MY NAME IS ANDREA BARBIS AND I'VE BEEN SEWING ON A MACHINE SINCE I WAS THIRTEEN .  I DIDN'T MAKE ANYTHING WORTHY OF WEARING IN PUBLIC UNTIL I WAS ABOUT SEVENTEEN, HOWEVER, AS I WAS SELF TAUGHT.  WHEN I WAS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL WORK (MY FULL TIME JOB IS A CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER/PSYCHOTHERAPIST) I WENT TO A LOT OF SHOWS AND ADMIRED THE BACKLESS TOPS I SAW WOMEN WEARING.  NOT FINDING THEM ANYWHERE, I BEGAN DESIGNING MY OWN.  I ALSO MADE MY OWN SKIRTS THAT TWIRLED OUT A LOT WHEN I SPUN (HENCE MY COMPANY NAME).  I ENJOYED MAKING THEM SO MUCH THAT I HAD ALREADY SATURATED MY WARDROBE AND GAVE ALL MY FRIENDS GIFTS.  I WAS NOT CONFIDENT IN MY TALENT AT THE TIME THOUGH SO I HADN'T THOUGHT OF TRYING TO SELL MY ARTESIAN WORK.  THAT IS, UNTIL ONE DAY WHEN A HEAD SHOP OWNER ASKED ME IF I DID CONSIGNMENT IN 1998.   MY ITEMS SOLD QUICKLY AND THE FOLLOWING YEAR I BOUGHT MYSELF AN OVERLOCK SERGER MACHINE TO ENSURE MY SEAMS HELD UP.   IN THE SUMMER AND FALL OF 2000 I VENDED MY FIRST FESTIVALS.

 MY QUALITY AND FIT HAS EVOLVED GREATLY.  I NOW USE A SIX THREAD SERGER/OVERLOCK WHICH DOES A STRAIGHT STITCH NEXT TO THE FOUR THREAD OVERLOCK FOR ADDED DURABILITY.   MY CLOTHES ARE ALL GUARANTEED; I WILL EITHER DO FREE ALTERATIONS ON YOUR GARMENT OR YOU CAN EXCHANGE FOR STORE CREDIT IF YOU ARE NOT COMPLETELY HAPPY WITH YOUR ARTICLE. 

A LITTLE ABOUT ME PERSONALLY:  I LIVE IN BINGHAMTON, NY WHERE I GREW UP.  I CURRENTLY PRACTICE SOCIAL WORK/PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH A MASTER'S DEGREE (MSW) FROM ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY.  I 'M THE MOTHER OF TWO ADORABLE BOYS.  I ALSO HAVE THREE CATS  AND A DOG (A MIXED BREED ADOPTED FROM FOSTER CARE).  I HAVE BEEN A VEGETARIAN FOR TWENTY-THREE years.