When Stina Anderson took fibers classes at Savannah (Georgia) School of Art and Design as a part of her sculpture program, she had no idea her first garment would turn into her wedding dress, which she weaved on a large loom. Since then, the artist has funneled her passion for sculpture, performance, cloth, and community into ARTeries, a fashion sewing studio and boutique located in the vibrant Wedge building in the River Arts District.

The intimate boutique space overflows with whimsical and inspired garments often composed of repurposed fabric, vintage elements, custom prints, and renegade items such as a skirt made of a child’s soccer net weaved with layers of tulle. The skirt fuses costume and fashion design and was a part of her Immersion collection, shown in August and installed at the Asheville Area Arts Council gallery for a month.

An art piece like this is racked with more casual sundresses and other delightful wearables. The boutique is separated from the rest of the studio space by a big curtain and it is behind this curtain where Stina’s creative visions manifest.

A peek behind the curtain reveals a sun-infused studio harboring a riot of functional beauty: shelves of cloth, racks of garments in various stages of completion, dress forms, cutting tables, tools, photography, a small social area, and work tables stocked with sewing machines. The work that occurs here consists primarily of commissions, classes, and personal creative projects.

Stina’s commissions often involve helping the customer through the design process, fittings, and construction. She is often commissioned by both women and men to make a custom garment tailored for their body. People are “unsatisfied,” she says, with the consumer experience—they spend all this time shopping and “nothing ever fits just right.”

She explains that because of this, people come to believe that there is something wrong with their body and that one of the most satisfying things for her is to construct a garment that helps repair a body image that’s been assaulted by mass design and generic factory cuts. She finds she is “able to talk about it in a way that’s really empowering. I think that’s the healing part.”

Another important element of her work involves teaching weekly sewing classes at the beginning and intermediate levels. When she thinks of her students, she smiles sweetly and says, “I’m their sewing guru.” She takes her students from being “afraid to turn on a machine” to being ready to make their own project, no matter what it is. She also conducts private lessons and weekly teen lessons, which are very popular. “You know . . . it’s winter,” she remarks with a gleam in her eye. “People want a creative outlet and what better way to get a sewing machine out and tool around.”

Much of her personal creative work also involves creating and directing major fashion shows. The “Immersion” show was a collaboration with her studio mate in which they dramatized the Shakespearian character Ophelia’s journey through life, death, and beyond. Stina envisioned the second part of the show, in which Ophelia travels deeper and deeper into a forested afterlife, meeting spirits and guides along the way.

The multimedia show involved collaborations between many participants and artists, including musicians, photographers, writers, filmmakers, models, and design and sewing assistants. Of the show, she remarks, “I didn’t want to just do a show that was about my portfolio or increasing my customer base . . . I wanted to give people an experience full of beauty and possibility.”

At one point in the show, she had up to 15 models on stage acting out the storyline. They passed pieces of cloth printed with beautiful dogwoods to one another. These were like “flowers” or “prayers.” At the show’s end, a peaceful Ophelia, guided safely through the afterlife, walks into the audience wearing a couture gown, and hands a piece of the cloth to each audience member. Recalling this moment, Stina remarks that there was this feeling of “Wow, we just experienced something really special.” A filmmaker used the process to create the documentary, Arteriographic: Behind the Scenes with the Renegade Seamstress, which can be viewed on her website.

Her latest passion involves reinventing and reconstructing fragile vintage pieces. These are the types of pieces that are beautiful but perhaps too delicate to actually wear. Or, perhaps they are wearable and another garment can be made to compliment them. She takes out an aged vintage patchwork coat to illustrate her process. She took photographs of the coat’s pattern and then re-created it digitally, printing it on organic cotton. She then made a simple dress with the printed fabric and also created matching accents for the vintage piece.

The dress and coat can be worn together as each piece informs the other. “There is a bit of old, and a bit of new,” she muses. Many people have a very special piece that they love but can’t or choose not to wear. This is a way to keep something like that alive in a way that works for the person wearing it.

A creative powerhouse, she fills her days with inspiration, teaching, and creating. Of her work, Stina says, “I’m starting to be engaged in the community and offering what I’m skilled at and there is satisfaction in that.” A palpable and generous love of community and a belief in the affirmative power of life threads its way through all this work.

ARTeries by Stina: The Fashion Sewing Studio & Boutique is located in Asheville's River Arts District at 121 Roberts Street in The Wedge Studios. For more information, call 828.423.1296 or visit arteriesbystina.com.