About Me

Thanks for visiting my website and for your interest in Stitched by Sarah. I'm so glad you're here!

I'm Sarah, the person behind Stitched by Sarah, based in Auckland, New Zealand.

I'm a single mum to a wonderful teenage daughter, and my household also includes my cat Fudge and my very enthusiastic dog, Bella.

Before Stitched by Sarah, I spent around 25 years working in corporate marketing communications and digital marketing. Along the way I gained experience in website development, content creation and video editing - skills that have unexpectedly found their way into my little sewing business!

A few years ago, my health changed dramatically and I had to leave the corporate world. Living with ongoing pain and fatigue meant I needed to rethink what work and everyday life could look like for me. I knew I couldn't simply go back to the way things had been, but I also knew I wanted to create something of my own.

For a while, I explored a few different possibilities, including starting a gourmet marshmallow business. As delicious as that sounded, it turned out that spending hours on my feet making marshmallows wasn't exactly compatible with my new reality! So that idea went into the “well, I tried” pile.

Then, in late 2024, I started sewing again after many years away from it - and something just clicked.

I had forgotten how much I loved it.

Because I'd sewn for years in the past, a surprising amount came back through muscle memory. I started watching sewing videos on YouTube, rediscovering techniques, experimenting with fabrics and, inevitably, coming up with far more ideas than I could possibly make.

I've also come to understand myself a little differently through this process. I've discovered that have ADHD, which probably explains at least some of my tendency to become completely absorbed in a creative project, get ridiculously excited about a new idea and have approximately 47 product ideas competing for attention at any given moment!

Rather than seeing that creativity as something I need to suppress, I'm learning to work with it. And sewing gives me a wonderful outlet for it.

What started with scrunchies and makeup bags has grown into a collection of practical, colourful and thoughtfully designed accessories - from book and e-reader sleeves to pouches, wallets, glasses cases and more.

I'm particularly interested in that sweet spot where useful meets fun. I love choosing fabrics, working out how something needs to function, solving the little design problems and then turning an idea in my head into something you can actually hold in your hands.

I like to say that I'm sewing FUN into FUNctional one stitch at a time.

Every product I make has a lot of thought behind it. I want it to look great, but I also want it to work properly, be useful in everyday life and feel like something you'll be happy to use again and again.

Stitched by Sarah is also a very personal part of rebuilding my life. I may not be able to work the way I once did, but I've found that I can still create, learn, experiment and build something meaningful - just in a different way.

And honestly? I'm pretty excited to see where it goes next.

I have a rather long list of ideas waiting to become actual products, so there will always be something new to discover!

If you'd like to follow along, you can subscribe to my emails or find me on social media for new products, behind-the-scenes sewing and updates from Stitched by Sarah.

If you've already purchased something from me, thank you. And if you're considering your first Stitched by Sarah purchase, thank you too. Every order genuinely matters to my small business and helps me take another step forward.

Thanks for being here.

Sew you later,
Sarah

Want to get to know me a little more?

I've also shared more of my story, including my experience of living with disability, in this video: