In 2024, Kathy Ruddy will celebrate her 62nd year earning a paycheck in the sewing industry. Her fashion sense highlights Comfortable Clothes That Camouflage and make you look slimmer. Kathy can sew & serge anything and fit anybody.
Kathy offers Education with 3 Ways to Learn CD’s and DVD’s on dressmaking; serging as well as booklets on the same subjects plus her favorite sewing tools & interfacings.
Kathy’s first job was in 1962 when at 17 she was a fabric clerk at a Singer Store in Seattle, WA. which lasted until through her graduation in 1966 from the U of W majoring in Design for Apparel Manufacture.
Kathy started sewing at the age of 7 when her 12 year old sister took her first required sewing class. They both inherited sewing genes from a grandmother, a dressmaker to the rich and famous in England who died before we were born.
Kathy’s industry jobs scan five decades. In the 60’s her jobs included: Fabric Clerk & Sewing Teacher at a Singer Store; fabric promotion for a fabric wholesaler, Stiltex; opening the first store of what grew to become a 90 store regional fabric chain called Fabricland as teacher, fabric manager and store manager.
In the 70’s she created and operated the “Quik”-Sew Sewing School in a regional chain stores, Value Mart, Fred Meyer, Pacific Fabrics and House of Fabrics. In her biggest year the “Quik”-Sew Sewing School had classes in 24 stores in two cities.
In the 80’s she was a seminar speaker starting with the 1983 the Sewing Expo, Tacoma, WA. Four years later the Sewing Expo moved to Puyallup, WA. and is now the biggest sewing show in America with over 30,000 in attendance this year.
In 1988 with Clotide’s encouragement she made her first instructional video, The Generic Serger Video and created a new company, Live Guides Inc. Live meaning Video, Guides standing for Sewing Instructions.
In the 90’s she made nine more videos, four on serging and five on dressmaking, closed her sewing school and became a full time seminar speaker. She developed twelve booklets, eight on dressmaking and four on serging called Live Guides Originals.
Customers love her streamlined sewing techniques but battle sewing clothes for themselves because their patterns did not fit. So,she started measuring customers at sewing shows for patterns that I would make for them one at a time at my dining room table, between shows. By 1996, she attended 25 to 30 events and Drafted over 1000 patterns for my happy customers.
In November 1996, while teaching and exhibiting at a sewing show in Toronto, ONT, Canada, she met Tanya Weeks. Tanya created what is now the world’s largest custom-made pattern company, Unique Patterns. http://www.uniquepatterns.com Kathy invested and contributed her talents and connections in the Sewing Marketplace.
In the 2000’s Unique Patterns, introduced the bodyskanner™ that captures accurate measurements of your body and Unique Patterns makes clothing patterns that fit you for a complete solution to successful dressmaking patterns for sewing clothes.
In 2009 Unique Patterns was sold and the bodyskanner™ has moved into helping people buy ready-to-wear in the right size and style to compliment their body type.
In 2007 Kathy made her first Three Ways To Learn educational CD. with these Cd’s at your pace, you can learn what she knows looking at pictures, reading the word and at the same time listening to Kathy explain each step along the way. Kathy says that it is like sitting on a stool next to her as she creates. Also, she adds a lot of color commentary to go with each picture. Go to the Kathy’s online store click on the product tab to learn more.