| Image | Teacher | Company | Bio | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Evette Allerdings | E/M Allerdings | Evette was taught to sew by her mother when she was 8 years old and would participate in her neighborhood fashion show for many summers in grade school. She has a BS degree in fashion design and was a multiple award winning costumer for many years. Not being able to find the perfect fabric for costumes, lead her to silk painting. She won 1st prize for "Solace" in the 2D division, 2021 Silk Painter's International competition and won Honorable Mention for People's Choice Award in 2022 for "Goodbye Dad". She is currently continuing on her fiber art journey as well as teaching introductory silk painting classes at Northwind Art School in Port Townsend, WA | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Darrelle Anderson | SVP Worldwide Global Sewing Brands | Darrelle’s first love of sewing was in garment construction, she jumped into the quilting world and then embraced machine embroidery. She loves to incorporate a mixture of techniques and embellishments to create unique pieces. Being a recovering self-proclaimed “Perfectionist”, Darrelle distills her own expertise and ability into simplified techniques consumers can learn to inspire them to create their own fun projects, whetting their appetites for more. Darrelle looks at the sewing machine specialty feet as shoes…”a girl can’t have too many”. Whether it’s sewing or creating in embroidery software Darrelle encourages people to express their own style. Let’s keep the fun going in sewing. | |
 | Marci Baker | Quilt with Marci Baker | Recognized internationally for her expertise in quilting, Marci enjoys sharing ideas that simplify the process of sewing and quilting. Her products and tools provide easy-to-follow solutions for common sewing and quilting problems. Most notably, she has developed strip-piecing techniques for tumbling blocks, six-pointed stars, and grandmother's flower garden making them accessible to more quilters. In recent years, she collaborates with Sara Nephew writing books full of new and intriguing equilateral triangle designs. Enthusiasm and inspiration can be seen throughout her lectures, workshops, and books. Marci and her husband, Clint, live in Fort Collins, CO where they enjoy the outdoors and the beautiful mountains. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Sylvain Bergeron | BERNINA of America | Sylvain Bergeron is an Educator with BERNINA of America. He has been teaching sewing, embroidery and software classes for over 25 years. He is an award winning quilter, specializing in abstract embroidered art quilts. He is a firm believer is using the right tools to obtain the best results. He is known for his engaging and humorous teaching style. After all, sewing is a rewarding craft and should be enjoyed every stitch of the way. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Julianne Bramson | Fashion in Harmony | Julianne Bramson is a textile artist who loves the bias cut. Using it along with shibori, ice-dye, indigo, and botanical printing, Julianne creates uniquely interesting garments with movement and flattering fit. Julianne has written several articles for Threads Magazine and teaches about textile art and bias-cut garment design all over the country. Julianne co-authored Bias Cut Blueprints, a geometric method for clothing design and construction. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Stacy Brisbee | Pendleton Woolen Mill Store | Stacy Brisbee has worked at Pendleton Woolen Mill Store for over a decade as a Fabric and Education Specialist, developing classroom kits and techniques. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Dee Brown | Quilted Trillium | After years of fashion and home dec sewing, Dee ventured into the world of quilting. Never comfortable with the restrictions and precision of pieced quilts, she was drawn to the freedom of landscape art quilts. When she discovered a technique that eliminates the tiresome and time consuming tracing process, she knew that others would love it. | |
 | Carisa Brunner | Made Sewing Studio | Carisa is the owner of Made Sewing Studios, a Seattle based sewing space stablished in 2010 that provides creative arts to both children and adults. Made has a variety of classes both online, in-studio, in schools and at other local community organizations. Carisa began sewing at age 6 and specialized in garment sewing. Carisa holds a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Seattle University in Seattle, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Management from Columbia College in Chicago, and a Graduate Diploma in Costume Design from the London College of Fashion in London, England. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Steve Butler | Clover Needlecraft | Steve Butler is the Director of Education for Clover Needlecraft. As a previous quilt shop owner and sewing machine dealer he has an uncommon depth of expertise in the sewing and needlecraft industry and welcomes all questions dealing with notions, threads, needles and sewing machines. He has taught at all major sewing machine conventions. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Mendie Cannon | BEstitched | I have been stitching for over 50 years and am a member of three embroidery guilds. I have attended many seminars and taken classes in a variety of techniques. While I have tried many stitch techniques, I have found myself drawn to Brazilian Embroidery. I have also taken several finishing classes and do much of my own finishing in a variety of forms such as pin keeps, ornaments, biscornus, pincushions, stand-ups, boxes, pyramid/triangles, needle books and more. I am a member of the Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery International Guild and have been since 2005. I attained my teacher certification in Brazilian Embroidery in 2007. I am retired from corporate work and spend much of my time teaching Brazilian Embroidery. I have regular classes locally and have taught at EGA chapters and seminars, BDEIG seminars, International Quilt Show in Houston, TX as well as other guilds and one on one. | WebsiteFacebook |
 | Amanda Carita | So Sew English Fabrics | Amanda Carita is the owner and founder of So Sew English Fabrics. She has a passion for sewing and sharing her love and knowledge of fabric. She founded her business on the dream of making beautiful, affordable fabric available to everyone. | WebsiteInstagram |
 | Kandi Christian | Sew Timeless | Kandi L. Christian, MBA is a well-known instructor of classes both in the US and England. She is an author of 17 books on sewing and the business of sewing and teaching. She frequently writes articles for major sewing and embroidery magazines. She had been a featured speaker and many sewing events throughout the US. She was also tapped by the BBC to be their expert seamstress for their TV show “While You Were Out.” She is the owner of Sew Timeless, an on-line store specializing in machine embroidery, specialty fabrics and embellishments. She is a licensed Martha Pullen instructor and has been a free lance educator for various sewing machine companies. | WebsiteFacebookTwitterLinkedIn |
 | Aaronica Cole | The Needle and the Belle | Aaronica B. Cole is the maker behind TheNeedleAndTheBelle.com. After getting her start in sewing at 13 and hating it, Aaronica picked it back up after having her second child and hasn't looked back since. She is now known as being a body positive, plus size sewist who inspires others to make the things that make them feel beautiful. She is a BERNINA Brand Ambassador, KnowMe Pattern Designer, OG Projector Sewist, and lover of all things that she can use her serger to create. In addition to being an accomplished sewist, she is an award-winning blogger and content creator. When she's not sewing, you can find her coaching creative business owner on how to be successful, running carpool for her kids, or enjoying a date with her husband. | Website |
 | June Colburn | June Colburn | Twelve years in Japan! An amazing opportunity to learn about Japanese textiles, design and color concepts! June took advantage of every opportunity to visit museums, galleries, kimono shops and temple sales. She brought home fresh design ideas along with a vast collection of vintage kimono, obi, and indigo-dyed cotton, which inspire her re-interpretations if iconic Asian images. Her modern designs combine traditional American sewing techniques with vintage and contemporary fabrics. June is a noted teacher and lecturer who loves to promote international understanding through the textile arts. | Website |
 | Mary Collen | BERNINA | Mary is a a lifetime maker and lover of design, tailoring and all fiber arts. She travels the country to share her love of sewing, which has been a dream come true. Her specialty is garments and machine techniques. As a Washington native, Mary is part of many of the organizations and guilds in the area's creative and diverse sewing community. | WebsiteInstagram |
 | Nick Coman | Dragonfly Creative | Website | |
 | Pam Damour | The Decorating Diva | Pam learned early in life, while spending time on her grandparents’ farm, that making something from "scratch" was not only a way of life but it was the better way of doing things. She’s the author of 10 sewing books, numerous patterns, videos. With over 30 years of teaching experience, Pam lives on Lake Champlain in a log home, where she teaches sewing retreats, and does virtual training. | Website |
 | Kimberly Dodson | OESD | Kimberly Dodson grew up sewing with her 4H leader who also happened to be her mom. Kimberly dreaded her lessons and swore she would never sew again once she grew up. Once married, things needed to be done – curtains, kids’ pajamas… but once her daughter was born, she wanted more. She purchased her first embroidery machine; completely clueless but took advantage of her dealer’s fantastic education opportunities. It didn’t take long for her to be using the top-of-the-line machines and digitizing software. Kimberly ran her own embroidery business in the Pacific Northwest and became the local expert on embroidering difficult projects and mastered digitizing logos for many businesses in her community. Kimberly loves teaching and sharing the knowledge she acquired along the way. H er students appreciate her natural laid-back instruction. She is experienced in both industrial and consumer machines and knows the features and strengths of the various makes and models. She has traveled all over the United States teaching for OESD since 2017. Kimberly currently lives in the Cincinnati area with her husband, youngest daughter, a cat, a dog, and all her embroidery machines. | |
| Michele Drovdahl | King County Library System | Michele has been a librarian for many years and her favorite part of librarianship is sharing books. She has been known to walk up to people in stores and suggest a good book to them. She learned to sew in high school but put it aside after college. Once settled in Redmond she started taking sewing classes, because she couldn't find a animal print denim skirt with sparkles. Talking about sewing, knitting, and other fabric/fiber craft books combines her two favorite things to do, sewing and reading. | Website | |
 | Darlene Girton | Featherweight Doctor | With over 25 years of quilting experience, Featherweight Doctor founder Darlene Girton, is passionate about two things. Salvaging these famous vintage stitchers called the Singer Featherweight that rolled off the assembly line almost 90 years ago and teaching people to use them for modern quilting techniques. | WebsiteInstagramFacebookYouTube |
 | Nancy Goldsworthy | Nine Patch Quilting | Nancy is an internationally recognized teacher and author. Her love of fabric and sewing began at a very early age and continues to color her life today. Her career spans 50+ years in the textile industry and covered everything from fabric development to garment construction. Nancy’s knowledge of the technical side of sewing is unmatched. She is an award-winning quilter and has authored 4 books. She has been longarm quilting for 20+ years and continues to quilt for the public as time allows. | Website |
 | Betsy Hagestedt | BeHest Designs | Having knit and sewn for herself since she was a kid, Betsy has recently begun sharing her love of creating by teaching others. Teaching mainly through the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN), she focuses on knitting, but also loves opportunities to weave her various artistic mediums together and to share her passions through innovative projects. | InstagramFacebook |
 | Lois Hallock | Clearview Designs | Lois Hallock is a quilter, Professional Engineer, and a Professional Organizer. She is author of the book “Creating Your Perfection Quilting Space” published by That Patchwork Place. She has a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and is retired after working over 30 years for the Boeing Company. She has been a quilter for 25 years and lectures, teaches and consults individually with quilters and sewists on quilt studio design and organizing. She currently resides in Snohomish, Washington with her husband and daughter. | WebsiteFacebook |
 | Lorraine Henry | Lorraine Henry /Two Easy Tape Company/Conselle | Lorraine is a specialist in sewing, fitting and pattern alteration for Conselle Institute of Image Management. She has a degree in Clothing and Textiles and has been a university instructor. She has taught classes internationally at sewing related shows. With 40+ years of sewing she has a wealth of knowledge to share about pattern alteration. | websiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Pam Hewitt | The Quilt Barn | Pam Hewitt has owned The Quilt Barn for over 20 years and now has over 13,000 bolts of cotton for quilters! Feature fabrics include batiks, novelty, baby and flannels. With just under 6,000 square feet of retail and classroom space, we are spacious with excellent lighting. Pam took her very first quilt class at The Quilt Barn and has been an avid quilter for 35 years and teaching for 23 years. | |
 | Stephanie Kleinman | easyFab Design Studio/Fabric Studio | The Fabric Studio™ was designed and created by Stephanie Kleinman, owner of Easymade Publications and creator of “Simply Quilts”, the long-running TV series on HGTV. My motto has always been, follow your passion and you will succeed! I have combined my love of textile designs with my fast and easy methods of block construction; simple techniques for making personalized fabric and I came up with a simple concept of photo fabric! Then on top of all that I, added in the latest internet technologies and came up with a new online version of my Fabric Studio Software. Who knows where this latest endeavor will lead me to? | WebsiteInstagram |
 | Sarah Kolis | Sarah Kolis Couture Gowns, LLC | Sarah Kolis designs custom couture bridal gowns in addition to alterations. After 6.5 years as an automotive engineer, Sarah took her side business full-time in 2022. Living out her childhood dream job, Sarah works with many brides on ensuring their gown fits and looks absolutely perfect on the biggest day of their lives, an honor Sarah doesn’t take lightly. She prides herself on top quality work and designing with the best of fabrics. She even designed her own bridal gown, with 415.25 hours of sewing work. Check out more on www.sarahkolis.com and Instagram at @sarahkolisdesigns! | WebsiteInstagramFacebookPodcast |
| Tracy Krauter | Splash Fabric | Don’t be afraid to sew with Laminated Cottons! As a mother of 3 boys & former Park Ranger, I looked for eco-friendly easy-care, waterproof fabrics, and couldn't find them. So I made my own. We now offer 24 different prints, with new ones always bubbling. Something for everyone. We offer free sewing patterns for bags, aprons. Seams don't need finishing as the coating seals the cut edges. Our laminated cotton—"magic fabric"—has a matte finish, is 58” wide, and is easy to sew with on any home sewing machine. I will teach you tips and tricks for sewing with our coated fabric. It’s easy! No special tools required. It’s another opportunity to play. I can show you how easy it is. | WebsiteInstagramFacebookPinterest | |
 | Cheryl Kuczek | Paradiso Designs | Cheryl Kuczek is a Seattle based passionate independent sewing pattern designer & sewist. She is happiest throwing together unexpected elements creating bohemian fashions & accessories. Cheryl teaches sewing to adults in workshops/sewing events around the US and kiddos through enrichment programs in Seattle! Cheryl founded Paradiso Designs in 2005 with 4 handbag patterns, and declared “Pleather is better” with her signature pleather straps & collection of 36 patterns strong!! Free time means walking her pup Jackx and getting her hands dirty in the garden. | WebsiteInstagramFacebookTwitter |
 | Debbi Lashbrook | BERNINA of America | Debbi has been a BERNINA educator for the past seventeen years and enjoys traveling throughout the country to share her love and enthusiasm for BERNINA software and machines. She loves many types of sewing, but especially enjoys different embellishment techniques. Her passion is developing ideas for embellishing using BERNINA Embroidery Software. She is the Software Specialist for BERNINA of America. | Website |
 | Susan Lazear | Cochenille Design Studio | Susan Lazear is a Professor of Fashion at San Diego Mesa College. She is a recognized author and wearable artist, and she excels in design and pattern making. Susan owns Cochenille Design Studio which develops software and design aids for knitters, sewers, and textile artists. | WebsiteInstagramFacebookYouTubeFacebook GroupsPinterest |
 | Pamela Leggett | Pamela's Patterns LLC | Pamela has been teaching sewing since 1981. Specializing in pattern fitting, fine garment sewing skills, knits and serging she has developed a fun and informative teaching style that is available in her patterns, social media, YouTube channel. One of Pamela's passions is creating garments that flatter and fit the wearer. Her desire to teach others to achieve the perfect fit led her to the Palmer/Pletsch pattern fitting method, which she has used to help hundreds of women successfully achieve good fit and a renewed love of garment sewing. It is with this knowledge that she created Pamela's Patterns, which have many fitting solutions and adjustments built in the patterns. Pamela's Patterns have been reviewed and featured in magazines and on-line review sites. Pamela is a contributing writer, book author and video personality for Threads Magazine, an instructor for Craftsy, director of the Palmer/Pletsch Philadelphia and Connecticut Sewing Workshops and a national sewing/serging educator. She has also appeared on PBS’s Sewing With Nancy and Canada’s The Shopping Channel. Pamela lives in Connecticut where she operates her business and has a teaching program at The Studio at Pamela’s Patterns in Vernon CT. She is a national instructor, teaching in-person and virtual classes for guilds, stores, and shows. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Christine Lindebak | Sewing and the City | Hi, I'm Christine! I started sewing when I was just 6 years old and turned the skill into a 15 year career in luxury fashion. Today, sewing is my creative outlet and a way to make clothes I love in a stylish and sustainable way. I love sharing my love of sewing and inspiring others to learn and advance their own skills while making stylish clothes you're proud to wear. | WebsiteInstagramFacebookYoutube |
 | Amy Loh Kupser | i-bead.com / i-stitch.com | I live in the Tetons in Southeast Idaho surrounded by amazing natural beauty with my husband and two dogs. Creating, learning, exploring art in any form has been a part of my life forever. I love experimenting in any medium. Teaching and sharing my experience and creative adventures with others is a joy. Join me for a fun creative adventure! | Website #1Website #2Facebook |
 | Ellie Lum | Klum House | Klum House founder Ellie Lum has over twenty years of professional bag making experience. With roots in industrial sewing and small batch manufacturing, Ellie's super power is teaching makers to achieve professional-quality results on a home sewing machine - and have a hell of a lot of fun while doing it. She's passionate about empowering folks through sharing her craft. | WebsiteInstagramFacebookTwitter |
 | Julie Luoma | Off the Wall Quilt | Following a nearly 20 year career as a business manager and tax professional while raising three kids with her husband in the Pacific Northwest, Julie retired to become a full time quilter and vendor at quilt shows. Now residing in Florida, Julie teaches, lectures and creates new quilt designs and templates. Her quirky humor and relaxed attitude are reflected in her presentations and not quite perfect quilts. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Pamela Mahshie | BERNINA USA | Pam Mahshie is currently the Overlock Business Manager for BERNINA of America, she joined BERNINA in 2020 when the industry changing L8 series of machines was introduced. Pam has been working with Sergers for over 40 years and loves to take creativity off the edge when it comes to using sergers in a decorative way. She has had the privilege to film programs with Nancy Zieman, Martha Pullen and introduced the quilting world to serging with Fons and Porter. | WebsiteInstagram |
 | Linda Mcgehee | Ghee's | Designer, Linda McGehee has a diverse sewing background with 50 years experience from garments to handbags, piecing to heirloom, surface manipulation to combining a variety of methods into a sampler of various techniques. Most recently, a passion for stitching with zippers. Linda has traveled the globe demonstrating and lecturing from her books and is much sought after at trade and machine conventions, consumer shows, guilds, shops & television. | WebsiteFacebook |
| Jennifer Marker | ||||
 | Sheila Mckay | McKay Manor Musers | My love of designing started when I took a fashion design class in high school and started designing all my own clothes. I started a pattern design company with my two incredible daughters Kira and Kayla in 2010. They are definitely the wind between my creative wings. Our family home in Vancouver was affectionately called the McKay Manor – and a Muse is someone who inspires creativity in artisans – so that’s how we came up with the name for our business – McKay Manor Musers. We enjoy creating patterns, and now fabrics, that make people smile. The mission for our company is to inspire creativity in others. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
| Laura Mendoza | Laura Mendoza has been teaching kids to sew for nearly 20 years through 4-H. She currently runs a 4-H club, is the sewing/needle arts open class superintendent at the local county fair, and the 4-H Fashion Revue Superintendent at the Washington State 4-H Fair. She also teaches seminars at 4-H countywide events and is an officer of the Pierce County 4-H Leaders' Council. | |||
 | Marti Michell | From Marti Michell/Michell Marketing | Marti Michell, a popular teacher, has taught in 49 states and 28 countries. Since 1995, Marti is best known for the From Marti Michell acrylic tools for rotary cutting and her passion for teaching. Marti is also a prolific author, fabric designer, quilt collector & maker. She and, her husband Richard, started their first patchwork company in 1972. | EmailWebsiteInstagram |
 | Carol Mesimer | Clover-USA | Carol is a teacher and demonstrator for Clover-USA. After teaching her first knitting class at 17, she was hooked on teaching. She believes that classes should be a fun learning experience. She’s worked at a variety of conventions for 20 years and been with Clover for 5 years. She hasn’t lost her love of travel, teaching, and spending time passing along her 60+ years of needlework experience to show attendees. Quilting, knitting, crochet, tatting, embroidery, sewing and beadwork keep her busy when not on the road. | InstagramFacebook |
 | Annette Millard | The Sewful Life | Annette Millard made her first dress at ten and is always happiest with needle, fabric, thread and anything textile in her hands. Her past work life includes textile art stores and fabric stores as well as writing and marketing for the sewing industry. Annette loves teaching and has taught knits, swimwear, lingerie, basic sewing, stitchery and surface design. Currently, Annette lives in the Cascade Mountains of North Central WA and loves sewing, stitching, knitting, spinning, weaving and dyeing in her forest studios. She also enjoys freelance writing for Debbie Maddy – Tiori Designs and Amy Barickman Studio. You can follow Annette and her sewing and textile adventures on her own blog, The Sewful Life, | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Pat Moore | WeWymz | Pat Moore takes sincere delight in sharing and empowering others. She simply loves the journey of creating. Come enjoy learning to make playful bucket hats in a positive, encouraging environment. Pat will be teaching: Create Reversible Bucket Hats | EmailInstagramGalleryBoomEtsy |
 | Laura Nash | Sew Chic Pattern Co | With a love for all things vintage, Laura Nash is the smiling designer behind Sew Chic Pattern Company where she creates "Modern Patterns with Vintage Style!" With a BS in Apparel Design, she enjoys teaching and has published works with Craftsy, Threads, and Simplicity Patterns. Find Sew Chic Patterns in fine fabric shops and online. | EmailWebsiteFacebookInstagramLinkedIn |
 | Andrew Ngai | WonderFil Specialty Threads | Andrew Ngai established WonderFil Specialty Threads™ in 1988 to produce innovative & high quality threads for the craft and quilting industry. His time is devoted to manufacturing products and conducting seminars & classes to ensure consumers are educated and inspired to utilize different threads and create any projects the mind can imagine. By sharing his insider knowledge of threads, Andrew will help you learn how to utilize the variety of thread lines available on the market to take your embroidery to the next level. Achieve better results and improve your embroidery designs with expert tips and tricks. | WebsiteInstagramFacebookTwitterYoutube |
 | Mary Lou Nichols | Mary Lou has professional garment industry experience as a designer, pattern maker and an educator. With an emphasis on fit, incorporating industry standards of details she has an eye for being able to see the fit and function of clothing. She holds a Degree from Cal State Polytechnic with an emphasis in Textile Science, with a Theater Design background. After years of working in the garment industry, Mary Lou returned to her first love and started her Disney career making magic with her friends. | ||
 | Marlene (Baerg) Oddie | Marlene (Baerg) Oddie is an engineer by education, a financial services systems professional by experience, a project manager by profession, and a quilter by passion. She believes in the KISS (Keep It Simple S______) method and has incorporated this into the company name. After living the corporate life all over the world, Marlene's marriage in February 2009 has given her an opportunity to be creative full-time. Key accomplishments include: McCalls Quilt Design Star 2011 Finalist, Electric Quilt Layout Challenge Winner, AQS Ribbon Winner, Published author - We Can Quilt! Building Skills for Beginners. Many self published patterns - some with Island Batik, Northcott and Free Spirit. EQ Artist and Certified AnglePlay Instructor. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook | |
 | Rhonda Pierce | SCHMETZneedles.com | Rhonda loves to sew and quilt. With quilt shop, wholesale distributor management experience, and the love of sewing, Rhonda delivers a unique perspective as VP Marketing Director of Euro-notions, and Spokesperson for SCHMETZneedles.com North America. | Website #1Website #2InstagramFacebook |
 | Jessica Rabbitt | So Sew English Fabrics | Jessica Rabbitt is a moderator and inspirer at So Sew English Fabrics. She is a mother of six and loves making handmade garments for herself and her family. She enjoys sharing about fabric and patterns, and encouraging others in making their own custom fit, handmade clothing. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Erin Retelle | sewBoise | Erin, the owner of sewBoise, has been sewing more or less all her life. She began designing and sewing clothing for her dolls as a child, and then moved on to full-sized fashions after learning to use a sewing machine. She’s been her friends’ go-to gal for custom costumes and outfits, alterations, and mending since her high school and college days. After moving to Boise for a job in 2004, she picked up more advanced design and construction techniques from local instructors and mentors. She branched into pattern drafting, couture sewing techniques, corset-building, bridal work, and tailoring. Over the next several years, Erin had fallen into helping design and build costumes for the ballroom dance community she is a part of. She worked mainly for the joy of seeing her creations on the dance floor, as well as a few dinners and bottles of wine. It only took the 2008 economic crisis and Erin’s layoff from her job as a geologist for her to turn sewing into a livelihood instead of a pastime, and to launch sewBoise. Since that time, sewBoise has expanded twice and Erin now employs 6 people in her 2 buildings on River Street in Boise. Erin has been a member of the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals since 2010. She travels annually to the organization’s educational conference where she continues to expand her sewing and design skill set, improve her teaching techniques, and share her work. She regularly competes in the annual Threads Challenge, a themed competition for ASDP’s members hosted by Threads Magazine. In 2019, Erin’s dress was chosen as a finalist and won the award for ‘best color and shape shift’ in the ‘Transformation Challenge’. Erin comes from a family of educators, and is no exception, many have described her as an exceptional teacher. She thoroughly enjoys teaching, learning and sharing sewing tricks with others. Being an engaged business owner and asset to her community is central to Erin’s plans. She graduated from Boise State University’s Executive MBA program in 2018, and was one of the Idaho Business Review’s honorees for the Accomplished Under 40 Award in 2016 (see page 31). Erin teaches intermediate through advanced students, including teens and pre-teens. Although she only speaks English herself, she is comfortable teaching those whose primary language it isn’t. Erin is sewBoise’s resident knit and serger expert. She works extensively with the Moulage as well as with commercial patterns, and is always up for a rework of a pattern or existing garment. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Marilyn Romatka | Taproot Folk Arts, LLC | My focus is living folk art crafts. I teach a wide variety, from painting techniques to weaving, the common thread being the techniques are all deep-rooted in a culture from around the world. You might say the techniques I teach have all survived the ‘test of time’. I have the best job in the world; I travel to various countries gathering folk art techniques, then return to the US to teach enthusiastic students! | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Cindy Rowell | Wonderfil Specialty Threads | Cindy has taught a variety of classes for over 30 years, combining her extensive background in sewing and crafts into her presentations and seminars. Her unique ideas and professional teaching style provide creative inspiration for her students. Cindy loves to create with fabric and considers herself a surface design enthusiast who loves to play with thread, beads and almost any other embellishment. She loves to share her creative ideas, exciting new techniques, and practical time saving tips. Her motto is “If it is not embellished, it is not finished!” | WebsiteFacebookTwitter |
 | Kathy Ruddy | kathyruddy.com | Kathy, a fitting, Serging and Dressmaking specialist is the star of 10 Serger and sewing videos and author of 12 Serger and sewing booklets and her new enhanced books on CD. Her specialty is to show how to sew and serge fast and easy without sacrificing quality, fit or fashion details. Her fresh, fun classes are brimming with surprises and ideas | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Becky Scellato | SHIBORI DRAGON | I learned sashiko from a Japanese woman over 25 years ago and fell in love with the craft. It quickly became an all-consuming passion. Sashiko, an easy embroidery technique using a running stitch, is relaxing and fun, and creates a sense of peace while stitching. Sashiko is elegance in simplicity. Our business, Shibori Dragon, specializes in Asian fabrics, Japanese textiles and sashiko. I have been teaching and collecting historical sashiko textiles for the past 20 years and have samples dating from the 1800’s to modern day. I love to design and teach, sharing my love of Japanese textiles with my students. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Rhoda Sheridan | According to my grandmother, I have been embroidering since she put a needle in my hand when I was 3 years old. I don't remember that, but I can't remember a time when I wasn't doing some type of handwork. I discovered Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery about 14 years ago, and I loved it. It has many familiar stitches, but combines with other forms of handiwork to produce unique results. | ||
 | Connie Spurlock | See Wonderful Dreams | Connie is owner of and designer for Sew Wonderful Dreams, a pattern company established in 1989. Connie has taught her shortcut methods to national and international sewing and quilting expos for over 25 years. | Website |
 | Jennifer Stern-Hasemann | J Stern Designs | Jennifer is the owner and designer of J Stern Designs. She has a solid background in pattern design and drafting, as well as fit and garment constructions. Her line of fashion sewing patterns and fit workbooks feature easy to follow instructions. Her specialty is garment fitting, she loves helping you create clothes that fit and are flattering. She shares her tips, techniques and projects on her YouTube Channel and in Zoom Classes. She also loves teaching in person workshops around the country | WebsiteTwitter |
 | Alice Tarby | South Puget Sound chapter of the American Sewing Guild | My name is Alice Tarby, I am the secretary and Sew Expo Style Show organiser for the South Puget Sound Chapter of the American Guild. | Website |
| Debbie Torgerson | Olive Us Girls LLC | Debbie is passionate about fabric and design. She studied at Washington State University studying design and fine arts and eventually made her way to the sewing and quilting world. She has found that her passion lies in the creative design and coordination process. Over 12 years of teaching experience including beginning sewing. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook | |
 | Joe Vecchiarelli | French European Inc | Joe Vecchiarelli has worked in the fashion industry for over 40 years. His career took a fascinating turn when he stepped into the entertainment business working in production with shows like Dancing with the Stars. Joe ever so busy helping fashion students and enthusiasts grasp their dreams and become successful within the industry. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
 | Sue Wachter | By My Design | Sue Wachter Sue is a popular watercolor, acrylic and wearable art instructor. Her classes are offered at a variety of venues including Centralia College and the Rectangle Gallery "Wearable art pieces are designed not to be a stand-alone piece of art but instead to reveal the beauty of the wearer.” ^ She has a unique ability when teaching to observe and grow each student’s individual artistic potential. Her favorite students to work with are those of any age who consider themselves beginners. | WebsiteFacebook |
 | Katrina Walker | Katrina Walker is regular contributor to Threads, Creative Machine Embroidery and many other major sewing magazines. Her classes for SewDaily TV, Craftsy, National Sewing Circle, Sulky, Taunton Workshops, and BurdaStyle are enjoyed by thousands of students worldwide. She is a national educator for Husqvarna Viking and PFAFF sewing machines, a PFAFF Brand Ambassador, and a Sulky Sewcialite. | WebsiteInstagramFacebookTwitter | |
 | Nadeen Ward | Dolls R SEW Fun | My love of fabric textiles, fiber arts and sewing began at an early age. I favored using dolls as small scale models to practice and expand my designs and perfect my sewing techniques/skills in garment construction. Later, I attended Highline College which offered a Textile Applied Arts degree program in the 1970-80’s; which provided me skills to fully realize my creative visions and knowledge. The degree program increased my technical skills in fabric manipulation, by exploring the qualities and performance of the different types of fabrics. This added education reinforced my love of fabric and sewing in both garment construction and quilting arts. While raising my family, I began to teach sewing machine classes, “How to use your Bernina Sewing Machine and their accessories” at my local Bernina dealership. At these classes, I used dolls – my small scale models to show different utility and decorative machine stitches, on their clothing. By using dolls – it was easier to demonstrate and show the techniques on the finished doll clothing versus a full scale mannequin. My extensive background in the Textile industry spanned over 40 years, as a retail fabric store manager, which ultimately led to owning a Fabric Store. In addition, I was an instructor with Stretch and Sew, which focused on varying methods and sewing techniques using Stretch & Sew patterns and knit fabrics, popular in the 1980’s. I am a member of the American Sewing Guild of Washington, and have participated in many presentations to local neighborhood groups. I continue to use my dolls as small scale models to teach classes on how to make clothing, showing new designs and techniques. At this time, I am completing another how to book on the clothing. Most of the clothing, is made with vintage antique linens. | Website |
 | Mech Watne | Perfect Borders | A quilting technician applying her engineering skills to make quilting fun, fast and accurate. | |
 | Pam Whitt | Although I have been quilting for 30 years, it was only 3 years ago that I became fascinated with vintage linens and using them to make unique "new" items. This means that I have to cut them up, but in doing so I am getting them out of drawers and creating items that can be enjoyed by new generations. And in repurposing these beautiful vintage linens, I feel that I am acknowledging and honoring the women who originally crafted them years ago. | ||
 | Angela Wolf | Angela Wolf Patterns | Angela Wolf, entrepreneur, fashion and pattern designer, is the anchor of the PBS series "It's Sew Easy" and host of "Behind the Scenes" and "Sewing News" weekly Facebook shows. She is the author of "How to Start a Home-based Fashion Design Business," founder of Angela Wolf Pattern Collection, and a blogger, vlogger, online instructor, and brand ambassador. | WebsiteInstagramFacebook |
2023 Teachers
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