About

Welcome! I'm Susan, the stitcher. This is me at the farmers market with Phyllo, a happy customer.

I've been sewing since my grandmother gave me her antique Singer when I was nine. I had some guidance from her in the beginning, but, independent to a fault even then, I wanted to do it "my way", so I pretty much taught myself.

Honestly, I could have used more of Grandma's help. My DIY style was always stunted by my perfectionist tendencies. I gave up many times in frustration, and threw away many, many abandoned imperfections.

A few years ago, I decided I was going to get serious, finish every project even if I didn't completely love it, and just keep going until I got good at it. Along the way, I started using material from thrift stores for my experiments, so I didn't feel so bad if they didn't turn out the way I expected. I realized that there are so many beautiful fabrics out there in clothing, home dec, and other people's unfinished projects just waiting to be rescued and turned into something useful and beautiful. That gave me the freedom to sew and experiment and learn without feeling I was wasting precious fabrics and filling the landfill with my less than perfect learning opportunities.

So, I changed my story, revised my history, if you will.  Now I'm a maker rather than a frustrated perfectionist. And I get to change the stories of beautiful textiles from used castoffs to beautiful and practical bags. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!