Peggy Sagers: Today we have a stunning show I think is out of this world.

We take fashion into space.

When astronauts reach space and look back towards Earth, they experience a phenomenon called the Space Effect.

They suddenly realize that we are all one, all part of a bigger-than-life experience.

They return to Earth with the desire to help others.

Today, on "Fit 2 Stitch," we travel to ILC Dover in Houston, Texas, and meet the creators of the space suits.

We'll even learn how to sew a zipper into a space suit.

We also meet one astronaut that is helping others in a big way.

Today, on "Fit 2 Stitch."

♪♪ male announcer: "Fit 2 Stitch" is made possible by Kai Scissors, Plano Sewing Center, Elliott Berman Textiles, Bennos Buttons, Imitation of Life, and Clutch Nails.

David Graziosi: So we're here in front of the Astro space suit.

It's our new Extra Vehicular Activity space suit.

So that's the one that goes outside in the vacuum of space and builds space stations and services satellites and does those kind of things.

One of the things that's unique especially about an EVA space suit is those people that sew them, right?

It is still sewing, sort of, call it "old school," with a old-school sewing machine right now.

They're highly skilled people, who have a desire to do something that is very unique, very difficult to do, and at the end of the day they see it as they're taking responsibility for an astronaut's safety, right?

There's fabric between you and certain death in one of the harshest environments that anybody's ever experienced, right?

So they take that job very seriously, which would be different than sewing in a garment industry, you know, fashion design.

It is--it puts a different mindset, a different headset, you have to have to do this work.

Peggy: Absolutely, and this is a sewing show, so I am so excited to hear you say that we need great precision sewers, hand-done, yay.

David: Absolutely.

Peggy: Danielle LaFleur is a highly trained space suit seamstress and designer.

So we're just excited to have you here today, Danielle.

Danielle LaFleur: Thank you for having me.

Peggy: How did you learn to sew, 'cause you're sewing space suits.

Where did this start?

Danielle: So, I was kind of around sewing a lot in my childhood.

My mom sewed my clothes, and my grandma sewed quilts, so I was kind of always, like, handsewing little things like yo-yos or quilt blocks, and I didn't use a sewing machine 'til I was in high school because I was actually really scared of a sewing machine and, like, sewing over my hand.

So it wasn't until high school that I got really into it.

Peggy: So you graduated from high school and what do you decide to do?

Danielle: So I went to school for fashion design at the Baum School of Art in Pennsylvania and there I learned how to do flat patternmaking, drapings, and after college I had a bunch of jobs where I learned a lot of different industrial machines and I think that really aided my journey here to this.

Peggy: So how does that go to space suits?

Danielle: So I've always really been interested in space and, of course, when you're a kid, like, everybody wants to be an astronaut.

It's like, the coolest thing you can do.

So one day I just decided to google who made space suits for NASA 'cause it's just something that I never thought of before.

And they make the stuff that goes into space in Delaware.

So that was 2 hours from my house and they had a job opening for a space suit sewer.

Peggy: That's amazing.

Danielle: So I decided to apply and I ended up getting the job.

The sewing test for the interview was pretty intense.

Peggy: Sewing test?

I don't think I've ever been given a sewing test in my life.

So tell us a little about that sewing test.

Danielle: So, at the sewing test, they kind of look at how you maneuver the material under an industrial machine, how you can handle it, how well you can keep a tolerance.

Peggy: Were you nervous?

Danielle: Oh yeah, I was pretty nervous.

The tolerances they have are, like, 1/32 of an inch to 1/16 of an inch so-- Peggy: And clearly, we know you passed that test.

Danielle: I did, yeah, and I got the job, and it was really cool.

Peggy: So you were actually hired in as a seamstress, but you're clearly not that now.

You are a seamstress because you're still sewing space suits, except you're designing them also.

Danielle: Yup, that's right.

Peggy: So how did that come along?

Danielle: So in Delaware, they make the stuff that goes into space now, and I really wanted to do more, like, research and development and make the outer layers of suits that are going to go into space.

So I asked to be transferred here to Houston so I can work with the space suit design engineers here and astronauts over at Johnson Space Center.

And so these are some prototype space suits that I designed and made.

That's the Launch Entry suit and that's only used inside the vehicle, and then the EVA, of course, is the Extra Vehicular Activity suit.

And this one, actually, has the boots on it for planetary activities.

So this one was prototyped for walking on the moon for Artemis.

Peggy: Wow, a little glimpse of the future.

Danielle: Mm-hm, yeah.

Peggy: So what's the biggest challenge do you think in designing those two different space suits?

Danielle: Well, so the LEA and EVA suits both present different challenges.

I would say the EVA suit is probably a little more complicated just because there's way more things that go into an EVA suit as far as, like, heating and cooling, and the life support system, and like, drinking water.

Peggy: A lot.

Danielle: Yeah, when the space suit design engineers are creating the bladder and restraint parts of the suit, they're doing extensive testing and making sure that it performs optimally, working with the astronauts and getting feedback from them.

And then, where I come in and do the cover layer, I have to make sure that the cover layer doesn't inhibit any mobility or get in the way of anything, and it works in harmony with the underlayers.

Peggy: So it's that functionality that's already been accomplished, you can't mess it up.

Danielle: Yeah, and sometimes, a design just really does not translate well, once you see it moving around and in person.

It just looks totally different than on paper, than you had imagined, especially with those, like, vertical line breaks.

That's always really challenging to try to make a space suit look slimmer and cool at the same time, as well as differentiate--differentiating your design from, like, a competitor.

With an LEA suit, we do a lot of testing with, like, the vehicles to make sure that the astronauts can fit--sit comfortably in the vehicle and the suit can integrate with the vehicle and have things, like, touch compatibility for, like a touch screen and-- Peggy: Oh, in the gloves?

Danielle: Yeah, and things like that.

Peggy: And that one can be really exciting because it's got more colors, more-- Danielle: There's a little more leeway in the design with-- Peggy: That's what I wanted, "leeway in the design."

There you go.

Danielle: --with the Launch Entry Abort suit, because it doesn't have all those pivoting parts like an EVA suit would have.

The astronauts will wear it in the rocket or vehicle during ascent out of the Earth's atmosphere and then on reentry.

So it protects them in the event of a cabin depressurization.

Peggy: And that one, there's a lot of focus on right now because this race to space, I'm gonna call it, is really competitive, and there's a lot of companies doing this now.

And they don't go outside the spaceship.

They just literally go up, which is--I'm not minimizing that.

But they go up and they come down.

So these space suits are quite varied these days.

Danielle: Yeah, absolutely.

And of course, everyone wants to make, you know, their style statement with their suit so there's a lot of new stuff coming out.

Peggy: So are they doing the designing then and bringing them to you to implement those designs?

Danielle: So a lot of the private space companies that come to us with the design in mind usually has to be changed to fit the functionality of the suit.

I think a lot of people wonder why we can't make very cool space suits that--like you see in the movies and stuff, and a lot of times there's a lot of constraints in that area.

Peggy: So you just have restrictions and you have to follow the guidelines 'cause you can never compromise on safety for the way somebody looks.

Danielle: Yeah, there's toxicity requirements, flammability requirements, and things like that, so.

Peggy: And all those things other designers don't ever have to think about.

Space suit designers have to think about that.

Danielle: Yeah, I knew it was gonna be challenging but it definitely is more than I ever thought.

Peggy: Do you love what you do?

Danielle: Yeah, it's really fun and unique.

Peggy: It really is.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Danielle: Well, I really like sci-fi movies.

I think myself and a lot of my coworkers like sci-fi movies and things like that.

It's really fun to draw inspiration from those movies but, again, those are not real space suits.

They wouldn't pressurize properly and things like that, but.

Peggy: Well, thank you so much for being here.

It was really just fun to meet you and hear of your background.

Danielle: Thank you, Peggy.

It was a pleasure.

Peggy: Sewing for space has recently taken on a whole new dimension with a space suit art project.

David Graziosi, a founding board member of Space for Art, will tell us more.

David: How I got involved with this was got a call--sitting at my desk, got a call one day from one of the NASA managers that I work with on the NASA space suit program and he said, "I got a call from this guy from this MD Anderson, who is part of the Arts and Medicine program there.

He's the director and has this vision for a project and wanted to see if ILC and you would wanna be involved in that."

And I said, "I can't even envision what that is, right?

You're at this hospital, we're making space suits.

But sure."

Peggy: How does that work together?

David: Yeah, right, how does that mesh?

And I was hooked pretty much right away.

So, this was pediatric cancer kids and he explained, you know, the at least decade of work he had done with them in arts and medicine and how that really is therapeutic for the kids, and how it's a game-changer for them.

Peggy: Dr. Ian Cion at MD Anderson Cancer Center had the beautiful idea for children to paint swatches of fabric to be assembled by ILC Dover into space suits.

David: It brought me back to, you know, what is your own personal experiences, right?

Everybody's had probably an experience with cancer in their family, their friends.

Peggy: Unfortunately.

David: Yeah, unfortunately.

And for me, it was our closest family friends, their oldest daughter at the time, same age as my oldest, at 2 years old, was diagnosed with cancer.

And I ended up being the one that dropped her off and her family off in New York City at Sloane Kettering in that case thinking it was her last stop that she probably wasn't gonna make it.

And so, as soon as he explained it, I just said, "All in."

And then we moved forward, right, and talked to our management and what--and the company was all in as well.

So ILC Dover jumped in with both feet as well, resource-wise.

Peggy: Which is a lot of commitment, just let's say for the record.

David: It is.

Peggy: It's a lot of commitment.

David: You can look at the suits, right, and they sort of look like a Halloween costume but one of the things that we did to also make it real for the kids, right, so there's ones that are just have passion for art, right, and even if they're not, just doing the artwork does really help you therapeutically.

I'm completely convinced after being involved in that.

But then there were some of the kids that truly did think about, "I wanna be an engineer.

I wanna be a mathematician.

I wanna be a computer scientist."

And doing something technically focused gives you that vision, right, so-- Peggy: I wanna be an astronaut.

David: Right, wanna be an astronaut, right?

And I wanna kick this cancer to the curb so I can go be an astronaut.

Peggy: Retired astronaut, Nicole Stott, was next to come on board.

Two times to space.

Talk to me about how that whole space experience just changes you forever.

Nicole Stott: Well, I think you have really high expectations of what it's gonna be like.

I mean, for me, the allure of it was more than just the adventurey side of, you know, riding in rockets and floating in space and stuff.

I mean, I really, having been a NASA engineer for over 10 years, I could see and understand that all of what we're doing in space is ultimately about improving life on Earth, and so to be a part of that was really exciting to me, and to be a part of that as an astronaut in space, you know, hands on, doing the work that's making that possible.

And it's a space station motto, right, "Off the Earth for the Earth."

I think that's so beautiful, in that everything we're doing off the Earth is ultimately about life here on the Earth, you know, for the Earth.

And for me, I really wanted to share the experience.

I had had the opportunity to paint while I was in space and, as I was considering moving on from this kind of NASA-focused phase of my life, I kept coming back to that painting in space, like, "Man, you know, art, it's a really cool way to communicate with people, like, masses of people, you know, across the board.

It's this universal communicator."

I'm like, "Man, maybe I can use my art, whether they like my artwork or not, you know, honestly, to share the experience in a way that might engage somebody who doesn't even know there's an international space station.

Doesn't know there's-- Peggy: So that's where it started?

Nicole: Yeah, like, that was it with it.

Doesn't know there's been for over 20 years 15 and more countries working peacefully, successfully, you know, off the Earth for the Earth.

Peggy: The Space for Art project turned out to be the perfect way for Nicole to bring her experience in space back to Earth.

Nicole: Oh my gosh, I walked into that place and, you know, and these kids are going through what you hope is the worst thing they will ever have to experience in their lives.

And you cannot--I don't--you're not human if you walk away from this experience thinking, "Oh, okay, I've been there, done that."

Peggy: Yeah, no.

Nicole: You know, you are impacted.

You are inspired.

I definitely was.

Like, in the presence of these young people who will share things with you that are beyond their years' wisdom, and they'll do it as they're just painting.

You know, they're going through treatment, they're tired, you know, I think they'd much rather go back to their rooms in a lot of cases and just go to sleep, and they come in and, you know, they're--you can tell they're tired, and--but what's so cool is that, like, within minutes, they're sitting up straighter, they're talking to you about what they're going through, they're talking to you even more importantly about their future.

I mean, space exploration is inspirational.

And then giving them a creative outlet to, like, create whatever they want.

And we talk about space suits and we talk about why you even need a space suit and how that's your life support system and you can see, I mean, you get I don't know if this is this little boy or girl's family or, you know, you'll get a lot of Earths or splatter or flags and there's just no knowing, really, what they're gonna put down there.

One experience in particular that I had with this little girl, you know, she's just painting.

I don't even know what she was painting and just talking to me and just matter of factly kind of says, "You know, Miss Nicole, what goes on with you as an astronaut in space must be a lot like what I'm going through here in the hospital."

She's like, "Yeah, you know, you go to space and you can't just go outside anytime you want.

You can't see your family and friends the same way.

You gotta eat all different kinds of food.

Your body's changing.

They're doing all kinds of tests on you.

I think you got radiation."

And just--in such a--I know, I get goosebumps every time.

Such an innocent kind of matter of fact, but really thoughtful way that she presented that, as she's painting, you know?

Peggy: How old was this little-- Nicole: She's, like, 7 years old maybe.

Peggy: Oh my goodness.

Nicole: And I was just floored.

I mean, I--like, I almost cry every time I think about that, because it was so on, so-- Peggy: So profound.

Nicole: --profound, so compelling, so powerful, and just the way she just matter of factly said it.

Peggy: As she's painting.

Nicole: As she's painting, and we're talking about space, and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, this really--there's like a transcendence kind of thing going on, you know?"

And these kids totally get it.

You know, they totally get it.

They know where they are, when this is happening, and their families are around and with them, and I think benefiting from this whole experience as well.

And--but just to watch that.

To watch that happening.

I mean, I knew from that point on, I'm like, "Okay, I have discovered my next mission."

And then with the last suit, because we were all around the Earth going through COVID, we opened up to children everywhere, and on that suit we have at least one piece of art from at least one kid in every country on the planet.

Peggy: Oh my goodness.

Nicole: For the Foundation.

We kind of sat back and thought, "You know, what are we really doing?"

And we came up with this mission statement, as you need for every organization, right?

And we decided that those words needed to be that "we are uniting a planetary community of children through the awe and wonder of space exploration and the healing power of art."

And I don't know, I think it fits us perfectly.

Peggy: That's pretty good.

Thank you, Nicole.

Peggy: Gary Chilson is a senior engineering technician at ILC Dover.

You've sewn four Space Art suits and we don't even know, countless other, right?

Gary Chilson: If not making 'em, repairing 'em, so we've had repairs down here-- Peggy: If not making 'em, repairing 'em.

Anything on a sewing machine you can do?

Gary: For the most part, yes.

Peggy: How did you start sewing?

I wanna know this.

Gary: Well, we had selectives in high school, so I took as many as I could, and sewing had just took my fancy as-- Peggy: Wait a minute, did you take the class in high school because there was a whole bunch of women in the sewing class?

Did you really-- Gary: Well, if the truth be known, truth be known, I wanted to hook up with one, okay?

Peggy: Okay, all right, but that's okay.

It led to a lifelong career of sewing.

But go ahead, I interrupted.

Gary: Okay, so after high school I was a mechanic for a number of years.

After that, after being a mechanic for a number of years, I wanted something different.

So I joined the Marine Corps and I joined as a parachute rigger.

That's taking care of pilot's gear, parachutes, life rafts, vest, anything that had to do with the pilots.

We took care of it.

They may need repairing, stitching, sewing, what have you, and I stayed with the Marine Corps for 8 years.

Peggy: And during that time repaired lots of parachutes on the sewing machine.

Gary: And I got out of the Marine Corps in '93 so I went back to construction for a while and that's not what I wanted so my friend called me up, Pennsylvania, said, "Would you like a job down here at NASA?"

So I said, "Sounds pretty good, yeah, I'll come down."

And I've been here ever since and that's been 28 years.

Peggy: So talk to me about these space suits.

Now, you've sown four of them together.

And when you first started them, well, where do you start with the pattern?

Who creates the patterns for these?

Gary: Well, the patterns we get from engineering.

Once they make 'em, they'll send 'em down here.

And then I go from there.

I'll cut out the patterns and start stitching them all together.

Peggy: So how long would you say it took you to make one of these Space Art suits?

Gary: From when I get the materials, get the patterns, it's probably a good, I'm gonna say, 2 or 3 months because I've got to cut it all out, pattern it all out, stitch it all together.

Peggy: Wow, 2 to 3 months.

Gary: Yes.

Peggy: And this is not for profit.

This is simply goodwill?

Gary: Yes.

I think it's great.

I mean, it helps a lot of people out, and it makes me happy doing it, so.

Peggy: I'll bet.

So when you're putting on these Art suits, you can't have it all be in one.

You have to have some way to get into it.

Gary: Exactly, yes.

Peggy: And you had, obviously, had a hand in figuring that out, all right, and that involves a zipper, yes?

Gary: A zipper, yes.

Peggy: All right, so you're my zipper guy.

Gary: Okay, I am your zipper guy.

Peggy: And you're gonna show us how to put it--you're gonna show us the easiest method you know of putting in a zipper.

Gary: We're gonna do a Teflon zipper so on suits or on something that's gonna hold up, so I gave 'em a number 10 zipper and that's what I'm gonna show you right now, how to put in a number 10.

Peggy: So if the teeth are larger, the zipper is more durable?

Gary: Absolutely, yes.

Peggy: Generally, okay.

And so that size tells us not only how big the teeth are but how close they are together.

Gary: Yeah, for the most part, yes-- Peggy: Okay, okay.

We're excited.

Gary: Go ahead and sew it?

Peggy: Yeah.

Gary: Okay.

Peggy: Yeah, let's see.

Gary: Okay, so what I did was take our piece of material.

Say this is gonna be this one right here, see it's from the kids and that.

And I'm gonna cut this piece of material out so it's gonna look like this kid's.

See it's all painted and stuff?

So I'll take--I'll draw my center line down here, put my zipper, put my zipper upside down.

Peggy: Face down, huh?

Gary: Start my machine up.

And we're ready to begin stitching.

Peggy: And your machine's on?

I can't even hear it.

Gary: Yes, it's on.

So, the zipper side is facing the material.

The slider side, I should say.

And then we're gonna sew 1/16 in from the edge all the way through.

Should be a line between the teeth there.

And when you get down to the end here, what we wanna do is keep the zipper so we're gonna make, like, a stop.

Unzip the zipper.

Make sure it's in the center which it looks pretty good.

And continue.

Then we'll do crossover.

These are Teflon teeth, so you've gotta take it easy so you don't break the needle.

And then stitch down the other side.

Peggy: Same seam allowance, right?

Gary: Same seam allowance, yes.

Okay, what I'm gonna do is stop right here.

What I wanna do is turn it over, cut down the length of it in the middle.

Wrong scissors.

Just keep right on top of the zipper here.

And I need my scissors sharpened.

Peggy: We all feel that way.

When we're sewing at home and we're trying to cut fabric.

Gary: So now that you got access to your zipper, works pretty good.

What I'm gonna do is turn that under and we'll have the zipper exposed and that's ready to use on any suit.

So let me go ahead and do that.

Peggy: And then what seam allowance are you here?

Gary: It's probably gonna be about an 1/8.

Peggy: Eighth, okay.

Gary: So yeah, I've got about an 1/8 between my 1/4 and my 1/16 and my 1/8.

Okay, so we've got one line to go down here and then we'll go back and then we'll have the finished product to put it in a suit or you can make handbag.

There's all kinds of things you can do with a zipper.

Peggy: And we can just do one side and then we'll look at it.

Gary: Okay.

Peggy: So it's open at the top and the bottom, so when you're turning it back, you're really creating the seam allowance by turning it under.

Gary: Yeah, we're making it aesthetically looking good.

Peggy: So how much space is there between the first stitch and the second stitch?

Gary: Well, I give it about an 1/8 of an inch.

Again, it depends on the zipper.

And it depends on what kind of foot you're using.

Peggy: Yeah, this looks great.

You've done this before.

Gary: A couple of times, yeah.

Peggy: This is, you know, well, you're actually stitching it double because the first time you secured the zipper, the second time you did underneath but it also looks like it's been stitched twice.

It actually, if you did it the way the sewing has you do it at home, you'd actually have three steps where this actually cuts out one step.

Gary: Exactly, yeah.

Peggy: And you could do this with any fabric.

This looks great.

Thank you, Gary.

Peggy: Thank you, ILC Dover, NASA, and the Space for Art project, for sharing your stories of hope and healing through art and sewing.

Peggy: I hope that this series, your questions, our answers, has opened your eyes to possibilities in the sewing community.

I love sewing.

I love the individuals who sew, are unique and also have many things in common.

Sewers create a circle around the sewing machine and around the world.

Coco Chanel once said, "You were born an original.

Don't become a copy."

In this craft of sewing, once we know the rules, we can add creativity and imagination to define our unique style of dress.

From all of us in the studio, behind the cameras, our graphic designers, our supportive families, thank you for watching "Fit 2 Stitch."

Happy sewing.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ announcer: "Fit 2 Stitch" is made possible by Kai Scissors, Plano Sewing Center, Elliott Berman Textiles, Bennos Buttons, Imitation of Life, and Clutch Nails.

To order a four-DVD set of "Fit 2 Stitch," series 11, please visit our website at fit2stitch.com.

♪♪ ♪♪