I firmly believe that creativity has no rules or boundaries. Being raised by an artist mother taught me to see art and beauty in everything. Every person has the potential to express their creative talent and I love to teach techniques to help them do so. 

My first creative outlet was clothing. My mom even suggested that I charge my friends a quarter to pick out their outfits in second grade. I, like any daughter, thought she was crazy for suggesting that, but low and behold fashion was my first creative career. A short lived fashion blog called Sequin Lala was the Tumblr era fashion girl precursor to what is now my Substack. I started by telling people to wear sequins on a daily basis and now it has evolved to putting beads and sequins on a needlepoint canvas. 

My aunt (who coined the nickname Lala when I was a child) taught me how to stitch in middle school. After stitching a few projects in high school, I abandoned the hobby for many years. Around Thanksgiving of 2018, I stumbled across the Classic Stitch in the suburbs of Chicago while doing my fashion day job. I bought a project and the addiction instantly took hold.  

Naturally when I started my needlepoint instagram shortly after in 2019, Sequin Lala Stitches was the only name choice. After getting laid off during COVID, my family and I moved back to St. Louis, MO where I was born and raised. I started my career in needlepoint as something to do “in the meantime” while looking for other jobs. I started teaching Beyond Basketweave at The Needlepoint Clubhouse in April of 2021 and the rest was history. 

My teaching style has always been laid back and approached with a “there are no rules” kind of vibe. I think every stitcher is capable of doing extraordinary things. If you are working on your second project or you have decades of stitching under your belt, I can help you learn new tricks and techniques to take your project to the next level.