Jessica Cruzan had been making high-end leather handbags in New Mexico, but when she moved to Hawaii Island, she quickly learned what Island residents know all too well: Humidity, moisture and leather do not mix. The rain and damp of East Hawai'i quickly turned Cruzan's beautiful leather work green with mold.
Looking to use her creativity and impressive sewing skills-her resume includes designing inflatable mascot costumes and sewing spacesuits for NASA's Mars habitat on Mauna Loa-Cruzan began searching for quality materials that would hold up. One day she wandered into a fabric store in Waimea. "They had coasters made out of cork fabric, which I'd never seen before. It felt like leather," she says. "The cork is shaved paper-thin and adhered to a fabric backing, but it's not like what you think of when you think of cork-it's not brittle. It's really soft, and visually it has more depth to it than flat fabric."
Seamstress Jessica Cruzan of Sew Da Kine (seen above left) unrolls a bolt of cork fabric imported from Spain. Unlike traditional textiles and leathers, cork is naturally moisture- and microbe-resistant, making it the perfect material to withstand Hilo’s purse-eating climate.
It took Cruzan months to source high-quality cork fabric from Portugal, the world's largest producer. Cork fabric, just like wine corks, is made from the bark of a type of oak known for its longevity and its ability to regenerate. Cork resists abrasion; it's also fire resistant and impermeable to liquid. It's naturally antimicrobial, too, so it repels mold and mildew.
Cruzan learned everything she knows about sewing from her aunts, who were both union seamstresses at the University of Illinois Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Cruzan helped them make period costumes before embarking on her own sewing adventures, which included all sorts of odd jobs, she says. She created the inflatable mascots for movie premieres and Six Flags theme parks. She did alterations at David's Bridal and made saddlebags for Harley-Davidson bikes. Before coming to Hawaii she nearly gave up sewing to become an attorney advocating for the deaf. But Island life inspired her to return to the craft. "I think there is much more opportunity here to really be creative," she says.
Cruzan now sources cork fabric for her business, Sew Da Kine, from Spain, in thirty-two different colors and printed with her own designs. There's no lack of demand; she works thirteen-hour days to keep up. "Cork has kind of exploded as a textile now because it's a sustainable product," she says. That's true in more ways than one: "I've seen how my bags hold up over time. Repeat customers are still wearing the bags they bought years ago."
