About

Vanessa started sewing as a way to express her style wherever she could, understand where materials are sourced and create quality items that will last. She is a professional designer, seamstress and instructor with over 20 years of experience in marketing, animal welfare, teaching and creative roles. Building on this experience she founded Ronkita Design, based in Austin, TX, that provides design, consulting, manufacturing and educational services.

Vanessa teaches beginner to advanced sewing lessons to students locally and virtually across the country. She's also an instructor in the Fashion Design Program at Austin Community College and is a member of the Fashion Design Advisory Committee. Previously, she was an instructor at The Stitch Lab for several years where she taught children and adults intro and specialty sewing classes, gave private lessons, hosted parties, and ran summer camps.

Always yearning to learn as much as possible Vanessa trained under and eventually became the lead sewing machine technician at The Stitch Lab. There she performed all of the cleanings, repairs and maintenance as part of the sewing machine repair service. Since then she has worked on hundreds of machines, new and vintage, gaining detailed knowledge of overall machine functions and performance that enables her to personalize sewing lessons for the types of machines students are using. Beyond sewing Vanessa has taught art, yoga and English, and her experience extends overseas when she was in the Peace Corps. She has taught adults and kids of all ages and enjoys seeing her students apply their newfound sewing skills to express themselves.

Collaborating closely with clients Vanessa guides product development projects for fashion, wearable tech, decor, accessories and soft goods. She works with individuals and businesses to turn their ideas into physical items, guiding them from initial concepts to finished samples, and coordinates with other development teams when they need consultation from an experienced stitcher.