About Leila Peltosaari

Leila Peltosaari immigrated to Canada from Finland in 1973. She started self-publishing sewing books when her children were little, and then moved onto other non-fiction and how-to books.

She has published 15 books over the years, won two awards, and has been featured in hundreds of publications. She currently lives in Montreal, near her children and grandchildren, and continues writing.

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A story behind my books

Everyone has a story. This is mine. I was born in Finland on a small farm with my three sisters. Summers were spent on the farm, field work, gardening, taking it easy, and the winters going to high school in a charming little town, Kristiinankaupunki, and then off to a commercial college in Vaasa on the west coast of Finland by a beautiful sea between Finland and Sweden. I worked in different companies in Finland and Sweden for a few years before moving to Switzerland for a while, and then getting married, immigrating to Canada, and starting a family.

I had two children, lots of ideas and energy plus a sewing machine but hardly any money. When my ideas for simple baby clothes were turned down by a big Canadian magazine, I had to prove to myself my idea had merit. That's how I became accidentally a self-publisher of my own simple pattern books. An unexpected success. I thought I had invented self-publishing. I turned my life into fifteen books and way beyond a million dollars. Self-publishing became a huge part of my life.

The children grew up. I am still in Canada surrounded by family and five grandchildren. I still write. I love every book I write, the latest one being always my favorite.

You write because you love writing: you wouldn't if you didn't.