812-Lancaater Farming, Saturday, June 22, 1996
V'
' V '
Bett', fflngton feeds Information Into the computerized sev ig mac . addition „
reproducing original pictures, logos, and photographs, she has more than 4,000 designs
from which to select patterns.
Stitching A New Career
LOIS SZYMANSKI
Maryland Correspondent
TANEYTOWN, Md. Once
she helped milk cows. Now she
stitches them on jackets and hats,
shirts and more. With her home
based business, B & B Mono
gramming, Betty Buffington of
Taneytown stitches cows and
dogs, cats and logos ... almost
anything a customer requests.
From her home that sits on part
of the land that was once a
140-acre dairy farm belonging to
her husband’s family, Mrs. Buf
fington works daily in the busi
ness she began almost seven years
ago.
“I was wanting to get into
something when I saw the ma
chine in a magazine,” Mrs. Buf
fington said of her venture. “My
husband, (Hany) said if I wanted
to do it he was 100 percent behind
me, so I went to look at the ma
chine.” A few weeks and just one
lesson later she was forging ahead
in a territory she knew little about
“I didn’t know anything about
computers,” she said. “When I
first stitched on it I cried a lot!”
The sewing machine Mrs. Buf
fington uses, made by Pantogram
of Florida, reads the design she
chooses from a computer disk
then tells the machine how to
stitch it. Mrs. Buffington picks the
colors and the size of the logo,
then programs it and other infor
mation on how it is to be sewn into
the computer. The design comes
up on a screen, filling in color as it
sews so that she can see the work
in progress on it as well as the ac
tual stitching taking place under
the needle.
“I have over 4,000 designs to
choose from,” said Mrs. Buffing
ton, spreading out stacks of cata
logues with logos and design in
side. She purchases the right to re
produce the designs. Mrs.
Buffington said she can also re
produce original pictures and lo
gos and even photographs of peo
ple and animals. Just five days af
ter she requests a design to be set
onto disk it is made and ready to
run.
Today Mrs. Buffington sews
about 300 items a week. She said
she begins-working early in the
morning and sometimes doesn’t
stop until after 9 p.m. Her two
daughters Cheryl and Betsy often
help her. She is excited about her
work, and it shows. “It is just so
rewarding to start with blank fab
ric, then see the finished product
when it is done.” she said.
“Not long ago I was looking
through a magazine and I saw a
picture of the Maryland Junior
Holstein members leaning on a
fence,” Mrs. Buffington said.
“They had their backs to the cam
era and they all had my jackets on,
with the Holsteins showing. It was
exciting to see my work like that!”
Mrs. Buffington has sewn per
sonalized jackets, backs of cap
tain’s chairs, hats, shirts, black
belts, blankets, towels, lap-warm
ers and more for more oiganiza
tions than she can name. She has
produced work for Derrwyn
Farms, Big Springs Farm, Himes
Custom Farming, Pop’s Farm,
Bowman’s, Peace & Plenty, Gold
en Meadows Farms, the Maryland
Brown Swiss Association, the
Maryland Holstein Association,
RJ. Rodeo Associates, Maryland
Jersey Association, University of
Maryland’s Partners in Education
Program, country music singers,
and Hydes Taxidermy Service,
Formerly Betty Buffington milked cows; now, she stitch
es them from morning to night. Seeing her work—such as
the Maryland Junior Holstein Jackets —pictured in maga
zines fills her with pride.
just to name a few.
“I’ve learned a lot,” Mrs. Buf
fington said with a smile. Her eyes
sparkled as she told about the time
a gentleman called and asked her
if she had any designs of limou
sines. “I said yes,” she recalled.
“Waiting for him to arrive I got
out my books and pulled out all of
the limousine designs I had. When
he arrived he looked at the cata
logues and shook his head. ‘May
be I should have made myself
more clear,’ he said, ‘I was talking
about cows!’”
Mrs. Buffington pored over the
books &gain and found, to her own
surprise, that she did have several
Limousine cow designs. “Low,
and behold, one of them was just
what he was looking for,” she re- •*
membered, “and he had jackets
made!”
From cows in pastures and
bams, to cows on shirts and jack
ets, Mrs. Buffington’s lifestyle has
taken a whole new turn. But
there’s no need to worry. It seems
she has her future all sewn up!
SEE YOUR NEAREST
&
DEALER
FOR DEPENDABLE
EQUIPMENT & SERVICE
PENNSYLVANIA
MESSICK
EQUIPMENT
RD 1. Box 255 A
717-259-6617
Annvllle. PA
BHM Farm
Equipment,
Inc.
RD 1. Rte. 934
717-867-2211
Carlisle. PA
R&W
Equipment Co.
35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
Elizabethtown, pa Schreffler
Messick Farm Equipment
Equipment, Inc.
Rt. 283 - Rheem’s 717-648-1120
Exit
717-367-1319 Tamaaua. PA
Charles S.
Halifax. PA Snyder, Inc.
Sweigard Bros. r.d. 3
R.D. 3,80x13 717-386-5945
717-896-3414
Norman D. Clark
& Son, Inc.
Honey Grove, PA
717-734-3682
Loysville, PA
717-789-3117
MARYLAND
Frederick. MD
Ceresville Ford New Holland, Inc.
Rt. 26 East 301-662-4197
Outside MD, 800-331-9122
NEW JERSEY
Bridgeton. NJ Washington. NJ
Leslie G. Fogg, Smith Tractor &
Inc. Equip., Inc.
Canton & Stow Creek 15 Hillcrest Ave.
Landing Rd. 908-689-7900
609-451-2727
609-935-5145
8
IiWHOUAK)
Dependable
Motor Co.
East Main Street
215-273-3131
215-273-3737
A.B.C. Groff, Inc.
110 South Railroad
717-354-4191
Ql«v- PA
C.J. Wonsidler
Bros.
R.D.2
610-987-6257
S.G.Lewis &
Son, Inc.
352 N. Jennersville Rd
610-869-2214
1-800-869-9029
Woodstown. NJ
Owen Supply Co.
Broad Street &
East Avenue
609-769-0308