A quilted jacket with frog toggles. That was the first thing I ever sewed. It was a project for my 4H Club Clothing Review when I was ten. I can’t say for sure if I ever wore it in public—or if it was even remotely fashionable—but I remember feeling a such a sense of pride and accomplishment when it was completed.

It would be another decade before I got hit again with the sewing bug, but it came—right after college—and I experienced the creative fulfillment I’d been looking for. I began designing handbags and selling them online (this was in the days before Etsy). Clients from as far as Australia ordered these custom designs. But soon the demand exceeded my output, and I was again left wanting something more.

In 2001, I opened my first sewing studio outside of my home  and began hosting sewing classes for all ages.  After twenty years, sewing, and teaching others how to sew, still brings me the same joy I felt at ten with the 4H Club. I’ve tried to pass that on to my students, from kids as young as six to adults who have never picked up a needle and thread.

Now more than ever, with computer and smartphone screens dominating everyday life, I feel it’s essential to remind people what it’s like to make something from scratch.  Imagine a garment you can touch, hold, and use—one you made yourself—rather than something that exists only on a hard drive. And the benefits of sewing—developing motor skills, learning responsibility, expressing creativity, and making decisions—foster a healthy sense of independence and appreciation.

My creative vision is to help people embrace alternatives to fast fashion by teaching people to sew, encourage thrifting, mending & altering clothes. I love to design and produces alternative fashions & goodies made from items that already exist in the world.