I worked right on Hollywood Boulevard. And Mr. Borsen, he was our manager and he taught us how to do sewing, different kinds of sewing, and then he was going to open a tailor shop, so out of the 15 girls he said “Miko, will you come and work for me?” I said “Oh I’d be honored to,” and so he opened a tailor shop. And I said I know nothing about tailoring and he said I’ll teach you how, so he taught me all the tricks, and the stitches, and everything and how to make a mens’ suit so that was very educational for me. And then starting a new business you’re not very busy and I was sending out cards about his opening a new business.
And after about 6 months I was bored and I was working right across the street from Grauman's Chinese Theatre and I got bored because I'm sitting around most of the time so I went into custom sewing on Sunset Strip, and I did custom sewing for this lady and I learned a lot about sewing and making different things and what I had to do. What I learned in camp, drafting, patterns, I was able to do that so she was tickled about that. So I would measure the lady individually and we did a lot of movie stars then because they lived in that area quite a few and I did custom sewing and I was there for about 2 years but she wasn't all that busy either and I get bored if I’m not busy.
Date: June 1, 2018
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Akira Boch
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
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