I’ve sewn clothing and soft furnishings (or home décor as they say in the States) all my life. Throughout my business life I have always run a sewing business on the side, making curtains, chair covers and table skirts for restaurants and hotels. My business life involved commercial photography and graphic design but I originally trained as a ballet dancer and then turned to teaching yoga. But I always wanted to use my sewing skills more creatively and the opportunity presented itself when I moved to a thatched cottage by the seaside in rural Devon (south west England). I bought an embroidery machine and was hooked. I started testing for various designers and began to understand the difference between good and bad designs.
So I became a sponge and spent hours stitching and learning, doing on-line courses and learning to digitize. Eventually, last year I started selling designs and set up a website of my own. I love Wilcom programmes (I have MBX and now Hatch Embroidery) and happily recommend Hatch Embroidery as being the best on the market.
I spend every day digitizing as I am addicted. A lot of my work has been custom digitizing, and then creating designs for my own site. I have a helpful band of testers and group members who give me ideas.