About Tim Cardy
ME
Hey—I’m Tim Cardy. Lifelong fiber obsessive, unapologetic thread hoarder, and the mildly overqualified founder of a handmade empire built one stitch—and one questionable impulse buy—at a time:
YARN sb – for yarn lovers with refined taste and zero shelf space
Cardigans Kits – thoughtfully designed knitting, crochet, and embroidery kits for people who already own 12 unfinished projects
Tudor Cottage Handcraftory – where vintage upholstery fabric becomes bags with more personality than most people you meet at brunch
TimCardy.com – home of prints that are bold, witty, and just polite enough to avoid getting kicked out of a craft fair
It’s all now living under one roof at Sew SB, Santa Barbara’s fanciest BERNINA dealership & fabric shop emporium - a full-blown danger zone for anyone with a weakness for textiles.
I’ve been tangled up in thread and fiber for over 50 years—and teaching for more than 30, from kitchen tables to institutions that should’ve known better. I’ve racked up ribbons in everything from felting to fashion design, built Victorian costumes that could legally qualify as architecture, and once made a doll so detailed it creeped people out (that was a win, by the way).
I even earned two advanced degrees in Histoical Fashion designs and late 19th- and early 20th-century decorative handcrafts—because when you go in - go all the way!
My résumé reads like a fiber arts fever dream: yarn mills, upholstery sourcing, fashion costing at Levi-Strauss, R&D at DuPont, and textile restoration work at the Met and the V&A. Basically, I’ve done it all—except take up golf ( - who has the time to chase little balls around on a giant lawn? )
I take fiber seriously. Myself? Not even a little. Every yarn in the shop has been hand-picked, every vendor side-eyed for quality and ethics. Whether you’re nervously knitting your first garter stitch or hiding skeins in your laundry basket—we see you. And we approve.