I am making a one time statement here from my standpoint and have not commented prior to this because I’ve been devastated emotionally and very, very hurt by what Connie has done here posting this not on one but four public forums including facebook instead of speaking to me directly. I have not been able to stop crying for days and my husband who read Connie’s email to me was in disbelief that anyone could be this cruel. He has seen how many hours I’ve spent on sewing, making my own patterns, and taking lessons throughout last year.
This is what happened from my eyes. It was last summer that Connie and I were talking and I mentioned about having a sewing a machine and wanting to learn to sew for my girls. Initially I did not even know if I’d be able to sew let alone like sewing. I thought this was a good hobby to take up and discussed this with Connie. Connie told me that she had mailed her pattern and instructions to another friend Janie who will attest to that I’m sure. Connie said she wanted to send me hers, I did not ask for this nor did I steal it as Connie has implied. I did not even get to sewing until the fall when I decided to start sewing lessons. I continued to take sewing lessons all through the fall and now have been taking four sessions of spring classes to do with serging and embroidery. It’s true, Connie did give me simple instructions on making a dog dress but I have not used her pattern and had shredded this information away long ago. I told Connie that I wasn’t using her pattern months ago and that others had started to ask me to sew for them.
There was another good friend who knew about my interest in sewing too and she was so kind to buy for me a bunch of dog patterns out east because they had a great sale on them. I purchased these from her and have been using these as well in things I’ve been making. I’m sure that this member would comment and tell others that this is the truth.
This wasn’t some pre-medicated plan that I had to sew for others. I was sewing for my own girls but others kept asking me to make things for them so it just happened as I continued to improve with sewing. I learned different ways to sew at my lessons and purchased a gathering foot. My method of sewing is not even close to Connie’s instructions and I was allowed to bring various dog patterns to classes where my instructor helped me. One class was strictly on adjusting patterns. Connie said that classes can’t teach you to make “doggy dresses”. I would have to disagree with this because now from what I’ve learned, sewing is sewing. You learn to cut out material, types of material, reading patterns, sewing techniques and finishing off the inside. Mostly I use my serger for finishing off the inside and when I bought mine Connie wanted to learn the serger too but had too much trouble with threading it and returned it to the store. Connie also told me that she has trouble following store bought patterns but I’ve been able to do this with the help of my sewing lessons. I purchased a book on bowmaking online and mailed a copy of this recently out to Connie when I returned from the states. I was happy to do this and to share this information with her. I’m really not a horrible monster like Connie is making me out to be.
I even told Connie about the different patterns that I had purchased and was using from Kwik Sew. Connie asked me for the pattern numbers and I gave these to her and was happy to do so. It’s true that Connie told me about where she gets her online Velcro and D-rings and I thanked her for doing so. It was just in the course of a conversation and there are numerous other places to get Velcro. It was like two friends having a discussion, and that’s it. I’ve purchased the same velcro at our local Fabricland and found it to be the same quality as the one that’s online. Many other people know about this site and have mentioned it to me too. Connie told me about her packaging that’s true from Clearbags.com. Anyone can purchase from this online company. I purchased many of the oversized bags so that I could poke holes and store my girl’s clothes in their closet on hangers to keep them relatively dust free. I don’t feel these bags are unique to Connie because anything I’ve ever bought from anyone has been in similar type bags. If anyone asked me about these bags I’d think it was no big deal and gladly give them the information on them.
Although I had initially only thought that I’d be sewing for my girls others on the sites kept encouraging me and asking me to open a website. Maggie and Lindi’s breeder from Canada asked me as well. All the while, I posted pictures of things I made and told Connie exactly what I was making for other people. This was not Connie’s pattern but my own pattern that I had worked with. I am not saying I’m a designer or claim to be. I’m still learning to sew and will continue to take lessons and improve on my current skills. When I say custom clothes on my website, all I’m saying is that the clothes are made to order based on dogs measurements. In otherwords, they are not ready made in specific sizes.
Everyone kept asking me for pictures and it was getting time consuming sending these so I thought about it and decided it would be better to open the website. The day I made the website up I told Connie right away and sent her the link. She said she looked at it and it looked fine. I certainly did not keep any of this a secret from her. I said I wasn’t going to advertise and I’m really not doing this on a big scale when all I’ve asked for is comments on things I’ve made.
We lived in the US last winter and I went to Joanne’s many, many times and when I’d see materials that I liked I just bought them. The Tutti Fruiti material was at the front of the store and on sale for weeks. I would have seen it and liked whether Connie mentioned this to me or not. I wasn’t aware that there was a paton on materials and if one person had it another wasn’t allowed to purchase it. I had not even looked at Connie’s materials and certainly did not purposely buy certain material patterns simply because she had them.
I still consider this a hobby and do not even care about how many orders I get. It was the farthest thing from my mind to steal away Connie’s customers. I’m simply just enjoying sewing. My prices are listed very reasonably and I’m not even charging for my time and would only like to get back a little of what I’ve paid to put into this hobby. I’ve also been a member on here for some time and spoke to the admin and another member who suggested that I start that thread to get an opinion on my website.
Connie said that this had nothing to do with her business but I beg to differ. She was fine with everything until I started that one thread showing people my website here on YT. These are two direct quotes from her email to me, “I was surprised to see a post by you in YT the other day where you have your website in your signature and had your website put on the store list. I have told you many times that I get good business on YT and that is why I stay there.” “You have been to many meet ups and met people personally, so I know that those people will order from you, rather than myself. I have never worried about competition before...not until now.”
In my opinion, it is not uncommon for people’s goals in life change as time goes on and it crazy to even suggest that I had a premeditated plan from early last summer for this to happen or for my love of sewing and these requests from others to evolve as it has.
I feel that Connie has done this to ruin my reputation and try to close up my website because she is afraid of loosing business. For me, this is certainly not a competition and I had no intention of stealing Connie’s customers as she claims. I told her I would be away this summer and next winter and only want to sew a little for some people if they’d like me to. Of course I want people to see my website and give me their opinion on things I’ve made and how the website looks. This is because I’m enjoying it and do not even care if I get back half of what I’ve put into this. In fact, I’ve been worried and hoping that I wouldn’t get too many requests because I don’t intend to be sewing for hours and hours each and every day like Connie says she does.
People that know me know that I’m not the horrible monster that Connie is making me out to be. Everything I’ve said here is spoken from the heart. I’m sorry but I really did consider Connie my friend but now after all of this, I have lost every ounce of respect for her in how she has handled this entire situation and blown it out of context with the ultimate goal of hurting me.
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