Hello,
Decorating and sewing have surrounded me for my entire life. From a very young age, I watched my mother sewing draperies and doing clothing alterations in the workroom she set up in our home.
Mom, widowed in 1967 and with five children, used her sewing talents to earn a living at home. She also created a beautiful home on a tight budget as a single mother, and inspired the do-it-yourself spirit in my brothers, my sister and me.
I learned to sew on an industrial sewing machine and made doll clothes and craft projects out of scraps of drapery fabric. When I went to college, I majored in fine arts, crafts and textiles. Sewing was an integral part of my studies.
After college I opened my own custom drapery workroom business, providing custom sewing exclusively to interior designers. This ultimately led to other exciting opportunities in the home decorating industry including teaching and marketing. I am proud to have served in 2013 as editor-in-chief for Drapery & Design Professional, a trade magazine published by Custom Home Furnishings Academy. More recently, I have filmed classes for Bluprint.com (formerly Craftsy.com) and The Workroom Channel, and my first book Singer Sewing Custom Curtains, Shades and Top Treatments was published in 2016. A compilation of beginner projects from my book can be found in First Time Window Treatments: An Absolute Beginner's Guide, published in 2019.
I am proud to join together with my husband Rodger Walker to produce Custom Workroom Conference and Marketplace, the only, annual educational event and trade show for the custom workroom industry. In 2017 we opened Custom Workroom Technical Center or “Workroom Tech“, a hands-on training facility in Tryon, NC.
I love creating beautiful things with fabric, and teaching and sharing are my passions. I could not achieve my dreams without Rodger's love and support. He is my guiding light, and an everyday hero. We live in western North Carolina, perhaps the epicenter of the decorating and design industry, with our dog and cats. We enjoy the mountains, attending live music events, cooking and travel and, of course, home decorating projects.
Best Wishes,
Susan