About Me

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As a child, my mother recognized my passion for clothes as I enjoyed getting dressed up every day.  I would frequently change outfits and all the accessories that went with them. So, at a very young age my mother taught me how to sew on her sewing machine, which was a small lightweight portable machine made by “Singer.” 

I remember going to the local fabric store looking at all the pictures of fashionable clothes, which were shown in the Vogue, Butterick and McCalls catalogues. Tissue paper patterns were produced from these fashionable pictures. After deciding which pattern to buy, a salesgirl would locate the correct size pattern from a large file cabinet. The pattern was found in an envelope with a picture of the desired fashion on the cover.  After the pattern was selected, my mother and I would then look around the store at all the fabrics for sale. We would buy thread, zippers, snaps or buttons to match.  Once home, I would get busy placing the tissue paper pattern on top of the fabric then pinning the pattern to the fabric. After everything was secure, I would carefully cut out the pattern pieces. 

My mother and I also loved to shop for clothes. We would go all over town to our favorite stores, like Judy’s, Bullocks, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Loehman’s, looking for skirts, tops, dresses and pants. It was then that I realized the cost of making my own clothes was far less than those which were purchased in the stores. 

One day, my mother asked if I would like to take modeling lessons. I loved this idea as I saw myself being able to wear the most fashionable clothes from my favorite fashion magazines, like “Seventeen” and “Teen Vogue”. I was enrolled in a modeling school owned by a woman named Mary Webb Davis. I learned all about modeling, how to walk down a runway, how to have good posture, how to apply make-up, and all the other things a model should know for her profession. At the end of the course the students presented a small fashion show. Everyone was to model their favorite outfit. Of course, I wore a beautiful turquoise blue wool, short sleeve dress that I had made. I felt I was on my way to a fabulous modeling career, only to find out I would never be a model. I was too short! Models had to be at least 5 feet 10 inches. I was only 5 feet 5 inches tall. This was a very sad day for me.

My mother saw how disappointed I was that I would never become a model, so she offered another type of lesson in the fashion world. She enrolled me in drawing lessons. I could learn to draw fashion and become a fashion designer. My teacher was a woman whose name was Susie Sketchbook. At this time, Susie Sketchbook was a famous person, because she was on a children’s TV show. On a very large white sketchbook she would teach children to draw. Susie Sketchbook lived in the neighborhood. So, after school I would go to Susie Sketchbook’s home and have a private drawing lesson. Susie Sketchbook taught me how to draw clothes and quick sketch fashion models, called “croquis”. 

As I continued my drawing lessons, I continued to sew. When I started Junior High School I enrolled in the Homemaking class. In Homemaking all the students were required to make a gym bag. The gym bag was later used to carry gym clothes to and from school so that they could be laundered at home. I finished my bag in 2 days. The next project was to make an apron for next year’s course in Homemaking. In this class the students would learn to cook, so everyone needed an apron. I finished my apron in 3 days. The next project was to make a skirt. This project was finished in a week. When I asked the teacher what I was to make next, the teacher realized I was an exceptional seamstress, so told me I could make anything I wanted. I proceeded to make a dress, a blouse, and a coat. One day the teacher became very ill, and a substitute came to teach the class. Unfortunately, the substitute didn’t know how to sew. The other students, knowing how knowledgeable I was, began to ask me all their sewing questions. 

When I was 16, I went on a summer vacation to visit my relatives in Minnesota. My Uncle and Aunt owned a chain of 8 fabric stores, called Dell’s Fabrics. They told me I could go to one of their stores and select any pattern and fabric I wanted. As another gift they gave me a red sewing box filled with all the supplies and notions I would need to make fabulous clothes. This was one of the best summers I had as a young girl. 

As I grew older, I developed other interests and studied hard in preparation for college. There wasn’t a lot of time for sewing. 

When I went to the university, I took many art classes and developed my interests in design and color. I studied the masters and contemporary artists. I visited museums and art galleries. As an adult I traveled around the world visiting even more museums and art galleries. I appreciated and loved art as much as I loved fashion and sewing. 

Despite my passion for fashion, I pursued a degree in hospital administration. With my Masters degree, I took a job at Stanford University Hospital. One day, a young doctor walked by my office and saw me working. He later told me that even before he met me he was attracted to my fashionable navy-blue dress with white piping and a red tulle flower pinned on my shoulder, as well as the large art poster on my wall that I had chosen to decorate my office. That young man became my husband, and today we have two wonderful children and three grandchildren. 

Even with a business career and busy family life, I never lost my love for fashion and art. After our children had grown and gone off on their own, I decided to get back to sewing.  As I pulled out the old Singer, and began looking at patterns, I had an epiphany.  I realized I didn't want to just follow someone else's creation, I wanted to express my own creativity,  but I didn’t know how. After much research, I enrolled in a school called Apparel Arts where I learned drafting and pattern design as well as sophisticated couture level sewing techniques. With renewed intensity, I began to design and sew my own clothes. 

Now, after a long and wonderful journey, I make many of my own clothes.  But the journey is not over - I continue to study, experiment, and push myself to evolve and move forward.  For inspiration, I  combined my two passions, fashion and art. Today, all of my designs are inspired by artists, because I believe art is always in fashion.  This website is my way of sharing my work.

(P.S. - I still love to shop and visit art galleries and museums!)

By the way, my mother also taught me how to knit, but that’s another story for another day.