Northshore Magazine

ne Custom New England Home and Traditional Home magazines, and we've gotten quite a few [magazine] covers." Recently, Miles River Sewing worked on a Beacon Hill house for Gerald Pomeroy Design Group that was featured in New England Home. Although she has a team of seamstresses now and no longer does the sewing herself, she is very busy with designing, creating templates, and talking with clients to ensure their vision is achieved. "We've gotten to the point where we [are on a different] level than a lot of workrooms," she says. "I'm often given floor plans and elevations for houses being built, and I do a lot of the budget work for designers [who are] decorating the entire interior." Mills does work with individual clients, but primarily she collaborates with interior designers. Recognizing miscommunication between designers and workrooms can result in costly corrections, Mills has recently accepted an invitation to teach at Boston Architectural College where she hopes to share her years of wisdom on the subject. She will be holding a 12-hour workshop for professionals actively working in the industry, to show them better ways to communicate and problem solve. Word of the Wise: Soon Mills will share her industry expertise and teach a workshop at Boston Architectural College. "Many times designers don't understand that the rod, the installer, the drapery workroom, and the fabric are all parts that have to come together and fit like a puzzle," says Mills. Most of the time it's a very simple puzzle, but when you get into architecturally designed houses with arched windows and huge window walls… it takes a lot of engineering and a lot of people talking to each other to pull it off." Mills feels very strongly about the role of draperies in a room and insists that they should only rarely be considered focal points. "To me the room should be about the people who live there. It should be about their artifacts, their flower arrangements, their Oriental rugs, the photographs of their children, the piano—all of the things that make it a home. And stark bare windows just don't fly." She adds, "A very well-made drapery looks like it has always been there. It doesn't call attention to itself, except when you look at it. It is the thing that absolutely belongs in the room, and it contributes to the overall ambiance." milesriversewing.com 48 nshoremag.com March 2014 NB KJ NS Mar14 CraftsSewing.indd 48 1/15/14 2:52 PM

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