Yeah, I did have a really bad first six months, but I'm probably the poster child for bone marrow transplant.

Like, no one expects to run marathons after a transplant.

From Seamwork magazine, I'm Sari Midnick, and this is Seamwork Radio, where we tell stories from people who make clothing.

A lot of people know Melissa Faire as the voice behind Fair Trade, her sewing blog, which she's been running for over 10 years.

You might also know her as the designer behind Fair Trade

patterns. Those are her sewing patterns specifically for athletic wear. I started reading Melissa's

blog back in the early days, when there weren't very many sewing blogs around. It was full of her

personal sewing projects with these really detailed progress pictures, along with a little bit about

her other hobby, which was running.

I knew when I read Melissa's blog that I'd found another true sewing geek. One day, in late 2008,

Melissa revealed something on her blog. She'd been diagnosed with what she described as two one-and-a-million blood disorders. In January 2009, she revealed that she would soon need a bone marrow transplant.

As far as her blog, Melissa remained positive and straightforward, and she continued to share

her love of sewing through it all.

But inside, she felt like she was losing everything that she'd built, her freedom, her confidence,

and her own body.

Let's start by meeting Melissa. Melissa lives in London,

but she's an American by birth. You'll hear both countries in her accent. Probably to most of your listeners, I was born in a really boring part of America. I kind of describe it to people in that

it's the blank spot on the map northwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

There's really nothing there. And even if you went to my school, I'd have to name like three

towns to tell you where I lived. Like there's just kind of lots of mountains and cows, not much else.

In this rural part of America, Melissa didn't feel like she fit in.

After spending a summer in London after high school, she decided to move.

...