about me

I probably should have named my pattern line "2busy2sew" because I often find myself scrambling to quickly put together a birthday or baby shower gift at the last minute..i.e..5 am..the day of the party. But, I always give a handmade gift. There is a sort of joy in a person's face when they get a hand crafted gift that you just don't see when your friend opens up another pack of white onesies. I believe that handcrafted gifts create a heartfelt appreciation in the recipients and a special connection that just isn't there when you just buy something. Every single mom has a macaronni bracelet in her jewelry box next to her grandmother's brooch and it is just as valuable. When you make something you infuse it with your style and your presense and that make it special.

But, as a full time mother and practicing attorney, it can be a scramble to make handmade gifts. It is almost impossible to actually make stuff and keep up with selling online. I know. After my divorce I made and sold about 5,000 doll outfits while I was builiding my legal practice back up. I was sewing every second of every day with my newborn sitting on the sewing table in her bouncy chair.

Making so many doll outfits started to take away the joy of crafting and the business of crafting was beginning to get stressful like my real life job instead of being a great escape for my creative side.

So, my sister had the idea that I should make something that I could sell over and over, patterns. So, now, when I create a great, handcrafted item for someone I love, I document the process so that you can make the gift for someone you love.

Sewing patterns are a great fit for my personality. I am always looking for something new to make and I have notebooks full of all of the patterns and projects I want to make in this lifetime. Now, instead of making 20 dinosaur ponchos to sell at Halloween, I make the pattern and sell it to you so that you can make it yourself and I can hit my next big idea, a pony poncho...or a super hero cape, or bunny bowling.

My pattern and sewing style is heavily influenced by three factors: my mom, my sister, and my job. My mom taught me how to sew and I used to sit for hours with my sister on the dining room floor while she sewed dolls, costumes, curtains, dresses or whatever else she was making. She would give us a needle and thread and we would make barbie clothes or pincusions (I think my mom had more pincusions than she has pins) from the scraps of her projects. Most importantly my mom taugh me how to sew anything and everything I want to make.

My sister is my style compas and she keeps me up to date on the latest color trends, styles, and what is hot in kid's fasion. PLus, she takes many of my photos and my beautiful nieces are often my models and the recipients of many of my sewing samples.

The final thing is my job. Between having a preschooler and my law firm, I have very little time to make stuff these days. So, when I have a party to go to and I want to make a beautiful gift, I use all of the tips and tricks my mom taught to me that I have time to make stuff. I cannot tell you how many lovely patterns that I have boxed up on the shelf that I have never had time to sew because the little dress for a preschooler has 25 pieces and 100 pages of instructions. I like to make it simple and quick so that I can actually have time to make it. That is why my patterns have simple instructions and as few pieces as possible. I want to create something special in the time I have and I hope that my patterns help other people to do that too.