About Shannon

My first memory of sewing was about the age of seven. I also remember watching my mom up late the night before a big holiday putting the finishing touches on our matching dresses. My first garment was a purple and white gingham jumper. It was the sense of accomplishment from this first jumper that kept me garment sewing. My family started re-enacting in my teen years, and I became the seamstress for all their Civil War garment needs. This was our family hobby before the great historical patterns that are out today, so these projects essentially taught me draping and very rough pattern drafting…way before I even knew what draping and drafting meant!

At 19, I started working as a full-time educator for a major sewing company and traveled around the country teaching. My first book, Make It You: Sew Hip, was published in 2006. A second book followed in 2007 called Make It You: Your Space both published by C&T Publishing. I have also written in several magazines ranging from Sew News and Sew Simple to Adorn and Cutting Edge. My experience on shows like American Sews, America Quilts, Behind the Seams and Sew Young, Sew Fun helped me learn about production and feel comfortable being with an audience via video.

Fall of 2007, I married my amazing husband, Jeff, and decided it was time for me to part ways with the sewing company. I realized quickly I could never get away from my love of sewing, designing and sharing- and with some gentle prodding from Jeff and some robust encouragement from my family, I decided to begin Nina™.

About Nina™

The legacy that the Nina name carries is two-fold. First it is my middle name. Second, it is my great-grandmother’s name. This amazing woman taught my mom, Pam, to sew during summer visits and passed on the passion and love of her hobby so much that my mom wanted to make sure each of her girls learned this skill. Nina™ represents the four generations of creative, crafting women that I am proud to call family.

The Nina™ Family

Clearly I could not do this on my own. These wonderful people all have their hand in bringing this product to you and I am forever grateful.

Jeff Dennis – my husband, best friend, my steady hand, biggest cheerleader and idea bouncer. He helps me know when to go after something and when to let it go. Jeff is also my very own IT guy. He is my website manager amongst a ton of other miscellaneous business projects.

Chris Surak – graphic designer. Chris has made the Nina™ image come alive. From packaging to website layouts he is the master of literally everything Nina™ you see!

Dale Gaydos – producer. Dale and I have worked on many projects together over the past six years. He is the producer of all my web video content.

Rob Marrott – photographer. Rob and I have worked together on many projects as well the past five years. He photographs my ads with Iris® Embroidery Thread as well as some of the free project downloads and Nina™ patterns.

I am also grateful to have these people as sounding boards, friends, sources of encouragement and honesty:

Pam Macbeth – my mom, my teacher and my best friend

Dan Mullen – my dad, my cheerleader and my best friend

Leah, Lauren, Colin, Clara, Alison & JoHannah – my sibilings

My Lindsey – the bestest girlfriend I could ever ask for

Kesel – my editor at C&T Publishing, my friend and encourager

My Grandparents and extended family  - for their support and love