fortannam

I worked hard to finish high school and was the first in my family to attend college, my college degree is in fine arts and I’ve taken classes in oil, watercolor, etc. I also minored in Costume Design and so love history and cosplay..My “medium” is more into fabric and fiber. I love vintage fabrics, buttons, trims. My favorite color is that dark blue that sometimes looks purple. I like yarns, cording, and threads. I like paper, paper crafts, and sometimes sew paper to fabric. I have a sewing machine, a serger, and a coverstitch machine. I have a dedicated craft room with shelves of paper, fabric, beads, rubber stamps, yarns, trims, patterns, crafty magazines, and jars of buttons.

I put my love of sewing to work in the sportswear and outdoor apparel industry. I currently am Product Engineer at Columbia Sportswear Company, with 25 years of experience including Nike, Castelli, Merrell, Norm Thompson Outfitters, and Sebago among others. My work in the industry includes developing garments, fabrics, and trimmings.

I teach sewing classes and lead the Fabric & Fiber Meet-up at our local library maker space. The maker space (called the Collaboratory) includes: Fabric & Fiber: Sewing machine/serger/fabrics Knitting/crochet yarns and needles Micro-electronics & 3D Printing: UP mini 2 3D printers by Tiertime https://youtu.be/vX-sBznaKdo Arduino/microcontrollers Makey Makey/Raspberry Pi Paper Crafting & Vinyl: Sizzix Big Shot die-cutter https://youtu.be/j0X5aHGg3Xc Silhouette Cameo die-cutter https://youtu.be/J-k6vlZT_BU Rubber stamps/inks/pens Vellum/vinyl heat transfer sticker Flatbed heat press Laminating machine Multi-media: Laptops with maker software Digital camera with green screens Lego/K’Nex model building Glowforge https://youtu.be/ysCaqh38JVQ ... and more!!

I’m also a member of the National Button Society, Oregon Button Society, and Portland Button Club. I enthusiastically continue to learn about button collecting and history. I will be presenting a lesson at the NBS annual convention in 2019 called “What’s new with buttons?” where I’ll look at how buttons are made today in large scale industrial button making processes, and small-scale buttons made at home.

My favorite music depends on the day. I love everything from Classic Rock to Classical, from Country to Alternative Grunge, from Showtunes to Pop. Everyone in my family plays and instrument and/or sings – except me (I play the radio). I’ve always been around music and had an appreciation – but for me it’s driven by the mood.

My favorite books are historically accurate fiction about places or people (not science fiction/fantasy/romance/horror/etc.) I like something that is at least loosely based on reality. I enjoy travel writings, biographies, and text-book type books on textiles, fashion, sewing, costumes, costume history, etc.

Right now I'm reading "Worn Stories" a collection of stories from famous people about one single garment/piece of clothing that has stuck with them. It's super interesting!!

My favorite TV show right now is Victoria on PBS Masterpiece – mostly due to the history and costumes. I also recently re-watched the entire 6 seasons of Grimm – mostly because it was filmed in Portland and I personally know a lot of the extras & side characters from working with modeling/talent agencies here in Portland through my jobs. I have a desire to watch The Crown – but it will have to wait.

Sewing small easy projects... I recently make zipper pillow covers for my couch pillows. I like zipper pouches. I like to sew fabric and paper together. I am working on sewing my scraps of fabric together to make new fabric for an over-the-shoulder bag. I want to try hand-made postcards.

A: art, apparel, avengers

B: buttons, books (see that section), bookmaking, blue

C: coffee (anything related to coffee), costumes, crafts (see that section), Christmas anything

D: design, drawing, dachshunds

E: ecru, eolienne, eyelet

F: fabric, fine art, fashion, fonts

G: grimm,

H: hello kitty, history, hand bags, holly/Christmas, handmade

I: ink, indigo, ikat

J: juxtaposition

K: kites, khaki

L: letterpress, lace

M: music (see that section), muji, maps

N: nature, night owl

O: outdoors

P: postcards (vintage, touristy, artsy), painting, pouches, paper crafty/handmade, printmaking, patches

Q: small quilt items for uses not in a big quilt

R: royalty, retro, religious

S: sewing related, scraps (of fabric/trims/paper), shells (especially abalone), spring

T: theater, theatrical, television (see that section), textiles, typography, trims, tassels

U: useful things, urchins

V: vintage style, violet, varigated

W: water color, wrapping paper, wall paper, winter

X: xerox (old, vintage)

Y: yellow, yardsticks, yuletide, yachts

Z: zippers – all kinds/styles, zines

3-D: printed items, stuff with filling, paper pop-up

• anything for kids (mine are out of the house)
• actual food items: tea bags, sticks of gum, etc
• anime/graphic novel/video game related
• nudity/horror/violence
• licorice/anise
• cigarettes/smoking