about betz white
I grew up in a crafty family. My mother encouraged my brothers and I to try anything that struck our fancy, from paper quilling to making sand candles and piñatas. We never “just” carved pumpkins or dyed Easter eggs, it was always an all-out creative undertaking, each one of us inspiring (and sometimes competing against!) each other.
My mother did a lot of sewing for the family and taught me how to sew. When I was about 6 years old she taught me to knit. My grandmother also encouraged me to pursue my creative interests when I was in high school and urged me to consider fashion design as a college pursuit. I attended the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning. UC offers a great fashion design program including academic study and cooperative work semesters working at major apparel companies like Edison Brothers and Liz Claiborne. Both sides of my education provided me a well-rounded view of fashion design and the apparel industry.
During college I was introduced to many types of manufacturing. I enjoyed using the knitting machine at school the most. It was so gratifying to be able to produce large amounts of material so quickly! I learned a great deal about fabric and fibers. I became enamored with wool and began knitting and felting. My senior thesis project was a knitted collection that included patterns from nature that I scanned into the “high-tech” computers of the day and knit into custom fabrics.
After college I worked for many years as a designer in the children’s apparel industry. I found that my strength was in not only color and design, but in whimsical artwork. I designed for major apparel labels, such as Carter’s and Lands’ End, and all the while my felting projects went on in the background. I created rugs and pillows and began selling them in local galleries and boutiques.
In my thirties I got married and had children. The knitting machine went into storage as my focus (and time!) shifted to motherhood. After a few years when the kids got a little older I started felting again. As a means of time and efficiency, I began using recycled sweaters. They are already knit! I simply buy them at the thrift store, bring them home, and wash them in my washing machine. It’s an almost endless supply of material and I feel good about reusing something that was probably bound for the landfill.
In December 2005 I signed up to participate in a holiday craft fair in Minneapolis, MN on a whim. I made some felted pillows, baby blankets, felt covered journals, etc, all made from recycled sweaters As a last minute inspiration, I came up with what is now my most popular item, the Cupcake Pincushion! The rest is history, as they say. Truly one good thing has lead to another. My husband designed my website, www.betzwhite.com which I use as a showcase for my work. I sell online as well as in various boutiques around the world. My work has been featured in a variety of magazines, websites and blogs including Knitty.com, Adorn, CRAFT Magazine, and Country Living. In February 2007, I was a featured guest on the Martha Stewart Show as well as exhibited my work at Tokyo Gallery LELE. My debut book on recycled felting, Warm Fuzzies: 30 Sweet Felted Projects (North Light) will be in stores December 2007. I’m currently working on my next book, tentatively titled Sew Green (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) which is slated for release in 2009.
When I am not designing, sewing or writing, I enjoy spending time with my family. We recently moved to Maryland and are getting to know our new area. My husband is designer and artist and our kids definitely take after us! The kitchen table is used more for art projects than it is for eating. I love seeing them create as it reminds me of my own childhood spent with my family “making stuff” at the kitchen table.
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the Martha Stewart Show
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