WOMEN WHO INSPIRE
All in the Family
ARTIST CARRIES ON TEXTILE TRADITION
By Vi c k i B e n n i n g t o n
D
iane Tessman’s family tree is filled with a long line of
textile artists. And she is no exception.
A seamstress all of her life, it was quite by accident
that 30 years ago, her specialty became hats.
“I started making teddy bears, then I dressed them
in hats, then for some reason, the hats stuck,” Tessman said.
All of her hats are hand-braided, made mostly of recycled material
that started out in life as draperies, jackets, sweaters, or maybe a pair
of blue jeans, though she does occasionally utilize new fabric as well.
Her former husband’s family was in the foundry business, which
brought them to St. Louis 40 years ago, but Tessman has not lost her
tell-tale Minnesota accent that only adds to her charm.
She operates Tessman Textiles with her sister, Sharon Tessman
Hoiland, who still lives “back home.” The two are very close in age,
and were raised almost as twins, but Tessman insists her sister is more
organized and neater than she is.
“I like that, because I depend on her idiosyncrasies,” Tessman said.
“We take over for each other’s short suits.”
While Tessman’s primary focus is hats, Hoiland focuses on scarves
and fabric rosettes, which she and her sister both make. They are
attached to Tessman’s hats; some are on hair clips; others on lapel pins.
To make the edges curl properly and add interest – as well as connect
the old with the new – Tessman singes the petals using her grandpa’s
old oil lamp.
Their grandfather was the patriarch who started the textile tradition
as a weaver. As homage to the family legacy, Tessman brings her
grandpa’s woven reed basket along to display at her booth at outdoor
art events, where she showcases and sells her hats.
Tessman said much of her own attention to detail and many of her
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GAZELLE STL
philosophies come from the wisdom and expertise instilled by her
mother, who worked on a loom all of her life.
“I’m big on family legacies,” Tessman said. “She had a real knack for
putting colors together and always made our clothes too. We would pick
dresses in the Sears catalog, and she would make them without a pattern.
Tessman’s sewing room is packed with six commercial machines
presently in operation, and several more not in current use.
“I don’t like changing thread colors, so I thread machines with
different colors, and one with invisible thread,” she said. Then she zips
from machine to machine on a wheeled chair.
“It allows me to work much faster,” she said. “My record is 13 hats in
two days.”
No forms or patterns for her either. She creates strips from the
material or garment, braids them and forms the construction through
tension, while holding the hat on the machine.
She especially loves taking the hats to art shows, because she loves to
see the expression on people’s faces when they try them on.
“I love the connection that brings,” she said. And she’s tuned in to
connections and feelings. When buying used items for hats, she chooses
pieces with a “good attitude.”
“I read and feel subtle energies (another trait that came from her
mother), and I am very intuitive about what I feel when I’m sewing,”
she said. “I want all of my hats to feel good (have a nice vibe), and I’m
very mindful of everything that goes into each one.”
And like her mom, if she is in a bad mood, she doesn’t sew, believing
that a happy state of mind makes for a better end piece.
Her 104-year-old aunt is a former fashion designer. “She always
dressed elegantly, and she handmade all of her beautiful skirts, which
I have used to make a line of hats called the ‘Lydia hats,’” Tessman said.