I have always sewn. One of my earliest memories is that of my mother sewing clothes for my sister and I, and I naturally gravitated to the possibilities of the sewing machine and fabric.

I started out by designing and sewing clothes for our dolls, and eventually went to university and earned a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics, with a focus in Clothing and Textiles.

I designed costumes for a top international mascot manufacturer for 10 years, and in that time I also began creating toys and soft sculptures. In addition, a partner and I started up a small business selling textile products we had designed.