When I was about 13 years old, I was staying for a few weeks with my grandparents. One afternoon, my grandfather asked if I'd like to watch "Gone with the Wind." My teenage self answered, "A movie with that title sounds boring!" So my grandfather made me a deal - we would watch just 20 minutes of it, and if I still didn't like it, we would turn it off. That 20 minutes turned into the entire film! From that day on, I was hooked on old movies.

The more I watched these films, the more I realized I must have been born in the wrong time period, and the more I longed for the glamorous fashions of the 40s and 50s. I slowly began to acquire vintage patterns and sew my own wardrobe. Though I have a few modern pieces, many of my clothes are 40s, 50s, and some 60s clothes.

One day, while browsing through a local thrift shop, I came across three huge crates of old patterns. The owner was telling me how they had been sitting on the shelf for months with no takers, they were taking up retail space, but she didn't have the heart to just throw them out. I wouldn't have the heart to throw them away either, so I made her an offer and took them away.

Then, Hazel on the James was born, a place where others who were in a time warp like me could find vintage patterns, put them to use, and keep them out of a landfill.