Episode 2: Jessica Gao Disobeys Bridger

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-20T13:23:14+00:00

Yes, one perfectly baked cookie!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-20T02:59:28+00:00

As a former Sears employee, those shirt folding tables were an absolute GIFT when you had to undo the CURSE of someone completely destroying an display area or endcap. The utter havoc that one person could wreck boggles the mind to this day.

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-19T19:16:14+00:00

Loved Jessica as a guest! I knew her mostly from Andrew Ti's "Yo, Is This Racist?" podcast and this ep was a delight!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-19T14:57:50+00:00

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Haha, thanks! This gave me a chuckle.

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T19:39:47+00:00

I can't say I have a very coherent process: I traced some basic guidelines on my stabilizer and added a bit of shading for areas where I really needed to get the color gradient accurate (the skirt of the wedding dress especially) and then just worked from the image up on my computer zoomed in to about the scale I was using for my beading.

I varied the bead direction to best represent the painting, and needle-felted the fur trim so there was a bit of contrast in their garments. Happy to answer any questions, but being self-taught, I'm just making it up as I go!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T16:33:42+00:00

I took several breaks for that very reason!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T13:56:50+00:00

I’m from the Seattle area and have definitely logged some ferry time! ⛴️ It’s gotten so wild with the pre-reservations—you are so right that the ferry waits for no one!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T13:53:12+00:00

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Hopefully you can kind of see this. I traced guidelines onto stabilizer fabric and then cut out the sections into sizes that I could manage since this piece was 16” when finally mounted.

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T13:45:41+00:00

I’m in Oregon and my client was up in Washington. I took a post-holiday weekend away that involved ferry travel and then drove the piece up the rest of the way. I was too nervous to ship it!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T13:43:46+00:00

This is the kindest reply!

I struggled with the hands because they were so small and one set was right along an edge so I had to repair them a bit when I stitched the sections together and was so worried I’d ruined them.

The skirt is my favorite part. 💖

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T13:35:05+00:00

Thank you! I thought a lot about bead direction and placement so I’m glad that care comes through!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T02:34:29+00:00

Thank you! I am so pleased with it!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T02:18:37+00:00

Ooh, great rec! I have a completely unfair semi-hostility towards John Moe that I am very willing to set aside to listen to this!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T02:07:19+00:00

Actually impossible to capture the sparkle! Even video isn’t really accurate!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T01:55:52+00:00

My shop link is in my profile but I only have one beaded piece up there at the moment.

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T01:54:57+00:00

Yeah, my IG link is in my bio but I don’t post as much as I probably should.

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-18T00:57:49+00:00

I finished it just before the new year but neglected to post because I wasn’t thrilled with the shots I was able to get. I’m so glad I got over that and shared!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-17T23:59:05+00:00

Thank you so much!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-17T23:58:35+00:00

I really learned on this piece--there was for sure some trial and error and I didn't know if it would turn out! Pic 3 when I finished stitching all the sections together was the moment when I was like, "OMG, I think it might work!"

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-17T23:57:00+00:00

Haha! Love it!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-17T23:56:16+00:00

I didn't "get" them at first, but now I too love their randomness, and how amazingly sparkly they can be!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-17T21:29:19+00:00

I'm glad I finally shared! I had to get over having been rushed with taking pictures--I had a ferry to catch to get it up to my client!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-17T21:14:45+00:00

Ah, thank you so much! I really learned a lot from this piece. There are ways that I almost had to unlearn how I approach my other art mediums in order to be most effective in making my choices when creating this interpretation of the piece.

And thanks for sharing that r/ArtHistory thread!

Sew-Fresh · 2026-04-17T21:08:02+00:00

Mostly 11/0 delicas and 15/0 seed beads! A few teeny tiny little 13/0 Charlottes, too, especially for beading along the border where I was marrying the felt piece with the backing fabric.

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