Paths Leading to Switch Stitch

I don’t know about you but I love looking back over the years & seeing how different life events have connected in a way I could have never imagined. I am passionate about a lot of things, my fellow Leo’s can understand...but a good majority of my passions have funneled their way to help create Switch Stitch. Growing up, I was regularly encouraged to explore my creative ideas and I can remember my parents always doing lots of home projects. My mom taught me that with enough creative thinking there wasn’t any idea that couldn’t be implemented. My dad showed me that with enough persistence and patience the idea could be brought to life. I started sewing when I was about 7 years old and it's been something that I've always loved doing. I still chuckle a little as I remember my friends' reaction when I told them my parents bought me a sewing machine for a high school graduation gift..."Oh man that sucks, sorry to hear that Brooke...my parents got me a laptop".⁠ I still use that same sewing machine and it has so many memories tied to it. Sewing quilts for friends, ex-boyfriends, moving away from home with me, teaching my then future husband to sew, moving back home with me, moving out again. For whatever reason, I've always had an inclination to make things from what other people didn't want. Like, making a wardrobe from thrift store clothes, sourcing apartment decorations at yard sales or using an old cooler for a purse. I don't know if I can figure out exactly why, but it has something to do with the challenge of working limited materials, a way to fuel my creativity into problem solving and the satisfaction of having something useful from things once forgotten.⁠ My past job/career choices should have been a major clue to how much I love working with my hands...and going a little off the beaten path. I’ve worked as a bicycle mechanic, in a flower shop doing deliveries & some designing, helping my mom rehab a house, as a buyer for a quilt distributor, a few summers of working landscaping and at my dad’s excavating business digging in the dirt. Most recently I work as an occupational therapist and this is where I’ve learned the skill of breaking a problem down to figure out what parts need to be adjusted and how to adjust, in order to eliminate the problem as best as possible. So, as I sit here and look back over my life so far, it’s kind of cool to see how my creativity, sewing skills, love of old things and working with my hands have been coupled with my formal education in occupational therapy. All combining together in a package I now call Switch Stitch. I am excited to see what comes from taking this current path and so grateful to share it with you.