Sara Leigh Merrey

Sara Leigh Merrey, born and raised in Elkton, Maryland, earned a degree in English literature from George Washington University before pursuing a career in editing, graphic design, and publication management and production. She established the graphic design firm Merrey Design in 1978, producing a wide variety of publications, corporate identity materials, promotional campaigns, and exhibits.

Having learned basic embroidery as a young girl, Sara Leigh rediscovered it when her daughter, Jane, took up cross-stitch at age eight. Ferrying Jane back and forth to Woodlawn Plantation’s summer children’s needlework programs, she was quickly drawn back into the needleworker’s world.

She began developing her own line of contemporary, sophisticated cross-stitch designs to provide relief from strictly traditional or whimsical styles. Her first  designs, the Jewel Bugs, were published and distributed in 2000. Sara Leigh’s painterly rendition of flora and fauna, coupled with her unique framing of a composition reveals a fresh take on the familiar and inspires the wonder of discovery in the everyday.

At the helm of Scarlet Thread, Sara Leigh has demonstrated a fine sensibility in her selection of needlework flosses, fabrics, and patterns and serves as an invaluable resource for a discriminating clientele. She’s bemused by the irony of owning a needlework supplies shop and having even less time to stitch.