Mainsail Studio: 20 Years of Happily Ever After
I’ve always been nostalgic for the magic of my childhood: imaginary play, art, costumes, animals, and sailboating adventures to little islands where my sisters and I became dragons, pirates, unicorns, and fairies.
Every little person has a big imagination to inspire. At Mainsail Studio, it’s tremendous fun to make those magic moments come true for modern kids, from handmade fairy and dragon wings to stuffed zebra and unicorn heads for wall mounting (“faux taxidermy”) to butterfly antennae headbands and more. My work is all my own, from the fabric I design myself (printed at Spoonflower in Durham, NC) to the sewing patterns to the making and the final touches.
I began sewing and sketching as a teenager, but wasn’t convinced that it was a viable option for a full-time career. I pursued work in tourism and retail marketing for about 15 years before realizing I could no longer feign my interest or passion for a “sensible” job. So Mainsail Studio was born! I started designing fabric for my own projects in 2010, which quickly evolved into experimenting with cut-and-sew patterns and costumes. After a stuffed unicorn I made for my daughter turned out wonky and lumpy, she asked me to just save the head and mount it on her wall. I realized that if I started doing faux taxidermy, I could just focus on sweet stuffed animal faces. Now they are bestsellers in my shop!
In 2016, I began converting my designs into DIY sewing patterns, currently available for purchase at Sprout Patterns. I use my four kids as guinea pigs for my designs: no prototype makes it to my shop without their approval! As a full-time maker with a tremendously supportive family, I work in my home studio, looking out into the forest at the woodland creatures that walk past and inspire me everyday.
