This is the first of a series designed to help us know each other better and what better place to begin than our new president, Joanne.
Joanne was born in Queens, NY, and shortly after her family moved to the original Levittown on Long Island where she grew up. Joanne is the oldest of three daughters. Her mother was a seamstress and worked in a specialized lingerie shop in Manhattan. She even made a custom negligee for Lauren Bacall.
Her husband, Paul, and her are high school sweethearts. Paul moved to Kingman, Arizona to take a job, and that’s where they were married. He then finished his degree at ASU in Tempe. This September they will have been married 50 years. To know Joanne is to know she has an affinity for the desert and Southwestern everything.
Paul’s job moved them to Texas in 1981 when she started sewing in earnest. Her mother-in-law gave her a Singer sewing machine and since she was pregnant, she made a layette. Their son, Luke, was 2 months premature, and as a result was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at one year old. For the next 5 years she dedicated her life to Luke, taking him to the Dallas Easter Seal Society for therapy 4 days a week. He was even the poster child for one year. Once Luke was established in elementary school, she went back to work as Business Manager for a facility for people with mental retardation in Lewisville, and then served 20 years as Executive Assistant to the Pastor of their church. She sewed very little during this time.
Then in 2016 when she retired, she started sewing again. She sews for herself, but also loves home dec. She just finished a Christmas quilt and window shades.
She likes to sew totes and wallets. She does machine embroidery, knitting, crocheting, counted cross stitch, needlepoint, and calligraphy. She still has her first cross stitch sampler from 1963, and recently she got into bead weaving.
When asked what was in her sewing room to be worked on, Sew House 7 slacks which is a very interesting pattern. And what is her favorite thing to sew? It’s Sewing Workshop patterns. She fell in love with the simplicity of their designs. Joanne’s like a sculptor; she lets the fabric tell her what to do with it. When she started sewing in earnest, she had no idea how to read a pattern and has had no regular sewing lessons. She’s mostly self taught with a little help from home ec classes and her mom. She found out about ASG at Fabrique when she signed up for a Kenneth King Workshop. Now, hardly a day goes by when she doesn’t sew with one of her five machines. She has been with West Side Sew, and now Divas of Denton County.
Very interesting article about Joanne. I like the fact that the fabric tells her how to shape it. I have that same feeling.
Joanne, reading your story was like reading my own story. What I didn’t learn from my mother, I taught myself and lots of time it was trial and error but I came out wiser after the mistakes.
You are so talented and brave to tackle any challenge and they all look stunning.
Glad you finally got into bead weaving which is so enjoyable.
Take care!