About Me

My grandmother taught me to sew. As a young girl I would travel 2,000 miles from Seattle to Chicago to visit her almost every summer, and as part of that routine we would drive to the local variety store (do you remember Zayre?) to pick out a pattern, material and matching thread for a shirt or other garment. You can tell an "old school" sewist from a new one by the use of the word "material" instead of "fabric." Lately I see a lot of social media posts using the word substrate. I guess time moves on and and so does vocabulary.

Anyway, fast forward to my early adult life and the purchase of a new Kenmore sewing machine! I still made clothes here and there, but finally fell into the quilting world with the birth of my first daughter in 1999. I also developed a love of vintage sewing machines and learned to rehab them to working life! In a convoluted way this led me to a career in the BERNINA world as a service technician, then to the corporate office as a Product Specialist and then as a Technical Educator. Coming full circle, I am now back to working in a retail store as a Service Manager but still teach and create as often as I can. I service all makes and models of sewing machines but BERNINA remains my main sewing partner in life and business.

This online store represents the best of what I make, and I do not intend to devolve into mass production. I make what I like and would buy myself. My focus will be on unique gifts - the kind you buy for a special friend or family member but secretly want to keep for yourself! There may only be one or two of any given design/fabric combination because I get bored fairly easily. So if you like it, grab it. There likely won't be another just the same!

I also have an interest in vintage materials and upcycling. So I do try to incorporate pre-loved materials when it suits the project. Nothing here will be boring beige. If you are looking for that, you are in the wrong place.

Just a little about me ...

Lisa Klingbeil
Wife, Mom, Maker of Things