Written By Phyllis Hoffman DePiano
“I was born an entrepreneur.” That simple five-word sentence sums up Martha Campbell Pullen perfectly. From the time she won the award for selling the most magazine subscriptions in the fifth and sixth grades to the time in high school when she opened her own dance school, her destiny was to have her own business, and she knew it!
In 1981, Martha Pullen opened a shop in Huntsville, Alabama, offering fine fabrics, laces, and later sewing machines. While Martha was not the first to import French laces, companies in New York and Florida were her only competition. She sourced laces through dental friends of her husband, Dr. Joe Pullen. He had friends in Switzerland and France, and they opened the doors and found resources for exquisite laces. Martha and Joe got on a plane, traveled to Europe, and made connections with European sources that supplied her company.
In 1983 her first book, “French Hand Sewing by Machine,” debuted and sold more than 50,000 copies. It was at that time she knew that the Martha Pullen Company would be a leader in the sewing industry. Taking hand-sewing techniques and converting them to machine stitches brought an awakening in the sewing industry. Beautifully sewn garments were within the reach of every sewist and could be made on the sewing machine. Martha started Sew Beautiful, a bi-monthly magazine that brought new awareness of top designers to the sewing market. In print for more than 30 years, this magazine was a staple in the homes of sewists who loved to make beautiful garments. Many designers got their start in the pages of Sew Beautiful and launched successful design businesses.
Her television show, Martha’s Sewing Room, was well received by the PBS audience, and it aired in all 50 states and Canada for 17 years. It was even translated into Japanese, making Martha Pullen a household name in sewing internationally. “I loved knowing we had excellent sewing education going into people’s homes every week,” Martha shares. And anyone who knows Martha Pullen knows that her love of education was the thread woven through her entire business as she traveled and shared her love of sewing with people around the world. Her travels took her to six continents where she encouraged people to sew and enjoy creating beautiful things. When she realized that she and her incredible teaching team could not travel as much as they wanted to, they started training Martha Pullen Licensed Teachers who are now teaching Martha Pullen classes all over the world.
