OUR PRODUCT STORY
I started sewing at about ten years of age. My mother
knew how to sew and as a little girl I looked forward
to Mother’s Day when I knew she would make us matching
dresses. But most of my “sewing memories”
are of Granny, my maternal grandmother. I remember coming
home from school and telling her about a dress a classmate
was wearing. Immediately, she started taping pieces of
newspaper together, holding them against my body and then
drawing on the paper. The next day, when I came from school
I had a new Kelly green dress with a Peter Pan collar
and a colorful pinafore with a black background! In my
mind she could work magic.
My clothes were never thrown away. They were cut into
squares for quilts or they were transformed into Barbie
clothes. I never did get too excited about playing with
Barbies, but, oh how I loved opening a shoe box full of
Barbie clothes Granny had designed. Like the musician
who plays by ear, Granny never used a pattern, but there
wasn’t anything she couldn’t make after it
had been described to her. I, on the other hand, was always
afraid to leave the security of the pattern with its illustrations
and written instructions. At 94, Granny doesn’t
sew anymore, but I still go to her with design dilemmas.
Our priority is in providing high-quality religious garments
and dress-up clothes at a reasonable price. We have spent
many hours searching for the right fabrics: fabrics that
will last, that will launder, and that will catch a child’s
eye. Once I have a fabric, I hold it in my hands and consider
the possibilities. It is so exciting to be able to do
what my grandmother did so many years ago, to start with
a fabric or an idea and then create a garment.
