Co-founder of Textillia with my spouse, Bruno! We started Textillia because sewists lacked the kind of centralised database, and planning and documentation tools, that I’d used when I was a more avid knitter. We talked about the idea for a couple years before even embarking on building it ourselves, and eventually said to ourselves, “okay nobody is doing this, we have the skills - so why not us?” And now we are so excited to see it growing and coming to life, all thanks to our awesome community members!
I learned to sew as a teenager growing up in Saskatchewan (the Canadian prairies), and even had a short-lived small business making organic cotton bags and accessories during university. I didn't start sewing garments until my early 30s, when I was already off work due to disabling illness, and I had to stop knitting too due to hand pain. Like so many have in the past several years, I fell in absolute love with making my own clothes! I'm also a big fan of mending and practical sewing, and love seeing all the ingenious practical things other people make.
I'm an urban planning and sustainability nerd (with a side of contemporary arts), and have a Masters degree in Health Geography. Before chronic illness thwarted my career plans, I worked as a client and project manager for web development companies and did a term as Documentation Co-lead for the Drupal open source software project (which is the software used to build Textillia, and also how I met Bruno!) Aside from sewing, Textillia, and hanging out with Bruno, I love watching Star Trek, patting strangers' dogs, birds and plants, drawing, writing, growing a garden, reading books, drinking tea, and appreciating all the small joys in life.
I'm disabled due to my severe chronic illness, so you might spot my mobility aids in the occasional photo. For those who are curious, I primarily use my favourite which is an ice blue first generation Rollz Motion (a rollator that modifies into a push/transport chair), and on shorter outings I occasionally take my black ByAcre Carbon Ultralight rollator or what's known as a "cane seat" from Drive Medical. I spend a lot of my time and energy these days going to and recovering from medical treatment, which has made managing Textillia an interesting challenge. But with lots of support from Bruno and all of you, we're figuring it out - what can I say, life is full of surprises, and we all do the best we can with what we've got!
