Sew & So...

R'Bonney Gabriel is an eco-friendly fashion designer, model, and sewing instructor based in Houston, TX, and New York City who also happens to be the current Miss Universe titleholder. Born in Houston, TX she became the 1st Miss Universe of Filipino descent. As the first Filipino American to win Miss Universe and Miss USA, much of her platform is about embracing her culture. She is a voice for Asi...

(2:39) The opening ceremonies raised the excitement of the crowd – kicked off by Paul Ashworth – President of BERNINA of North America. ( https://www.sewandsopodcast.com/episodes/episode-22-paul-ashworth ) He was followed by several more BERNINA luminaries…Christy Burcham - VP Training and Education BERNINA of America, Claudia Stauber – VP Marketing BERNINA International, and Kai Hillebrandt – CEO...

Born in China, raised in her early years in Germany, Yaya moved on her own to the United States in 1998 while still a teen. It didn’t take her long to make a name for herself in the cosplay community. Now a successful designer, model, author, tv personality and social media influencer with more that 3 million followers.   (2:24) Yaya tells us of how she learned to sew out of necessity through gett...

Cookie Washington, born in Morocco, is a fourth-generation needle worker, award winning textile artist and guest curator of the African American Fiber Arts Exhibit which is part of the North Charleston Arts Festival.   Her passion for fiber art is infectious and she comes from a long line of sewists dating back to her great-grandmother.   She’s been selected as one of 44 master quilters to create...

Amanda Carye, the owner of Broadcloth Studio and the co-host of Quilt Buzz has been quilting “since forever”. On this episode she shares her journey outside her comfort zone and shares her adventures in starting both her business and podcast   Show Notes Amanda Carye, who owns Broadcloth Studio and hosts the Quilt Buzz Podcast has been quilting for her whole life. From Boston, she currently lives...

(2:30) Alex takes us back to the beginning of her sewing journey and tells us of the first thing she ever sewed!   (4:47) Alex takes back to her very first quilt studio and tells us of the moment she began to take herself seriously as a quilter. The “Quilt Life” (7:25) became a mantra for her as she found that she really belonged…Alex explains how this happens and what this means to her. What is “...

Jedimanda is a professional seamstress, author and avid costumer. She’s been features in numerous publications, won awards for her costuming, and loves travel as much as she loves cosplay.   At (1:54) she tells us why C2E2 Chicago is her vary favorite convention…and shares the story of how she learned to sew…and how this led to her first job in college. She takes us through her Senior thesis proje...

The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo or C2E2 is a Chicago fan convention dedicated to comics, pop culture, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. Now celebrating its 13th year, this event is a place for self-proclaimed geeks, nerds and introverts to connect and fit in. We had full access to attendees, vendors, fabricators and even some well-known authors and cos...

Aleeda Crawley, President of the Modern Quilt Guild shares her personal journey into the world of quilting and tells of how she became president of the guild. The Guild itself is a powerhouse in the world of quilting – she tells us about its purpose and overall work. The Guild can be found at www.themodernquiltguild.com. Karen Cooper – Executive Director of the Guild drops in to explain how the Gu...

Growing up in South America, Nick spent his days under a tree drawing his mother’s dress designs for the diplomatic parties she attended with his father…an American diplomat in Caracas. He called her “Jay-Lo before there was Jay-Lo”! He credits his success to his mom for her support and encouragement. Learn too who Nick considers his mentor. (5:36) What was the moment he knew he was a success? Nic...

This exclusive/all-access episode takes you through the 2023 version of SewExpo at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup, WA In it’s 39th year, the Sewing and Stitchery Expo was back in full force after a two year Covid 19 hiatus. Hear directly from Show Manager Janet McLoughlin and Education Manager about how they were brought out of retirement to make this all happen. There are vendors wh...

This exclusive all-access episode takes you through the 2023 version of QuiltCon in Atlanta, Georgia. The definition of Modern Quilting varies from person to person. Hear the thoughts of Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) President Aleeda Crawley, Karen Cooper Executive Director of MQG, Christa Watson BERNINA Ambassador, Last Year’s Keynote Speaker Latifa Safir, and attendees from around the world. Learn fr...

(2:00 – 6:35) She begins the conversation by explaining that she learned to sew with her grandmother’s basement sewing machine, using fabric from her grandma’s (who she never met) magical craft cupboard. This cupboard held all of her deceased grandmother’s scraps, thread, etc., and inspired her with her grandmother’s spiritual presence. In high school, she wanted to learn to sew clothes and create...

Sarah Ramberg worked for an environmental engineering and consulting firm for 15 years. After being laid off in 2017, she decided to turn her passion for sewing with flannel and upcycling into a full-time career. Sarah was bitten by the antiquing, thrifting, and garage sale bug when she was in Junior High. Today, she feels a fundamental need to repurpose and recycle broken and neglected items in l...

A wrinkled dress changed the trajectory of Brooks Ann's career. It all began her senior year at Centenary College, where she was a theater major. She had been cast in a play and was behind the stage when the head of the department, “a brilliant, but grumpy old man,” noticed her dress was wrinkled he sent her off to iron it. When she confessed, she’d never ironed before, he assigned her—against her...

A lifetime learner and prolific entrepreneur, Carina Gardner learned to sew by sneaking downstairs and using her mom’s sewing machine to create Barbie clothes from fabric scraps. As time went on, she found herself in the scrapbooking world at a time when scrapbooking crossed over into fabric. The first fabric company she designed for was Northcott. She also designed a fabric line for Riley Blake,...

Sue O’Very Pruitt’s love of sewing began very early and has taken her to places near and far. She went from designing dresses for her Barbie doll at six years old to creating customers at Busch Gardens when she graduated college. After leaving Busch Gardens, she created costumes on a cruise ship for six months, before going on to become lead designer for a leather manufacturing company in China. W...

Carson Converse is not a minimalist by nature, although she does value simplicity. She also loves doing intricate detail. She describes her process as reductive art because she often starts by throwing a lot of fabric and inspirational images on the wall and then expanding and contracting until the piece feels quiet and still. In her own words, “I want to give the viewer kind of a moment of stilln...

In this special episode, you’re going to meet seven special organizations…charities that use sewing or quilting to care for people who are struggling because of where they live, the health burdens they carry, or injuries they sustained in service to our country. Come with us as we meet the extraordinary who care for the exceptional. :37  Our first visit is with Carla Triemar of Quilts Beyond Borde...

Experience the Houston Quilt Festival through this episode chock full of personal and informative conversations.  We meet BERNINA educators from the exhibit hall stage – Connie Fanders, Amanda Murphy, and Sylvain Bergeron. Show prize winners Angela Petrocelli (grand prize winner), Debbie Corbett, Sue Sherman and Kestral Michaud describe in detail their award-winning quilts. Listen to class instruc...

Linnca Stevens is the co-founder of The Sewing Labs – a non-profit in Kansas City, MO whose mission is to create a community and teach sewing toward employment, entrepreneurship, and enrichment. Hear Linnca’s biographical journey toward where she is today and why she started the Sewing Labs. Her grandmother Margaret, a Swedish immigrant taught her to sew and as a young child, Linnca was eager to l...

Tula Pink grew up in California, graduated from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and worked briefly as an exhibit designer for museums in SoCal. She eventually joined the music industry as an Art Director designing album covers for numerous notable artists. After about 5 years, she left her job… and California…landing in the Midwest. Tula's main function in life is fabric design which...

Maker, quilter, knitter, spinner, and painter, Leanne Pressly is the founder and CEO of Stitchcraft Marketing, which she launched in 2009. Leanne also hosts the podcast, Business of Craft. She is a certified consultant with a Colorado Small Business Development Center, where she consults with new entrepreneurs in a variety of businesses. Be sure to subscribe to, review and rate this podcast on you...

Cosplay, the art of combining costume and role play, grew out of the practice of costuming at science fiction conventions. Over the past couple of decades, it has really taken off and become its own subculture. Desi believes cosplay can be inspired by Japanese anime characters, a Western comic book character, a Disney character, whatever inspires you. “It's literally just, I love this character so...

Although Teresa comes from generations of makers, she was the first to pursue quilting as a career when she, as she puts it, “stumbled into the quilting industry.” It began in 2011 when she joined the crew at the Fabric Shop Network and then became editor of Websense magazine. Teresa started out making garments using patterns from The Big Four. From there she discovered Indie pattern makers and vi...