Adorned: Sophia Mitty Stitches Her Pride for the 415

View the full episode transcript.

When Sophia Mitty first started to sew, she was making it work from her bedroom. She’d place a wooden board on top of her bed as a makeshift table in order to cut out patterns. Nowadays, Mitty has her own work space to really spread out and create. Located in South San Francisco, her studio complete with heavy duty industrial sewing machines, affectionately dubbed “Sew City” (or “The Stu” for short) is a playground of color.

Goofy tchotchkes and other knick knacks line the studio’s beams and sewing tables, creating mini rainbows. There’s so much to look at! In one corner there’s a shelf with vibrant retro fabrics, and across from that are peg boards with large spools of thread organized by hue. All the sewing chairs have bright fuzzy covers with big googly eyes on them- very much giving PeeWee Herman’s Playhouse. “I’m just always chasing color, basically, trying to figure out ways to get it in my life,” says the San Francisco bred artist.

In foggy frisco, where gray skies are plentiful, Mitty’s colorful hand-dyed and painted garments pop. Her line of denim jackets and utility pants for femmes offer classic and clean silhouettes with a funky twist. They come in shades like tangerine, cherry red, kiwi green, even earthy pigments like rust. Marbled patterns are options too. “I use clothing as therapy, as a way to set the mood of the day. It’s the easiest way to change your everyday life or make some kind of difference.”

While the clothing industry is infamous for creating waste, Mitty prioritizes sustainability. She’ll often source fabric remnants from SCRAP (a creative reuse warehouse in the Bayview) and upcycle them into tops and bottoms. “When I started, I was mostly making zero waste sets. So I’d get a roll of fabric for a dollar, then have to keep using the fabric until it’s gone. If I still have extra, I’d make a top, hat or something.”

Aside from the rich color palette, Mitty’s clothes are often embellished with chain stitched embroidery. For a recent exhibition at SOMArts, she created a series of embroidered jackets and tops that paid homage to the San Francisco that raised her. Memories of eating at Doggie Dinner in the Sunset, buying hauls of clothes in the Mission at the inexpensive Thrift Town, and Muni rides across town are woven into Mitty’s garments.

In this way, her clothes tell stories. They chronicle the love and heartbreak of what it means to remain in a city that is rapidly gentrifying.

Sunday August 13th, Mitty will be vending some of  these embroidered jackets along with other “Mitsfits” (her line of tops and bottoms) at the Sucka Flea Market on 18th and Valencia in the Mission. Each garment is a one of one, so no two pants or jackets are the same.

On this episode of Rightnowish, clothing maker Sophia Mitty talks about stitching her pride for the 415, how color therapy influences her wardrobe, and why leaning into goofiness can help us dress for joy.

Episode Transcript

[sound of cross stitch sewing machine ] 

Sophia Mitty, Guest: Yeah. It’s basically you can draw with thread. But it’s pretty labor intensive. But I like it because it lasts forever, as you know, when it’s on the fabric. 

[sound of cross stitch sewing machine ] 

[Music] 

Marisol Medina-Cadena, Host: Hey friends, today on Rightnowish, we’re hanging out in the studio of clothing maker, Sophia Mitty. “The Stu” as she calls it is where she creates her line of utility pants and denim jackets. 

It’s kind of like if a rainbow kind of just exploded in, like, a perfectly organized garage. 

Sophia Mitty: Mhmm! That’s the vibe! [laughs] I’ve heard it’s like Pee Wee’s Playhouse or, like, the backstage of a theater… yeah i’ve heard a lot of weird stuff. [laughs] People come through the door and they’re like, “What is going on in here”  

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Her space is a wonderland of color! In one corner, there’s a shelf filled from top to bottom with bright vintage floral fabrics. Her thread and scissors are hung up on these peg boards organized by hue, kinda creating mini rainbows.

Plus she’s got a spray painted rainbow covering one wall with the phrase written, “Do it For the City”.The sewing chairs also got these funny googly eyes. There’s a lot going on in this space but it’s all really cute! You can’t help but feel inspired here. 

Sophia Mitty: I use clothing as therapy, as a way to set the mood of the day. It’s the easiest way to change your everyday life or make some kind of difference.

[Music]

Marisol Medina-Cadena: The clothes Sophia makes are classic silhouettes – boxy denim jackets and high waisted utility pants –  the kind with deep pockets and straight legs that offer room and comfort around the thighs. But the colors are anything but simple, they really pop! And as a woman, it’s hard out here to buy pants that are sturdy, but colorful, functionable, but also cute and that’s what Sophia’s line is all about. 

Sophia Mitty: Yeah so I make everything from scratch, so I also make the pattern. Like I draft the paper pattern, fit it adjust the.. all that, then sew the actual piece. So it is like a lot of, there’s a lot of parts to it [laughs] 

This is probably the machine I use the most. It’s an industrial. So it’s made to, like, be used in factories and stuff.   

[sewing machine sound effects] 

Marisol Medina-Cadena: In this episode we talk to Sophia about adorning ourselves through clothes, what stories our garments tell, and how colorful clothes can shift our mood and bring in some much needed playful energy. 

I’m your host Marisol Medina-Cadena, go put on your flyest threads and stay with us.  

[Music]

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Walk me through, like, how you approach dressing yourself.

Sophia Mitty: It’s about the weather for me mostly. And then also, like what I’m doing that day. So I’m one of those people that tries on like seven things and like I have a huge pile of clothes in my room. So it’s like it has to feel right. So there’s definitely a lot of emotion. 

I’m a big pants person. I usually start with the pants and then go from there and the rest of it usually falls together. I have a lot of like fits that I’ve already, like figured out. So I have like things that I’ll default to. But yeah, I try to mix it up as much as I can. I also, I love wearing stuff that I just made that’s always the most fun, but I also have clothes that I’ve made like five years ago that I still wear all the time. And I think that’s cool.

Today is kind of a basic fit. I’m wearing these pants they’re… they’re like parrot tropical pants that I made. And just like a white shirt. I think the process of dressing is.. it’s like a ritual, and it’s a way to set your intentions for the day.  

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Since you’re wearing something you made, why don’t you tell us how you got into making clothes in the first place?  

Sophia Mitty: I got my first machine when I was 18, and I was probably about like 25, I’d say, when I started really getting into sewing. But yeah, I started making clothes because I could never find what I was looking for and I was always broke. So I started with, just like, the YouTube university style. Like, I definitely would take my clothes, trace them and make patterns like that, very experimental for a long time.  Yeah, I started taking classes at City College. That’s really where I learned how to sew.

I basically got rid of all the clothes I had that I didn’t make, and I was like, I have to make all everything I wear all the time, in a way to like, force myself to learn everything. So basically I would just wear like these weird things that I made all the time. And I literally got rid of all the clothes in my closet to force myself to learn how to make everything. And it kind of worked. 

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Shopping, like you said, can be stressful because it’s like, this doesn’t fit me or like it’s a lot of emotions that come with shopping. But like when you’re able to craft your own thing, it’s like, “This is how I want it.” It’s not this like I need to conform to fit into this. 

Sophia Mitty:  Yeah, it changes your mindset. It’s not like, what can I buy? Like what can I get? It’s like, what can I make? It’s… it feels different, like wearing stuff that you made and you know how it was made. I mean I do buy some basics sometimes like T-shirts and stuff like that, but I know how to make a T-shirt too. It’s like I could… I could technically not buy anything ever again. And that’s really exciting for me.

[Music]

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Sustainability is important to Sophia. She buys fabric from SCRAP, it’s this recycling art depot off of Bayshore Boulevard in San Francisco and she upcycles it into tops and bottoms. 

Sophia Mitty: So this is like the fabric wall. And then I, like, thicker. I’m super into, like, twill and denim and stuff that’s more usable for like pants and stuff. But yeah, I really love patterns, especially like vintage patterns. 

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Yeah, these are like very seventies color palettes, the florals. Yeah, you don’t… you don’t see fabric like that nowadays if you go. 

Sophia Mitty: I’m super obsessed with florals. Anytime I see, like, see a floral, I get it. And also fish. I really… These are like, all fish patterns. I’m a Pisces. So, you know, I got to collect the fish. For me, it’s either about the… either I really like the fabric and I’m like, I need to use this fabric or I’ve drawn something and I’m like, I need to make this happen. 

I’m really obsessed with, like, storytelling through textiles. And if it’s possible to embed like, memories and stuff into fabric, which is kind of weird, but I think it’s possible.

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Sophia has joined forces with other dope local artists and screen printers to design and print fabric. Like this one pair of white pants she made for singer La Doña. 

It’s got big blue roses printed on it.  

[sounds of her going through the hanged items on rack] 

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Sophia then proceeds to show me some of her works in progress that are hanging on the racks lining her studio. 

Sophia Mitty: I really like the work pants style I’ve been kind of working on, but I feel like work pants are usually for the… the fit is for men. And I’ve been trying to work on pants that are more fitted for women, but also utilitarian. So they, the pockets are big, everything is baggy where it should be. Cause I feel like women’s pants are very constrictive. 

Marisol Medina-Cadena: I really resonate with what you’re saying about work pants. Not always. Like, like they don’t make that for women. Like, all the work pants I’ve had to buy are, like, from the men’s departments, which doesn’t bug me, but it just makes figuring out the sizing really hard. Yeah, because the sizing doesn’t translate. And I just wish like women’s pants was more, uh, boxy…do you feel like the way to make to kind of just blur all of that is by making your own clothes?  

Sophia Mitty: Yes, I mean, with pants specifically, I think the pay off is the biggest. Just because trying to thrift pants is impossible. Buying pants like it’s also just like it’s a headache and it stresses me out. So just being… having that control over that little part of my life, it helps me. I don’t know if I’m wearing bad, like, pants that don’t fit. It can like, ruin my whole day. Like it makes me so uncomfortable. I’m like, one of those people is like, super sensitive to, like, my senses. 

These are kind of cool. These are like quilted checker. So like, I quilted the fabric first and then made the pants. But yeah, I’m super into trying to make pants that are just like as cool as the other parts of your clothes. I feel like people forget about pants. Oh, they’re just like, there’s jeans and that’s it. But that’s also like half your body and you can express a lot with your pants. 

[Music]

Sophia Mitty: I think im a huge color person. And I think, like, I believe in color therapy, like trying to have as much color in my life as possible 

Marisol Medina-Cadena: That’s why I’m really drawn to your clothes. Like you got indigo, tangerine, kiwi green pants. Like, that’s what I’m trying to get my closet to look like.

Sophia Mitty: Yeah, I do feel like overall clothes have become like they’ve tried to take all the color out. It’s like very neutral now. I’m just always chasing color. Basically, or like trying to figure out ways to put it, get it in my life. 

But yeah, I have a lot of friends that are very expressive and they really showed me how how powerful it can be to just, like, do your own thing and express yourself fully. And I feel like a lot of people hold back a lot. And it’s really sad. Especially, I don’t know,  I feel like the techies… They don’t have that much, like, expression. And it shows like shows in the city. You can feel it. It’s a different vibe. But yeah just trying to use your clothes as like a protest to the draining of color and expression and people of color too though, like all of it. I feel like it’s connected.

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Sophia’s garments are not only reminders to take up space and be colorful through self expression but they are also about preserving Frisco culture and 415 pride. 

[Music]

This year she made a series of embroidered jackets and tops for an exhibit at SOMArts called “Muni Raised Me” These jackets are for sale now and on the racks back in her studio. She shows me one that has color blocks of orange, blue and red… 

Sophia Mitty: This one was one of my favorites. This is the Muni Raised me. I made this jacket for the show. So it has like the muni bus and it’s made of scraps from other projects…colors that I identify with the city, like orange and red. 

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Muni bus colors and the Giants.  

Sophia Mitty: Old school Muni colors. Yeah. And the orange also. Just like poppies and monarch butterflies. Orange, I feel like is really strong and also red I really identify like with the Mission and just like, yeah, all that kind of culture.

Uh, what else we got in here? We got the Thrift Town. This is the Thrift Town one.

Marisol Medina-Cadena:  For folks who don’t know what Thrift Town was. Can you tell us?

Sophia Mitty: Yeah, Thrift Town was basically, like, the best thrift store we had in the Mission. It was like, two stories, super big, very accessible. Like, everything was usually, like, under $10. So, yeah, I was raised. I went there like every Tuesday, I think, because they had some sale or something. Then there’s like other ones, this is like the Doggie Diner one. 

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Yess!! Doggie Diner is like this chain of Bay Area burger joints. And they had that iconic plastic. I don’t even know what it’s made out of, but these huge dogs with cute a** noses, hat funny hats. 

Sophia Mitty: Yeah they’re super cute. And I just think they’re goofy. And I think that’s a part of the city, too. Just like the goofiness.

My favorite part of making clothes is wearing them. That’s the fun part. Also, sewing is fun, but yeah, I really enjoy having it on the body. Feeling, you know what I mean? Where you get to, like, experience them. And that’s also where you learn a lot, I think as someone that, like, makes the actual pattern, the way it fits is really important. And you can’t really get good at it unless you’re wearing the clothes you make. So yeah, I think it’s an important part of the process. 

Marisol Medina-Cadena: I think, like, our generation didn’t grow up with like, sewing offered in schools.

Sophia Mitty: Yeah.

Marisol Medina-Cadena: And so to make go, to go out of your way and learn it, whether you learned it from someone or you’re just online, you know, like that’s a very active rebellion in my opinion. You know, because you’re like, “I’m taking charge of making my own clothes.” For you was it kind of like that… that radical act? 

Sophia Mitty: The moment I realized that I could make my own clothes was very transformational. It was very freeing. It was like, it’s no longer about how much money you have. It’s about how… what you can do. And like that was really empowering for me because I always felt very, like, limited. I feel like you learn a lot about who you are as a person and what you want to create.

Marisol Medina-Cadena: I know you’re teaching sewing now to high school students at Youth Art Exchange in the Excelsior. What’s it like watching them when they realize, like, “Yo, I’m capable of making something!”

Sophia Mitty: Yeah, that’s like, really why I got into sewing just for that moment of, like, where they realize that they can do it and that it’s, like, not as hard as they thought it was. Once you start, you just start making whatever you can. And I really just I love working with them because they’re so excited. Sometimes I forget why I’m doing it and then I realize I remember that “why” when I work with them.

[Music]

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Like it seems like you have a lot of fun with your closet. And so I’m wondering, how does it feel to see other people wear your garments, adorn themselves with your garments that you, like, put so much love and intention behind?  

Sophia Mitty: Yeah, it’s always like the best feeling. I love seeing people wear the clothes that I make. It’s like the full circle moment. And especially when they’re, like, happy and comfortable and it’s like, I feel like I did what I needed to do. Um. But yeah, it’s always so, um, so beautiful to see. I be crying [giggles] 

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Do your garments have, like, tags on them? Like with your name? Yeah, cause they’re literally wearing your name!

Sophia Mitty: Yeah, it’s like Mitsfits. My last name is Mitty. Um, yeh Mitsfits [giggles]  

Marisol Medina-Cadena: I’m exploring this theme of adornment, because in my personal life, I’m just not feeling like my best self. Feeling a little disconnected. And I’m like, kind of searching for different tools at my disposal to, like, feel more playful, feel more alive, feel more goofy. Do you have any advice for how I could use clothes in that way? 

Sophia Mitty: Trying things that you normally don’t is super powerful. I think it’s easy to get stuck in the same patterns with clothing where it’s like stuff that you’re used to wearing. But yeah, it can take a lot of confidence to wear stuff that’s kind of weird. But at the same time, I think that’s the stuff that’s the most beneficial to people as, like, as a development of self to do something not because you think someone thinks it’s cool, but because you think it’s cool is super important to style in general. 

[Music]

Sophia Mitty: If it triggers joy for you, like that, there’s something there that you should investigate and try to figure out or, you know, not take it so seriously. I feel like clothes, as you get older, people are just so serious about it all the time and it’s like it’s not! 

It doesn’t have to be like that. I think it’s… it can be super fun, it can be weird.Um And that’s like, I like making clothes because I have the control over what fabrics and like, what cuts and stuff. So there’s literally no limit.  It’s being able to tell a story without having to say anything. 

I’m kind of a quiet person off the bat, but wearing certain clothes can help me feel comfortable and able to be who I really am I guess. I think it’s also just a way to show up in the world as what you want to see. 

[Music]

Marisol Medina-Cadena: Ya know, talking to Sophia, I’m reminded about the time and care that my own mom put into making clothes for me. The sounds of the machines, the magic of taking a piece of fabric and turning it into a wearable garment. That transformation of regular materials into something with character and personality.  Sophia’s work absolutely has both of those traits. 

Huge thanks to Sophia Mitty for inviting me over to your studio to see your original clothes and all that goes into making them. It’s a lot! 

If you’re interested in supporting Sophia’s work, she’ll actually be vending some of her pieces at the Sucka Flea Market this coming Sunday on Valencia & 18th street in the Mission.  You can also check out her clothes and order on Instagram @sophiamitty. That’s spelled s-o-p-h-i-a-m-i-t-t-y. Thanks again, Sophia!

[Music]

Now time to give thanks to the whole squad that makes this show possible. Xorje Olivares produced this episode. Chris Hambrick is our editor. Our engineer is Christopher Beale.  

The Rightnowish team also includes Pendarvis Harshaw, Sheree Bishop, and Ryce Stoughtenborough. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldaña. and Holly Kernan.

I’m your host Marisol Medina-Cadena. Go out and wear what makes you feel fly.  

Rightnowish is a KQED production.

Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on NPR One, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.

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