MY NAME IS ANDREA BARBIS AND I'VE BEEN SEWING ON A MACHINE SINCE I WAS THIRTEEN (TWENTY YEARS AGO). I DIDN'T MAKE ANYTHING WORTHY OF WEARING IN PUBLIC UNTIL I WAS ABOUT SEVENTEEN, HOWEVER, AS I WAS SELF TAUGHT.  WHEN I WAS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL WORK (MY FULL TIME JOB IS A CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER/PSYCHOTHERAPIST) I WENT TO A LOT OF SHOWS AND ADMIRED THE BACKLESS TOPS I SAW WOMEN WEARING.  NOT FINDING THEM ANYWHERE, I BEGAN DESIGNING MY OWN.  I ALSO MADE MY OWN SKIRTS THAT TWIRLED OUT A LOT WHEN I SPUN (HENCE MY COMPANY NAME).  I ENJOYED MAKING THEM SO MUCH THAT I HAD ALREADY SATURATED MY WARDROBE AND GAVE ALL MY FRIENDS GIFTS.  I WAS NOT CONFIDENT IN MY TALENT AT THE TIME THOUGH SO I HADN'T THOUGHT OF TRYING TO SELL MY ARTESIAN WORK.  THAT IS, UNTIL ONE DAY WHEN A HEAD SHOP OWNER ASKED ME IF I DID CONSIGNMENT IN 1998.   MY ITEMS SOLD QUICKLY AND THE FOLLOWING YEAR I BOUGHT MYSELF AN OVERLOCK SERGER MACHINE TO ENSURE MY SEAMS HELD UP.   IN THE SUMMER AND FALL OF 2000 I VENDED MY FIRST FESTIVALS.

 MY QUALITY AND FIT HAS EVOLVED GREATLY.  I NOW USE A SIX THREAD SERGER/OVERLOCK WHICH DOES A STRAIGHT STITCH NEXT TO THE FOUR THREAD OVERLOCK FOR ADDED DURABILITY.   MY CLOTHES ARE ALL GUARANTEED; I WILL EITHER DO FREE ALTERATIONS ON YOUR GARMENT OR YOU CAN EXCHANGE FOR STORE CREDIT IF YOU ARE NOT COMPLETELY HAPPY WITH YOUR ARTICLE. 

A LITTLE ABOUT ME PERSONALLY:  I LIVE IN BINGHAMTON, NY WHERE I GREW UP.  I CURRENTLY PRACTICE SOCIAL WORK WITH A MASTER'S DEGREE IN THIS FROM ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY.   I RECENTLY GAVE BIRTH TO MY FIRST CHILD, KINLEY, AND HE IS THE GREATEST JOY IN MY LIFE!   I ALSO HAVE FIVE CATS (ALL ADOPTED, INCLUDING AN OLD CAT WHO WAS ABANDONED IN A CRATE TWO YEARS AGO AND THREE KITTENS WHO WERE ABANDONED) AND A DOG (A MIXED BREED FROM FOSTER CARE).  I HAVE BEEN A VEGETARIAN FOR TWENTY YEARS SINCE I CAN'T STAND THE THOUGHT OF ANIMALS DYING. 

ME WITH KINLEY AT THE BEACH WHILE VISITING MY FATHER

KINLEY WITH MY ELDERLY CAT, SUGAR MAGNOLIA "MAGGIE" WHEN HE WAS 9 DAYS OLD

KINLEY IN HIS CRIB ON THE QUILT I MADE HIM (I WILL DO SPECIAL ORDERS FOR BABY QUILTS!)

TORI, LOKI AND PEPPER INVADING MY SEWING ROOM (FYI-I WASH ALL ITEMS RIGHT BEFORE I SHIP THEM! :)