By Scrap and Stitch, She Makes Dreams Fit

Suzanne Reams loves making costumes for princesses and pirates, fairies and brides.

Her work as seamstress and costume designer started almost 30 years ago when she was staging a pageant based on the birth of Christ and she couldn't find enough bathrobes for the characters. These days she outfits students at Bowie High School's performing arts programs, and sews a handful of prom dresses each spring. Sometimes those lead to requests to make wedding dresses or other formal attire.

Reams began creating wedding dresses 15 years ago. Often that involves altering dresses bought elsewhere. If a bride chooses her as the designer, she starts thinking about "what needs to happen to make that dream come true for them."

She learned to sew in the third grade; her mother drew a maze on fabric and told her to trace it with the sewing machine's needle. In the seventh grade, she took sewing classes and learned to turn ideas into reality.

Seamstresses can work in shops, such as a dry cleaner or boutique, but Reams toils at home in Bowie.

Her pack-rat tendencies allow her to use scraps from jobs such as weddings to subsidize the costumes for high schools and church theater groups. The clutter and the need to clean up are the only downsides, she says.

The work requires manual dexterity and concentration. About 85,000 people nationwide work in custom sewing, according to the government's Occupational Outlook Handbook. The median pay is $10.79 an hour.

Even for a self-employed seamstress, the hourly pay works out to be low because of all the time involved in designing, cutting, fitting and sewing.

Yet the creativity of developing something unique and bringing joy to clients is worth it, Reams said: "It's so much fun to play dress up."

-- Vickie Elmer