about patternbee

My love of embroidery and hand-stitching, actually began as a
child, when my mother gave me a small piece of cross-stitch to
work on. From that moment on, I was captivated by needle and
thread, and hand-stitching in various forms has become
a life-long past time.

As a teen, in the late 1960's, I was embellishing my bohemian-style vintage
clothing with embroidery. At that time, there were still a few transfer patterns
available in the five-and-dime stores, but eventually, those vanished along with
many of the companies that printed embroidery transfers. Over the years, I
sought out patterns from elderly relatives and friends, searched thrift shops and
flea-markets, and in the winter of 1997, I discovered a brilliant resource: the
Internet. I soon found many others who shared my passion for vintage kitsch and
hand-stitching and began trading patterns.

With the Mister's expertise in mod-tech, we found a way to make new iron-on
transfers without having to trace or destroy the collectible patterns. The
process proved to be costly just to make a few patterns for myself though. So to
compensate, I began offering a few iron-on reprints for sale on ebay. I sold
under the user name: patternbee from 1998-2005. My profile and feedback
remain on the site, however I moved on and in the spring of 2005 the PatternBee
website was launched; followed by my blog turkey feathers a few months later,
where I like to share some of the things I make and do.

PatternBee is a home-based "indie biz"
that started as a hobby...

I've since had the good fortune to network with some of the
nicest stitcher's and crafter's. Many of whom have shared their
excitement over finding an old pattern here on the website that
has personal significance; often a treasured memory from their
past. Some send me their old patterns for restoration to be used
again in a quilt or other project to pass down in an effort to keep
a family tradition alive. Some just send them to contribute to the
site, with the shared desire to keep the old Americana designs in
circulation and available in some form for future generations.
PatternBee is a result of all that and more, and continues to
grow, thanks due in part, to the generosity of others. To pay it
forward, a portion of the proceeds is donated to charity.