This is our team, a lot of smiling happy people

Suzanne Kelly

Suzanne, well, she’s the soul of Hip Stitch. Our stitching mama. THE founder. She and some friends started the shop in July 2008, to capitalize on the then-trend of sewing lounges, or community places where people could come together to sew. They started with about 50 bolts of fabric. Now, there are more than 3,000 bolts, including an unparalleled collection of Southwest and regional prints and fabrics, and our Lounge is packed with activity almost daily.

She most enjoys sewing quick-and-easy garments that she can wear the next day. (In fact, of anyone on staff, she has the biggest wardrobe of garments made with our fun fabrics. Can you say “walking billboard?) With two spare hours, she’d make a T-shirt or leggings using one of our luscious knits.

Reut Ran

The colorful ethnic clothing of the Bedouin people in her native Israel sparked Reut’s love of fabrics, colors, weaving and anthropology. Each year, they set up tents near her house on their way north with herds of sheep, goats and camels, giving her plenty of time to observe their textiles. Her mother was also a master knitter, and taught Reut everything she knew about knitting.

As a youth, she traveled to Europe, Lapland, Australia and South America studying and collecting ethnic fabrics. In 1980 she came to Albuquerque to study anthropology and soon became deeply involved in the arts of weaving and natural dyes. She has also sewn for 40+ years, making many of her own clothes using her woven fabrics.

For some years she was co-owner of Village Wools in Albuquerque, where she led the store’s weaving aspects. During that time, she also began to dye yarns for weavers and fabrics for quilters. Now, she is experimenting with various surface design techniques on fabric, and since joining our staff about 1 ½ years ago, she’s established a strong following for our fabric printing and dyeing classes. With two spare hours, she’d start an appliqué quilt with her hand-dyed fabrics.

Ellen McMahon

Another 50+ year stitcher, Ellen loves the creative evolution sewing has gone through in the past few years. She loves applique, hand and machine embroidery, and wool applique. She’s been with Hip Stitch about two years, and has helped grow the shop’s Kimberbell machine embroidery division. (Did we mention she formerly had a machine embroidery business?) She enjoys working the cutting table, teaching Kimberbell classes, and our annual summer Kids Camp. “Every day I learn from other staff and from customers. It is so much fun  to meet out-of-towners and introduce them to Hip Stitch.”

Catherine Silling 

Catherine has been sewing for 58 years, some years more than others, and began to learn to make quilts in 2000.  Her early years of sewing included making clothes for her Barbie doll (“It was new on the market...shows my age!), clothes for herself, including tailored, lined wool suits and velvet winter ball outfits as a teenager. She also made costumes for her children as they were growing up. (The wildest one was a 3D hot air balloon costume designed by her 10-year-old firstborn.) She’s also made American Girl doll clothes for her two granddaughters, and likes to sew almost anything, especially quilt tops. 

Her Hip Stitch tenure started as a volunteer gig when she retired six years ago, but we signed her up as a “real” employee a few months later. She directs our sample-making efforts, sewing plenty herself and finding others to help. And she logs time at the cutting/sales counter. She enjoys every shop activity, including straightening fabric bolts on the shelf and making kits and samples. Two spare hours would be spent on finishing a project something she’s already started.