Meet our Fabricista Fashion Challenge winner, Shannon!

Meet Shannon from Shanni Loves! She was the winner of the Fabricista Fashion Challenge which wrapped up back in November. After some time to take a breather, she is back and ready to blog with us! We are really looking forward to working with Shannon. We have a lot of great ideas and inspiration to share with you in 2014. 

We had a Q&A session with Shannon and also asked if she would share her sewing room with us.

What is your day job? I work at an area hospital as a Financial Analyst. I analyze a lot of numbers, prepare a lot of statistics and even get to play with money sometimes.

What is your dream job? I’ve always dreamed about having my own business. I tell my husband every Wednesday when they draw the lottery numbers that if we ever win I’m opening up a fabric shop. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

What do you sew in your sewing room? Since the Fabricista Challenge, word is out on the streets that I sew. So I’ve been doing a lot of alterations for others and surprisingly I’ve really been enjoying that.  When I’m not busy doing that I make my own clothes. In 2014 my goal is to buy no ready-to-wear clothing with the exception of shoes and underwear.  

What is the favorite part of your sewing room? Well that’s a toss up between my sewing machine and my fabric stash. You couldn’t have one without the other so they are both equally my favorites and give me loads of enjoyment. I also have to mention another fave, my little pug who’s always snoring by my feet.

Give us an organizational tip: I store my envelope patterns in plastic storage bins and have them organized by garment type. PDF patterns can be a little trickier to store and all that paper can take up so much space. I found 3-ring binders to be a life saver. I store all of my pdf patterns in poly sheet protectors and file away in the binder. This is also a great way to store your traced patterns. When I want to work on one I simply take the sheet protector out of the binder and all my pieces are right there in one place and not to be easily lost.   

What was the inspiration for your sewing space? My sewing space was once in our basement laundry room where it was cold and always a mess.  I would always spend at least 20 minutes clearing a laundry pile before I could get down to business which makes it really hard to get motivated. When I decided to move upstairs to a spare bedroom I wanted it to be bright and cheery. I also wanted it to be clean and organized, a place I would look forward to visiting every day. 

When/How did you learn to sew? I started sewing about 2 ½ years ago.  I had a plan to make handbags (because I have an obsession) so one day out of the blue I went and bought a machine. I turned to the Internet for help as I went along and it was there I discovered the social sewing community, lots and lots of sewing blogs. I was so inspired by all the beautiful garments everyone was making my focus quickly shifted from handbags to clothing. I’ve learned everything I know from either You Tube videos, Craftsy classes or sewing books, Readers’ Digest’s “New Complete Guide to Sewing” being my favorite resource.  

How did you decide on the color turquoise?  I love bright and cheery colors. My husband is quite the opposite; he loves more warm tones which you will see throughout our house. Since this sewing room was going to be mine, all mine I had free reign on the color choice.  I picked out the happiest color I could find, Aqua Chiffon. The name is kind of perfect for a sewing room don’t cha’ think?

How much time do you spend in your sewing room? As much as I can! Usually on a Saturday or Sunday you’ll find me in my sewing room. I could easily spend the whole day in there only coming out for bathroom breaks or snacks. During the week I like to try to spend at least an hour working on a project but sometimes it’s hard to resist the couch calling my name.

Where do you get your inspiration for your projects? Sewing blogs or Pinterest

Thanks for sharing with us Shannon!