Her shop keeps her in stitches
HUDSON - The modest seamstress shop tucked behind the Walgreens drive-through off State Road 52 hearkens to a place few Floridians know. With its sign depicting an Amish horse and buggy in silhouette, and its name, Plain and Fancy Stitches, the aura is, well, much more Lancaster, Pa., than northern Pasco County. Here, Lorraine Scarborough lives out her dream: a place where she can sew beautiful things for a specialized clientele.
They flock here for things as simple as clothing alterations and handmade little girls dresses to the complicated custom wedding gowns and veils worthy of a designer label. She even sells her own inventions: handmade preppy grosgrain bows for Crocs and washable monogrammed Beach Bunny pillows for the chaise. Word has spread through word of mouth, explains Scarborough, 61, who opened the shop in January after selling Singer sewing machines for two years.
Scarborough, who grew up not far from Lancaster and spent much of her life in Pennsylvania and Delaware, has filled the shop with remnants of her past: antique Amish figurines line a window ledge and Amish folk art paintings decorate the walls. Also worth noting on her walls: The 16 blue ribbons she won for sewing from the Delaware State Fair. She moved to Port Richey a few years ago by way of North Carolina after meeting her husband, Jerry, 72, a retired health club owner.
I never thought I could adjust to a hot-weather climate, but I have - and I love living in Florida, she says. The couple lives just a mile from the shop in Timber Oaks, an over-50 community. They go every Saturday night to the Jasmine Lakes Clubhouse, where they like swing and country dancing. With help from Jerry, she s able to work six days a week in the shop, even offering a sewing class to a small group of teenagers. She has no other help in the shop.