A story of DESIGN
Fun facts about me:
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I was born and raised in Alberta, Canada, but currently live in New Zealand.
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I find my biggest inspirations from music (and Pinterest).
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I was trained in pattern drafting, in 2007, but didn't start making PDF patterns till about 9 years later.
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I made my own wedding dress and didn't try it on till a few days before my wedding (thank the Lord, it fit).
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I'm a collector of skills - including photography, videography, birth doula services, childbirth education, art, and I fully design and write all of my digital content for my businesses. You can also find me at Chelsea Bootsman Doula.Photo.Film as well as Pathways Prenatal
Meet Chelsea
Hey friends! I'm a Canadian mom of four with a diploma in Costume Cutting and Construction (graduated 2007), and a passion for designing and creating.
Since attending college, I've worked on theater productions as head costume cutter, made bridal gowns, bridesmaid gowns, graduation gowns, maternity gowns....basically, I've just made a lot of gowns, with some clothing for my kids, and photo props sprinkled in there. I also started and sold a clothing business called Gracefully Birthed, and have mentored and taught other designers.
As a trained pattern drafter, I never really gave PDF patterns any thought, until one day, back in 2016, I decided to give in and try to navigate this unfamiliar digital pattern world. Starting out, my focus was on maternity prop patterns, under the business name Chelsea Celeste Designs. You can still find my photo prop patterns in my etsy shop, but my new focus and love is to continue with my mix and match patterns as well as women's ready-to-wear patterns.
My vision for these patterns is to give you a template for your own visions. I encourage people to play with and modify these classic shapes, simply using them as a stepping stool, while also keeping the designs fairly quick and easy to build.
If you love to design as much as I do, you will LOVE my pattern mixer on Canva. Head over there and give it a try!
Below was a custom graduation gown I had made for a client. Her inspiration was "bride of Frankenstein."
The fashion fabric is silk that I hand dyed and the bodice is a fully boned corset with steel and spiral boning. I had originally made this gown slightly too short (not on purpose), so I added a little pleated dust ruffle detail and it looks like it was always meant to be there!
