I thought I would start out this blog by explaining a little bit of my background. I went to college at Harding University and graduated with a degree in Fashion Merchandising. Honestly, I chose this degree in the beginning because I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life after graduating high school. So I thought I would chose something that sounded fun and not too stressful as far as studying goes:). As I took more classes and got more interested in my degree I thought I would probably look for a job doing window displays for a company. I took one class on visual merchandising and enjoyed it. I only took a few sewing classes and I really disliked them! Prior to going to school I had never even threaded a machine, much less sewn anything on one. The first basic sewing class I took we had to make a book of samples such as a pocket, a dart, a hem, etc....As I sat down at the machine to sew my first project I made one major mistake!...I didn't realize you need to put down the presser foot before you begin to sew, needless to say I had a really hard time sewing straight lines. Luckily my teacher walked by and saw me struggling and fixed the problem quickly.
After graduation my first job was for United Apparel Liquadators. It is a small company that buys disigner pieces and sells them at marked down prices, similar to TJMAXX or Marshalls. My job title was Shipping Manager. That might sound fancy, But believe me it was not! Basically I took in about 15-30 boxes a day of merchandise and tagged them with the new mark down prices.I also was incharge of weekly spreadsheets and anything else the owner wanted me to do such as cleaning the store windowns, bathrooms and dropping off her drycleaning. It was a very hard job physically, being on my feet 9 hours a day and lifting a lot of boxes. Sometimes I would help on the sales floor when we were busy and I began noticing a lot of women asking where they could get things altered? So I asked the owner if I could do alterations at home for the store. This helped them get more sales and me make some much needed extra cash. I began doing lots of hems on jeans and some other minor alterations and surprisingly I was ejoying it.
I began to rack my brain for a way to leave my current job and to sew full time. At this point I still had only basic sewing skills and knowledge and I was not confident I would be able to find a place that would hire me. I brought some drycleaning to a little shop down the street for the owner one day and I noticed a little lady in the back sewing. So I got my courage up and asked the lady at the counter if they were hiring for a seamstress position. She got my name and number and said she would ask the owner. The next day the owner of the drycleaners called me and asked me if I could come try out for the position. I got the job and I worked for 2 years under a lady from Columbia, South America. We became friends really quickly. Her english was not great and I was able to help her with fittings and she taught me so much. Working for a drycleaners was a great experience for me. You never know what kind of alterations you will get each day, so it does not get boring and you get to learn a variety of different things.
While working at Nicholson Cleaners I got married to the man of my dreams and we decided we wanted to move somewhere fun and exciting before we have kids. So he sent in an application to transfer with his current Verizon Wireless job in Tennessee to a postion in Hawaii.After several months of being very persistent he got the job. We moved in January of 2012. After searching for almost 3 months I got a job at Men's Wearhouse as a seamstress. It was a good job, but very repetitive. I think I can shorten a men's suit coat sleeve with my eyes closed now:)/ I had almosted worked there a year when my husband so an add on craigslist from a woman looking for a seamstress to work from home getting paid per piece to sew her line of nursery accessories.
I decided to take a leap of faith and go to the interview. I got the job and began sewing her things at night and on my off days at Men's Wearhouse. I felt like all I was doing was sleeping, eating, and sewing. I was getting burnt out quick. I asked the lady I was sewing for if she knew anyone else needing a seamstress and she referred me to a friend of hers. I then got a second sewing job making baby clothes and hats. At this point my husband and I had to make a big decision. Was I making enough money from home, so that I could completely quit my fulltime seamstress job? The work from the 2 ladies was sometimes a lot and other times not enough depending on how much business they had. But we decided to give it a shot, so I quit my job and I currently sew from home fulltime.
It has been the best decision. My husband and I were both working retail hour jobs before and rarely ate a meal together. Now when he goes into work at lunch we go on a hike or to the beach in the morning. Our quality of life has greatly increased. While ofcourse financially we are not doing as good as before we are hanging in there. Which leads me to my next adventure BicyclesandButtons. I decided if I am sewing for 2 other people making them money I might as well try and sew things myself to sell. So I am giving it a shot. I have an etsy shop and I am trying to go to lots of craft shows here locally this year. I am finding great satisfaction in designing and making my own products. Currently I am making clutches, headbands, and Ipad covers.
