Hand-sewn and Home-grown

Soandsewcrafty is a small craft business whose owner, Opp, Alabama native Karen Copeland, stitches a variety of interesting homespun items, with a sense of humor and playfulness. Among the many items she makes are costumes for pets (like this pumpkin outfit from which her orange tabby peaks out from over its shoulder to see who might be staring),

The lovely blue, green and yellow paisley handbag (shown at top),

these adorable cat silhouette pillows,

scrubs with Christmas trees and other unusual patterns on them, cloth sanitary pads, throws, and a mix of other fabric items.

Karen describes how she was introduced to needle and thread. “I have been sewing for almost as long as I can remember. My mother and her mother were talented seamstresses, painters....just plain "crafty" people, and I suppose I inherited that from them! And believe me I am thankful to them for that!”

Four years ago a car accident left Karen permanently disabled with a broken leg that never quite healed. In constant pain, she is unable to sit or stand for lengths of time, so opening an online store on Etsy gave her the venue she needed to make some extra money to supplement her monthly disability check, and the impetus to clear out a lot of the fabric she’d been hoarding for years. Like most artists, she loves her supplies and relishes going out to buy more whenever she can.

Her sewing gives her a sense of purpose and accomplishment, and when she’s immersed in transforming fabric into something useful or fun, she can forget about the stresses of life for awhile and enjoy the process.

You can find heartwarming gifts for everyone in the family and friends too at
http://soandsewcrafty.etsy.com/
and to learn more about the artist behind Soandsewcrafty, take a look at her blogs:
http://www.soandsewcrafty.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/soandsewcrafty