TSM: Ashley, we really want to thank you for taking some time out with us today. I know that we have learned a little bit about you through your creative makes, but we are excited to learn a little bit more about you.
Ashley: It was cool to be chosen!
TSM: What is something about yourself that you would like to share with us?
Ashley: Oh, that is a tough question. Multiple choices are way easier for me. Since you are making me choose, I will say that I am quieter than most people think that I am and taller than I am. I am an optical illusion. I am very average.
TSM: You are awesome and definitely not average.
TSM: What do you feel is actually unique about you?
Ashley: I don’t know. If someone were to ask me who I was as a person I would say, “I don’t know. I am still figuring that out.” I do not find myself as being unique.
TSM: Your sense of style is very unique.
Ashley: I feel like I do not fit in one category. Some have a specific style, but I am all over the place. I like to be gothic, preppy, one day I will dress to fit my mood.
TSM: You are still in a stage of self-discovery and that is truly unique in itself. You do not have to conform to the standards to be different.
Ashley: Yes, I am still getting my act together.
TSM: Have you ever made something or started a project you said you would NEVER do?
Ashley: Umm, I am guilty for this. I stated I wouldn’t make bags and I have made a few now.
TSM: That is right you did. You make wonderful bags. Why didn’t you want to start?
Ashley: I didn’t think it was 'me' at first. Honestly, I thought it was too out of my grasp. When I make bags now, I tend to stress myself out because I may overcomplicate it. Then when it is finished, I have this pretty baby and forget about all the crap I just went through and do it all over again.
TSM: All of that is totally valid and I think others may have felt the same a time or two. You are definitely not the only one.
TSM: Before you started sewing amazing bags and clothes for yourself what started your sewing journey?
Ashley: I was pregnant with my daughter, and we lived in Hawaii at the time. I was bored and we only had one car. So, with my husband using the car for work and I was in the apartment alone. I had him buy me a cheap machine at Walmart and started making burp cloths.
TSM: That is pretty cool. Burp cloths are needed when you have a new addition.
Ashley: Yes, so those were the first things I made. Then it was bibs and baby quilt were the first things that I did.
TSM: That was something useful and you were not sewing just to sew something. Super cool. You were sewing with a purpose.
Ashley: My stash was so small back then. I sewed what I bought. Now I have a lot. It is hard to stop buying when you have such high-quality fabric.
TSM: What is your favorite sewing tool?
Ashley: Hmm, that is hard. The elastic puller, threwer-thing. The tool that has the hook and you can pull elastic through.
TSM: Do you mean a Bodkin?
Ashley: That maybe it. Yes, that is it. A Bodkin needle threader. I do not know why it is so satisfying to use and I like it.
TSM: What are you currently working on right now?
Ashley: I am working on a jelly roll rug right now.
TSM: That sounds super cool. Is it hard?
Ashley: It isn’t hard, just tedious. It looks so cool when it starts to come together.
TSM: What is your favorite TSM design?
Ashley: My favorite print, oh that is easy. Rocker Lips!
TSM: Had a feeling that would be yours. It is so in your style.
Ashley: Hands down my favorite. The checkers were a close second.
TSM: What is your current favorite pattern to sew?
Ashley: Oh, my goodness these are tough questions. I have a bucket hat that I can’t stop making and a reusable snack bag. The bucket hat is from Tie-Dye Diva and called The Pepper Street Reversible Bucket Hat. Plus, it is reversible.
TSM: The bucket hat is cool, and I like that there is options to color block it if you want. So stylish.
TSM: What is your all time FAVORITE pattern that you love to make?
Ashley: Stop with the hard questions lol! I cannot take it! Hmm..I will have to say the Cavallo from Greenstyle Creations. They are my all-time favorite leggings pattern. The topstitching takes a little bit of extra time, but it is so worth it in the end.
TSM: Those leggings are detailed, and the topstitching sets it apart.
TSM: Besides sewing, what other crafty things do you like to do?
Ashley: I have started to dabble in crocheting. I enjoy cross-stitch because it is mindless. I like very simple instructions and doing the box makes my head happy.
TSM: Cross-stitching is simple and keeps you busy. I bet that allows your mind to decompress. What do you crochet?
Ashley: I am not a crocheter, I am dabbling in it. I have started making wash cloths and baskets.