Lavinia Nebbs: About

I've always been a bit crafty.

As a kid I had some books with illustrations and instructions for everything from macrame to papier-mache to origami to simple sewing projects. I stared at the diagrams endlessly, plotting my next creative venture. My family moved frequently, and the lonely summer hours in each new town were filled with countless (but terribly messy) projects. Craftiness was my salvation. Still is.

In college I worked in the theatre department's costume shop. After a year of ironing muslin, they let me have a go at building actual pieces. My first project was The Hopeless Shirt of Death - a ruffle-y period-looking poets' thing, which was all the rage in 1994. As you can guess from its moniker, The Hopeless Shirt of Death was... erm... semi-successful at best. My next sewing project? A bag. So much easier and incredibly satisfying. (Ah, foreshadowing...)

A few years passed and I picked up a coupla more handcrafting skills from my mom, Miss Jean, the queen-lady-bee of crisply-wrapped Xmas gifts and perfectly pressed seams. I crocheted a ton of hats and scarves, and then I got into purses. But crocheted bags need lining, otherwise your stuff falls right through the holes. I sat at borrowed sewing machines, first lining bags, then attempting a myriad of crazy clothing and accessories. Finally Miss Jean bought me a little Singer for Christmas. After much trial and error, I designed the pattern for The Mary Poppins Bowling Bag. I set up an Etsy shop. I manned a booth in a craft fair (in the freezing cold, might I add). I even had a few bags out on consignment. But: The MPBB took FOREVER to make. I had to charge a ton of money for it. Save a few friends, nobody was buying. I got frustrated. I stepped away from the Singer.

Then, about a year ago, I randomly saw a bad-assed rock-chick on an equally random TV show, and she was embroidering all sorts of cool designs on tea towels and pillowcases and jeans and stuff. "This ain't your gramma's embroidery," she said. I proceeded directly to the interweb, bought the patterns, and became a certified embroidery-addict. I also struck up a nice working relationship with my artist friend Kristin Matwiczyk, whose work inspires many of my embroidery designs.

So I started making gifts for friends - strictly gifts - but after much encouragement/harrassment from said friends, I've set up this little crafty blawg, and a little Etsy shop, and a Facebook page... plus the other obligatory sites (see the "Diversions" section to your left). Dude: social networking is a total time-sucker. Stalk responsibly.

In my other life, I'm a bartender. I'm an occasional teaching artist (I taught college for about 7 years for no money and no benefits - yay, education). I have a Master's in Playwriting and new play development dreams. I enjoy a nice Old-Fashioned. I am obsessed with making pickles.

Much of my current existence is all namby-pamby and loosey-goosey. I dunno what the hell I'm doing with my life. Sewing gives me a sense of accomplishment. I look at a finished project and am pleased by its tangibility.

So here we are. Browse around. Check back for updates. If you want something custom-made, feel free to contact me.

Oh, and in case you're wondering... Lavinia Nebbs is a character in one of my favorite books. She's an old maid with balls. Infer what you will.