Sew Much More – Details, episodes & analysis

This past week, we lost our friend, Kevin Kise.  I wanted to find a way to honor him and remember him, so Jonathan Bennett and I recalled our favorite memories of Kevin and I hope you will share yours on the Sew Much More Facebook page.

Susan Fortucci began sewing at home on her grandmother's treadle sewing machine and made most of her own clothes throughout high school. In her early twenties, she met her future husband, who owned a sailboat, and she soon learned to make canvas projects and sails. This experience led her to work in canvas shops and sail lofts as the couple sailed from Boston to Florida and the Bahamas.

After settling in Maryland, Susan accepted a position at a sail loft. Not long after, she noticed an ad for a seamstress in a drapery workroom. Intrigued, she applied and was hired. When the workroom owner retired, several of her designers encouraged Susan to open her own business. She followed their advice and officially established her workroom in 2003.

You can reach Susan at pincushionsusan@gmail.com

Links and Resources;

You can find pictures of Susan's workroom in this edition of the Drapery & Design Digital Digest

Swag Books by Ann Johnson

Julie Wood, owner of The Leading Edge, began her career as an Art Educator. An avid interest in interior design led her to enroll in the Interior Design program at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. While at NHIA, her love of fabric and sewing translated perfectly into a career creating window treatments.

Since she launched her business in 2006, she has specified her services largely to the interior designer. Julie enjoys assisting designers in creating spaces for clients that far exceed both client and designer expectations.

Julie understands the importance of fresh and unique treatments and continues to enhance her knowledge through webinars, workshops, and classes. Julie is constantly learning new
methods and techniques to incorporate into products, and she often passes along those tips to her interior designers.

Links and Resources;

HGTV White House Christmas

Episode 385 - Julie Wood

Johanna Burke - Burke and Pryde

I look forward to this episode with Michele Williams!  We hope you enjoy hearing it as much as we enjoy recording it.

Scarlet Thread Consulting

Metrique Solutions

Cara is on Facebook and Instagram

Links and Resources;

Ann Johnson's Article - Three Strikes and I'm Out!

Julia Hash's Rulers

Julia Fields worked in the bridal industry for more than five years, making wedding dress dreams a reality. Since joining Savannah Window Fashions, she has had the opportunity to transfer her skills into all things custom for our clients homes!

In her free time, she loves to write, crochet, and experiment with new recipes for the team to try. 

For Nikki, it was love at first sight when she first visited Savannah to plan a destination wedding downtown in April 2018. She and her husband decided to move and bought a house sight unseen in August 2018. In their new neighborhood, they were fortunate to find a fabulous group of neighbors, including the former owner of Savannah Window Fashions Jeanne Dunn. Nikki purchased Savannah Window Fashions in 2020 from Jeanne, leaving behind corporate life and a career in advertising.

In Nikki's previous corporate life, she wore many hats. Advertising, project managing website builds at a digital agency, floral designer, non-profit economic development, event planning, and property management. Nikki is thrilled to take Savannah Window Fashions forward as the new owner. It was an unlikely career change, but perfect in so many ways. Nikki has always had a deep and abiding love for homes. As the granddaughter of a builder and daughter of a carpenter, she spent many summers on job sites as a kid.

She adores Savannah, and her greatest desire is to build a business that contributes to the community by helping interior designers in the amazing work they do, providing top-notch, treatments for our local historic homes and properties, and making homes more beautiful and functional. Nikki is passionate about preserving the great skill and craft that goes into fabricating custom window treatments, and has a great desire to pass the knowledge on from her current team to a new generation of seamstresses and seamsters.

When she's not living and breathing window treatments, Nikki loves exploring downtown and surrounding areas, spending time with animals (her family has one dog, three indoor cats, two porch cats, and two turtles), reading, and hosting friends and family on visits to Savannah. Nikki's husband, Ryan, works at Georgia Ports. They enjoy bike rides, spending time with friends and neighbors, beach days at Tybee, and exploring Savannah. Nikki's daughter, Zoe Greenwood, is a full time student at Georgia Southern Armstrong Campus, studying Political Science. Zoe also helps out at the family business part time. Ryan has a daughter attending Ohio State University and a son living in Dayton, Ohio.

Nikki is a member of the Ardsley Park Garden Club and enjoys volunteering at and attending the home and garden tours put on by local clubs.

Savannah Window Fashions is on Facebook and Instagram

Links and Resources;

LuAnn Nigara - A Well Designed Business

LuAnn University

(Some of the links I provide, specifically to Amazon and a few others, require me to let you know that if you use those links and make a purchase, I will make some money.  I won't make a million dollars, but I might be able to get a cup of coffee, so thank you!)

The Connection Method by Kelsey Kurtis