By Lindsay J. Jones
BROWNSBURG — Sheron Elsbury and Debbie Wingler have been friends for about 20 years, and have recently collaborated to organize the first annual “A Little Bit of Christmas” craft show and bake sale.
The ladies used to enjoy the “Santa’s Shoppe” craft show in Brownsburg, which will no longer be held, so they thought there was a need to replace it.
“We thought ‘why don’t we continue the tradition,’” Wingler said. “There are fewer and fewer avenues for those who make handmade crafts.”
Elsbury is known as “The Cotton Stitcher” for a new kind of quilting called cotton theory quilting, which she discovered three years ago. A lady by the name of Betty Cotton invented this type of quilting, where the quilt is put together backward and all of the work is done on a sewing machine.
Elsbury traveled to Wisconsin to attend a week-long program to become certified in cotton stitching, and then went back for another week to become advanced certified. She is one of only a few to be certified in the country, and the only one in the Hendricks County area. She travels the Midwest teaching at quilting shops, sewing guilds, and clubs. And she teaches a class regularly at the Viking dealership inside the Jo Ann craft stores in Avon and Castleton. More information about her instruction is available online at www.thecottonstitcher.com.
“I love teaching it, and I love doing it,” she said.
Wingler is known as “dwebby,” and got into crafting through Elsbury and her mother, who had a booth at the former Avon Craft Mall. She said she used to do a lot of woodwork, specializing in Noah’s ark boats and figurines, which were sold at the Family Christian Store in Plainfield. She can no longer do the intricate painting required due to rheumatoid arthritis, so she has found another avenue for her creativity.
She now makes “dwebby” bags, which are quilted totes and handbags, designed to be both practical and functional. She also makes an insert on pockets for handbags that can be taken out of one purse and moved to another, without having to remove all of the smaller contents.
Wingler said she got into making handbags because many of the “Lizzie McGuire” and “That’s So Raven” patterns she was purchasing to make clothing for her daughter also had matching purse patterns. She had so much fun making them that she decided to make purses for adults as well. She will have about 50 bags on display at the show, and has specialty ones such as breast cancer awareness and sports teams. She takes custom orders as well and can be reached by e-mailing to dwebbyinfo@aol.com.
“Between the two of us, there’s nothing we can’t do,” Wingler said. “We have a lot of fun.”
The craft show will feature a variety of booths, including jewelry, quilted stockings and teddy bears, sweatshirts and painted items, a unique treasure finding toy, soy candles, snowmen crafted from brick pavers, and an embroidery booth featuring Al Unser Jr.’s mom.
Spaces are still available for booth rental for the event. The cost for a 10-foot by 10-foot booth is $20, and 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the Brownsburg Police Department teddy bear program. To reserve a space, contact Elsbury by calling 852-5889.
“We want this to be a community outreach,” Elsbury said.
Santa will make a surprise appearance at the show from 9 a.m. to noon, and will have goodies for each child who visits him. The ladies from the church will also provide free cookies and hot chocolate for everyone in attendance.
The show will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 1 in the fellowship hall at Faith of Brownsburg Church, 6690 East U.S. 136, located a half-mile west of State Road 267.
lindsay.jones@flyergroup.com
