INTERVIEW #58 ALMA TEGSTRÖM
Name: Alma Tegström
Occupation: Tailor (among others)
Based in: Sweden
Website/Shiping: https://avalma.store within Europe
Price range: 800 SEK - 2.500 SEK
Hi Alma! Thank you for doing this interview, and a special thank you for letting me come visit you in your studio, where the magic happens! Tell us about yourself and your background?
I’m from a small town, Vindeln, which is outside of Umeå up north in Sweden. I grew up with four siblings and as a kid I always had a dream of becoming a painting artist. Even though I never quite understood what the dream meant, it just felt like “wow, as a painter you’re able to do fun stuff and work with colors!”. I also thought artists looked so cool in their hats.
When it was time for high school I felt pretty quickly that the program I started wasn’t right for me, so my mom suggested I instead should start an education within sewing. This came from basically nowhere since I had never done it before, I just knew that I loved handicrafts, etc. I really did enjoy it from the beginning! After high school I did things unrelated to my education, and after a while I felt like I should start studying something.
I thought Gothenburg was a nice city and I really started to enjoy sewing, so I ended up on Google searching for a suitable education in the area and found my school: “Tillskärarakademin”. I did pattern construction with sewing, after that I applied for tailoring, which is a three-year course. After four years of education, we acquired the studio in 2018. Since then I’ve been working with sewing and second hand.
What’s your favorite part of the process when creating and sewing?
I think the part I enjoy the most is the beginning of the process, the starting point of a new project. When I start cutting the pieces out and start sewing, since I really love sewing.
Regarding "avalma", what’s your own description of the brand and its concept?
It’s really good to receive and answer these questions since it also makes it concrete for myself! The concept is basically that I sew and create garments out of recycled material and textiles. I sew and create different types of pieces, and since “avalma” is still pretty new I really try to see and understand “what is it that people/customers actually want?”, “what is a fair price?” and learn more about the market itself. I launched my brand in March 2021. I’ve had customers and I know people (for example my mom) who have a lot of old textiles, curtains and other stuff just being stored away, things that never get to see the world. A description of my brand and concept is that I create garments out of old materials and give them a new life, instead of them never being used or seen. A mix of tailoring and recycling.
Where did your business concept/idea come from?
Since I started working in the studio I’ve tried out tailoring to customers which is also an important part of a sustainable industry. One customer specifically said that she was so tired of never finding pants that suited her 100%, so she wanted me to make two pairs of pants that she could wear all around which is a very sustainable way of looking at your closet.
I got to take part in a few steps of the design and process , but I felt like I wanted to decide more on my own. I also felt like I wanted to include more second hand, because I really enjoy second hand shopping and old textiles. I simply wanted to combine tailoring with recycling and find a good balance. I look at material as material, a pair of pre-loved jeans can be used to upcycle it into something else. I once made a dress out of my grandpa’s old pair of jeans since I really just saw the denim material, instead of limiting myself to the fact that “an old pair of jeans can only be a pair of jeans.”
“Avalma” is a result of all this!
I know you create and design clothes using table cloths, bed covers etc. What's your favorite piece to work with in terms of turning it into a garment?
At the moment I’m really enjoying turning old/vintage tablecloths into garments.
Are we lucky enough to have you share some future dreams/plans regarding your brand?
That’s a really good question. So, In a month I’ll travel, by bike, for six months. I feel like that kind of goes hand in hand with my concept somehow, in regards to being sustainable also when traveling and my lifestyle in general. I’m really excited about what type of ideas and perspectives that’ll give me during this trip. Something that’d be really fun would be... Let’s say we stay in Berlin for a while and I’ll rent a studio/part of a studio, buy all materials from second hand shops and sew some limited designs I could sell via Instagram. Or I buy yarn and just crochet clothes to sell. Either that, or maybe I just end up being on my bike without any thoughts on creating anything. We’ll see!
Who inspires you the most when it comes to style?
I think people around me are what inspires me the most. I work extra at Björkå Frihet (a second hand store), and something that also inspires me is the clothes that come into the store that I have to weed out to see what we can sell and not. What I like with clothes is to sew and create them, but I also feel a disdain towards clothes and I ask myself “why should it be so incredibly important what we wear?”. I actually look forward to that, during my bike travel, that I’ll only bring like five pieces of clothes to wear during my six months of traveling. Will I enjoy that or how will I feel?
For someone who wants to learn how to look for good second hand bargains, what personal advice would you give?
I think you should start by finding out what types of materials you like. If you know that it’s way easier to minimize consumption, instead of buying tons of clothes that you may not love 100%. If you buy an acrylic sweater it’ll most probably look ugly a year from now. Plan and think a bit ahead.
How would you describe your own style?
Also a hard one! Right now I’m sitting in my old hoodie. I think my style is pretty mixed up. I like tailored pieces, I love wearing suit pants and I like when the tailored style meets the floral and recycled fashion.
Which garment, done by yourself, is your favorite so far?
My favorite one so far is my first tailor-made blazer that I made. The back piece was made out of a pink/brown fabric. Then I found this floral furniture fabric from a second hand shop which I used as the front piece and for the sleeves. It turned out beautiful! I spent around 100 hours making this blazer since it was the first one I ever made, it was a school project.
I still really love it, and also because that was kind of the start of what I’m doing now.
What is sustainable fashion for you?
I don’t think you need to buy anything new (since there’s an overflow of unused garments and fabrics today), and I think you should try to minimize consumption as much as possible. Minimize and think.
What do you think about the fashion industry?
It’s horrible. The industry moves too fast and people demand super cheap stuff, there’s a lack of knowledge regarding the prices and what things should cost. We’ve kind of sunk the entire industry and the demand in terms of prices are not realistic anymore. It’s simply not sustainable and there’s no balance. Although I see a lot of things we can actually do, we’re not doomed since there are solutions and better options. There are a lot of committed people who really make a difference.
What can one do that seeks to create a more sustainable closet?
I think we all need to identify and go through our closets to see, “what am I using, and why am I using it?”. This is to really find out what we do like, instead of ending up buying a lot of things that you’re most probably not gonna use. By concretizing what you like and dislike, you minimize the risks of continuing to buy things that are not 100% your style.
