Meet the Maker: Oami Powers, Judah Ross

How long have you been in business?

Since April 2010

Where are you based?

Raleigh North Carolina!

Describe your products and anything new that you'll have at the market.
I'm planning on doing a couple new long sleeved blouses in some of my favorite eco friendly knits, a warm and cozy fleece jumper & some beautiful crinkle gauze scarves in a range of fall colors.

Describe a bit about your production process and what tools you use.

My design process is pretty slow. I'll be inspired by a silhouette in a book, or a combination of colors I see
someone wearing on the street, and it will stick in my head. I'll think about it for a long time, then start
experimenting in fabric. Often the idea will change significantly at this point, and I often make 2, 3, 4 versions
of a garment before I come up with the finished pattern.

For production I usually produce 3-5 garments at a time: say a S, M, L blouse all in the same fabric. This
allows me to minimize wasted fabric, and speeds up the sewing times, since I don't have to change thread
colors.

Mostly I do flat pattern making, so my tools are my pattern paper, rulers, a calculator, sharp pencils (is there
really anything better than a sharp pencil?), scissors. For sewing I have a commercial Juki straight stitch and
a commercial Mercury 5 thread overlock.

What do you enjoy about participating in the Rock & Shop Market?

Rock & Shop is really fun, there's a lot of energy, great vendors, good music and the customers are
enthusiastic and supportive. What more could you ask for?

Any Durham recommendations for out-of-towners?
Parker & Otis makes a great breakfast and my hubby loves the burgers at Bull City Brewing. Definitely visit
the Sarah P. Duke Gardens if you are at all interested in plants, it's stunning.

Do you have an online shop? http://www.etsy.com/shop/judahross & Blog: http://judahross.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/judahross
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JudahRoss