About Topsy Stiches

Topsy Stitches began in 2013, but my love for stitching and creativity goes back much further. I grew up surrounded by the hum of sewing machines and the magic of handmade fashion. My grandmother was what most consider to be a master seamstress, crafting designs I could only dream of replicating. My mother continued the tradition, running a highly successful custom clothing and applique business, traveling to arts and crafts shows across the state, and earning numerous awards. The skirt with the bluebonnets was her signature designs—every little piece of fabric was hand-cut and stitched free-handed with her beloved Elna sewing machine!

Despite this rich heritage, I was convinced the sewing gene had skipped me since I can’t even read a pattern! I imagine my mother and grandmother looking down, chuckling at my struggle to sew even a straight line. So, instead of fabric and thread, I first found my creative outlet in cake decoratingby designing custom cakes for everything from birthdays to extravagant weddings and events. While I loved the artistry, the skyrocketing cost of ingredients and developing an allergy to wheat led me to hang up my apron. Paying over $150 to add monograms to two backpacks and two lunchboxes for my kids sparked an idea - I can do this better myself!

That’s when machine embroidery entered the picture. With my obsession for the finest of details along with a side of techy geekiness (and the full support of my husband and children), I dove in, head first, buying not just an entry-level, single-needle machine but the most expensive flatbed embroidery machine you could buy at the time! While at first I was so overwhelmed, I was up and running after watching a few YouTube videos. From that  first monogram, I knew I had found my calling. So, it turns out that stitching really DOES run in the family! 

 Over the years, I’ve had the joy of working with so many incredible clients, bringing their ideas to life. Many of the backpacks and lunchboxes I monogrammed for the first day of preschool are kids now heading off to college—and I’m now personalizing their towels! And some of the graduates I stitched towels for are now coming back to have me monogram their baby’s first blanket. Being part of these special milestones across generations is truly an honor! 

Whether it’s embroidering your company’s logo on shirts, monogramming your baby’s first blanket, personalizing your Christmas stockings, or adding the perfect touch to a custom towel set for your graduate - whatever the occasion, I’m here to help make it truly special! I can't wait to create something meaningful for YOU! 

Topsy Stitches – where on earth did THAT come from?

Topsy was my mother’s name. Yes, her actual, birth-given, REAL name. 

The backstory goes something like this – my grandmother's sister, Vernadine was always falling over as a child thus she was given the nickname Topsy. Vernadine hated her name, so as an adult, she changed it to Topsy. Since Aunt Topsy was my grandmother’s favorite sister, my grandmother wanted to name her daughter Topsy, but my grandfather said absolutely not! Naturally, when the next baby was a girl, my grandmother got her wish.  I also have a cousin named Topsy! 

 I lost my mother unexpectedly in 2013, but her love and lessons live on through Topsy Stitches. Every stitch I sew is a tribute to the woman who inspired it all.