I have been creative and crafting for as long as I can remember. As a child I made my own Barbie doll clothes and dolls house furnishings, and since then have honed my skills through years of experience at the sewing machine, sewing clothing for myself and my children and items for the home.

In 2008 I began selling my creations online, under the label Angel Lea Designs. Luckily a friend had not long told me about Etsy so I knew exactly where to open my first shop. I soon discovered that my passion lay in the design process rather than the repetitive sewing of items, so I decided to launch my own line of patterns. I design a range of fresh and fun patterns including children’s clothing, soft toys, bags, appliqué designs and anything else that takes my fancy! My patterns are easy to follow and include detailed step-by-step instructions, which are backed up by photographs, making them achievable for even the beginner sewer.

How did I come up with the name - Angel Lea Designs - for my business? “Angel” is from my daughter’s name, Angelia. “Lea” means meadow and as we live on our own “meadow” I thought it was appropriate but I also liked the sound of the two names together.

I would describe my style as fresh, modern and fun. That is my tag line after all! I love bright, bold colours and have a thing for spots and stripes.

I love designing and making appliqués. Raw edge fusible-web appliqué is the technique I prefer. I love how a simple appliqué embellishment can jazz up an item and take it from looking plain to looking like a boutique-bought item. Appliqueing is so versatile. There really is no limit to the things that can be appliquéd!

A large portion of my day is spent on the computer. I design all my appliqués and draw up my pattern templates on the computer, so between that, maintaining five online shops, emailing orders, dealing with inquiries, and somewhere in there looking after the house and two children, there’s not a whole lot of time left to spend at the sewing machine!