Jane McBride is a “real” betty.

After her mother fell ill with cancer in 2005, Jane took a leave of absence to care for the woman who inspired her love of handmade crafts.

“My mother was an excellent seamstress in addition to her other crafts,” says Jane. “She was so good that if you took her shopping and showed her a garment, she could draw her own pattern and make it for you that day.”

After Betty’s death, Jane decided to turn their mutual love of crafts into a full-time business with the launch of www.RealBetty.com , named after her mother’s oft-repeated assertion that she was a “real” Betty—her name wasn’t a nickname. Jane sells her own handcrafted items on her web site, all created with Betty’s sewing machine, along with handmade items from other local craftsters.

“I’m just so much like her,” Jane says. “Through her death and mourning her loss, I was able to find comfort and healing by doing something I had put off all my life: learning to sew and conquering my fear of the sewing machine.”