2026 Presenter Bios

Dr. Theresa Alexander is the other half of Elephant Embellishments as well as an associate professor of fashion management with the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Dr. Alexander has a BS from Texas Tech University, an MA from Nottingham Trent University in England, and a PhD from the University of the Incarnate Word. Prior to teaching at UIW she taught fashion design at Texas Tech University and the Paris Fashion Institute. Dr. Alexander has taught graduate and undergraduate classes in advanced design, senior collections, advanced flat pattern manipulation and drafting, fashion illustration, portfolio, knitwear, and couture embroidery.

Karen’s Sew Unique is a custom sewing and design business founded by Karen Bengtson in Longmont, Colorado. Established in August 1990, it began as a response to Karen’s personal need for well-fitting clothes, which sparked her passion for sewing. What started with making garments for her family and friends grew into a professional venture that has delighted customers for over three decades with couture-level craftsmanship.

Karen’s expertise is evident in her focus on high-quality fabrics, impeccable workmanship, and expert fitting, ensuring each piece is tailored to perfection. Her business offers a range of services, from custom pants and day wear to business attire, cruise wear, wedding dresses and alterations all marked by a dedication to detail and customer satisfaction.

Karen is particularly known for her mastery of an effective custom pant fitting and drafting method, which has become a cornerstone of her work. This system is not only used for both her custom clients but also taught to fellow professionals to consistently replicate her success through instruction at classes and retreats.

Her skills were honed through years of experience and continuous learning, notably as a member of the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals (ASDP) since 1994. Through ASDP, she studied under instructors such as Susan Khalje Claire Shaeffer and others, elevating her techniques to a couture standard. Beyond her technical prowess, Karen’s Sew Unique serves as a hub for creativity and community.

She hosts sewing retreats where participants can craft their own projects or create perfectly-fitting pants in a supportive, friendly environment.

Based in Longmont, her studio reflects a blend of professionalism and personal touch, earning her a loyal following and praise for her delightful personality and exceptional talent.

Julie Burnsides Diaz has been creating costumes for over 25 years, ranging from cosplay and media recreations to historical clothing of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. She earned her Master's from FIT in Fashion History and began her career in the museum field, dressing, photographing and documenting over 1000 costume objects in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She later moved on to become a professional textile conservator with a private firm working on high end designer clothing for elite clients. In 2015 she struck out on her own with the founding of Snapdragon Designs, where she creates costumes, corsets and historically-inspired clothing for brides, cosplayers, and re-enactors. Julie is the winner of the Costume Society of America's 2016 Designer Showcase and her work has appeared in the Star Wars Insider and Faerie Magazine. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with a house full of rescue animals, two child-sized hurricanes and a very tolerant spouse.

Bonny Carmicino has a degree in Fashion Design summa cum laude from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and also a certificate in Ladies Tailoring and additional training in personal fit from FIT. She has over 200 hours of training in couture methods with Susan Khalje and has taken fitting classes from Joyce Simmons Murphy (Pants Fitting for Professionals), Peggy Sagers (SPIFFY Training), Kenneth King, and others.

She has also done independent research on garment fit. She has written an academic paper on the subject of fitting pants and presented it at the 2011 World Conference on Mass Customization, Personalization and Co-Creation. She is a patented inventor who created the original fit prediction algorithms on which True Fit is based. She was a panelist for the 2023 Anderson Alteration Academy Symposium on the topic “Looking to the Future”.

Prior to pursuing her passion in the sewing and design field, Bonny earned a bachelor’s degree from MIT and a law degree from NYU. Bonny has worked on Wall Street in information services and as a NYC Corporate Attorney. Bonny has been sewing since she was four and sewing professionally on and off since she was 15.

Bonny has been a member of ASDP for over 25 years; she served as ASDP President 2021-2022. Bonny has been a finalist in the ASDP/Threads Challenge numerous times, and was the winner of the Most Successful Use of Hand Quilting in the 2016 ASDP/Threads Challenge and the Most Creative Restying in the 2021 ASDP/Threads Challenge.

Bonny’s sewing specialties include fitting, tailoring, couture methods in general, and couture lace work. She also designs custom knitwear patterns. She is a natural teacher who teaches both locally and nationally. Check Bonny out on Instagram @bonnycarmicino.

Shawnelle Cherry is the founder and lead teacher at Future Fashion Designers, a school she started after “accidentally” moving to Mooresville, NC when the 2009 recession slowed Hollywood’s film industry. Before that, she spent over two decades as a costume designer, creating looks for more than 30 films and joining the Costume Designers Guild Local 892 in 2003. She also designed hundreds of custom evening gowns in Los Angeles, dressing Hollywood’s biggest nights, from the Oscars to the Golden Globes.

What began as a temporary move to North Carolina turned into a long-term love affair with teaching and creating. Over the past 16 years, Shawnelle has built a lively community of sewists and young designers, hosting fashion shows with flair (and the occasional mac-and-cheese cook-off) and launching programs like Project Sew Way to keep kids stitching and dreaming big.

Shawnelle shares her love of creative sewing in multiple ways. Her YouTube channel brings the fun of fashion sewing to life: Playlists - SewBits covers beginner tips and techniques, Sew on the Road explores fabric stores, exhibits, and designers around the world, and Sew Shawnelle dives into playful, creative fashion sewing projects. Her approach is always about helping makers trust their instincts, experiment boldly, and enjoy the process.

Passionate about helping others bring their ideas to life, Shawnelle believes that success comes when preparation meets opportunity—and that a little humor, curiosity, and creativity make the journey far more fun.

Genna is the owner and founder of The Wedding Gown Tailor, North Nashville's exclusive bridal tailoring team. After a decade of non-professional sewing, she entered the bridal-wear industry in 2016, opening The Wedding Gown Tailor in 2019, just after the birth of her first child. She has persevered through unexpected challenges to grow her business into a brick-and-mortar housing a team of full-time employees while striving to maintain the flexibility to be present for her family of five.

Adrienne is the owner of Creatable Lady Sewing & Design LLC serving Phoenix, Arizona brides for 13 years. With a beginning in drycleaning alterations, prop building and tactical sewing, Adrienne sewed her way through to financing and earning a BSD from Arizona State University College of Architecture and Environmental Design. Her business has served clients in a mobile capacity, as an in-house bridal shop seamstress, and as a private seamstress working appointment only from a small studio.... all based on the needs she experienced during seasons of life including family caregiving for elderly parents and the start of her own family as she welcomed her own little boy into the sewing room. Her current passion is to share education to a next generation of seamstresses navigating this surprisingly flexible industry.

Since the age of ten I’ve been sewing! My mother took lessons and then taught me and my sisters. Her mantra was simple : you must fix any mistake, even if it takes five goes to put in a zipper; and the inside of your garment should be of sufficient quality it could be worn inside out!! I now hope to ensure that each of my granddaughters acquires this skill; so, imagine my delight when my eldest grandchild sewed, in paper, a pleated skirt, complete with zipper, as part of her sculpture project!

During the years at Pharmacy College in New Zealand, emigrating to the US, caring for four children while my husband began a busy surgical practice, I found little time to sew! When my children began to head for college, I began to teach others to sew and in 2001 I made my eldest daughter’s wedding dress while attending a Couture Sewing School. I fell in love with couture techniques.

In 2006, I started a custom sewing business in St. Louis, Missouri. It flourished for ten years, largely by word of mouth. The work ranged from dressy day garments to formal evening wear - including bridal and debutante gowns.

In 2012, I completed my Master of Sewing and Design Professional Certification. I have hugely benefitted from all I learnt during that rigorous course.

From 2012 until 2014 I was Vice President of Conference for ASDP. I am the coordinator for the Threads Challenge for ASDP.

Since moving to Florida in 2016, I have been very busy sewing for family and a few clients and friends. I have expanded my teaching and this year will have classes in Vero Beach, New Orleans, San Francisco and Boston.

Since 2022, I’ve been hosting an annual Fashion Tour in Italy. Each tour has had its own flavour and focus. This year we will visit Rome, Florence, Milan and Como - we will hear and see how art and other influences have impacted fashion both in the past and in the present.

Teaching has been a passion of mine since 1994. I started out as an art instructor at Strawberry Hills performing Arts Camp right out of High School. Throughout my teaching career I have tutored, taught, instructed and lead many different programs. I have served as a First Aid instructor, a Children's Drama Instructor at a local YMCA, a Sewing instructor for JoAnn's Fabric and Crafts and even a student teacher for a local High School in English and Drama. Currently, I am an individual instructor for my learning clientele and looking to grow my horizons in the Educational field of Sewing techniques. I feel I could offer quite a bit to my current peers and ASDP.

Nancy Nix-Rice literally wrote the book on style, color and wardrobe development. Her book – LOOKING GOOD Every Day (Palmer/Pletsch) – is enjoyed by countless every-day women and the textbook for training wardrobe consultants at FIT in New York.

THREADS Magazine has featured her advice on selecting flattering prints, sewing with ponte knit, matte jersey dresses, capsule wardrobing and personal color theory.

In her 30+ year career, Nancy has traveled extensively, presenting workshop on wardrobe development for chapters and national conferences of ASG and ASDP, Sew EXPO in Puyallup, and women’s groups around the country.

Her background includes fabric store ownership,; teaching tailoring, fit and alterations in her own sewing school; and managing the training department at Baby Lock/Tacony Corp;

Barbie has had her professional sewing business, Sew Good, in Nampa, Idaho, since 1994. She has been doing professional alterations since 1991, and specializes in formal and couture sewing for both men and women. www.BarbieMcCormick.com. Barbie has been a member of ASDP since 1996 and earned her Master Sewing and Design Professional (MSDP) Certification, and her Master Alterations Specialist (MAS) Certification. Barbie has been teaching intermediate and advanced sewing classes since 2000, and teaches Couture Sewing workshops through LoveCoutureSewing.com. Barbie loves her job, and loves sharing her vast sewing knowledge and insight with all of her sewing friends!

www.BarbieMcCormick.com

www.LoveCoutureSewing.com