After I moved back to Ketchikan, Alaska from Seattle, Washington, my mother bought me a new pair of rain boots and plain black boot liners to prepare me for the weather I had grown up in as a child and a young adult. I loved them so much that I found myself living in them! I was telling anyone who would listen to me how great they are, and so functional for our rain forest climate. My friend Melissa from “Those Alaskan Girls “asked me if I would do the local Blueberry art festival with her, but at the time I was not designing or producing anything.
Blueberry Festival 2009 Ketchikan, AK
I thought I could make my own boot liners, adding a touch of my own style with cool patterns, colors and one funky button. The funny part at the time was I didn’t even know how to sew and I didn’t have a sewing machine. I asked my grandmother if she had a sewing machine I could use, she did but it was child size, one you would just use to hem something with. The Blueberry Festival was two months away I went to a local craft store and bought one yard of grey fleece and developed a pattern. Sewing my first pair of SLUGS they turned out great for using such a tiny machine (Melissa still has them to this day)! My mom always supportive, bought me my first sewing machine and I was on my way. The 2009 Blueberry Festival was the beginning of a project for me that was and is a personally satisfying achievement! I had made 30 plus pairs of SLUGS they were a big hit, and completely sold out!!
