CONSUMER SPOTLIGHT | All Access | 18 As I started college, I also started a parttime job at Lords Sewing Centre and it didn’t take long for me to discover the Anita Goodesign Collections. My initial thought was: what are all these DVD cases with pretty pictures on? They were extremely popular with our customers and after seeing what they made using the designs, it wasn’t difficult to see why. As I started to work extra days during the holidays, my amazing colleagues at Lords taught me lots and lots about embroidery, and eventually, I made my first quilt using the Anita Goodesign “Charm Pack Quilt Blocks” collection. I loved that all the blocks I needed could be so easily created in the embroidery hoop! Before this, I had really only been interested in dressmaking, but discovering a quilting method that wasn’t daunting but also guaranteed amazing results was a winning solution for me! I then went to De Montfort University in Leicester to study Footwear Design (my two loves are sewing and shoes!), but always returned to Lords Sewing between termtimes to work – although I enjoyed working there so much that it never actually felt like work! Whilst researching for my University projects, I would find ways to incorporate machine embroidery into my shoe making, for example: free-motion block moccasins and free-standing lace stilettos. After University I pursued a career in bespoke-orthopaedic shoe making, but after 18 months I was given the opportunity to return to Lords Sewing Centre fulltime and I’ve not looked back since! For almost 2 years I’ve been back at Lords and embroider almost every day. Each month we receive our Anita Goodesign delivery and I can’t wait to get my hands on the new designs and start embroidering! The Anita Goodesign Express Workshop Collections have given me the chance to start teaching – a daunting experience for a girl in her early-20’s teaching some very experienced embroiderers, but it really gave me the confidence to encourage others to take up machine embroidery – especially when there are hundreds of wonderful design collections available from Anita Goodesign! As long as they continue to produce amazing designs, I’ll be here ready to embroider! -Kirsty Procter CONSUMER SPOTLIGHT MEET KIRSTY PROCTOR “Ten years ago, age 14, I acquired my first embroidery machine, but it wasn’t until 2 years later that my eyes were really opened to the world of machine embroidery.”
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