W
hen Portia Burgess goes somewhere, she goes big.
Burgess and her husband, John, wear matching outfits whenever they go out— all-white ensembles for a themed party; colorful patterned outfits for a birthday event; shirts to match their great-granddaughter, Zoe. “We always look good, always,” Burgess said. “Everybody’s eyes on us. Every time I walk in the door, they be like, ‘I know she made that.’ I’m like, ‘I sure did.’” A self-proclaimed “jack of all trades,” Burgess has been making her own clothes since taking home economics in the seventh grade. The very first thing she made was a jumper and pair of pants; her teacher, Ms. Stivers, made Burgess redo the clothes after she made a mistake. “I cut the face in two so I had to redo it, but after that I was good,” Burgess said. She began making clothes first for herself, then sold to others after she graduated high school. Hemmings, alterations, ball gowns, curtains, purses, scarves— Burgess does all this and more, often using her own designs. “All of it’s easy to me because I’ve been doing it so long,” she said. She gets inspiration by looking online at sites like Pinterest, Amazon and, her favorite, Etsy. Then she either buys a pattern or makes something up herself. Even when sewing to a pattern, she’ll change it up by taking away things she doesn’t like and adding something new in its place. “I had one auntie, she could just look at something and go back and buy the fabric and sew it,” said Burgess. “I used to have to have a pattern, but now I can do that, too.” Burgess’s aunts, along with six years of home economics, taught her how to sew. But her creativity is all her own. She uses her designs for hats, scarves and pillows, and often changes up patterns to suit her taste. If she had a signature creation, it would be her skirt design. Burgess uses jeans or jean skirts as a foundation, cutting off the bottom and replacing it with fabric, and making a belt from the same fabric for the top. “I like African fabric, mostly African outfits,” Burgess said. “Just plain, like a skirt and top.” Burgess sources her fabric from Amazon, Hobby Lobby and an African store on Woodhill. Once she got 15 bolts of fabric from a Wal-Mart that was shutting down. But for the African designs, Burgess can use something special. People she knows from UK have given her fabric from Africa. Burgess worked at UK as a crew leader for 25 years. In those years, she often sewed for other employees, making hats and scarves for her supervisors and faculty in the departments she was attached to. “I don’t miss the job, I miss the people,” said Burgess. Beth Barnes, a professor in the College of Communication and Information, has brought fabric back to Burgess from her trips to Africa. Barnes said she brought Burgess “a really pretty blue fabric” from Zambia, where CI formerly led a project. Fellow UK professor Mel Coffee suggested Barnes bring the piece back for Burgess. “And I thought, ‘of course, what was I thinking?’” said Barnes. “I brought it
40 | KRNL LIFESTYLE + FASHION
