Vintage style to refresh your home
It all started with a vintage featherweight Singer sewing machine, some antique ticking, and a library full of antique books, prints, vintage textiles and ephemera that I'd collected over the years. Despite the fact that I had a successful career as a graphic designer providing marketing, design and packaging for many national brands, I didn't feel fulfilled. Something was stirring inside me. It was time for a personal shift of my creative energies. It was time to take a risk and try my hand at developing my own brand.
I was always fascinated by textile design. If I were to shift my focus, how could I incorporate all my skills and all my collections into a look of my own? I unearthed the old sewing machine my mom had given me when I turned sixteen, brushed off its dusty outer case, replaced the broken drive belt, applied a drop or two of oil and, voila! She worked like a charm.
I set up a studio-workshop in my seaside barn in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and began cutting and sewing my first products. I began with scented sachets, then added pillows, table runners, tea towels, paper placemats and greeting cards. I showed the line to one of my design clients who owns a home decor store in Portland, Maine and she immediately placed an order. The Leslie Evans Design collection had its first customer, and I had a new business!
Things moved quickly after that, almost too quickly! My products are now sold in kitchen, gift and home decor stores in New England and elsewhere. Not only that, but I am now happily engaged in creating a fanciful collection of textile and paper products designed in Maine. Although the Leslie Evans Design collection is new to the market, I feel as though I have been preparing to create it my entire life. I hope you enjoy looking at my products as much as I have enjoyed making them.
