I’ve been sewing for years! It all started when I would sit at my mums feet picking up scrap fabrics and stitching them together to make little bags for my dolls. My mum sewed and her mum sewed too! They are amazing sewers but also have impeccable style and a sharp eye on quality fabrics & fit. My school holidays always consisted of crafting, whether it be cross stitch or sewing. I also remember wrapping myself up in my grandmothers fabrics and getting most satisfaction out of playing with her button tin. How times have changed! Here is a pic of me on my 4th birthday, and if you look close enough you will see my first sewing machine…it was a Holly Hobby machine!
I stopped sewing through my late teens, due to what felt like a complete failure in not winning a fashion design and sewing competition. Boy do I regret that! I then started sewing again when I fell pregnant with my first child. I took myself off to do pattern drafting with a lady in the Northern suburbs and was able to make exactly what I wanted to suit my body. I made children’s clothes and sold them by word of mouth. I then moved onto the craft market scene selling girls clothing with the label Miss Mary. During that time my friends would come to my place so we could all sew together. They would say “ok Kelly, what are we making this week?” I spent the following week organising a project. My friends started bringing their friends and demanded I charge them…and so, Miss Mary Sewing Classes was born. Who is Mary you ask? Mary is my mums name and it fit with the girls clothes I made, my friends suggested I keep the name.
It’s been almost 12 years in this business and I love it as much as the first day I started! The wonderful women I have met have made me laugh & cry, the connections we have all made amongst each other is something that I cherish. These women are hard working, raise beautiful families, have amazing careers, are more creative & talented than they think and they all come together to make & mend their soul. Sewing is not only a life long skill but a chance to practice mindfulness.