From globetrotter to producer
Sewing machines and fabrics have fascinated me since I was a little girl. Even then, I was a talented needleworker, dexterous and creative.
As a teenager, I produced photo collages using cutouts of phrases from magazines. As a young adult, I founded my first label, “Schabernack & Huckepack,” with a friend. We produced toilet bags inscribed with phrases. Sewing was our hobby.
The stage has been my other great passion. In 2005 I left home and started travelling to develop my theatre and comedic skills. I wanted to find the best teachers and discover the world. It was an adventure! I lived in Italy, Sicily, Barcelona, London and Iceland and attended clown school in Ibiza, Spain.
I spent a year in India learning Butoh, a form of Japanese dance theatre. I was then drawn back home and set up my “base camp” in Linz. Here, I attended drama school and started to sell my products. Several times a year, I showcased my crafts at art and design markets. Often, I sewed day and night, and I enjoyed much success.
Around this time, while visiting Brussels, I found a cotton fabric imprinted with a world map
design. This fabric became an integral part of my own designs.
I completed another six months of stage training at the “Espace Catastrophe”, a centre for circus arts. I then travelled further afield to Calgary, Canada, where I attended the design market, “Market Collectiv”.
I began offering my products for sale at the “Salon Buntspecht” in Linz and, beginning in 2016, at ‘s Fachl.
For several years, I passed on my knowledge of theatre and creative expression to children in
elementary and secondary afterschool programs, putting my pedagogical skills to use. I
also trained as a teacher for the disabled.
But mostly I focused on sewing and theatre, theatre and sewing. The sewing machine was
my constant companion. I usually designed and produced the props for the plays I staged. In
addition to founding the mask theatre, “HOSENROCK,” the highlight of my stagecraft
has been the comedy, “Mensch, Mama!,” a fulllength solo play that I co-produced in 2017 with Nora Dirisamer and Claudia Tinta. After that I made a decision …
… and since 2018 I have been working as a fulltime textile craftswoman and producer – running a one-woman business.
My sewing machine is in my workshop in Linz. I sew daily and tinker with new products. I have a passion for fine fabrics and select colour combinations and designs.
It is very fulfilling to create objects with my own hands. I am always amazed at how cutting,
sewing and creativity can turn simple pieces of fabric into beautiful products that travel from my workshop around the world.
To balance my creative work, I hike with my boyfriend. We also dance Lindy Hop and enjoy
cooking together.
