About me…

January 2009

First of all, thank you for being interested enough in MJ’s Vintage Patterns to come and take a peek to find out about me.

I have a deep and emotional love of stuffed animals/toys. When I was a little girl, my grandma used to make me a stuffed animal for every birthday and Christmas. I believe that hand made gifts are the best ever.

When I discovered eBay, I was searching for vintage fabrics to make special outfits for my little girl. Then I realized that I could find patterns on eBay too. I made some of the world’s cutest outfits for her out of 1940s designs. I love 1940s fashion!!! Then one day there was this stuffed animal pattern (Mother & Babies of Elephants, Giraffes and Horses, which I of course offer in my store) in the children’s pattern section and I have been hooked ever since. Now, I probably have one of the largest pattern collections of stuffed dolls, animals and toys. And, much to my surprise, I still find patterns to buy!!! The great thing for you is that anytime I win an auction, you know I will make the pattern available to all!!!

I got started selling on eBay after I ordered a couple of pattern copies from other sellers. Those patterns looked like someone had just slapped them down on a copy machine with no thought for the end user. I decided that I had something unique to offer. My copies have always been clean and clear and well thought out. I take great care in creating the images that I use in my auctions and I think that gives you an idea of the quality you can expect in the pattern you will receive from me. In the thousands of patterns I have sold, I have never had one complaint about my patterns that I couldn’t make right, and I hope I never will.

I quit eBay 5 years ago to have a baby, and then another one… A few months ago my husband and I were looking at our family budget and he said, “what about that thing you used to do on eBay…” The rest is history and I am back. I am a stay at home mom during the day, then at night my husband puts the kids to bed and I do my eBay work. I have been having soooooo much fun – it just shouldn’t be allowed. I love being able to provide a long lost pattern to someone who wants to repair or remake a beloved treasure from her own childhood. I also love seeing the different assortment of patterns people order. Now that I know I am back to stay, I am focused on adding new listings. I have a goal of adding 300 new patterns this next year – all for you!!!

Your money goes to a good cause…

I am hugely interested in the “green” movement, as well as the idea of living self sufficiently. We live on 6 acres. Four of them are still forested, but the others are available for growing. We just have never had enough money to do anything with our property, which is terribly, terribly sad. This past spring I fell in love with the idea of edible landscaping (Raintree Nursery puts out a catalogue that would make anyone want to plant!!!) So, I have high hopes of saving enough to plant an orchard as well as expanded gardening beds (we have one tiny one now.) I have this vision of being able to walk out the door and nibble my way through our place – I envision blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and a variety of unusual edibles – has anyone out there had a pawpaw? I had never heard of one before recently, but they sound delightful. Then, we are also looking at the possibility of hydro-electric for our place. We have a water source and I think it would be the most amazing thing in the whole wide world to be able to create electricity that does no environmental damage and that would eliminate our monthly bill – what a win-win – could anything be better!!! After I actually get the plants growing, I guess I will actually have to figure out how to use all that produce!!! I just can’t believe that something like canning which was so basic to my grandmothers’ generation didn’t get passed along to me…

So that is who I am and what I am up to both on and off of eBay. Again, thank you so, so, so much for your interest and for your patronage. I really do appreciate every single pattern that is purchased from me!!!!!