Grissom by Design
3501Westland Ave
Fort Worth TX 76116
Principals:
Tom Paul Grissom
Julie Kay Black-Grissom
I was born to a loving and frugal Air Force family.
I came by creativity naturally, Mom used to sew most of her clothes
and ours too. Easter always brought matching handmade outfits and
I remember a favorite handmade party dress that Mom would hand sew
special decorations onto for each occasion. As a constant source
of inspiration Mom was always making something from curtains to
upholstery to painting to dinner. Mom always tried to include us
in her work and I began sewing at a young age. In high school I
picked up hand embroidery just for fun and embellished all of my
clothes and many of my friends. I then began constructing clothing
and bedspreads out of scrap blue jeans and embellishing those. I
would carry embroidery with me everywhere for something to do when
I was bored. When I graduated high school I worked for a florist
for a year and then managed the local drug store pharmacy. After
moving up and down to east coast for most of my life, the Air Force
then moved us to Texas (for a second time) where I attended TCJC
and earned a degree in Communications. I met Tom Paul Grissom in
the Hip Pocket Theatre production of War of the Worlds in which
we both worked as puppeteers. After graduating TCJC I continued
my education at Texas Wesleyan College and began helping Tom Paul
with jewelry shows and at the business. I was offered a job at Sammons
Communications where I worked as Traffic Scheduler in Master Control
for 11 years. Tom Paul and I enjoyed Scarborough Faire very much
and would attend weekly bedecked in costumes we would dream up and
I would create. Tom Paul and I married in 1986 and we began our
family in 1990 with our son Baron Orion. In 1992 we began Grissom
by Design and bought a booth at Scarborough Faire where we sold
jewelry and children’s costumes that I made. In 1995 we opened
Grissom’s Basket Case and one month latter our family expanded
with our daughter Mariley Marquise. I began embellishing baskets
with fabric at the request of customers to customize Easter baskets.
Then I expanded to line and decorate most of our basket inventory.
I love to sew and one of my favorite things to do with Baron is
have him design his Halloween costume and I create it for him, he
loves to make up his own creatures. Mariley enjoys the more usual
cast of creatures that I make for her.
I have a Singer XL-1000 that is programmable and
a serger (my right and left hands). Through the use of the digitizing
program my design possibilities are endless. I have done countless
custom orders and enjoy themed baskets the most. I have always maintained
that fabric is my medium. I never excelled at drawing or painting
but I can sew it! I also make dinner!
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