It all started at age 4, when Jennifer received a child’s Sew Perfect Sewing Machine. Her grandmother gave her a stack of upholstery fabric samples, and Jennifer jumped right in to sewing. In high school, her first job was at a fabric store so she could basically spend her paycheck on more fabric. Even before that, she had decided she wanted to run off to New York City and become a fashion designer. Her horizons opened when her schedule had room for another art class, where she fell in love with ceramics and went on to received a BFA in ceramics from Indiana University. She has been a self-supporting artist for 18 years, selling her ceramic tiles, beads, and jewelry.
In the back of her mind, Jennifer had always said she would go back to school to get her master’s degree in textiles when she turned 36. (Why 36? It just sounded like a good number, no reason at all.) She was about to turn 36 and was considering her options for school, classes, and such, and decided she would rather design fabric more than anything. She taught herself in her free time to see where that would take her.
After a year of consistently working on her portfolio, she headed to Quilt Market with a handful of meetings with fabric companies and a stomach full of nerves and excitement. Jennifer signed a contract with In The Beginning Fabrics right after the show and continues to work with them. Currently she is designing her twelfth line of fabric for them. Alongside designing fabric, Jennifer has a line of sewing patterns and craft kits under the Jennifer Jangles name.
jenniferjangles.com
By the author:
Sew Small—19 Little Bags
Stitch Kitsch
