Hello, there. Welcome! I guess you’re here to learn a little something about me. Well, let’s see… I’m a serial crafter — and much of it is self-taught. In school, every art class was always my favorite (even in college). And diorama-project-time in any other class was my glory. I’ve always been someone who’s enjoyed creating and working with my hands. I dabble in many crafting / art hobbies, but lately I’m very into tiny hat making (fascinators), jewelry making, and sewing. 

My Mom got me started sewing when I was a kid. I used to regularly dress up my  teddy bear and had wanted all kinds of clothes for her. Mom said I could make them myself. I remember how exciting it was when she sat me and my teddy bear on her bed and cracked open her sewing basket. So many shiny things — and safety lessons. I was endowed with a spool of black thread and my very own needle — how very grown-up.

We sat on her bed together as she taught me a basic hand-stitch and button repair. Mom would approve scraps of fabric from around the house and show me how to bring them together into a simple thing for my bear to wear. I was so proud of those lopsided, mis-matched, crudely stitched creations.

Eventually I outgrew my bear and I didn’t sew much anymore. I wanted to explore drawing and clay and paper craft and beads… You get the picture. Until the day a friend introduced me to the Renaissance Fair. She liked to dress-up and was slowly acquiring pieces for a whole Renaissance costume. I loved the place and all the beautiful outfits and trinkets. But all of those beautiful dresses there were so expensive. So I timidly entered the world of human-sized sewing, learned to read my first sewing pattern (McCall’s 4107 – View B), and upgraded to a basic sewing machine.

If you peek in the upper right-hand corner, you can see the Tudor-era dress (Simplicity 2589) that I aspired to graduate to. And I did for the most part, but that is a post for another time. Back to the first bodice — mistakes were made, assistance was sought, many lessons were learned, and one not-so-greatly-fitted bodice was proudly worn to the Renaissance Fair that year. I was hooked. And now I needed accessories — like jewelry and headwear. So many options! And the rest is history.