Local woman creates pattern for success

A Windsor woman is stitching together a livelihood by fulfilling her creativity and love for artistry with scarves and teddy bears.

Lee Sartori attended the University of Windsor. She studied visual arts until 2008, before settling into a comfortable management position. Five years ago, after having her daughter Emma, Sartori was a new mom looking for something to do when she attended her first crochet class.

“Some things are more successful than others, but I always find that I’m the biggest critic,” said Sartori. “I treat them like little art projects.”

Now she is teaching her own classes at Babies and Bellies Boutique on Jefferson Blvd. and at the Windsor Optimist Community Centre.

CoCo Crochet started a year and a half ago after a coincidental encounter with a photo technician at Walmart who, upon seeing Sartori’s newborn son in a custom-made hat, asked if she had business cards. That got Sartori thinking about a new career. She quit her management job at Box Office Video in Tecumseh six months ago and has been crocheting full-time ever since. She said it has been amazing.

“I am doing something with what I went to school for which is a very important feeling,” said Sartori. “When you go to school for something really specific, the end goal is to obviously do something in that field.”

Sartori hadn’t thought of using this medium to create art, but quickly found that she was a natural, making anything from a simple hat to a three-foot tall pink Eiffel Tower. Since she doesn’t read patterns, she hasn’t met any limits to her creativity. She said she thinks it makes her the perfect candidate for teaching.

She has been teaching her daughter, Emma, an initial crochet chain stitch to build from. Unlike knitting, which uses two needles, crochet requires one hooked needle and the other hand as an anchor to hold yarn. By coordinating both hands the yarn is made up into a patterned fabric by looping the yarn with a hooked needle. To help teach her students, Sartori starts a project and then has them complete the project and make it their own. There are 13 basic crochet stitches; however, by building off of an initial chain stitch, a scarf or blanket can be made.

“It’s just something they can be proud of after, take home with them, show parents and say that they made something like this,” said Sartori.

There is little evidence of crochet being used before the 1800s when it was called “shepherd’s knitting.” The first published patterns appeared in a Dutch magazine. Crochet was accepted as an art form in the 20^th century when Queen Victoria learned to crochet. After the 1970s, crochet experienced a decline in popularity.

In 2007, crochet and social media merged, creating a new generation of crocheters. The history of crochet is now being rewritten as new stitches, techniques and designs develop. When crochet is searched on Etsy, almost 600, 000 items appear, including products from Sartori’s online store.

Sartori visited the community centre to sign her daughter up for ballet classes and quickly found herself in front of children who were not dressed in tutus, but she was ready to make one. The classes at Babies and Bellies Boutique came after a mutual discussion with the store owner, Lindsey Howard.

“The goal is not just for me to bring their name to the public, but also for them to bring customers into the store,” said Howard.

Howard’s daughter Leah, 7, has already mastered a single crochet chain which she then sewed onto her purse as a strap.

“It’s really interesting to see how fast they pick it up and how much they are enjoying it,” said Sartori.

Leah’s favourite colour is white and she said she hopes to one day be able to crochet herself a winter cape and become a snowflake princess.

Sartori said classes for children will continue every Saturday morning at Babies and Bellies Boutique indefinitely with a $5 fee for drop in students.

“As long as there is interest, we’ll keep going with it,” Sartori said.