I was born in San Francisco, raised just north in Marin County, California. We (my husband, Stan and I) have lived in Healdsburg, California for the last 32 years. It is in the heart of the Sonoma County Wine Country about 65 miles north of San Francisco.

I learned to sew from my mother, Minette, who could coax all sorts of marvelous things out of her old Singer Sewing Machine (we used to joke that it was the first electric model after the treadle.) I learned a lot of tailoring from her best friend, Mary, whose father was a tailor in New York.

In my younger, more svelte days, I did a lot of dressmaking for myself. When children came along, I made loads of clothes for them (I confess. . . more for the girl!) When they were in high school, I made tons of costumes for the drama department productions, and continued doing that for years after they had graduated.

In the ensuing years, I have made curtains, slipcovers, table top linens, etc., along with uniforms and dresses for the Civil War Re-enactor son and his wife. I've also, lately, done a fair amount of quilting (baby quilts for the grandchildren and others) but on a small scale. My attention span is to short for a major bed sized quilt!

I am returning to dressmaking, now, as we seem to have a spate of wedding invitations and my figure has 'matured' to a point where I'm not happy with things off the rack. I am amazed at how pattern standards have changed! My library of size 8 patterns have all seem to shrunk!

So. . . now I am a 'plus size' grandma in need of 'coctail attire' for several upcoming evening weddings and I find I am really enjoying getting back to dressmaking. If only my mom was still here to help with fitting and marking hems!

craft interests: crochet, fashion, quilting, restyle, sewing, knitting, beading

Gender: Female

Birthday: 12/29/1943

Member Since: 07/13/2009