Since picking up a needle and thread at the age of three, Nicole Mallalieu has been a passionate designer and maker of all things "textile". She graduated (in 1989) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, with a degree in Fashion, and has worked in Australia, England and Ireland, making clothing, hats, bags and furnishings.

She has specialised in one-off, hand-finished bags and hats for exhibitions, commissions and boutiques and worked as a designer, patternmaker and product developer for the commercial market.

Since returning to Australia in 2002, Nicole has designed and manufactured patterns for bags, hats and garments in conjunction with teaching courses and workshops in patternmaking, sewing and bag making.

She writes the occasional magazine article (Stitches, Get Creative, Homespun etc), vast amounts of student notes and her books "You SEW girl!" and "The Better Bag Maker" are currently available in all good book and craft shops.

She doesn't sleep much and drinks about one in every five cups of tea that she makes.