Josephine Funderburk-Reed, Josey for short, is a born and raised Austinite, growing up in the central and south Austin areas, she loves the small town vibe south Austin manages to keep while the city keeps growing. Constantly hunting for the next best coffee shop and thrift store, she loves spending the few cooler days we get here in Austin outside with her dog Apollo, hiking or hanging out at the local dog park.

Josey started sewing when she was very young, learning a thing or two from her grandmother, who was an amazing quilter and often made little dresses for Josey when she was little. Then in her early teen years, she started taking sewing lessons at The Stitch Lab and never stopped sewing after that. With a love for costumes and an eye for detail, she spent many years in the cosplay community, creating elaborate outfits for herself and other local cosplayers. Then moved into the Renaissance Festival scene, making faerie costumes at Sherwood Forest Faire.

Embroidery became a passion of Josey’s while working on costumes, using it to add details to her costumes and learning to repair costume pieces and clothing with Visible Mending. Her love for her own pets lead to her starting portraits, enjoying using different stitches and knots to create the wide variety of pet fur textures out there. Her favorite breeds to embroider are poodles with fun haircuts, making the poofs and curls is “challenging in a good way” she says.