Member-only story
Living the dream: My story
When I was a young teen I had a dream. I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up: a wife and mama who contributed to her household’s income through some kind of work-from-home endeavor.
I was inspired by women with sewing pattern companies like Jennie Chancey’s Sense & Sensibility and Megan Nielsen Patterns. After about a decade of growing my skills I started putting my designs out into the world. I found moderate success, but it didn’t feel right.
So I left my sewing studio in Arizona and moved to Kansas to intern for a non-profit.
As I leaned into my 20s I wondered if any part of my dream would ever come true. I didn’t know anyone who would take me as his wife, and even if someone did, I wasn’t sure what kind of productive work I could do from our home while caring for our children.
When my internship ended I dipped my toe back into the sewing pattern world. I published a book detailing one of my most successful designs, updating and expanding the instructions into a poetic story.
This eventually led to a fellow professional creative asking me to help her tell the stories of her work. The stories I wrote for and about her immediately brought her more client work. I grew more confident in my…
