At 8 years old my grandmother purchased a Singer Featherweight for my first sewing machine. That Christmas we made Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for the cousins, kindling a passion for sewing and creating. Since that time there have been many projects --period costumes, Abraham Lincoln's top hat, a dress made from paint swatches -- eventually leading me to to pursue sewing in college and receiving an
Applied Apparel Construction diploma. It is also a joy for me to pass on these lost skills to the next generation, so have taught sewing, knitting, and other hand arts through my home for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students. Always searching for clever and practical gifts to make for friends and family, I was inspired by a required project in my college fashion program: design a tote using recycled materials. Having access to the gorgeous fabric swatches used for interior design through the architectural industry, I decided to quilt these and then fashion a bag. Since it's a running joke in our family to "start a business" whenever something delicious, useful, or ingenious is conceived, I decided it was about time someone did so.
