You might say that local seamstress Sharon McRae is keeping a family tradition alive.
Her grandmother sewed professionally and her mother was equally skilled with a needle and thread. Now after thirty years of sewing McRae has opened a sewing shop of her own.
“I’ve been wanting to open my own store for a long time,” said the owner of Nimble Thimble Creations located on Granite Ave. “I love fabrics and I love sewing.”
McRae’s new business will offer services such as alterations, mending and custom sewing as well as products such as custom zippers and cotton quilting fabric.
The only store of its kind in Merritt, McRae is hoping to appeal to a variety of people by offering alterations for people who can’t sew and material for people who can. Particularly she is hoping to please her quilting friends by offering cotton fabric – McRae is co-president of the local quilting guild – but she will also take special requests.
McRae says she has been sewing since she was nine and loves the opportunity it gives her to be creative. She said she has sewn everything from drapes to dresses to costumes.
“I like that each project is short so I have a lot of variety,” she said.
Her most unusual project to date was a custom sewing request to sew a laptop bag from a dog blanket. Very odd, McRae recalls, but the customer was happy with the result.
However, the project she is most proud of is her wedding dress, which she sewed herself.
“It had lace overlay on the bodice and lace applique on the train,” she said. “I modelled it after the same style as Sarah Ferguson’s dress.”
Now that McRae has started her own business, she says knowledge she has gained over the years is coming back to help her including what she learned from an accounting class in high school.
“It’s amazing that I’m able to bring skills from the jobs I’ve had together for this one,” said McRae. “I feel really great and my children are proud of me.”
