*~Plain Jane Patchwork*~ About Me

Hello and thanks for taking a moment to find out about me.
My name is Ericka and I am the sole proprietor of Plain Jane
Patchwork. I am a mother, wife and teacher. My husband and
I live in Northern, IL with our son Zeke. We also share our
home with our huskie/lab, named Lobo and sheltie pup
named Violet. I recently graduated from Rockford College
with a BA in elementary education and a minor in art. My
background in art really helps me with the design of clothing
and the other wares I make on the website. I am currently
back at school working on my master's in special
education.

I guess this whole thing started at my first Grateful Dead show
when I was 13. I saw the simple handmade dresses and
beautiful jewelry in the lot and I fell in love with the scene. I felt
like I had found my family. Back then I was already crafting
things like simple jewelry and friendship bracelets. From
there I moved on to making hemp jewelry. I started off sewing
pouches by hand! I began sewing with a machine around the
time I had my son. After I had him, I had this uncontrollable
urge to create things. My mom showed me the basics on the
sewing machine and it took off from there. I started sewing
non stop. My closets were jam packed, and my friends and
family had all the patchwork they could stand so I decided to
take my wares to the shows I was attending. I sold lots of
things to kynd kids in the lot but when the summer was over I
still wanted to sew. I stumbled upon patchwork clothing on
ebay and decided to give the Internet a shot.

When I was in college I took a ceramics class and found my
second love, wheel thrown pottery. The wheel helps me to
release stress and center me. After I learned how to throw I
decided to take up stained glass. My mom and I took a class
in the tiny town where we lived and we loved it. Working with
glass is very challenging because there is no give in glass
like there is with fabric and pottery. My mom taught me how
to knit and I took up bead work so keep an eye out for those
creations in the future.

Thanks for coming to my website! Feel free to contact me
with any questions or comments.