By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

CHELSEA – Christy Alverson said she learned to sew as a young girl from her mother. After an early beginning, her textile passion bloomed into a new business, Zig Zag, for the Chelsea community.

“When I was a young girl, I was introduced to sewing by my mother,” Alverson said. “I took pride in what I made. When my daughter was born, I enjoyed sewing with other moms. We met once a week, and it was a good reason to get away from our husbands and kids.”

Alverson said she fell in love with fabric, and Zig Zag offers a means of feeding her passion. After a grand opening on May 2, Alverson and her “silent partner” husband, Chris, have hosted classes packed full of eager seamstresses.

“Young moms in Chelsea sew, and customers say they get together with friends and sew until the wee hours of the morning,” she said. “Classes here are instructional, but they are also times for ladies to get together and learn from each other and spend time together.”

Alverson held a smocking class, and it was “packed” full of interested ladies, she said.

“Some of these women smocked for their children, but now their children are grown and they haven’t done any smocking for 20-plus years,” she said.

In addition to holding classes, Zig Zag also offers monogramming, supplies and sewing machines for purchase.

“We’re a sewing shop, but we do so much more,” Chris Alverson said at the store’s ribbon cutting June 3. “Christy told me ladies are crazy about fabric and sewing, so the store fits the type of people who are in Chelsea. It makes Chelsea a little bit of a better place.”

Chelsea Mayor Earl Niven attended the ribbon cutting.

“This shop keeps us from having to go over the mountain,” Niven said. “We want to keep people in Chelsea.”

Zig Zag is located at 48 Chesser Crain Road in Chelsea. For more information, visit Zigzagchelsea.com.