About Me
Hello! I'm Randi. Thanks for stopping by.
I'm the one-woman staff who runs the Slow Alongs and Workshops, and the founder and administrator of the ByAnnie Bag Makers Group on Facebook.
I also work for ByAnnie, and lots of people have asked how I got so lucky.
I've always been artsy-craftsy, and have been into painting, drawing, crocheting, knitting, making jewelry, quilting, and various other things for most of my life.
I had horrible post-partum depression after my first daughter was born, and I found that watching crafting videos on YouTube was helpful somehow. Jenny Doan's videos often kept me company during the night when I was up feeding my baby. When the baby started napping regularly, I started sewing again, and it really helped my mental health.
Jenny did a video showing how to make a zipper pouch out of a candy bag, and I knew I wanted to give it a try. I didn't wind up making that specific project, but I tried a different pattern for a simple zipper pouch. Despite the fact that I had never installed a zipper before, it came out pretty good. I didn't like the exposed seams inside (I'm a perfectionist), so I went searching for a more finished-looking project. Hello, ByAnnie!
The first ByAnnie pattern I tried was All Aboard Train Cases. For a first-timer, mine came out pretty good! I soon moved on to Ultimate Travel Bag, and then I was hooked.
I was in a Facebook group for fans of Tula Pink, and I noticed that a lot of the members were also ByAnnie fans, so I thought maybe we needed our own Facebook Group. In April 2021, I started the ByAnnie Bag Makers group. I figured about 40 or 50 people might join, but it would be fun.
Well...
Within the first year of the group, membership had grown to 10,000 members all over the world. I suddenly found myself as a sort of Mayor of Bagtown! Annie came upon the group one day and decided to join, too.
Group members began asking for a sew along. I had never done anything like that before, but I decided to give it a go. In January 2022, I started the A Place for Everything 2.0 Slow Along, and it was incredibly successful! I decided to continue offering Slow Alongs for other ByAnnie projects.
In June 2022, Annie traveled from St.George, Utah (where ByAnnie is located) to The Old Country Store in Intercourse, PA to offer a workshop and lecture, and I knew I obviously had to go! That's about a two hour drive from me, and it was, of course, well worth it. Annie is the best teacher ever, and is such a genuinely nice person. We had great fun making Catch All Caddy 2.0, and learned tons.
As we were leaving the workshop, I said to Annie, "If you ever need any remote workers on the East coast, let me know!" I'm mega-shy and don't even know what came over me when I asked that. The words just sort of fell out of my face. I thought I was just kidding/thinking wishfully, but Annie replied, "Really?!" and I said, "Umm... YES!"
ByAnnie first brought me onto the team in January 2023, to help moderate the chat during Live With Annie. Soon, I started helping with emails and I now answer the sewing and pattern questions at info@byannie.com.
My job now includes lots of other tasks, probably too many to list here. But the greatest privilege is being on the Pattern Development Team, and that is definitely my favorite part of my job. I also enjoy pattern testing, which is very satisfying!
I feel extremely lucky to be able to have a career doing what I love. I used to be a math teacher, which I also loved, but deep down I always wanted something more artistic.
I am also super grateful for the amazing people I have met through crafting. Thanks for your continuing inspiration and encouragement. XO