About Me

I can remember the day when I first learned how to sew.  Nine years old, I was at my grandparent’s mountain home on vacation and covered in chicken pox.  Desiring to distract me from the itchiness, my Nana decided to teach me how to make a doll.  Her name was Beth, she had black curly hair and she wore a blue gingham dress.  I was hooked.

This is a treasured photo of my Nana and I during my very first sewing lesson.
(Note my enthusiasm.)  I love you NANA!

The Professor and I live in North Carolina.  He’s quite supportive of my love of sewing, and rightly so since I immortalized him as a doll (every man’s dream!). Until recently we worked at the same university, but in very different jobs.  Now I’m a stay-at-home mom to a little baby boy who will arrive in early spring.

My Nana gave me my current sewing machine, a Husqvarna Viking #1, which is the same machine on which I learned how to sew.  I think it’s just terrific!  Prior to the Viking, I used my mother’s Sears sewing machine which she received for a high school graduation present.  I also use a lovely Bernina 800DL serger, which my mother and husband gave me as a Christmas present.

If given an opportunity, I have a tendency to make dolls.  Dolls are my sewing passion. I teach doll making classes at my local sewing shop, and sporadically make them for my Etsy shop.  I really enjoy the challenge of making custom dolls look like loved ones.

However, one can only have so many dolls.  I’ve recently branched out into quilting (though I don’t have many quilts to show for it).  I am also endeavoring to improve my tailoring skills so that I can make clothes for myself.  It’s certainly been an exercise in learning about pattern alterations, drafting and re-drafting patterns.

I much prefer to make clothes for children, because the fit tends to be simpler.  While I’ve enjoyed making clothes from my friends children for years, one day soon I will have a little model of my own!