MADISON — Shirley Lataille is delighted she was able to turn her beloved hobby of sewing into a business and especially enjoys tricky projects because there’s no pattern to follow and she gets to envision what will work.

“I’ll talk to my customer and I’ll say, ‘This is what I think, and what do you think?’ I’m very patient. We just throw ideas back and forth.”

An amiable woman with a ready smile, Lataille’s journey to happiness and a fulfilling job has been a long and circuitous one.

She grew up in Rhode Island with three siblings, and their mother was a great cook, seamstress and homemaker who taught her at age 14 how to use a Singer sewing machine. But before she got to learn how to use patterns, her mother died of a stroke at just 52.

As she got older, Lataille worked at various factory jobsand eventually moved to Starks with her sister and worked as a seamstress at the former Dirigo Stitching in Skowhegan. There, she sewed flags, placemats and sofa covers.

In 2024, she married and moved to Lewiston but the marriage lasted barely a year as she said her husband was abusive and struck her on their honeymoon. Her sister rescued her and welcomed her back into her Starks home.

Lataille was in a difficult place. She had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2012 and has been disabled since 2014, suffering from spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, diabetes and other issues.

“I’m bone-on-bone in both knees and I have a torn Achilles tendon,” she said. “For a while, I was at home because of the pain. The Madison Area Health Center has helped me so much. They helped me rebuild my life, slowly. They’re fabulous. They put me on the right meds for bipolar, and pain meds for stenosis rather than narcotics. I can’t go far, but I can do things now.”

Her sister nudged her to do something with her sewing, so Lataille tried being a traveling seamstress, driving to people’s homes in central Maine with her Brother sewing machine and doing alterations and repairs. But that proved to be difficult, particularly with the price of gas. Then a woman from the Grange offered to have her set up her sewing machine on Saturdays so she did, starting in October.

Word of her services spread quickly and customers caught on, with some returning again and again. If the sewing request is fairly minor, she completes it while customers wait, but if it is a bigger job, she can take the work home and return with it the next week.

On Dec. 6, Maili Bailey of Skowhegan stopped by to collect a bag of projects she had asked Lataille to do: add buttons and button holes to a colorful pajama top she wanted turned into a blouse; create a pillowcase from some soft, fuzzy fabric; and craft some bean bags to be used for cornhole games.

Bailey said it was her fourth time bringing Lataille work. She learned about her while visiting the Grange hall’s indoor flea market, which is open Saturdays. She was thrilled to know Lataille was available, particularly because the seamstress she had used in Skowhegan retired.

“You just think of all these things that pile up at home undone,” Bailey said.

Some learn of Lataille’s services through social media — she has a Facebook page — while others find her at the flea market.

That was the case with William Bishop, 65, of Skowhegan, a 56-year Elvis Presley impersonator who stopped Dec. 6 to pick up an Elvis jumpsuit that needed a new zipper. He had made the outfit himself, he said, but after many performances and dry cleanings, the zipper kept getting stuck. Lataille replaced it with a heavy duty plastic one.

“I found a couple of people who said they could do it but they never had time,” he said. “I’m a firm believer that the proof is in the pudding.”

Opening a garment bag where his jumpsuit was stored, Bishop inspected Lataille’s work, flipped the zipper up and down, and declared it perfect.

“She did a great job,” he said.

Lataille charged him $15, which he readily paid. She said she has replaced 45 zippers since October and loves using her imagination to fix and create things people want.

“Sewing helps with my mental illness,” she said. “It puts me in a creative mode rather than focusing on my disability.”

She wants to help others with mental illnesses find the joy she has, she said, and recommends they try to be creative and find a hobby.

“That will not only put you in a better place, it’ll help you feel good,” she said. “You’ll feel good about yourself. I’m proud of my work. I can feel my Mom being proud.”

Lataille also sets up her sewing machine at the West Farmington Grange Hall at 124 Bridge St. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every other Wednesday.