Who I Am
I'm Jason Courtemanche. I'm 41, an identical twin, and I learn by doing. It all started when I was six years old, on a Christmas break – I taught myself how to install Red Hat (Linux) on a 486 computer. It was a hard and slow process, but six days later, when the bootloader and kernel were all configured, and it booted correctly for the first time, I felt like I won the lottery. It would be decades later that I would realize I was not just learning about Linux – I was learning how to teach myself something new and teach it to others.
I'm a Senior Application Engineer by day – data management (PDM). I'm a fashion design student at the School of Fashion Design in Boston. I've danced Argentine tango for a decade. I've practiced tai chi off and on – ,for me it's like reorganizing your internal file system. I'm an ordained minister through MSIA and will graduate this year with a Doctor of Spiritual Science from Peace Theological Seminary.
None of those things is separate from the others. They're all the same impulse: understand the structure of something, then build with it.
What I Make
I make bespoke clothing -- one garment at a time, for one person at a time. Every piece is made to your measurements, cut from natural fibers only (linen, merino, silk, cashmere), and constructed by hand in my atelier. No synthetics. No inventory. No compromise on fit.
The tagline is Feel Chosen, and I mean it literally. When you wear something that was made for you -- not for an average body on a size chart, but for your actual shoulders and your actual torso -- you carry yourself differently. That's what I'm after.
I also build the software that runs the atelier. FashionSuite handles everything from client measurements and fitting history to project scheduling and material tracking. I built it because nothing on the market understands how a one-person bespoke operation actually works. And Tandem GTD -- the open-source productivity app I built to manage all of this -- became its own thing entirely. If you're into GTD methodology and want something self-hosted, that's the place.
I don't think making and engineering are separate things. They're the same impulse -- look at a problem, understand its structure, build something that fits. One just uses fabric and the other uses code.
The Signature
Every garment I make carries the same quiet mark: magenta bobbin thread sewn into the seams. You won't see it from the outside. But the person wearing it knows it's there, and so do the people close enough to notice. It's an interior signature -- proof that this was made by hand, by someone specific, for someone specific.
The label sits at the side seam, not the neck. Because I actually wear my own clothes, and neck tags are a decision made by people who don't.
How the Atelier Works
Your first visit is always in person. We sit down, talk about what you actually wear, what fits you badly, what you wish existed in your closet. I take your measurements and create a personal block pattern -- a template that's yours alone. After that, reorders are easy. Your fit is on file. We just pick the fabric and go.
I take on a limited number of clients each year. That's by design. The work is better when it isn't rushed.
What Drives This
I spent a long time keeping different parts of my life in separate rooms. The engineer. The maker. The dancer. The minister. Courtemanche Atelier is what happened when I stopped doing that.
Tango taught me that the best connection happens when you stop leading from your head and start responding from your body. Tai chi taught me that real power looks like stillness. Ministry taught me that seeing someone completely -- without judgment, with full attention -- is the most useful thing you can offer another person. Sewing is where all of that lands. When I'm fitting a garment, I'm doing all of it at once.
The philosophy behind this atelier is simple: be present, build things that last, and let the work speak for itself. I'd rather be in the studio at 9 pm than anywhere else. That's how I know I'm in the right place.
Get in Touch
If any of this sounds like what you've been looking for -- or if you just want to talk about fabric, fit, or what it means to build something by hand -- I'd like to hear from you.