We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gema Villaseñor Botello a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Gema, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

There have been endless meaningful projects I’ve worked on during my career as a seamstress but one of my favorites has to be making my own wedding dress.
Most girls grow up wanting big, extravagant weddings but I never really imagined what I wanted mine to look like until the day came. I met my husband and we instantly knew we wanted to get married. It sounds so cliche, but I never imagined love at first sight to be real life until it happened.
We dated for a short period of time and as soon as we had the first conversation about what we wanted the future to look like, we knew that’s what we wanted to do.
We wasted no time. One weekend we were talking about maybe looking at rings, and the next thing we knew, we told our families we were getting married the following weekend.
I didn’t have time to go to the fashion district in Downtown Los Angeles, so I went to Hobby Lobby and found the perfect white satin.
I had 3 days to create my dress once we booked our venue and all I knew is that I wanted something simple. I worked nonstop until right before we left for the weekend.
Once I finished, I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. A long satin dress, backless, with a slight cowl neckline. Perfection in my eyes.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Gema. For those who don’t speak Spanish, it translates to Gem in English. I never really appreciated my name growing up until deciding to start my brand. I didn’t want the name to include my name exactly, but knew I wanted it to be a part. So, I created My Gemstone.
When I started to sew, I was 15 and didn’t have money to buy expensive fabrics or a lot of materials, so I stole my moms curtains, bed sheets, and anything I could get my hands on to create some of my first pieces. She was definitely not happy about it at the time, but we laugh about it now.
I taught myself how to sew by messing with my machine any chance I got and watched endless YouTube videos. Some of my favorites at the time were Annika Victoria and Coolirpa. I am endlessly grateful for all of the content they created for little me. I know if 15 year old me could see all of the projects I’ve been a part of, she’d be so proud.
I’ve created so many things for friends, family, and people all over the world. From lingerie and swimsuits, to rave outfits and all types of cosplays. I focused on lingerie for years but I love being able to branch out to accommodate all kinds of requests. I wholeheartedly appreciate every person who has allowed me to create a piece of me for all of these special events.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of my favorite things about being a creative is the fact that I have control over what direction I’d like to go in. I can’t stress enough how exciting it is to go from making a set for a boudoir photo shoot to doing alterations on a bridesmaid dress. I adore being part of different kind of special moments for my clients.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

One of the simplest ways to support and show love to your favorite artists, of any kind, is to share their work. Whether it be a story post on Instagram, or telling your friends and family about them. I love finding out that some of my most loyal clients end up being cousins, or childhood friends. One of my favorite things to hear is “I ordered because my friend posted about you!” It makes me so happy to know that a tiny action in someone’s day created another chance to be able to make something for someone new.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/shopmygemstone
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@mygemstone