Welcome!
I’m Gabriela, owner of Chalk and Notch
Hi, I’m Gabriela, the owner of Chalk and Notch patterns. Thank you for taking the time to learn a little more about what we do here! I’m a pattern maker and a mom. I went to college for Fashion Design to become a fashion designer but fell in love with the art of pattern making. I was lucky to work in the apparel industry as both a pattern maker and a product developer for eight years, but ultimately I decided the apparel industry was not for me.
In 2015, I found the sewing community through blogs on Pinterest. I was excited about transferring my industry skills to build a sewing pattern company, a more ethical alternative to fast fashion. I released my first Girls’ pattern in November of 2015 and my first Women’s pattern in 2017. I am so thankful to have found this incredible online sewing community. I started this business on my own, but it’s been exciting to grow and work with amazing makers along the way.
Since Chalk and Notch is still a small business, I don’t have any full-time employees, but I work with trusted contractors. I am so grateful to have a professional grader and a web developer that I can rely on. More regularly, I work with Emi, our Copy Editor, who has worked with me since 2015. Nicole joined the team in 2020 as our Marketing Coordinator, and Teri and Alexis joined us in 2021. Together we make a great team, and I’m excited to introduce them to you.
Our mission at Chalk and Notch is to offer stylish, professionally drafted patterns with detailed instructions while creating a welcoming community. We offer many resources on our blog to inspire and ensure you can sew our patterns with confidence. This includes photo sew alongs, fitting resources, and fabric sourcing posts. We hope you trust and enjoy sewing Chalk and Notch patterns for years to come.
Along with creating a trusted product, we want our customers to know that we at Chalk and Notch stand against racism. We are committed to working with Black Makers and Makers of Color. We have also pledged to work only with fabric companies and partners who believe in supporting the global movement of Black Lives Matter.
Thank you for stopping by!
XO, Gabriela
Emi has been addicted to words and reading since she was a young girl, and worked as a copyeditor, proofreader, and translator for several years before joining the Chalk and Notch team. She learned to sew after her daughters were born, and recently started sewing for herself. Her obsessions include photography, fountain pens, anything to do with cherry blossoms, and collecting fabric, though not necessarily in that order.
As the copy editor for Chalk and Notch, Emi edits the sewing pattern tutorials, blog posts, and newsletters.
Nicole has sewn most of her life but fell in love with garment sewing after taking a college sewing class in 2010. Her passion for fabric and sewing deepened while spending five years working in an independent fabric shop. She’s been regularly documenting her sewing on her blog, Merritts Makes, since 2016. Outside of sewing, Nicole is a mother of one. She enjoys reading, learning new creative skills, and eating tacos.
As the marketing coordinator for Chalk and Notch, Nicole creates and edits blog content, writes newsletters, and helps in coordinating our Contributor Team.
Teri has fond memories of her mom teaching her how to sew as a young girl. She grew to love garment sewing in high school and majored in Fashion Merchandising in college. She worked as an Inventory Analyst and Demand Planner for 10 years before she decided to stay home to raise her three kids. After her second son was born, she discovered the growing world of independent pattern companies and began her quest to build a handmade wardrobe. She posts her makes on her blog Fa Sew La. Teri also loves to bake, listen to audiobooks, and spend time with her family.
As a content creator for Chalk and Notch, Teri photographs and styles our sew alongs, writes our sewing tips blog series, and shoots videos for reel creation.
Alexis has been sewing since her daughter was born 18 years ago. She has a passion for all things sewing, especially fashion, fabric, and design. She has designed, digitalized, photographed, and sometimes modeled sewing patterns before taking a break last year to focus on family. Even during her break, she continued to help designers digitalize, and she collaborated with fabric and sewing companies. When she is not sewing or hanging out with family, you can find her in the garden attending to all her flowers!
As a product developer for Chalk and Notch, Alexis primarily researches design and fabric trends. She also sews and photographs styled images for pattern releases and helps with reel creation for Instagram.