Meet our Team
Twig + Tale is proudly rooted in Aotearoa New Zealand, where many of our team are based, while others bring their talents to the mix from homes and studios around the world. As a digital, remote company, we collaborate across time zones and continents—connected by shared values, a love of handmade, and a commitment to creativity.
Meet the thoughtful, talented team who bring the Twig + Tale story to life.
Community is at the heart of T+T and simply being amongst the warm, welcoming, creative, inspiring members of our community has helped me through many tough years of both mental and physical health. Learning new skills can be an exercise in vulnerability, and being "held" by a community whilst learning new skills is a special thing indeed - I often hear the T+T community called the "friendliest corner of the internet" and I feel proud of this!
Sewing small and cosy things and adding hand stitched details are some of my favourite things to create. Sweet dolls, tiny baby shoes, cosy pixie hats - when adorned with simple nature inspired embroideries just makes my soul happy! With ongoing functional limitations and sensory issues, I find small projects more manageable, and working with natural fibres more soothing and calming.
Outside of T+T I'm spending my time actively regenerating native wetlands, riparian margins and woodlands on our rural property, and establishing a heritage fruit orchard. The growing biodiversity is so inspiring - nature is amazing.
My path to Twig + Tale began with friendship. Lisa and I met when our children were in the local Waldorf playgroup, bonding over tea, shared stories, and a love for handmade things. Years later, after a decade as a stay-at-home mum plus supporting a fintech start-up on the side, I joined Twig + Tale in an operational role. Four years on, I’m honoured to now lead the company as CEO.
I’ve always been drawn to both the practical and the creative. My background in business and start-ups has evolved alongside a lifelong love of making. I find real meaning in combining the two - building thoughtful systems, nurturing values-led teams, and helping shape a sustainable, purpose-driven business.
What inspires me most about Twig + Tale is how it blends creativity with intention. Of all our values, sustainability and playfulness resonate most deeply. I believe making has the power to sustain people - building confidence, fostering connection, and offering a counterbalance to our fast-paced digital lives.
Twig + Tale’s values are not just ideas I support, they’re woven through my everyday life. Currently, hand-stitching is where I find most creative joy, fitting it in to the little pockets of free time available As a family we love exploring Aotearoa’s wild corners - tramping, canyoning, caving. Time in nature fuels both clarity and creativity, helping me stay grounded and inspired.
My background is in fibre arts, graphic design, marketing, and social media moderation, so when Twig + Tale was looking for a new customer care representative to join the team in 2022, it seemed like a natural fit. T+T's commitment to inclusivity, helping sewers achieve a garment fit they can be proud of, and that all bodies are good bodies are values that solidified my love and appreciation of the company. I absolutely love working with and supporting the community that Lisa and the team have built.
I adore exploring playful imagination - we live only once so why not live as magically and whimsically as possible! I always hang on to even the smallest pieces of fabric cabbage and look for how to repurpose textiles. Using every last skerrick of something and celebrating the work that went into it already is hugely important to me, not only in monetary value, but also the effort, work, and resources that went into its existence - every piece is precious.
I value learning and improving on skills all the time, especially transferrable skills, where learning something for one field can be translated into working in another. I have many, wide-ranging interests from textile arts like knitting, quilting, embroidery, and dyeing to boardgaming, woodworking, bullet journaling, drawing, and gardening.
As the Pattern Technician at Twig + Tale, I bring 20 years of experience in the Ready to Wear side of the clothing industry. Like many things in life, it’s not what you know, but who you know. So when Lisa was asking around at markets looking for a pattern technician, she happened to chat with an industry colleague of mine, who passed along my name and number. The rest is history!
T+T was my introduction to the diverse and wonderful world of the PDF pattern space and I’ve enjoyed being a part of it ever since. I get a lot of joy from sharing my skills with others and helping build confidence to sew garments that bring satisfaction. It’s great to be able to do this through the patterns, tutorials, and fitting resources we create at Twig + Tale.
In my free time, I love getting out into nature with friends and taking lots of photos so I can look back and remember those good experiences.
My background is in graphic design, including designing and illustrating workbooks and eLearning materials for adults, web design, marketing materials, and custom fabric design. I found Twig + Tale way back when it was still called Big Little, and applied for the original Animal Hood test. I ended up offering my design skills to help Lisa, a relationship that has lasted for many years! I loved the simple patterns and the care Lisa was putting into making them achievable for beginners, and wanted to see the company thrive.
Lisa and I became friends and worked together to design patterns, and with the move from Big Little to Twig + Tale, I slowly took on more design roles. This has allowed me flexibility with my growing family - I started with 2 toddlers, and was able to have 3 more children and work for T+T around their needs.
The animal patterns will always have a spot in my heart. They rekindled my passion for sewing for my babies - I loved the magic I could create for them using T+T patterns. I enjoy making toys, quilting, knitting, drawing, decorating cakes, and creating magical birthday parties for my children. I love learning new crafty things.
I discovered Twig + Tale through a beautiful Waldorf Mama friend, and with young children at the centre of my life, I was inspired by the magical pieces that encourage imaginative play. I followed T + T socials and when I saw a position become available in 2024 I jumped at the opportunity.
Twig + Tale’s strong value of sustainability is one I can relate to in my own sewing journey. I have always been inspired to create with recycled and upcycled materials, without compromising on beautiful designs.
Sewing is my expertise but I also love exploring other slow crafts such as knitting, needle felting, natural dyes, and pottery.
I joined Twig + Tale in 2021, after holding a variety of volunteer admin/moderator positions in the online sewing community and testing for PDF pattern companies. I joined the Rainhaven Overalls test in 2020, and the rest, as they say, is history! When the customer support position opened I was thrilled to have a chance to step into it, pairing my love of sewing and community with a flexible, supportive way to meet my family’s needs.
I truly love what I do here, getting to meet and interact with such an amazing online sewing community. We really have the best around. I love that T+T provides a haven where all these facets come together so beautifully - a nice project to slow down and savour when I need it; an emphasis on reusing textiles to prevent waste and make the hobby more accessible; the ability to support my family’s love of the outdoors.
I’ve dubbed myself a “serial hobbyist” - I rarely meet a hobby I don’t enjoy! I’ll try nearly anything, and have a passion for making things and the creative expression and practicality it provides. Mostly, I sew, knit, and crochet, but have also dabbled in everything from spinning and weaving to making fancy cakes to gardening, herbalism, leather craft and more.
I joined the Twig + Tale community back in 2017 as a pattern tester for the Barefoot Romper, drawn by the sweet, play-friendly pattern designs that worked so well for my child. Shortly after that, I began writing articles for the blog and have been around in various roles ever since. T+T has always felt like a creative home and the opportunity to connect with makers from around the world has been such a gift.
I feel very fortunate to live in a beautiful place, surrounded by mountains, trees, lakes, and rivers. Living close to nature means that sustainability is very much on my mind, including when I sew. Being intentional, using low-impact natural materials, and slow sewing all factor into my sewing practice. I love to sew with linen and wool, and often use a mix of machine and hand stitching in my projects.
Sewing, knitting, and embroidery are my abiding fibre loves, but I have many other interests including photography, watercolour painting, playing the mandolin, and, most recently, inkle loom weaving. I’m happiest when I have a creative project in my hands!
I came across Twig + Tale when a friend showed me some gorgeous history-bounding projects she'd made for herself and her daughter. I was hooked more or less immediately by the whimsical designs and emphasis on upcycling materials, and joined the team in 2024.
I love Twig + Tale's emphasis on play. I think we sometimes forget to prioritise play as adults, but I find it unlocks learning, relaxation, and inspiration in a way that is so wholesome and rewarding.
I'm also an experimental archaeologist and historical playwright. I teach immersive living history, which means doing all the archival research that a traditional historian does, but then takes it several steps further by attempting to embody historical life skills: everything from historical clothing, to cookery, writing, building, and more! The past is a fascinating, wonderful, terrible, hilarious, horrifying, and altogether human place to visit, and I find endless inspiration when studying historical peoples of all different cultures, times, and identities.