Cursed with an eclectic taste for all things handmade, beaded, quilted, bejeweled and embroidered, with a particular passion for vintage textiles, I was blessed by parents who looked for any occasion to send me to school. I spent my 12th summer at Singer Sewing School constructing the perfect pink dotted-swiss, empire-waisted, sleeveless chemise. I spent childhood Saturday mornings at the library pouring over antique books and historical novels, and the afternoons painting with fifty other kids in a dark basement converted into a ceramic studio. I spent nights hunched over my mother's old Sears Kenmore portable sewing machine that I kept upstairs in the attic with me. My grandmother Edith taught me to knit at age 9 and I still have one scarf we knit together. Here it is modeled by my dog, Murphy, knitwear model extraordinaire:
Edith was an amazing sewer too and I still have her old Singer machine, as well as her Vermont home in which I now live. My mother Jean was also a prolific sewer and knitter. As a teenage Air Force bride, Jean learned to knit 1950's era
Grace Ennis design socks for my father and I vividly remember them all as I folded them on laundry day, particularly the
beer stein socks with the fuzz of angora representing beer foaming over the glass. As children, my five siblings and I always wore beautifully coordinated special occasion outfits, and amazing prize-winning Halloween costumes, all handmade by Jean.
My father's passions were antiques and architecture and we grew up in an old house over-filled with his treasures. He could talk for hours about the architecture and masonry of New York City where he worked as a high school teacher.
As I began to strike out on my own, I was blessed again to make friends who shared my passions and many more. I learned and studied antique jewelry and china with a fellow teacher and we sewed our own clothes together. Another good friend owned a quilt shop and many weekends I took classes by the country's finest textile arts teachers there. Living near New York City, I haunted museums and the fabulous bead and textile stores lining the garment district. On regular vacations to VT, I drove around the state from antique barns to estate sales hunting down my own treasures. I conned my newlywed husband into taking silversmithing classes with me.
I don't like to knit the same thing twice as beautiful designs and decadent yarns are in abundance to tempt my fingers. My stash of beads, accumulated over 25+ years, contains the most amazing European glass beads, as well as vintage findings and components.
Please check my Flickr Badge in the sidebar to see what's available. Special orders are welcome.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
