We chat to Mary, give you a chance to win the book and learn how-to sew a drawstring backpack.

I've been crafting most of my life, although sticking to one or two is a challenge (hence the “ADD crafter” moniker). My first book — Little Girls, Big Style (Stash Books, an imprint of C&T Publishing) — was published in 2010; my second book, Modern Style for Girls, was published in the fall of 2015. And my latest book, Hack that Tote!, came out in September 2016. I teach a wide range of classes near my metro Atlanta home, including beginning sewing, serger techniques, apparel and bag making, decoding sewing patterns and even quilting classes. I've sewn for fabric manufacturers and designers, creating tutorials and samples used to market new lines and patterns. I'v worked as a seamstress with Whitestone Motion Pictures, a small movie studio near Atlanta, and have wardrobe department credits on two short films, including The Candy Shop, starring Doug Jones, as well as a History Channel series. I also had the chance to sew for the third season of FOX's Sleepy Hollow. Before I took up sewing as a career, I was a journalist and worked as an editor, writer and art director at newspapers and magazines throughout the Southeast United States. My husband and I will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary this year and have three kids, aged 26, 23 and 12.