Speaking and Lectures

In addition to her daily classes, Hilarie is a sought-after teacher for keynotes, hands-on workshops, educational talks, staff trainings, and student programs—across Norfolk & Hampton Roads.
Author of Sew Bags • BERNINA Brand Ambassador • 10+ years teaching • Owner, Little Stitch Studio (est. 2014)

For information about scheduling a speaking engagement or event with Hilarie, please send an email or click the button below.

Check dates & request a quote
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What I Offer

  • Keynotes & Talks (30–60 min)

  • Hands-On Workshops (60–180 min)

  • Clinics & In-Store Demos (30–90 min)

  • Educator Trainings (60–120 min)

  • Student Intensives (1–3 hrs)

AV-ready. I can use your system or bring a projector and lav mic if needed.

Signature Topics

  • American Sportswear: Cashin & McCardell

    The logic of pockets, hardware, knits, and modular design—and why it still shapes what we wear.

  • Schiaparelli and the Surreal Turn in Design

    Ceci n’est pas un nœud — c’est une idée. Turning big ideas into wearable design (motif, placement, proportion) without gimmicks.

  • From Utility to the New Look

    How scarcity (’40s) and abundance (’50s) change silhouette, yardage, and finish—and what we can translate today.

  • Understanding Fabric and Fibers

    Read fiber, structure and finish to make more informed decisions on selecting patterns, needles, thread, interfacings, and finishing techniques that actually work.

  • Follow the Grain to a Great Fit

    Grainline, measurements, and pattern adjustments for confident fit.

Want clinics, program-building, or pattern basics? See all topics

  • Who it’s for: museums, libraries, schools (HS/college), public lectures
    Formats: 45–60 min talk • 75–90 min talk + Q&A
    What it covers: How two mid-century icons built a uniquely American vocabulary—modularity, pockets with purpose, hardware, knits, jersey, leather—and why it still shapes what we wear.
    Outcomes:

    • Recognize the DNA of American sportswear in today’s garments

    • Connect design decisions (closures, materials, silhouette) to real lives and labor

    • AV/Room: projector/HDMI; theater or classroom seating


  • Itten/Albers-informed exercises that help makers make better choices—line, shape, rhythm, and color that work together. Talk or workshop

  • Who it’s for: museums, arts organizations, advanced HS/college, guilds
    Formats: 45–60 min talk • 90 min seminar version
    What it covers: From trompe-l’œil knits to the Lobster Dress—how Schiaparelli synthesized art, politics, and commerce; how to translate “big idea” to wearable design.


    Outcomes:

    • Read garments as visual arguments (motif, placement, proportion)

    • Distinguish novelty vs. concept with staying power

    • Apply a “theme → material → technique” pipeline to your own work
      AV/Room: projector/HDMI

  • Who it’s for: museums/libraries, AP/IB history cross-over, schools
    Formats: 45–60 min talk • 60–120 min talk + handling/demo
    What it covers: Rationing, make-do/mend, L-85 rules → Dior’s 1947 rupture; what scarcity and abundance do to silhouette, yardage, and finishings.
    Outcomes:

    • Identify wartime construction strategies that still work in classrooms

    • Analyze how policy shapes aesthetics (a great student assignment prompt)

    • Translate period silhouettes to modern pattern adjustments
      AV/Room: projector; optional hands-on sample rack

  • Item description

  • Item description

  • Who it’s for: craft/fabric stores, sewing machine dealers, pop-ups
    Formats: 30–60 min demo • 90 min hands-on micro-workshop
    Pick a clinic (each maps to products you can feature):

    • Beautiful Hems on Knits (ballpoint/jersey needles, twin needle, fusible web, walking foot/IDT)

    • Zippers Without Fear (centered & invisible; zipper foot, fusible tape, rulers or seam gauge)

    • Rolled-Hem & Ruffle on the Serger (differential feed, settings, thread choice)

    • Pressing = Polish (clapper, ham, point presser, proper temps; pressing cloths, EZY Hem Gauge, why pressing sells)

    Outcomes:

    • Customers master one technique start-to-finish

    • Staff get a repeatable demo script that moves the right SKUs

    • Store leaves with a one-page checklist + product map (I provide)
      Room/AV: demo table near product bay; 10–30 attendees; power; house PA or lav

  • Who it’s for: schools, museums, youth orgs, enrichment directors
    Formats: 60–90 min training • 2–3 hr workshop with templates
    What it covers: Project ladders (2–12), behavior supports, station flow, tool safety, checklists/QR skills library, staffing models, parent comms.
    Outcomes:

    • Launch or tune a sustainable program with realistic ratios and pacing

    • Adopt a “teach → do → refine” flow that reduces friction and improves finish

    • Take home editable checklists, planning grids, and a starter scope & sequence
      Room/AV: projector; tables; downloadable templates included

Outcomes

Attendees leave with:

  • Repeatable frameworks for design decisions (beyond “taste”).

  • A clear path from inspiration → pattern/fabric → finished work.

  • Classroom-tested demos/checklists that reduce friction and improve finish.

  • Historical context that sharpens ideas and critique.

Formats and Logistics

AV (HDMI/AirPlay; mic for rooms 40+), simple room setups, venue-supplied or turnkey kits, ideal workshop groups 8–16 (up to 24 with an assistant), virtual available.


Link: Details for planners

About Hilarie

Hilarie Wakefield Dayton is a fashion educator, author of Sew Bags, and owner of Little Stitch Studio in Norfolk, VA. A BERNINA Brand Ambassador and member of ASDP and the Costume Society of America, she blends 20th-century fashion history with classroom-tested technique to help makers of all ages design with intention.