My journey into the world of sewing stuffed animals began when I was quite young. When my parents gave me a sewing book as a gift, I immediately skipped ahead past the “boring” projects and completed the two stuffed animals at the end of the book. My creations were rough, but I loved them.
After these first attempts at making my very own stuffed animals, I eagerly searched for more patterns to try. I even invented a few of my own. My early projects weren’t the best, but I could see improvement as I continued to practice my skills.
Making stuffed animals and dolls quickly became a passion. I absolutely love seeing a project come to life when I put on the final touches. I also love bringing joy to other people. With that in mind, I began to use my talent to make gifts for friends and family.
Of course, I was still making stuffed animals for myself. Except now I had a problem: I had reached an age where I no longer cared to play with my creations, so they were just sitting around gathering dust. I had so many projects I wanted to make, but not enough people to give them to.
Thankfully, a friend of mine gave me an idea. This friend collects items for a project called Operation Christmas Child. Under this organization, people pack things such as toys and hygiene items into shoeboxes and those gifts are then delivered through churches to impoverished children around the world. In many cases, these are the first gifts the children have ever received. I knew I had found a purpose for my passion.
I searched through all my patterns for appropriate projects to use as shoebox gifts. Some worked just fine, but many were just too large to fit in the average box. And so I began to create my own patterns.
Over time, I refined those patterns until I had a product I could be proud of. With the encouragement of friends and family, I decided to try selling stuffed animals and dolls made from my very own patterns. And here I am.