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From Passion to Profit: Our Sewing Journey and How We Built Our Sewing Business

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Embarking on a sewing journey is often a personal, creative adventure that many start as a hobby. But for some of us, that passion has blossomed into a thriving sewing business. In this article, I want to share the stories of three creative women who transformed their love for sewing into successful handmade businesses. Through candid conversations, we explore the challenges, milestones, and invaluable lessons learned along the way. If you’re considering turning your sewing skills into a business, or if you simply want to be inspired by real, relatable journeys, this post is for you.

Meet the Makers: Who We Are and What We Do

Our sewing journeys are as unique as our personalities, but we share a common thread: a deep passion for design, craftsmanship, and entrepreneurship.

    • LaTisha runs Keeping You in Stitches, a consulting firm specializing in tech design, 3D fashion education, design, and merchandising. She excels at teaching all things fashion and design.

    • Naima owns Fearless Threads an accessory brand that also dabbles in clothing. She’s an educator based in the DC metro area, committed to sharing professional sewing knowledge with others.

    • Zahiyya is the founder of Cover Me Chic, a brand focused on patterns for curvy women, especially modest fashion that flatters hips and the butt area. Her business offers patterns, memberships, fabrics, and more.

Fun facts about us? LaTisha once experienced indoor skydiving (with video proof!), Naima tries any craft she encounters (including candy making!), and Zahiyya wears only black socks to simplify her life.

How Our Sewing Journeys Began

Our sewing stories all started in childhood or early adolescence, nurtured by family traditions, school classes, or personal necessity.

    • LaTisha learned to sew around age 7 or 8 from her grandmother, who had a sewing machine. Early projects included bold outfits inspired by TV shows like The Cosby Show. She recalls making a purple outfit with lime green lapels and wide-leg pants, a memorable first creation.

    • Naima began with Barbie doll clothes and middle school home economics classes. Her first self-made clothing piece was a simple tank top outfit. She fondly recalls making a fabulous jumpsuit for her first trip to New York in her mid-teens, a garment she still treasures.

    • Zahiyya started as a child sewing doll clothes and later made her own school uniforms in elementary school. Growing up in a Muslim household where modest clothing was required, she was motivated to alter and improve the baggy, uncomfortable garments she had to wear, sparking her desire to create beautiful, modest fashion.

Collectively, our journeys span decades of sewing experience, from childhood experimentation to professional design and education.

When Did Sewing Become a Business?

Turning a sewing hobby into a business is a pivotal moment that often comes with its own challenges and realizations.

    • LaTisha began sewing professionally after college, around 2009 or 2010. Before that, sewing was purely a passion. Once she entered the industry, she sporadically took on projects for others before formally launching her business after leaving New York.

    • Naima had the entrepreneurial spirit early on. She started selling sewn goods around 2010-2011, doing pop-ups and experimenting with brand identity. Her brand, Fearless Threads, was born from her love of African prints and textile design.

    • Zahiyya made clothes for family and community members from a young age, especially during Islamic holidays when making new clothes is tradition. However, her official business launch came in the late 1990s, starting with simpler items like T-shirts and skirts before evolving into her current brand focused on curvy, modest fashion.

Each of us faced the transition from hobbyist to entrepreneur with a mix of excitement, uncertainty, and hard work.

Biggest Challenges and Epiphany Moments in Building a Sewing Business

Every sewing business owner encounters hurdles that test their skills, patience, and confidence. Here are some of our defining moments:

    • Mastering Technical Skills: For LaTisha, conquering the welt pocket was a major milestone. She described it as hitting the lottery — finally achieving a clean, professional finish without endless ripping and re-sewing. Similarly, the invisible zipper and proper use of the iron were technical breakthroughs.

    • Perfecting Garment Details: Naima remembers the thrill of making a perfect fly zipper on pants, a notoriously difficult skill. She also recalls the frustration of hand-sewing buttonholes before sewing machines had attachments to automate the process. These moments of mastery were like small victories that fueled her passion.

    • Pricing and Valuing Your Work: Zahiyya highlights the challenge of setting prices that reflect the true value of labor, materials, and time. Early on, she sewed for family and community without payment, which is common but unsustainable for a business. Learning to charge appropriately and stick to those rates was crucial. She advises setting a rate that covers fabric, labor, and overhead — and then multiplying it to ensure profitability, especially for wholesale.

These challenges are common in the sewing industry and overcoming them is part of what transforms a hobby into a viable business.

Essential Advice for Aspiring Sewing Entrepreneurs

If you’re considering turning your sewing into a business, here are some key takeaways from our experiences:

1. Understand Your Customer

Knowing who your customer is and what they want is foundational. Your customer will pay your price if you deliver value that resonates with their needs and aesthetic. This means not just making what you want, but also researching market demand and trends.

2. Price Your Work Properly

Don’t undervalue your time and materials. Calculate all costs — including fabric, notions, labor, and sourcing — and then set a price that sustains your business. A common rule of thumb is to triple your costs for direct sales, and factor in additional margins for wholesale.

3. Build a Supportive Community

Find a community of like-minded creatives who are further along in their journey. Their encouragement, advice, and mentorship can be invaluable as you navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. Joining groups, forums, or local sewing circles can provide both emotional support and practical guidance.

4. Be Patient and Stay Consistent

Entrepreneurship is rarely a straight path. Expect stops, starts, slow periods, and market fluctuations. Stay encouraged, keep honing your skills, and adapt as you grow. Remember that evolving your pricing and offerings over time is natural and necessary.

5. Master Marketing

Marketing is an ongoing learning process, especially in the fashion and sewing industries where trends and platforms change rapidly. Invest time in building your brand identity and connecting with your audience through social media, pop-ups, and other channels.

Reflections on Sewing and Business Growth

Our sewing journeys have taught us that turning a passion into a business requires more than just skill with a needle and thread. It demands resilience, business savvy, and a willingness to learn continuously.

For example, Zahiyya shares how her early reluctance to tackle buttonholes led her to seek help from more experienced sewers in her community. This collaborative spirit helped her build confidence and expand her technical abilities.

Similarly, Naima’s story of making seven Eid outfits for her large family without pay highlights the intense learning curve many face before understanding the value of their work. These experiences underscore the importance of balancing creativity with business fundamentals.

Expand Your Sewing Knowledge and Skills

If you’re ready to deepen your sewing expertise or explore turning your hobby into a business, consider these resources:

Final Thoughts: Keep Sewing and Growing

 “Stick with it. It’s going to be ups and downs, but stick with it. It’s worth it.” – LaTisha

Building a sewing business is a journey of creativity, learning, and growth. It’s about more than just making clothes — it’s about creating something meaningful that reflects your vision and serves your customers.

Remember to find your community, set your prices confidently, and keep evolving. The sewing business world is rich with opportunity for those willing to put in the work and stay true to their passion.

For more inspiration and practical advice on sewing and entrepreneurship, explore our podcast episodes and blog posts at Cover Me Chic Podcast and the Modest Sewing Tutorials page.

Keep dreaming big, sewing bold, and growing slow.

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