Meet Our Staff
Sew Original, Boone, NC
Melinda Rose, Co-Owner
As co-owner of Sew Original, Melinda oversees the daily operations of the Boone store. "I have been sewing since I was six- garment designing and creating are my favorites," says Melinda. "I love traveling and meeting new people, but most of all spending time with my family, especially my 4 grandchildren, known as the Fab Four. I am privileged to have the finest staff and customers in the world!" 
Kathy Heisler
As manager of the Boone store, Kathy has been sewing and crafting since she was a young girl. She began quilting in the 1980s. "I really enjoy learning new techniques and sharing the joy of sewing with others." 
Patty Blanton
Patty has worked part time at Sew Original for several years and teaches several quilting classes. "I love learning new techniques and sharing them with others," says Patty. "I hope I never lose the desire to learn or the enthusiasm to share what I learn with others." 
Susan Briggs
"I am a retired school teacher and was the first employee at Sew Original," says Susan. "I enjoy quilting, asking a bazillion questions, and being with my grandsons." 
Peggy Cerchione
Known as "Miss Peggy," she teaches Kids Classes, Kids Camp, and Machine Mastery. "I've been sewing since I was five and haven't quite grown up yet," quips Peggy. 
Vanessa Clark
Vanessa has a longarm quilting service, and she specialize in sergers and garment construction. "I have a passion for anything having to do with fabric.". 
Colleen Murray
"My mom showed me how to sew when I was a little girl. I have always been crafty and liked working with my hands, whether it was sewing, cross stitching, or making something out of wood." She says she got her first embroidery machine in 2002, a Bernina 165. She also now owns a 770 for larger projects. 
Becky Shippy
Becky learned to sew when she was nine years old by watching her mother make clothes. Her love of quilting came from her grandmother. "I come from a family of crafting ladies; we do all kinds of things. My sister and I like to sew. I came to the mountains about ten years ago and have been working at Sew Original ever since. I enjoy teaching beginning quilting and various piecing projects." Becky is a licensed massage therapist, although her daughter now runs that business. She is a retired military spouse of 36 years, has two daughters, and five grandchildren. 
Faye Williams
Faye joined Sew Original after she retired from teaching. "The customers at Sew Original are great and I really enjoy working with them." "I started sewing during junior high school and then progressed to making garments. After retiring, I have learned to quilt and to use the embroidery software. I enjoy doing both and putting the two techniques together." When she's not sewing, Faye enjoys being with her family and traveling. |
Sew Original, Winston-Salem, NC
Shirley Bailey, Co-Owner
As co-owner of Sew Original, Shirley oversees the day-to-day operations of the Winston-Salem store. Shirley has been sewing for most of her life. Her mother was an avid seamstress, so she was exposed to sewing at an early age. Sadly, however, at age 11, Shirley lost her mother. Her grandmother stepped in and taught Shirley to sew using her grandmother’s treadle sewing machine. While Shirley enjoys all aspects of crafting with needle and thread, she is especially fond of smocking and heirloom sewing. About her early days at Sew Original, Shirley recounts an amusing story of “mistaken identity.” In 2002, when Shirley and her business partner, Melinda Rose, had just opened the Sew Original store in Boone, North Carolina, Shirley had stopped by the store early one morning to quickly gather her supplies and teaching tools for a mastery class she was teaching that morning at a local quilt shop. During the class Shirley noticed the shop owner kept addressing her as Alice. Later, after the class was over, the shop owner said, “Alice, I’d like to take you to lunch.” “That sounds lovely,” Shirley replied, “but my name is Shirley.” The shop owner responded quizzically, “But your name tag says Alice.” It was at that moment Shirley realized that earlier that morning she had mistakenly grabbed the name tag of one of her employees and had dutifully taught that morning’s class carefully disguised as Alice! Says Shirley about her time at Sew Original, “It is such a joy to be co-owner of Sew Original. My favorite part as an owner is the contact I have with all our amazing and wonderful customers.” 
Holly Alloway
Having grown up in Ohio, Holly says, “I got to the South as fast as I could.” But, while in Ohio, she was exposed to sewing by her mother, grandmother, and great aunt. “My grandmother and my great aunt sewed to support themselves. They could make marvelous garments without using patterns. My mother sewed all the clothes for me, my two sisters, and herself. I did a little hand sewing and embroidery as a child. I remember sewing buttons to a piece of fabric and before I knew it, I had sewn buttons and cloth to my skirt! Later, I did the usual home economics classes in middle school and high school.” Holly loves piecing quilts. She also loves the challenge of trying a new pattern, tool, or technique and seeing if it is going to come out right. “I love new rulers or tools and trying them. I LOVE RULERS! They call me the ruler queen at the store,” quips Holly. “There are so many new patterns, tools, and techniques. I’m not sure how anyone could ever be bored.” Holly loves discovering new things on the internet. She admits that she often finds herself looking for new ideas on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook when she should be sewing. Holly often teaches classes at Sew Original, including numerous Block of the Month programs. “It makes me so happy when I see any of my students finish one of the quilts. Even though I may not have finished mine!” Besides quilting, Holly loves to read and, having once worked in a cross-stitch store, she loves to do counted cross-stitch embroidery. 
Dan Low
As a retired engineer with 30+ years in industrial sales and service, and as one who is always looking for a chance to learn something new, Dan gladly joined the staff of Sew Original Winston Salem as their Authorized Bernina Repair Technician. The things Dan likes most about his job as technician are the challenges of finding solutions and fixing problems. “As the machine technician for Sew Original Winston-Salem, I’m able to use all the skills and knowledge gained over a lifetime. I have always enjoyed tinkering, inventing, innovating, and being a jack-of-all-trades. As a technician, you need to be able to figure out how things work, not only for Bernina products but for all types of machines. I love to learn new things; how things work, what causes problems, and then learning out how to fix them.” Then, there are the odd things Dan runs across while repairing machines: pet food/kibble, breath mints, and even a mummified mouse! But these oddities aside, Dan offers a few tips for keeping your sewing machine in tip-top shape.
Judi Low
A home economics class her freshman year in high school set Judi on a long and successful path with needle and thread. For many years she made garments, with part of that time working in a tailor’s shop tailoring suits and professional garments. In more recent years, she has moved away from garments and now enjoys making quilts (several of which have won quilt show blue ribbons) and all types of bags. Judi often teaches classes at Sew Original, where she encourages students to closely read the class summary and understand what they are making, and which types of fabrics are recommended for the project. Judi has seen some “really interesting” fabrics used on projects that probably should have been made with a different type of fabric – like a polyester handbag that was designed for cotton fabric. But, she says, “They leave happy, having learned the techniques.” “Sew Original is a great place to work and hang out,” says Judi. “If I lived a bit closer, I would probably find myself there even on my off days.” 
Cyndy MacGregor
Both of Cyndy’s grandmothers and her mother sewed, knitted, and crocheted, so it was only natural that she learned to sew from an early age. She continued to hone her sewing skills through Girl Scouts, 4-H, and Home Economics classes in school. While Cyndy says she started out sewing garments, which included many of her own clothes in high school, her current favorite thing to sew is embroidery. As a gift from her husband for their 25th anniversary, she received her first Bernina machine, which sewed and did embroidery. And from that moment on, she knew embroidery was it! She’s a big fan of Kimberbell products, describing herself as Sew Original’s “Kimberbell Queen!” She is aways eager to help with questions about machine embroidery and Kimberbell products. Despite being at Sew Original for several years now, Cyndy, who describes herself as “vertically challenged,” had doubts about things working out at first. Not long after starting work at Sew Original, she was helping a customer with her fabric purchase. Reaching to a top shelf for a bolt of fabric, Cyndy said, “Two bolts of fabric came tumbling down off the shelf and clunked my lady on the head! I was mortified and certain my time at Sew Original would be over.” Thankfully, everyone got a chuckle out of the event and, many years later, Cyndy is still here. 
Laura Patridge
Laura began sewing in home economics class her freshman year of high school. Her favorite thing to sew is quilts. Always quick with a joke or witticism, Laura recounts the time she went with her daughter for her daughter’s first pregnancy ultrasound. While they waited, Laura worked on some hand applique that she had brought with her. When it came time for them to go in for the procedure, Laura stood up and discovered a new design on her jeans: she had stitched the applique piece to her pants leg! 
Muriel Riggs
Growing up with a grandma, great aunts, and mother who sewed, knitted, and crocheted, Muriel was destined to follow in their footsteps. She started out sewing doll dresses, plus clothes for herself by the time she was in the 6th grade. Muriel is a retired art teacher of 25 years and loves anything that is artefare, which in Italian, means to do or create something skillfully. When asked to share a funny story about her life at Sew Original, she recounts one of the first classes she attended in which she quickly grabbed what she thought was a bobbin of white thread, then sewed several quilting blocks. Upon pressing them with a steam iron, she was startled to see the blocks falling apart. The moral, she says is, “Don’t use water soluble thread in your bobbin!” |
