About

"OK girls, I'll only be a minute." Words to fill a 5-year-old with dread.  We knew we weren't getting out of the fabric store any time soon, so we'd explore aisles crammed with bolts of fabric towering over our heads, every color of the rainbow represented.  Or we'd pour over pattern books imagining what mom would make us next, or dreaming that we'd wear pretty clothes like the grown up ladies on the pages.

At our house, things were made from scratch.  The clothes we wore, the vegetables we froze or canned, the curtains and bedspreads, and a faux fireplace my dad built because we were so concerned Santa couldn't visit us without one. It was stored in our bedroom during the off season.  Even my dad, a commercial artist, sewed some of his own suits. Our house was piled with fabrics and we had as many as six sewing machines at one point. Our Halloween costumes were the bomb.

There's just something so satisfying about having a vision and then making it happen....taking raw materials and creating something entirely new, entirely unique. Like my parents, I upholster, do a little carpentry, and cook, but what really makes me happy are the costumes. I love the challenge, the expression, the pleasure it gives me to own the plan and fret and fail and ultimately (usually) succeed. I also love the research and the resources and all the advice and help I receive on my journey.  

In this blog I'll chronicle some of my projects and share my approach to designing and creating costumes.  Where possible, I'll provide links and tips that have helped me.  I'm not and will never be a professional, but I hope my posts can help and entertain. Happy sewing!