Meet Our Staff

Meet the talented folks who keep Stitchers' Dream full of great projects and classes.

Dorothy Richey

Dottie has been sewing since the age of 5. She is an accomplished hand and machine knitter. Formally educated as an environmental engineer, Dottie worked doing alterations while she was in school.

Her love for creating new objects, either knit or sewn combine with her attention to process and engineering combine to allow her to use tools, machines and construction to create truly beautiful garments and objects, Dottie is constantly learning, new equipment and techniques through education and experimentation. She shares these gifts with groups both locally and nationally and through speaking engagements.

Click here to read an artical on Dottie from the Philadelphia Inquirer

Carol Ragin

I inherited the fiber arts “bug” from my Mother who always had the sewing machine out or something on her knitting needles. As I look back at life, sewing is always present in some form or another. At first, creating doll clothes, then my own clothes and prom gowns, home décor, clothes and costumes when my sons were young and now Halloween costumes and gifts for family and friends.

I have been teaching others to sew at various locations for many years. I have completed a Trained Sewing Educator program from the Home Sewing Association and studied Industrial Garment Design at Philadelphia University. I am a member of the American Sewing Guild serving 3 years as Chapter President for the Philadelphia Chapter.

Here at Stitchers’ Dream I have been crowned the “Serger Queen” as I am always looking for new ways to use these great machines. I also love creating garments and adding machine embroidery especially using computer software to edit and enhance designs. I am a returning knitter experimenting with the new beautiful yarns and time saving tools. My newest challenge is learning to create using of a knitting machine. Can you see a pattern? If it’s new, I want to give it a try!

Shannon Strain

Shannon Strain is a chiropractic physician and registered nurse through formal education and a fiber junky by choice. She began her journey in the pursuit of fiber nirvana learning to sew at the age of 20. She enjoys garment construction, needle and nuno-felting, computerized embroidery design, machine and hand knitting, weaving, spinning (yarn that is) and anything else dealing with fiber. She has written a manual on fundamentals of machine knitting and has produced several DVD titles on machine knitting projects. Shannon currently teaches group and private classes on machine knitting at Stitchers Dream.