Our Instructors
Carol Kennemore Kleywegt
Carol’s Passion is teaching others to Create art and objects with fiber. Carol founded the Stitcher school during 2021 when she began teaching hand sewing at a local community garden. She believes every child and adult should learn the life skill of making items with needles, threads and scissors.
Carol grew up in memphis, tennessee in a household surrounded by women who knew how to sew. Her childhood home was filled with handmade items such as dolls, quilts, drapery and wearable clothing. She began creating with fiber at the age of 8 and fell in love with machine sewing in a seventh grade home economics course. She is very proud to have sewn most of her own dresses and formalwear through high school, college and young adulthood. one of her hobbies is traveling internationally and finding fabric representing the local culture. her favorite stitching activites include embroidery, cross stitch, machine sewing and felting.
Carol earned a bachelors and masters in business administration and later a masters in education focused on library, media and instructional technology. carol works as a marketing consultant to financial technology companies when she is not teaching sewing in the community.
Julie Rickerson
Julie Rickerson is a dedicated and passionate mother, educator, and maker born right here in Smyrna, GA. From an early age she has been involved in both learning and teaching a wide variety of creative skills. She learned the fundamentals of sewing out of necessity as a youth and made basic clothing repairs. In her teenage years, she often enjoyed making Halloween costumes for her nine younger siblings.
After spending 20 years in corporate life, while simultaneously earning a Bachelor's degree from Mercer University and switching careers, she chose to step away to focus on her family. She spent some time exploring new hobbies and took a variety of local classes where she eventually discovered her love for fabrics and sewing, especially quilting.
Julie took her first official sewing course in 2011 and was absolutely hooked! Though she started out making bags and other small items, she quickly became interested in trying larger projects like quilts. Julie found wonderful mentorship through her grandmother, a life-long quilter, and also with her mother-in-law, who guided her in making her first baby-sized quilt. In her free time, Julie enjoys attending quilt shows and going on sewing retreats with her quilting friends. She loves the opportunity to give back to her community, so you will find her participating in creative events and teaching classes for both children and adults locally.