Celebrating Rae!

Fit for Art is celebrating Rae Cumbie, who is being honored this month by the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals with its Lifetime Achievement Award. (Read ASDP’s announcement here.) Her colleagues at Fit for Art and fellow members of the ASDP Baltimore Chapter couldn’t be prouder of and happier for Rae! As part of this celebration, we thought it would be fun to share highlights of Rae’s sewing career with you. Rae graciously shared her memories and some photos with Carrie. We hope our readers will also share their favorite Rae stories and best wishes for Rae in comments to this post.

Early Sewing Memories

Like many sewists, Rae got an early start on sewing at home with her mom and, as her skills outpaced her mom’s, kind neighbors. Some favorite memories, in Rae’s words:

First memory – Sitting with my mom and a friend by the sewing machine, maybe 2d grade; Mom was busy stitching something and my friend and I were tufting small flannel blankets for our doll beds which we had first finished around the edges with blanket stitch and yarn.  There were many hand sewing projects – small table cloths, pillow cases with embroidery, hankies to be decorated…

Next memory – Sitting at the sewing machine working on a sundress, probably 4th or 5th grade, without my mother’s permission. Oops! I did not do it quite right and got in a bit of trouble! 

Junior High – Making an Easter dress in a linen/cotton fabric with a funnel neck with a guest instructor in Girl Scouts.  This is the project that led to the conversation with my mom about cutting notches out, rather than in, a story that I’ve told many times.  This was my first time using interfacing.

By the time I was in 9th grade I was sewing a good bit, making my brothers night shirts for Christmas, my clothes to wear to school, to dances, costumes for the school plays, etc.  That has never stopped though I do not dance much anymore. In 10th grade my mom went back to work as a secretary and I began making her dresses for work.  One basic shape in many different fabrics, which was her request. Sound familiar?  

Jumping into Business

Rae eased into sewing for others as a side hustle during high school, college and early working years:

My first sewing business came late in my high school career, after decorating a work shirt with Holly Hobby images. I was asked by a friend to make her one, and thus it all began and I kept doing that all through college.  My sewing machine, a Kenmore, was a graduation present from my parents with the caveat that I had to buy my own typewriter which they thought was much more important.  I made an occasional garment.  There is a fun story about the day I was sewing a new tee shirt to wear to a party over the weekend and was visited by my new guy friend, Jim Cumbie, who was shocked to know that a person could make a tee shirt.

For the first 9 years out of college, Rae worked as a Nursing Home Social Services staff member. During that time, she sewed extensively for herself and occasionally for a staff member or friend who needed a wedding dress, bridesmaid dress, appropriate clothes for young teens, etc.

When husband Jim went to law school in Charlottesville, Rae could not find a social work job for about 9 months. Instead she started working in a bridal shop, in both sales and alterations.  “This was an amazing learning experience on someone else’s dime.  Over time, I also did some heroic things like cut a size 10 dress sample down to a 6 since the dress had been sold but was no longer available from the manufacturer.  Removed a machine embroidered medallion from a tulle neckline, etc.  It was the place where I became knowledgeable about special occasion sewing and very brave.  I would try anything.”  Even though Rae met the administrator of the best nursing home in town while doing her Mother-of-the-Bride alterations, she continued working nights and weekends for the bridal shop to help make ends meet.

Home-Based Custom Clothier and Professional Growth

Rae and Jim moved to Baltimore in 1985 and had their first child that summer.  After the requisite 6-week maternity leave, Rae decided not to go back to the nursing home job and became a stay-at-home mom. After 6 months of that…

I was going crazy so I set up my special occasion sewing business in my home. Carrie was my first bride in Baltimore.

The business grew very slowly because a year after starting I had my second child.  Life was a blur but I did do a few jobs to keep the adult conversation going in the household.  I had a sewing room in the same room as the kid’s playroom.  I bought my first Bernina and serger.

In the early 1990’s Rae joined the newly chartered Baltimore Chapter of the Professional Association of Custom Clothiers.   PACC greatly expanded her vision of what it means to be a sewing professional.

Seeing that there were lots of folks with years of  experience, I volunteered to be the chapter’s program chairperson and proceeded for several years to find the speakers I wanted to learn from.  We had a very dynamic group that included two of my early mentors, Sarah Veblen and Susan Khalje.  My understanding of professional sewing expanded into couture techniques, advanced tailoring, mock-up making, fitting techniques and so much more.  My business continued to expand, too, and I had a very nice practice in my home based studio.  

When Rae’s friend and colleague Sarah Veblen became the newsletter editor of PACC in the 90’s, she asked Rae to do some writing for the printed and mailed newsletter. Rae became the PACC historian at about the same time, so she wrote mostly about the history of the organization.  Rae had never thought of herself as a writer (because of poor spelling skills) but Sarah encouraged her to start writing for magazines. Rae quickly began writing for Threads and Sew News in the 2000’s and has been a well-respected author in the sewing community ever since.

In 2005, Rae was named Baltimore’s Best Tailor by Baltimore Magazine. During this very creative time, Rae served as VP for Chapters at PACC which later became the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals.  When her children finished college, she agreed to serve as President Elect, and then President, of ASDP from 2010-2012.  

In 2015 several former national board members set up the ASDP Charitable Foundation, which had languished for some time after being established during Tina Colombo’s presidency.  This project is near and dear to Rae’s heart.

We started with $3,000 from an old scholarship fund but now, with 501(c)(3) status, we are free to accept tax deductible donations.  By of the end of 2025, we had over $60,000 in the bank and a very hard working Board of Directors that I have been proud to serve with every year.  The Foundation is now able to give grants each year to a charity that educates stitchers in a variety of ways.  The Foundation has just launched its website and begun investing some of its funds.  We hope to be able to give more than one grant a year in the future.

Wearable Art and Teaching

Rae began exploring wearable art during her years as an at-home mom and custom dressmaker as a way to flex her creative muscles and learn new skills.

During the seasons of the year when work was slow, instead of staring at the phone and hoping it would ring, I would try to master a new skill.  This is when wearable art began to interest me.  After Threads Magazine began to issue an annual challenge to our organization [ASDP], I entered each year.  These challenges really helped me test out new ideas and become intrepid about trying new things.  I believe I entered every year until I became President of ASDP, and then I took the challenge but did not enter it into the competition. 

Rae’s interest in wearable art grew over time and through relationships to others involved in creative textile arts, especially after 9/11 when business really slowed down.

I became involved in a Wearable Art group that met in a local quilting store where I met some very creative friends. I began entering wearable art contests and shows at local museums that were open to fiber art entries.  That led to a small craft show practice where I had a line of sheer, cotton and knit toppers and scarves using a variety of prints and stash fabrics.  These designs all had the square armhole that morphed into the Tabula Rasa Jacket.

Around 2005, she and fellow ASDP friend Edye Sanford, who had also launched a clothing line in fun cotton prints, teamed up to mount booths and sell their hand made wares at local and regional craft shows in the Baltimore area.

With the encouragement of quilters and weavers she met along the way, Rae began teaching about jacket making at regional fiber arts conferences.  This led to more teaching opportunities and workshops AND a frustration at not being able to find a jacket pattern for the classroom that worked for a variety of body types. As Rae’s expertise and reputation grew, she taught classes at annual conferences of the American Sewing Guild and ASDP.

As a member of the Potomac Fiber Arts Guild, in 2007 she applied for a grant to study jacket-making for quilters and weavers.  Over the next 2 years Rae worked with two quilters and two weavers to develop a pattern and make quilted and handwoven jackets for each participant in the grant. The results were well received by guild members and Rae learned a ton in the process. She remembers it as “a fun project which ultimately led to the Tabula Rasa Jacket pattern that debuted in 2011.”

Fit for Art Patterns

In 2010, Rae persuaded Carrie to join her in a new pattern-making venture with the initial goal of creating a jacket pattern that would work great for teaching, as well as being appealing to home sewers. Fit for Art Patterns was founded in December of that year.  

What a crazy period of learning and exploration we had putting together a company, a website, e-commerce store, finalizing and printing the pattern, writing directions and so much more.  Good thing I had my friend Carrie Emerson at my side.  It was really fun to have a business partner to share the good and the bad with.

Fit for Art jumped into action in 2011, attending expos as teachers, presenters on the show floor, and vendors.  We sewed up our first set of sizing shells for the Tabula Rasa Jacket, which were a huge hit at our first expo in the Fall of 2011. As the pattern business grew:

We also taught classes around the release of each pattern, traveled to ASG groups that hosted our classes and stores that hosted our trunk shows and classes.  We held small retreats in church halls to test patterns with some of our super fans.  That grew into more official retreats and Pants Licensing Events for sewing professionals.

Over this period I ultimately turned over much of my Bridal work to my colleague in craft show vending, Edye.  My back had become very fragile and I could not work on heavy gowns for quite a long time.  We finished our craft show days in 2012 with a sigh of relief.

Rae and Jim started making regular trips to France to visit their daughter, Anna, and her family. Rae was inspired to hold Fit for Art retreats in France and after a few years of research found the perfect location. Fit for Art’s first Enchanting France – Embellishing Fabric retreat was held at La Cascade in the summer of 2019.

Like so many of us, Fit for Art was stopped in its tracks by the pandemic, but soon rallied.

After some grieving over events that were canceled, we pivoted to teaching online and expanded our audience by writing for Classic Sewing.  Both were a great way to stay connected which we still take advantage of today.  We started stateside retreats again in 2021 and returned to France the summer of 2022.

Fit for Art began to reach international customers through our website, so in 2020 the company began to add downloadable digital patterns to its inventory. At first just the core patterns and new variations were translated into digital format, but soon the entire catalog became available in print or digital format.

Rae had long been sewing quilted garments, so in 2023 she approached Fox Chapel Publishing about writing a book on quilted jackets. They said yes and within a year the book was published; it’s already gone through 2 printings!

Rae proudly sums up Fit for Art’s accomplishments and ongoing activities:

Fit for Art now has 5 core patterns, 14 pattern variations and a book, Sewing Quilted Patchwork Jackets.  We have 11 years worth of weekly blog posts on our website which is full of great sewing and fitting information and step-by-step technique education. We also post regularly on Facebook, Instagram and maintain a number of inspirational boards on Pinterest.

We hold multi-day retreats twice a year in Baltimore and an annual retreat focused on creative stitching in France.  In 2027 we will again host a Pants Licensing Class for interested Sewing Professionals in conjunction with our Baltimore retreats. 

We hope this has been a fun walk down memory lane for you; it certainly has for us! Watch our social media posts this week for more photos from Rae’s long sewing career and next week for photos of the award event at the ASDP Conference.

In the meantime, if you have stories you’d like to share from your encounters with Rae over her sewing career, we’d love to hear them! Please drop a few lines in the comments to this post.

Keep on Sewing! Carrie