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Wardrobe MakerShe’s The Needle-And-Thread LadyBy LYNNE KATONAKStaff ReporterThe past two girls representing Aiken County in state competition have been well decked out and both young ladies — Diane Toole and Kim Wright - have had part of their wardrobes made by a New Ellenton seamstress, Callye Reddock.“I learned to sew at Schofield back when it was an industrial school,” Mrs. Reddock explained.Schofield was founded by a Quaker and its purpose was to give students good, practical information with which they could make a living.“The girls were taught sewing and cooking; the boys learned carpentry and mechanics,” Mrs. Reddocksaid.Mrs. Reddock’s mother, Estee Johnson, lived in Aiken. However, she worked and so the young Schofield student boarded on theschool campus.After finishing her local training,Mrs. Reddock attended Florida Normal School in St. Augustine, Fla. She then married and moved to New York where she spent the next 35years.“For a while I taught arts and crafts in the schools. I was also acook,” she said.However, Mrs Reddock eventually got into the field which she likedrnnct “T hurtan Anincr alterations forsome of the most exclusive dress shops in New York,” she said.“In 1974 I closed by shop to work at home because my mother was il-1,” Mrs. Reddock continued.After her mother’s death, Mrs. Reddock stayed in her home; she had found that her customers didn’t mind driving to her house to place orders and have fittings.“The ladies bring me the material and patterns. Or, if they don’t have a pattern, they bring a picture,” the seamstress reported.Mrs. Reddock also continues to do alterations; in fact, she confessed that it is her favorite job.The people here have been wonderful to me. Customers I had when I first came to Aiken keep coming back,” Mrs. Reddock said proudly.“It’s surprising how nice people are. They act like I am doing them a favor by making their clothes but actually, they are doing me a favor,” she pointed out.Mrs. Reddock has a sliding fee and the cost of making a dress depends on the type of pattern andfabric.‘‘For instance, chiffons and velvets are hard to work with. Plaids have to matched so takemore time,” she explained When Mrs. Reddock is not sewing, she goes fishing, her favorite pastime, or plays pinochle with friends. She also has a garden on her land, the old family home place.“My mother was a Chavis. Most of the land around here was ownedby my forefathers. They were never slaves,” Mrs. Reddock said.Mrs. Reddock doesn’t know where all her forefathers came from and how it happened that they were not enslaved. I wish I knew. Then I’d write my own Roots,’” she laughedSHE SEWS A FINE SEAM Reddock rarely makes her own clothes. It’s like the storyof the shoemaker’s children going barefoot. ‘‘I just don time to sew for myself,” she said. (Staff Photo ByKatonak)LynneNEW ELLENTON - Half the fun of going to a beauty pageant, at least for women, is getting to see the clothes that the contestants are wearing.In 1963, Mrs. Reddock returned to Aiken and opened a little one-room dressmaking shop at 237 Barnwell Ave. She later expanded to four rooms as her business grew.
Newspaper Details
Aiken Standard
Aiken, South Carolina, US
Thu, Aug 23, 1979
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Library O.
USA 01 Apr 2023
Other Publications Near Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken Daily Mail
Aiken County Rambler
Aiken County Register
Aiken County Journal
Aiken Standard
