FIRST HAND/STITCHING

Vanessa received an MFA in Theatre from Penn State University, specializing in costume construction. She has worked as a First Hand at Glimmerglass Festival Opera, a stitcher/sewer at Period Corsets and the Utah Shakespeare Festival, as well as throughout her undergraduate degree. Below are some examples of Vanessa's work over the years.

FIRST HAND: GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL OPERA, 2025

Vanessa was a First Hand for Draper Jacqui Pomeranski. She was in charge of cutting out the majority of the builds, instructing stitchers, helping in fittings, and was the primary person who sewed Deborah Nansteel's tuxedo jacket.

STITCHER: SANTA FE OPERA, 2024

Vanessa was a stitcher for the 2024 season of the Santa Fe Opera, under Draper Lara Southerland Berich and First Hands Mathew Smith and Audrey Pugh. She helped make mock-ups, costumes and alterations. She made a suit jacket and a pair of pumpkin breeches.

STITCHER: OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS, 2024

Vanessa was a stitcher for the 2024 season of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, under Draper Rick Tuckett and First Hand Lisa Drewel.

She helped make mock-ups, costumes, alterations, and was the main stitcher for one of the tailor's pants in The Barber of Seville, Fiorello's pants in The Barber of Seville, Musetta's main skirt for La Boheme, and Achilla's main pants for Julius Caesar.

STITCHER: PERIOD CORSETS, SEPT. 2021 - JULY 2023

Vanessa began as an intern and later worked as a stitcher at Period Corsets for almost two years. She learned to make corsets, petticoats, false silhouette understructures, chemises and several custom garments for personal clients, Broadway shows such as Sweeney Todd and & Juliet, and television shows during her time there. She also had the opportunity to assist in the development process, increasing Period Corsets' line as well as modeling some new or existing items for social media and their website. Here are some examples of items Vanessa made or worked on while at Period Corsets.

18th century gown for Period Corsets' outerwear

Vanessa made and helped develop the deluxe version of an 18th century gown to add to Period Corsets' line.

FIRST HAND/STITCHER: UTAH SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL'S ROMEO AND JULIET, WINTER TOUR 2020

Vanessa was the First Hand/Stitcher for Utah Shakespeare Festival's winter tour of Romeo and Juliet under Draper Caitlin Leyden and Designer Steven Schmid. She helped make mock-ups for custom costumes, altered and added embellishment, especially to Romeo's Army-inspired jacket, and helped screen print symbols onto a custom-made piece as well.

STITCHER: UTAH SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL, 2018 - HENRY VI PARTS II & III

Vanessa was a stitcher for Henry VI, Parts II and III at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, under the supervision of Draper Martha Clarke, Tailor Shelby Luke and First Hand Juli Bounds. Costumes were designed by Lauren Roark. Vanessa worked on Margaret's red dress, the final costume of the Duke of Clarence and a custom leather tunic for one of the ensemble characters.

FIRST HAND/STITCHER: XANADU - AUTUMN 2018

During her undergrad at Utah State University, Vanessa was a stitcher for the musical Xanadu. Under the supervision of Draper Jordan Draper and Costume Designer Ally Thieme, Vanessa was in charge of making the main blue dress for the muse Melpomene.

STITCHER: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING -
AUTUMN 2017

Vanessa constructed two 18th-century caraco jackets for the Utah State University production of Much Ado About Nothing. The jackets were patterned from historic garments by academic advisor Nancy Hill.

STITCHER: AWAKE AND SING - AUTUMN 2017

Vanessa was a stitcher for USU's production of Awake and Sing, with costumes designed by Ally Thieme. Vanessa was in charge of constructing one of Hennie Berger's dresses. The pattern was taken from a historic garment by academic advisor Nancy Hill.

STITCHER/FIRST HAND: BIG FISH - SPRING 2017

Vanessa worked on the USU musical Big Fish, with costumes designed by Lydia Semler and Cortney Slater. Vanessa was in charge of constructing Jenny Hill's main costume and was the First Hand and a stitcher for the Alabama Lambs costumes. Vintage and contemporary commercial patterns were used for this production.

STITCHER: THE MATCHMAKER - AUTUMN 2016

As part of her undergraduate coursework and production work, Vanessa worked on costumes for the USU production of The Matchmaker. She sewed the undergarments for Gertrude and the main outfit for Ms. Malloy, designed by Nancy Hill. She patterned and draped Gertrude's bloomers and camisole and used a Laughing Moon pattern for the corset. Alongside fellow student Darian June, Vanessa constructed a jacket and bustle for Ms. Malloy from a commercial pattern.