Meet Sara Trail
Sara learned to sew at the young age of 4, and is now a successful author, sewing teacher, and pattern and fabric designer. At age 13, she wrote a nationally published book, “Sew with Sara” that teaches teens and tweens how to sew cute clothes and accessories for fun and profit. At 15, she starred in a nationally published DVD, “Cool stuff to Sew with Sara.” She then designed two fabric collections, Folkheart and Biology 101, and a pattern collection with Simplicity, “Designed with Love by Sara.” Her pattern collection features prom dresses, backpack patterns, hoodies and jackets as well as aprons and tote bags. While attending UC Berkeley, Sara created a quilt in memory of Trayvon Martin and her love for sewing and passion for social justice intertwined. After graduating from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, she founded the Social Justice Sewing Academy (SJSA) to be a platform where youth create art that engages and educates communities.
Q+A
What inspires you?
To be quite honest with you, children. Children inspire me with their innocence and they remind me that before disappointment we were all so wholesome and curious about this world. Children also inspire me because they’re smarter than most adults and if you give them a problem to solve they will show you that they are far more creative in finding solutions. They think from their heart versus their experiences.
What scares you?
Failure and undesired stagnation scares me. This is not to say that I have never failed- but big life-sized failure, that is what scares me. To me, this means not living up to my potential and settling for less than what I know I can accomplish. In all that I do, I have set a high bar for myself and I want to accomplish my goals and rest assured that each of my sacrifices have mattered.
What is the world missing?
I believe that the world is missing compassion and forgiveness. I feel we people need to stop fueling the belief that other groups of people are different from us and that we have a right to judge one another— this idea of competition or being better drives ugliness. If we saw everyone with the same bias and love we see ourselves - we would be more kind, more giving, more loving, and more forgiving.
What expression or saying do you love?
“You do not have to be a fire for every mountain blocking you. You could be water, and soft river your way to freedom too. There are options.” To me this quote means that violence or quick moves, the most instantly gratifying ways of doing things, - the exhausting ways - do not have to be the only way. This quote reminds me to not rush and to remember the same outcome can occur without having to be stressed, drained, or triggered. Water is slow, deliberate, and soft - but it carves through mountains just the same. I’m trying to be like water in my methods for racial and social justice.
What are you most grateful for?
I’m most grateful for my parents. They’ve both sacrificed so much to ensure I had a lifestyle very different than their own upbringing. I appreciate the expectations they’ve set, not only academically, but the model of treating others as you’d want to be treated and having a giving spirit at all times.
Want more? Visit the Social Justice Sewing Academy website, follow them on Instagram and Facebook.