I met Julia many years ago. The first thing you need to know is that her name is pronounced Hoolia!

It’s like Julia. But with an H!

The first time we met was on the Merry-Go-Round at Chippewa Park. Maybe seven years ago? We were with our kids, Julia with her daughter and me with my middle son. I thought to myself, I want to be friends with this lady… so it’s going to happen. So what I did was make friends with her husband and just worm my way into the family. Now I’m the weird aunt that everybody tolerates and it’s absolutely magical.

I’ve been trying to put Julia on the blog for years, but she is elusive. So when I approached her about being featured in the Walleye, she couldn’t say no. So last month it was the Walleye and this month is People of Port Arthur!

Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina, Julia never imagined she’d one day be moving to Canada, never mind raising a family in Northwestern Ontario!

While in the third year of a seven year program, and attempting to practice English, Julia sent a chat request out into the void of cyber space. She saw someone from Canada online and said, “How are you?”
Imagine her now husband’s surprise when he woke up and checked his computer and saw a message asking, “What’s wrong with you?” He thought he was being pranked but realized something might have been lost in translation. He answered the message (What do you mean?), which began a months long correspondence. Online chatting led to phone calls and traveling and visiting. It’s quite the modern love story, with an amusing twist of a language barrier.
After Julia finished all her classes, she moved to Thunder Bay. She prepped for final projects and exams, then went back to Argentina for three months to complete her Masters in Architecture.  She returned to Thunder Bay and the rest is history: marriage, a job, a baby, and of course, a second job!
The second job is where things get even more creative and artistic. As if designing buildings and houses isn’t enough, Julia is also an incredibly gifted seamstress. As a child, she watched her mother and her grandmother sew professionally and she picked up the skills by watching and imitating. She was always dabbling in design and making bits of clothing and accessories, but when Julia gave birth to her daughter, she also birthed a new career: Mommy Can Sew!
She began by making items for her daughter as practice, then making the same items to sell at craft sales.  So many baby blankets and swaddles, cloth baby carriers, mini doll-sized baby carriers, and even doll diapers. As her child grew, Julia continually experimented with new products. Harnesses for toddlers who like to run, fuzzy neck warmers, and warm car seat and booster seat ponchos are among some of the best selling products.  
Julia intuitively knows which products go with which season and will sell hundreds of neck warmers and car seat ponchos in the winter, but will then sell fabulous beach blankets and reversible bucket hats in the summer.  Her business savvy mind allows her to adapt her products to her environment and in this northern climate, adaptation is essential. 
Some other popular products include tooth fairy pillows, personalized child size pillows, small quilts, and small stuffed toys for babies, dish towels, and more.
Life is so busy for Julia. She is a loving wife and mom, holds down a job as an architect, sews in her beautiful sunny studio space, and sends Mommy Can Sew products all over the world. Julia also makes almost all her own clothes, though she doesn’t offer adult clothing for sale (she has enough to do already), she does offer minor repairs like zipper replacements and hemming.
It’s so amazing talking to a young professional like Julia. Thunder Bay has this soft-spoken introverted gem of a human who is designing buildings and designing clothes. She stays out of the public eye for the most part but enjoys promoting her products on Facebook and Instagram and maintains a high-traffic Etsy store at www.etsy.com/ca/shop/MommyCanSewCanada

Thank you Julia, you are truly one in a million and I’m so happy to know you!

6 Comments

  1. Julia is fabulous. Many years ago I bought a baby carrier from her for my grandson and his mother LOVED it. I follow all her posts on social media and this is one AMAZING lady! BTW, I loved the story on how she and her husband met. Talk about serendipity

    1. Author

      It’s a great story, I love it! I’m happy to have her here with us, making such awesome products. Thank you for stopping by!

  2. Wow! Such a sweet story of how she came to be in Canada. Art is one of her strongest languages I can see…it just flows out of her. Not sure if she ever sleeps with that schedule, but looks like it keeps her glowing! Beautiful! Thanks for adding to the light in the world!

    1. Author

      Honestly, I don’t think she sleeps much! ❤️

  3. SHE IS MY DAUGHTER, AND I ALSO THINK SHE IS A GENIUS, A LIGHT IN THE WORLD. LOVE HER!

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