Sew & Sews - Carlyle

I suppose my love of fabric is in my genes. My metis great-grandmother, Harriet Cronk (nee Linklater), sewed the for Eaton’s Catalogue to support her growing family in the 1930’s & 1940’s.

I grew up in the 1980’s and as a young girl, my mom’s sewing machine was always humming. She made leisure suits for my dad and matching clothing for me and my two older sisters. Wasn’t that the trend? 

 My first machine was a vintage Singer Model 348. It was aqua with fashion discs & heavy as could be! I loved that machine!

I made my first quilt at the age of 19. I lived in Calgary at that time and was working at a golf course on the grounds crew for the summer. I was looking for a hobby to fill some time. I bought a pattern and some fabric and made myself a double sized quilt. I still remember using a cardboard template and scissors to cut my triangles. From then on, I have been hooked on quilting and it has been one of my creative outlets!

My hobby continued as I made baby quilts for friends and family. When I started my own family, I spent many hours making quilts for my children’s beds as they grew.

As a young mom, I joined our local quilt guild and learned the art of quilting from Elsie Faber and Bev Thompson. I was a customer of Bev’s and mentioned to her that if she was ever interested in selling, to give me a call.

Life got busy raising and running with my young family and my sewing machine became quiet. My quilting took a back seat to work and motherhood.

In 2014, Bev was ready to retire. With encouragement from my husband, we purchased Sew & Sews. At that time, our children were 8, 11 and 13. I am a wife and mom. Balancing family life and a business can be challenging.  My goal in 2014 was to take the shop online within the first 2 years. Seven years later & we are finally achieving that goal!

We are a family-run business with small town roots. We make our best effort to support our local community-based non-profit organizations, businesses, and fundraising events.  When you purchase from Sew & Sews, you are helping a family send their children to Post-Secondary. You are helping neighbouring communities keep daycare costs down. And you are helping a community keep their minor sports and facilities functioning. The list is varied and long.

In a global world, we are local and support local.

Thank you for supporting our small business.

Sew and Sews Store Walk Through Video.