I've been a couture designer and dressmaker for the past 25 years; I was fortunate to be trained in couture sewing at the New York couture salon Chez Cez et Bez. Later, I worked on 7th Avenue as a designer and manufacturing supervisor for the ladies' sportswear firm, ISIS.

In 1993 I started the Couture Sewing School, which provides a unique opportunity to learn couture sewing techniques. I'm also on the faculty of The Sewing Workshop and Apparel Arts, both in San Francisco, and I also teach and lecture throughout the country to sewing groups and college design students. I also regularly take groups of sewing enthusiasts to Paris for an insider's view of the couture.

I'm a member of the Fashion Group International, the Costume Society of America, an Honorary Lifetime Member of SAGA, and I'm a past chairperson of The Professional Association of Custom Clothiers. I was one of 50 women profiled in MORE Magazine's recent book, 50 Celebrate 50, and I contributed to the recently-published The Experts' Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do (Clarkson Potter).