Erika Kottelenberg
At the Store: Erika is a stay-at-home mom for the time being. She is in the store once a month to teach her software classes. She stays involved through discussions with Nick, and also designs all the advertising for the store from home.
I learned to sew at my mother's knee at age 8, since she taught kid's sewing lessons out of our home. When Sewing Machines Etcetera was first opened in 1992, my sister and I would get off the bus in Grimsby and help around the store. At age 12, a customer was astounded that I could demo an embroidery machine and promptly bought one... If a kid could do it, so could she! As the years have passed, I have always been involved at the store in one way or another, even just as a sounding board while I went to university. More recently, my husband Nick and I purchased the business from my parents. I am so excited that we were able to do this and look forward to seeing where we can go with the store and what we can do for the sewing community. It is my hope that we can encourage a love of sewing in our children, grow the business and pass it on to them, as my parents did for me.
I attended the University of Waterloo and graduated with a degree in Fine Arts, with a minor in English. I used my sewing background extensively through university, sewing for the drama department, and making clothing out of paint for Fine Art assignments. Although I don't do much painting anymore, I get to work creatively with fabric and embroidery software at the store, which is so much fun! I love being challenged to come up with new ideas for project classes.
The picture is of me (so young!) wearing "Little Black Dress". Except for the thread, the dress and purse were made entirely of acrylic paint.
I learned to sew at my mother's knee at age 8, since she taught kid's sewing lessons out of our home. When Sewing Machines Etcetera was first opened in 1992, my sister and I would get off the bus in Grimsby and help around the store. At age 12, a customer was astounded that I could demo an embroidery machine and promptly bought one... If a kid could do it, so could she! As the years have passed, I have always been involved at the store in one way or another, even just as a sounding board while I went to university. More recently, my husband Nick and I purchased the business from my parents. I am so excited that we were able to do this and look forward to seeing where we can go with the store and what we can do for the sewing community. It is my hope that we can encourage a love of sewing in our children, grow the business and pass it on to them, as my parents did for me.I attended the University of Waterloo and graduated with a degree in Fine Arts, with a minor in English. I used my sewing background extensively through university, sewing for the drama department, and making clothing out of paint for Fine Art assignments. Although I don't do much painting anymore, I get to work creatively with fabric and embroidery software at the store, which is so much fun! I love being challenged to come up with new ideas for project classes.
The picture is of me (so young!) wearing "Little Black Dress". Except for the thread, the dress and purse were made entirely of acrylic paint.
Latest Blog Posts by Erika
Inspiration at IKEA
So yesterday was my birthday and I decided that merited a trip to IKEA. Where everyone spends their birthday, right? Besides, I needed some storage for all the kids books kicking …
Sewing Retreat 09
It's come and gone, and I feel somewhat recovered... Enough to write a recap! Here it is: THE SEWING RETREAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!
Stain Buster
How often have you had a stain that just won't budge? There are a lot of specialty products out there, but there is something else that works very effectively, and you …