Mari has been sewing for over 30 years, starting on her grandmother's Singer and eventually teaching home sewing classes at a community college for 15 years. These days she repairs and restores machines out of her home workshop as a side business, which is where most of her troubleshooting advice comes from. She's heard every "why won't this thing sew" story there is. She writes for beginners because she remembers exactly how confusing tension dials and bobbin cases felt the first time around, and she wants people to fix their own machines with confidence before ever calling a repair shop.