“From a High School Gym Bag to Playtime Stitches: My Journey with Needle and Thread”

It all started in high school with a simple task: create a drawstring gym bag. I remember being so grateful for the small scrap of medium blue fabric my mother got from a dressmaker. I washed it, took it to class, measured the seams, and stitched it all together—my first time using a sewing machine. The real fun part was learning about and adding the embroidery stitches that decorated the front.

To this day in 2025, the girls at Montego Bay High School still make a drawstring bag as their project. That little project sparked something in me—a love for creating with my hands and seeing an idea come to life. I often wonder what happened to that bag… Did it carry someone’s gym clothes for years? Was it repurposed into something new? Whatever its fate, it was the beginning of my journey with needle and thread.

Now, that journey continues at Playtime Stitches, where I share vintage treasures and handcrafted joys—each one stitched with the same love as that very first bag.