hen Cynthia Lennon was a child in Beulaville, North Carolina, a town of just over 1,000 people about 60 miles north of Wilmington, her mother made quilts. Cynthia still fondly recalls the intricate designs and striking colors. And as the eager little girl would help sew the squares together, a lifelong artistic passion was steadily embroidering colorful dreams on the tapestry of her future. She started sewing the moment her legs could reach the pedal of her mother’s sewing machine when she was 6 and made her first garment when she was 9. “It was a natural love for me,” she says. “As a little FAVORITE place to go girl, I loved working with the for alterations sewing machine. It was like a big girl thing, and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I totally love this.’” Cynthia regularly made clothing for her friends, and by the time she was 11, was already selling items she had made herself. Starting out with small, simple things like skirts
A PATCHWORK OF PASSION
Thread by thread, Cynthia Lennon is stitching together a childhood dream and a thriving business By B en Crosbi e
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chapelhillmagazine.com
July/August 2023