Katherine Maldonado: Teacher Spotlight

Meet Katherine Maldonado!

Katherine is a first year vendor and instructor for Sew Magical Florida Expo, but her experience started years ago when she first started making her own bags. She’s always had a passion for all things crafting but she decided five years ago she wanted to learn a new skill- sewing.

After finding her new interest in sewing, she then started her business, Sew Your Bag.

“Sew Your Bag is a subscription box which is designed for beginner and aspiring bag makers. Our motto is, if you have a sewing machine, a pair of scissors, a tape measure and a marking tool, we will provide the rest.”

The idea is to help other bag makers eliminate the frustration that comes from what supplies they need to purchase to sew their own bag, whether that be for their first or fifteenth bag.

Sew Your Bag is also a female minority owned business. Katherine has made it her mission to strengthen local communities by creating visibility of the diversity which exists in businesses, especially in the bag making industry. 

“Female Minority Owned Businesses are often overlooked and it’s important to be a representative for the community and to show others it is possible and achievable” Katherine continued. “It’s important for future bag makers to see such diversity and it will allow every creed and race to find an equal place in a creative outlet.”

For her first year, Katherine’s class will focus on learning about Ankara fabric while also making a reversible tote using some common bag making interfacing. Katherine hopes that this class will help teach her students skills that will be used for future bag making projects. 

“The class will teach students how to make a reversible tote with a slip pocket using a drop in lining. The focus will be on the use of waterproof canvas, woven and non-woven interfacing as well as the use of sew in foam while reinforcing basic straight stitch sewing.”

The class will also include a box that closely resembles what Sew Your Bag subscribers receive at a discounted price. A portion of the sales will be donated to the Memorial Sloan Ketting for Gynecological Research and another portion will be donated to The Lupus Foundation of America.

Come meet Katherine and the rest of the teachers at Sew Magical Florida Expo 2022! Only a few days left till the big event…