for sewing and creating new pieces of fashion.
“I think continuing to sew in college would be really fun,” Olive said. “I’m not exactly sure what I would do with it necessarily, but I’d definitely love to continue it.”
