Skip Navigation Website Accessibility

SERGE & SEW INSTRUCTORS


 

DOROTHY CURRIE

Whenever I have the opportunity to teach a craft class, I always find it very rewarding to see the joy the students show on their achievement. It is really nice to share ideas, and I always learn something new from my students. It’s awesome whenever I get to see their finished (or even unfinished) projects. I taught Liquid Embroidery for over twenty years. Some of my students were award winners and some of them have followed me into my hand appliqué & Sashiko classes!


MARY LAY

I started knitting and sewing at a very young age while at school in England. I immigrated to Canada in 1965 and worked for eight years for Maritime Tel & Tel in the “Outside Plant Engineering Department” Halifax.

After marriage and moving with Gord to various parts of Canada, sewing and knitting became my second profession. I had purchased a knitting machine and was employed by a local sewing machine store to sell and teach.

On another move to central Canada, I was again hired to sell and teach sewing machines. This is where I learned about the Serger – Pfaff, Singer and other brands. We were fortunate that company educators came to teach us techniques on the latest equipment. This was very useful when we headed west in 1988 as I was able to secure a position at a Sewing Centre which Gord and I then purchased. I attended many courses learning the newest machines

In 2006, Gordon and I retired and moved to Nanaimo. I am now using my expertise to teach Volumes 1 and 2 “Getting to Know Your Serger”. I am able to teach all brands. Classes are very small so students can feel comfortable and stress-free! Each student leaves class with a reference workbook full of samples sewn on their own serger.

I love to use all types of sergers and enjoy passing on the knowledge that I have gained over the last forty years.


CAROL MCBRIDE

I cannot remember a time when I didn't sew. I started hand sewing & embroidery at three years old, machine sewing when I was four. I started with doll clothes, then 'graduated' to sewing clothes for myself, my sister, my mum & friends. After I married, I made almost all the clothing for my family, including jeans for the kids & suits for my husband!  I learned every kind of  handwork & craft that I could. I did alterations (ugh) for individuals & several ladies wear shops, taught private sewing lessons as well as sewing & craft classes in the craft store where I worked for nearly twenty years, as well as for several Boards of Education in Ontario. I worked at Serge & Sew for nineteen of the twenty years that I've lived in Nanaimo, and have taught quilting classes there & at both the Nanaimo & Parksville Quilt Guilds. Can you tell that creating makes me happy?

IONNE MCCAULEY

Ionne has been sewing for most of her life and quilting for over 25 years. Her start was in batik, making batiked clothing to support herself in Australia, years ago. This led to fabric dyeing and colour workshops when she returned to Canada. She now teaches all levels of quilting classes for local shops and for guilds across the country. Her favourite class to teach -since 1997- has been a Colour workshop. So, in 2007, she wrote Color for the Terrified Quilter (coauthored with Sharon Pederson). Have a look at her website to see what she is up to, some of her work and her workshops.

www.ionnequilts.com

She is a member of several fun quilting groups, her local guild, the Canadian Quilters Association (CQA/ACC), and to a surface design group- the members of which experiment in various mediums, not just fabrics!

Ionne lives just outside Qualicum Beach with her family, 2 dogs, a small flock of sheep, and an orchard which she takes care of in her spare time- (what IS that anyway?).



DONNA PAISLEY

I spent my "working life" teaching primary kids. Now I am retired and in my "playing life" I like to help adults become addicted to this thing called quilting.  What I like about it is--it can be a potholder , a table runner, a bag or a king sized quilt. The sky is the limit and it is such fun playing with delicious fabrics.

 I enjoy the people at Serge and Sew and have spent a great deal of time there over the past  15 years. 



MAUREEN SMITH

I have always been a sewer, making clothes etc. I lived for 26 yrs in the Northern Community of Prince Rupert. One day a Quilt store opened so thought I would check it out knowing full well I would never really get into quilting. I took one class and I was hooked. That was 20 yrs ago and I have never looked back. Its been an ongoing journey for me always seeking a new challenge. Its a pleasure for me to be able to pass on any knowledge I have to others.

See some of my creations here.


IDONNA TOLLEFSON

I started to sew when I was 10 years old and had sewing in Home Economics.  I belonged to a 4-H sewing club and another church group where we sewed, too.  My mother was a good seamstress and she taught me a log, too.

I have made everything from baby clothes to wedding dresses, suits and even the pall that goes over a coffin. 

In 1990, I was in a quilting store and the were offering a class on Seminole placemats.  I thought this would be great for the 5th wheel that we had just purchased.  I bought fabrics that went with the interior of the 5th wheel and got everything the supply list said that I should use and off I went.  I think that the store provided the sewing machines at that time.  I learned how to do the Seminole patch work and incorporated them into the placemats.  We got the fronts done and cut the batting and backing.  There was also time to quilt them a bit.  We were instructed to round the corners and had a lesson on making bias binding.  We were told to apply the binding after we went home.  I had no idea ho to sew bias binding on the placemats and when I look at them I get a good laugh and realize how far I have come from that first class.

Soon after that there was a log cabin wreath wall hanging class offered and I took that, too.  That class went much better as we were instructed to keep squaring up our blocks so they would go together easily upon completing them.  Instructions were given on cutting and applying straight grain binding and what a difference.

I learned a lot on my own and sometimes still take classes if there is something that I have not taken before.

I have taught quilting at a couple of other quilting stores and had my own sewing studio in my home when I lived in Ladysmith.  I could teach up to 3 people at a time which turnd out to be just the right amount with the space that I had. 

After moving to Nanaimo when I was in Serge & Sew one day Linda asked me if I would be interest in teaching new quilters as someone was needed.  I said I would love to.  This was a few years ago and I now teach other classes as well as the new quilters.

TEESH BACKLUND,                         August 25, 2017

“Sewing Seeds of Love” came about from my gratitude for how much God has blessed me and my desire to share the talents and skills He has given me.

I’m thankful to my mom and all the teachers I’ve had for sharing their knowledge and skills so generously. We are fortunate to have access to teachers locally, at the sewing shows in Victoria, and online. Some of my favorite places to learn on the Internet include Craftsy, YouTube, Debra Justice’s Labours of Love, and Pintrest.

My husband is a handy mechanic and we enjoy servicing my museum of vintage sewing machines. More recently I’ve purchased some modern machines, a Janome Quilter’s Companion, a Baby Lock Imagine and a Baby Lock Cover Stitch machine from Serge & Sew. I was so impressed with the genuine kindness and good service received that I made Tian a duplicate binder of the samples I made up when I was learning how to use the accessories I had purchased for my Baby Lock Cover Stitch machine.

I enjoy making samples and recording machine settings so I can refer back to them in future. I’m developing a wonderful library of binders and am excited about blessing other sewers by sharing my samples.

Linda, Tian and Mary coaxed me to teach classes. My husband also encouraged me and thought I’d enjoy sharing what I’ve learned, so this fall of 2017 I’m excited to teach some beginner level classes.