Natalie Ebaugh is crazy-prolific. It seems to me that she's always working on a new project, and forever rocking a new, often handmade or custom-tailored outfit. The newly Mexico City-based seamstress, designer, and creative-maker extraordinaire often sports something with a bazillion different patterns and million colors that somehow work together seamlessly (pun intended). Her visual aesthetic is prominent, unique and always fresh. Combining geometry, a variety of patterns and painterly swaths of color into often repurposed clothing items or new hand-made accessories.
I met Natalie at my friend's BBQ a few years ago in Oakland, CA. She is one of those people who just emanates warmth, and was super easy to talk to and joke around with. She began dating said BBQ friend, and was soon hanging out with our friend group on a regular basis, brought into the inner fold ;). However, for someone dating one of my closer friends, she wasn't around as much as I assumed she'd be, and it was for the sole reason that Natalie is dedicated as hell to her craft. From art quilts, to hand-bags, to jewelry, to hand-made textiles and wearables galore, Natalie eats, sleeps, and breathes creative work.
Raised in Portland, Oregon, she learned to sew at a young age and followed her interest in textiles to Baltimore, Maryland to attend the Maryland Institute College of Art. Throughout her time at MICA, Natalie explored her love of textiles, soft sculpture, quilting techniques and garment making.
Now, on top of her personal work, Natalie is as one-half of Girl Group Studios (an ongoing accessory collaboration with visual artist, Maude Kasperzak, in which the two women create hand-made, functional art pieces). Natalie is a hard-working woman who doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon, learn more about Natalie and her gift for organizing pop-ups, love of Ultra-Lounge music, and compulsive need to be creative, below:
1) What did you eat for breakfast today?
Today I had scrambled eggs and tea.
2) For those that don't know you yet, could you please tell us a bit more about yourself? What are you up to currently?
I’ve lived in Oakland for about 3 years and I just moved to Mexico City a month ago. I work for an amazing fabric store in Berkeley, called Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics, doing marketing, social media, graphics, admin stuff, etc. In my spare time I sew just about anything you can think of - costumes for music videos, commercials and short films, clothing, bags, quilts, etc. I love to sew and I do it everyday.
3) You're the co-owner/designer of Girl Group. Could you tell us a bit more about Girl Group? What's the history of this project and business?
My friend, Maude and I went to MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) together and always enjoyed each other’s work. We actually started the collaboration in 2012 and it’s been amazing to see how it’s grown. We live on opposite coasts, Maude in Baltimore, MD and myself in Oakland (now Mexico City), but we’ve somehow found time to make this work. I taught her how to sew and now we both do the sewing and the designing and everything. We’ve done a handful of craft shows, some together and some solo, and try to meet up whenever we can.
Collaborating is not easy, but it is super rewarding and it’s also a great exercise in control. I feel like when I used to exclusively do solo projects, I had kind of a guarded ownership over my work. Collaborating with other makers on various projects has shown me how it can enrich what you’re working on. Not every decision has to be yours and that’s okay. You may do something and the other person wants to change it. If it’s a fair collaboration, you’ll get to make the next decision or you’ll come to an agreement. It’s taught me flexibility for sure. It’s also made me more open to feedback, criticism, etc. It’s important to remember that no project is ever really complete, it’s a segue into your next project. As a maker your learning and creating is continual and should never be "finished".
4) Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration? What keeps you excited about textiles, clothing, accessories and jewelry?
My older sister, Lauren, has always been a huge inspiration for me. When I was younger, I never knew that you could wear and make whatever clothing you wanted. She has always used clothing to tell her own story and sewn her own clothing when she couldn’t find ready-made clothes that could do that. I started sewing and altering clothing because of her and it’s that freedom that sewing allows you that keeps me inspired. Just the idea that you can make anything you think of a material reality is exciting.
I find inspiration from movies, costumes and different eras of dress. I love the over-the-top glamour of the late 1970s, the silhouettes of Japanese clothing of all eras, and the romance of American Western wear. I love unexpected combinations of textiles, bold prints and shapes of clothing. I'm attracted to a lot of layering and clothing that is utilitarian and also interesting to look at.
I wouldn’t say that I’m especially interested in fashion in its current form. I have no interest in being a part of the industry or current trends, but there is a lot you can learn about history from the clothing being made and worn at a specific time. And I think it’s the history of clothing that inspires me the most.
5) You and Maude work collaboratively on each piece, even though you lived on opposite coasts, and now different countries. How?! Could you walk us through your process for an item? From concept to final form.
I wish I could say that we have a highly developed and finely tuned method, but that’s just not the case. It’s been a pretty fluid process for us though and it’s usually initiated when we have an upcoming show. This year we started out scanning some of my quilt pieces and then incorporating them into designs with Maude’s digital paintings. What resulted were these bold, collaged designs with super strong colors. After we settled on three of the designs, we talked about what sizes we wanted the bags to be and ordered the fabric accordingly. Once we get the fabric, we play around with sizes and shapes of bags. The whole process is about play, which keeps things fun and new. After we choose some shapes we like, we start sewing.
6) What do you do to recharge? How do you stay motivated and energized to pump out new work?
Making is a compulsion for me, either I make things or I’ll explode. So, I try to do things that encourage and facilitate my making. For example, I like to sleep and cook for myself. I also like to clean, which sounds weird and probably boring, but keeping a clear working/living space helps me keep a clear mind. Visual and material research is important for future projects too, but I mostly focus on keeping myself in good shape so I can keep making things.
7) Quick, look at whatever music streaming source you use. What's the last song you listened to? What band or artists have you been jamming to recently?
One of my roommates turned me on to Ultra-lounge which is a genre of jazz from the 50s and 60s, related to Tiki-lounge, exotica, space-age pop and Bossa Nova. Through Ultra-lounge I found Cal Tjader, who was a Latin-American jazz musician. He mostly plays the vibraphone, which if you aren’t familiar, is in the same family as the marimba and xylophone. There’s definitely a cheesy, elevator music vibe to it, but it’s also dreamy and relaxing. It makes me feel like I’m in another time and place. My favorite albums right now are Latin Kick and Fried Bananas.
8) Besides collaborating with Maude for Girl Group, you also work with your sister Lauren, and additionally you've been organizing, and participating in a ton of pop-up shops, artisan maker fairs, festivals, etc.. Who else would you love to collaborate with?
The first pop-up that I helped organize was called Bodeguita at Turpentine Gallery in Oakland in August of 2015. We had about 10 vendors, all women makers from the area, selling art, prints, zines, clothing, jewelry, and herbal tinctures. We also had live DJs playing music and people came and just hung out all day. I received such positive feedback after the event that I decided to plan another. It seemed like the artists in the area were looking for a way to get together in a less formal setting than a gallery. Sure, the vendors were selling their work, but for me the most important part was that we were all out of our studios hanging out together.
The next maker fair I put together, called Sgraff-E-Mart, was around the same size at Sgraffito Gallery, in November 2015. It felt really cool to do another and I had more and more artists interested in participating, so with the help of my sister and some friends we put together Good Omen Market, which happened this past June. We had about 30 vendors this time plus music and food by Hella Vegan Eats.
I never saw myself as an organizer until putting these shows together. I know so many people who are making amazing work, but we only ever get together during these events. We’re all working full-time jobs and are in the studio in our spare time, so this is our only opportunity. It’s been super rewarding to help facilitate these events and I’m looking forward to doing more of that here in Mexico City. I’m not sure what form it’ll take here, but I’m excited to see what kind of community I can find or make and who I’ll collaborate with next.
9) What's a book/movie/album that's on your list, something you've been meaning to read/watch/listen to?
I just started watching Brazil (1985), but I'm only half way through, so I'd love to finish it. I can tell it's a movie that should be watched at least 2 or 3 times. The costumes and art production are incredible! I love this genre of retro-futurism in film, it reminds me a lot of Blade Runner (1982), another favorite of mine.
10) If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I love snacks, so I'd probably have to go with the "Adult Lunchable", as some of my friends call it, which is just a cheese and meat plate with fruit. I like a little bit of everything.
11) What're you most excited for in the coming months? Any cool personal projects or events?
Well, obviously I’m excited to finally be here in Mexico City! Soon I’ll be taking language courses and exploring the city more. I have grand plans to revisit quilting, now that I have more time and energy for it. I think of quilting as drawing or painting and I’m excited to just play with my materials without any deadlines or rules.
Once Matt [BBQ friend] and I get settled in our own apartment we plan to have space for friends to visit and make work in a shared studio space. I’m thinking of it as a mini artist residency. Having the time and space set aside to create is not something that everyone can afford, so we want to create that time and space for people. Whether it’s a month or just a week.
12) Final question: Who's your Cool Friend?
My cool friend is my sister, Lauren. She has always been an incredible painter, printmaker and sewist. Recently, she’s been combining these three skills into creating these rad shirts, under the name Plastic Foliage. Check out her work here: plasticfoliageclothing.com
Make sure to follow Natalie on Instagram here, Girl Group Studios here, and check out their online store here.