Recently you may have seen Claire Hooper co-hosting The Great Australian Bake Off or appearing on Channel Ten’s the Project. But Hooper’s first love was actually the stage, where she started out crafting live shows that blended standup and theatre.
Over the next fortnight, the Perth-born comedian is going back to her roots with a new show, titled Tea, which she will perform as part of the Melbourne international comedy festival. It is her fondness for theatre – and the accompanying costumes – that prompts her to name a sewing machine as her most helpful possession.
Here, Hooper tells us about that sturdy appliance, as well as the story of two other personal belongings.
What I’d save from my house in a fire
You start thinking about this and quickly realise your answer is “everything, please”. I like my things, which is why I haven’t already burned them in a fire. But the most sentimental member of our family is my six-year-old daughter, so if I had to narrow it down, it would have to be her “Cutes” – a family of matching soft toys.
Their names are Cutie Pie, Big Cute and Middle-Sized Cute and they are psychedelic-coloured hamsters (of course). Our first kid had no favourite toys, so I allowed myself to believe that an unhealthy attachment to any toy was just bad parenting. Flash forward five years and I’m searching dangerous parklands at 9pm with a phone torch so my second child can get to sleep.
I’m hoping I’m allowed to take all three. If not, I’d request that you break the news to her that we’re leaving two in the fire.
My most useful object
I wish sewing machines had odometers; I’d love to know how many kilometres mine has done. I learned to sew when I was about nine years old on my mum’s machine, then got given this beauty for my 18th. Since then I’ve costumed dozens of theatre shows, sewn countless questionable outfits for myself from vintage patterns, made a tuxedo for a ball date, a dress for a boyfriend experimenting in drag, and jackets for my dog.
I even met my husband because of a sewing project, when I did a late-night fitting on a mutual friend for a dance unitard. It was designed to resemble a 70s Kingswood, and Wade struck up a conversation as I measured up his friend for the brown and cream Lycra monstrosity. The rest is history.
Since the pandemic I’ve made 100 fabric masks for friends and family. And yes, I’m one of those parents who takes Book Week too seriously.
My proudest recent project was a “Christmas ice fairy” dress for my kid. It was a present she wore nonstop for a week, and boasted “Mum made this” to anyone who’d listen. I love praise.
The item I most regret losing
Back in about 2010, I lived in the last terrace house in North Melbourne to have a front window with no security bars. One day I came back from a 20-minute errand to find the window smashed and my bedside drawer emptied. I think someone had watched me leave.
I still miss what was taken: a gold bracelet that held charms I’d collected from my mother for my teenage milestones – a dance award, my 16th birthday, a science prize. I made a list of what was hanging on it, hoping that one day I’d be able to afford to buy another bracelet and replace every charm. But – here’s the fun bit – I lost that list.
I miss the charm bracelet. I regret losing the list.
There’s a bright side to the story though. I thought I’d also lost two sweet little rings that I took from my grandmother when she passed, but a few days later I discovered I’d left them in an odd place in my office. I’ve never been so delighted to be absent-minded. Losing things is inevitable. But better to lose things while using them than by leaving them in your bedroom drawer.
