Artist's Corner: Sewing Life Into Old Material

Nancy Polacek wasn’t always comfortable behind a sewing machine.

"I cheated,” Polacek said of her junior high sewing assignments. “I took my project home and I had my sister sew it. I didn’t learn one thing. I didn’t even know how to thread the sewing machine in the class. But I passed with a C.”

In college, with no sisters around to sew things for her, Polacek learned the craft and began sewing her own clothes. Since then, she’s been sewing several hours a day, most days of the week.

Now with 30 years of sewing experience, nine sewing machines in her house and orders from the likes of Bachman’s and Flea Market Style, it’s safe to say she’d earn more than a passing grade.

She describes her style as mid-century industrial vintage and works almost exclusively with recycled and vintage materials "because they’re more interesting.” Polacek is a master of giving new life to old textiles. Crafting everything from work aprons out of reclaimed painting tarps, pillow and chair covers out of vintage men’s shirts, as well as an assortment of wallets, bags, clothing, and scarves, Polacek isn’t one to hold back on creative inspiration–especially not at home. 

“I’ve done everything in our house. I’ve slip-covered everything that’s stationary,” Polacek said. 

Polacek sells her work on Etsy and at . She also plans to participate in Junk Bonanza this September. What she’ll have on offer there is anyone’s guess. 

“What’s fun about her is that she’s not necessarily pigeonholed into one thing or another,” Gallery 360 owner Merry Beck said. “She’ll totally surprise you, which is really fun.”

Looking forward, Polacek is in talks with her friend Katherine Lamm and another important Catherine in her life, her eldest daughter, about securing a studio and storefront here in Southwest. 

Lamm, a local graphic designer and textile artist herself, is excited about the prospect, calling the Polacek family “one of the things that make living in this community so great.” 

Referring to her friend Nancy, Lamm said, “She evolves. She’s constantly evolving in what she does. I’m always amazed with what she’s got going on.”

As for Polacek’s daughter, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. While she may have worked professionally as a clothing designer and is now running her own letterpress and design studio, Printerette Press, she had a similar early experience with the dreaded sewing machine. Like her mother, she wanted nothing to do with it. And then one day, mirroring Polacek’s experience, all that changed.

“On the day of her [high school] graduation party, she came up out of the basement and said, ‘Can I have this old cover?’ It was this really old, pretty pink and white thing,” Polacek said. “And I said okay. I thought she was going to put it in a box and take it to school. And she came up an hour later with a skirt with a zipper. She had not sewn anything–ever.” 

Like both Polacek women learned, sometimes the creative drive finds you and you simply have to follow it.