Welcome to Harper's Sewing Family

As is the case with most avid seamstresses, Amy Collier learned the art of sewing at an early age, a skill passed down from her mother. Amy’s mom made the majority of her children’s clothing so when the time came for her to upgrade to a new sewing machine model, Amy inherited her old machine and began by making clothes for her doll “children”. Amy’s lifelong love for sewing clothing lead her to pursue a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State in Apparel Design and Merchandising. After college, Amy moved to the east coast to work as an assistant to a couture wedding gown designer. In this position, Amy worked one-on-one with the designer to create patterns for new gown designs and custom patterns based upon client’s personal measurements. She also attended New York bridal market and worked to coordinate the runway shows in which the gowns were shown and sold to national bridal retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Kleinfeld and other bridal boutiques. Longing to return to her Midwestern roots, Amy then moved to Kansas City and took a corporate job working for an apparel sourcing company. Missing the “hands on” aspect of her previous design job, Amy and her best friend started their own local design company called Sophie and Gwendalynn. Sophie and Gwendalynn is feminine and flirty lingerie line sold locally. Amy is looking forward to sharing her pattern making knowledge in her upcoming classes, “Made to Measure Skirt” and “Intro to Draping”!

Bea is truly an outstanding art nouveau artist. Her classes cover creating unbelievable wall hangings using hand sewing appliqué techniques. Her projects are truly one of a kind and you will come away with inspiration you never dreamed possible. She has years of experience to share and enhance your home décor and quilt projects. Ask to see her latest book "Art Nouveau Quilts".

Connie’s grandmother taught her to sew at a very young age, and she’s been stitching ever since. She has a bachelor's degree in Home Economics Education, and a master's degree in Technical Teacher Education. Connie has been a high school FACS educator in Shawnee Mission for 22 years, and has been nominated to Who's Who Among America's Teachers for the past four editions. She has been teaching at Harper's since 1984 and offered the first quilting class there in 1989. She has presented to quilt groups and taught at guilds across the Midwest. Connie has had quilts featured in “Traditional QuiltWorks Magazine”, and “KC Scrapbook”. She is inspired by antique quilts, and thus is the traditionalist in the Harper's group. Connie uses reproduction fabrics and warm, dark colors to create quilts that remind us of our heritage. She teaches hand and machine piecing, hand appliqué and scrap quilting. Color theory and quilt history are always components of her classes as well. And just for fun, Connie says she is the "oldie" in Sewing to the Oldies classes at Harper’s late Friday nights. She loves the sense of community and friendship that come from teaching and sharing her passion for all things fabric.

Debra Gehlbach Rowden is a quilt book author and editor. She has written two Kansas City Star quilt books and edited several others. When she isn’t writing about them, she makes quilts. Since making her first quilt in 1973, she has studied with: Terry Thompson, Michael James, Jeff Gutcheon, Pat Flynn Kyser, Cherie Ralston, Barbara Brackman, Elly Sienkiewicz, Carol Doak, Sharon Newman, Katie Pasquini, and Karla Menaugh. Deb collects primitive quilts and meets weekly with a small but raucous quilt group. Deb is a member of the Kaw Valley Quilters’ Guild. She has a degree in mass communications/clothing and textiles from Kansas State University and enjoys combining her passion for words and fabric at every opportunity. She lives in her hometown—Lawrence, Kansas — a place she happily considers a hotbed of creativity.

Dianne has just joined us as a new instructor. She is bringing experience with Electric Quilt 6 to share with our "hungry" customers. This updated software is a superb, must have tool that you can use to "see" your quilt fabrics and color combinations before you begin sewing. Join Dianne as she shows us how to bring to life the "picture" of your next quilt project as you begin your planning process.

Elaine Johnson, owner or Harper's Fabric & Quilt Co. and Harper's Sewing Machine Co. since 1994, has been with Harper's for 24 years. She is a graduate of Kansas State University in Family and Consumer Science Education and has taught middle school, high school, and college level. Teaching anyone to sew and fine tuning their skills is a specialty that Elaine loves to help her students achieve success.

There are many special instructors whom we call upon to teach you new and exciting skills. These wonderful Harper's Girls are often seen working in the store or participating in our many activities. We are sure you will enjoy what they have to share with you as they are very experienced.

Jennifer Woods is our Heirloom sewing expert. She has new projects and ideas each time she has her classes. Join Jennifer to learn how much fun heirloom can be and how much more exquisite you can make your personal or home décor projects.

Julie Lang has been sewing since she was a little girl. She first started with stuffed animals and worked her way up to sewing her own clothing. Her mother taught her how to sew and she has loved it ever since! She joined the Harper’s team in 2004 and she has a passion is for sewing clothing, home décor and purses. Julie has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Missouri and is happily married with two teenagers at home. Teaching helps her to share her love of sewing that she enjoyed both as a child and now as an adult. Julie helps students increase their skills with her classes on home décor pillows and fun items for the nursery. She also offers great clothing classes and her hands on approach to teaching will really make that clothing project attainable for you. Sewing clothing is Julie’s area of expertise so please be sure to take advantage of one of her classes to share in her knowledge!

Karen Israel came to Harper's after a long career in computer support and training. She came back to sewing, which she started at an early age and came to love through 4-H programs and her mother's guidance. Karen focuses her teaching of sewing to beginning classes to help get our customers started down the path to making their first projects. She also teaches our Introduction to Computers and Computer File Management classes. After learning to use your sewing machine, take the Next Step and create your first simple garment or other sewing project. Karen also shares her passion for computers by providing beginning computer classes for our customers. If you need to start getting comfortable with the computer in general, she has the patience to get you on your way to success. She is certified in the Viking 3D Professional embroidery software and assists with the hands-on embroidery software classes as well.

Lori Gray has been with Harper’s for 4 years. Lori has sewn since she was a child in 4-H and fondly remembers her first project, a pillowcase. Lori credits her love of sewing to her mother, who encouraged her and her sister to follow in her footsteps. Lori, as many of us, grew to love making quilts as well as sewing apparel. She has a fondness for smaller projects, such as baby/ lap quilts and even has designed and published her first pattern, Loribelle’s French Rose Placemat, which is available at Harper’s and is a class she offers..

Mary Honas has been with Harper's since September, 2001. She's been sewing since she was seven starting with doll clothes and began quilting in 1989. Like many other Harper's instructors, she has her mom to thank for her quilting interest and comes from a family of quilters, grandmother, mom and sisters. Mary's greatest joy in quilting is to teach, especially beginners. If you are looking for a great instructor to get you started with your first quilt, her classes will give you a strong foundation. As the mother of five, Mary has unending patience which she offers our beginning and more advanced quilters as well. As her beginning students gain skills, they ask for more advanced classes and she's working to develop quilts, patterns and classes to accommodate their needs! Watch for new classes using traditional quilt blocks in new ways.

Morgan has been around sewing all of her life as the daughter of the owner of Harper's. She is currently going to college in Arizona, but is a favorite teacher of our Harper's children's classes. She comes back to the Harper's "fold" during school breaks and leads our young enthusiastic kids into the world of sewing. Your children will definitely want to see what she can do to encourage their creativity.

Renay Martin has been affiliated with Harper's for over 15 years making display garments, creating displays, working in the store, and teaching classes as well. Her true loves are garment and purse construction. She has mastered all levels in clothing construction and has expanded her love of sewing purses by creating a pattern company of her own designs called Purse Strings Patterns. Renay's career started on Good Friday in third grade when she made a Barbie doll dress. It was a huge (actually small) success! She hasn't stopped sewing since. She is an inspirational instructor to all who sew, with Unlimited Energetic Creativity! She thanks her mother, Mary Ann, for encouraging her passion for sewing. "Mother always encouraged us create in the sewing room with only two rules: we had to get an "ok" from her before we used any fabric from the sewing room drawers and we had to clean up our projects afterward."

Creative projects have always been a part of Robin’s leisure activities. Her interest in quilt-making and pattern design led her to begin working and teaching at Harper’s in 2003. Robin is energized by assisting customers at Harper’s, helping them find just the right pattern and fabric for their projects. As one of Harper’s instructors, Robin teaches with clarity, patience and enthusiasm. The ever-popular T-shirt quilt is one of her favorite classes. She also enjoys teaching her original designs and other projects she thinks will challenge experienced quilters. Come in and view her many projects on display at Harper’s.

Rosemary is a quilter extraordinaire. She is a member of Quilt Guild of Greater Kansas City, the Heartland Quilt Network. Her "Jewels of the Plaza" pattern was featured in KC Star, March 2003 She earner her BS & MS in Family and Consumer Science Education. Her love of teaching is obvious given that she was a Shawnee Mission Educator for 20 years and an Adult Education Teacher with Johnson County Community College for 10 years

Embroidery Sew & Share Club is Toby's specialty. If you want to learn a new embroidery technique, she is always happy to experiment and then teach the rest of us. She has an amazing knack for new ideas and can help solve questions as you begin or continue to advance your sewing and embroidery skills. Join Toby and other Harper's talented sewing instructors as you learn amazing embroidery techniques in our Embroidery Sew & Share club each month.

Val is our sewing machine and serger expert. She makes learning how to use a new machine fun and easy. If you have questions about how to use all those feet that come with your machine she can help. She is especially creative and will always share wonderful new techniques and samples through our Sew & Share clubs. Val is truly one of our unique fabric artists.