00:07 - 00:12

Welcome to the Designer's Plants and Coffee podcast where we're sowing, sipping, and staying rooted.

00:12 - 00:18

We're three creative women building handmade businesses and sharing real conversations about

00:18 - 00:22

design, growth, and what it really takes to make things that matter.

00:22 - 00:27

So grab your coffee, pull up a project, and let's grow together. Hey.

00:27 - 00:32

So today, we wanna be talking about our sewing journey, so how we got started and what made

00:32 - 00:34

us switch from hobbyist to business.

00:34 - 00:36

So we wanna do a quick intros first. Okay.

00:36 - 00:38

Tish, we're gonna start with you.

00:38 - 00:45

I'm LaTisha of keeping you in stitches, which is a consulting firm specializing in tech design

00:45 - 00:48

three d and fashion education, design and merchandising.

00:49 - 00:51

Anything fashion, we can teach.

00:51 - 00:53

Alright. So what's one fun fact about you?

00:53 - 01:04

One fun fact. I did indoor skydiving and I loved it. It was inside clear. Okay. Okay. Video to prove it.

01:04 - 01:08

And I'm just gonna say when you go, keep your mouth closed.

01:08 - 01:14

Don't want that video out there of your of your your cheeks flapping and people walking and pointing and laughing.

01:15 - 01:16

We might have to include that in there.

01:16 - 01:18

You gotta send me a clip. Alright, Naima.

01:18 - 01:21

So, pulling you in, what do you do?

01:21 - 01:26

So I am Naima. I'm a run of Steel Express.

01:26 - 01:28

It's one of the accessory brands.

01:28 - 01:30

We kinda branch out through the.

01:31 - 01:34

I am an educator in the DC Metro Area.

01:34 - 01:41

So look me up if you wanna learn how to sell professionally. What was that? A fun fact? Mhmm.

01:41 - 01:43

Lauren, don't have any fun facts.

01:43 - 01:44

Who do you think about that fun fact?

01:44 - 01:56

A fun fact about me is I will try any craft at any time, and then I think I would hope I'd stop in my house. Alright. Okay.

01:56 - 01:57

Well what I do now.

01:57 - 01:59

You say also what?

01:59 - 02:00

Make candy.

02:01 - 02:04

Oh, candy. Alright. So, I mean, I guess I'm next.

02:04 - 02:06

So I'm Zahia of Cover Me Chic.

02:06 - 02:20

Basically, we do patterns for curvy women, especially in the hip and butt area, modest fashion aesthetic. We have patterns. We have membership. We have fabric. We have everything. So Cover Me Chic.

02:20 - 02:24

A fun fact about me, only black socks.

02:26 - 02:28

Why? Why? Because there's

02:28 - 02:33

so many things happening. All you have to do is pick up the sock and all of them match. It doesn't matter.

02:33 - 02:37

So you have all black socks all the time. Okay? So

02:37 - 02:38

Funny.

02:38 - 02:42

So the next question is, when did you learn how to sew?

02:42 - 02:46

At what age did you learn how to sew, and what is your what was your first sew?

02:46 - 02:50

I believe I learned how to sew when I was, like, seven or eight.

02:50 - 02:53

I was really young, and my grandmother taught me.

02:53 - 02:56

She had a sewing machine, and she taught me how to sew. Yeah.

02:56 - 03:04

She taught me how to sew, and I don't remember one of the first things I made, at that age,

03:04 - 03:07

but I do there's some memorable things that I've made.

03:08 - 03:12

Everyone has watched different worlds. I'm sorry. Not a different world. It's the Cosby show.

03:14 - 03:16

So they had this purple outfit.

03:16 - 03:24

So I decided to make a purple outfit with these yellow and lime green lapels that was out to here.

03:25 - 03:26

You couldn't tell me nothing. It was cute.

03:27 - 03:29

It was cute, and the pants were waddling.

03:30 - 03:31

We're gonna find a picture somewhere.

03:31 - 03:33

You have to find a picture. It

03:33 - 03:36

was you. It was That's

03:36 - 03:38

the first thing you made for yourself.

03:38 - 03:39

No. The first thing okay.

03:39 - 03:42

So I just want y'all to remember. This was younger.

03:43 - 03:49

The first thing I made for myself was a tube top, and I was like, oh, it fits as a skirt.

03:49 - 03:51

It really didn't, but I tried.

03:53 - 03:55

So that was really one of the first things.

03:55 - 03:57

I think I have a picture of that.

03:57 - 04:01

Oh my god. Naima? I guess, probably, I was young.

04:01 - 04:05

You know, Barbie clothes, doll clothes, pants, so on.

04:05 - 04:11

I think middle school, took home ec and started going to middle school.

04:11 - 04:19

Probably the first clothes I made was in my home ec class, and, you know, textiles back then weren't so great.

04:19 - 04:21

So I made this really, really,

04:24 - 04:29

yes, and and tank top, and that was my outfit, and you couldn't tell me I wasn't cute.

04:29 - 04:36

But the most memorable thing I made was I was my first time going to New York, I must have been probably about 14, 15.

04:37 - 04:41

It was quite a bit, but I decided to make a jumpsuit.

04:41 - 04:43

It was nice to see this.

04:43 - 04:46

I mean, I still have a lot of jumpsuit, but what do you think?

04:46 - 04:49

Don't wear a jumpsuit on a bus. That's it.

04:50 - 04:52

Your imagination can run wild.

04:52 - 04:54

I just don't wear a jumpsuit on a bus.

04:55 - 04:56

Are you guys on here?

04:56 - 05:00

Oh, man. I don't wanna see the visuals. That's that's that's funny.

05:00 - 05:04

So for me, it was, I think it was a I was young.

05:04 - 05:12

It was, like, you know, nine, maybe earlier because I started with, you know, Barbie doll clothes, of course. You know?

05:12 - 05:17

And I did the photoshoots with the the house in the background and the car.

05:17 - 05:20

So I was on photoshoots back then.

05:23 - 05:25

You know, they had to look they had to look fly.

05:25 - 05:26

You know what I'm saying?

05:26 - 05:26

That's right.

05:26 - 05:31

But I think the first thing that I made for myself, I was in elementary school, so I was still

05:31 - 05:33

young, but it was like a jumper.

05:33 - 05:39

It wasn't a jumpsuit, but it was a jumper because we had to wear uniforms when I was in, parochial

05:39 - 05:41

school, and we made our uniform.

05:42 - 05:43

So that really got me.

05:43 - 05:47

I was like, well, you you know, if we have to make it, why can't I change it up? You know?

05:47 - 05:48

I just use the same fabric.

05:48 - 05:51

And that's when I started getting because, you know, I grew up Muslim.

05:51 - 05:58

We had to wear these crazy pantaloons, and everything was baggy, and everything was just it was wet.

05:58 - 05:59

So it was just It was

05:59 - 06:03

just just wore it was baggy, and it was year before. It's

06:04 - 06:05

you know, socks. You know?

06:05 - 06:10

So that's really what got me into sewing because I did not like what I had to wear.

06:10 - 06:15

So, I mean and it started really, really young, like, around, I would say, 10, 11.

06:15 - 06:17

That's when I started making clothes for myself.

06:17 - 06:19

So that's, yeah, that's my thing.

06:20 - 06:26

Basically, I know all of us been, you know, sewing for a really long time, basically, all of our lives. Right?

06:27 - 06:31

So when did sewing become a business?

06:31 - 06:34

When did you decide that sewing was gonna become a business for you?

06:34 - 06:38

I'd say so for me, I'm thinking back.

06:38 - 06:41

Maybe was it maybe after college?

06:42 - 06:45

Because before, I was just sewing just to sew. Mhmm.

06:46 - 06:48

Because that's what I, you know, I love. I loved it.

06:48 - 06:52

It wasn't until after college that I'm like, oh, you know what?

06:52 - 06:58

You're you can make money from this, Especially going right into the industry directly from

06:58 - 07:05

from school, I actually began to do things, on my own for other people sporadically.

07:06 - 07:11

But it wasn't until, I wanna say, maybe 2020 let's see.

07:11 - 07:15

February and maybe '10 or '9 when I decided to the business.

07:15 - 07:16

Mhmm.

07:16 - 07:19

So to actually launch out and have my own business.

07:19 - 07:23

So it was a big difference, but I would do small things for people.

07:23 - 07:28

But my business wasn't launched until until I left New York for the first time.

07:30 - 07:31

So yeah. Yeah. For the first time.

07:32 - 07:34

That's a story for another day. That's a story

07:34 - 07:35

for another day. For another day.

07:36 - 07:39

That's for another episode. Yeah.

07:40 - 07:44

You know, I always have that entrepreneur spirit. I'm a hustler. I like money.

07:45 - 07:49

You know, I've had a couple of times in high school, and I was really close to school.

07:49 - 07:51

And, of course, they were broke.

07:52 - 07:57

So I'm pretty sure, those scars are the reason why I don't make calls to people now.

07:58 - 08:00

Essentially, I was in a business.

08:00 - 08:12

Started around '26, '20 '11, and it was it was I started doing pop ups, and it was it was a

08:12 - 08:14

whole different business back then.

08:14 - 08:20

I was doing all kinds of crazy stuff that I didn't have a I didn't have a brand identity.

08:21 - 08:26

So I did relaunch in 2011. Let's see. The thread was born.

08:27 - 08:33

That's how I ended up going in the direction of African brand, and that became my proof of proof of textile.

08:33 - 08:42

So I think 2011 was the true, true start of my business and and, you know, thinking, hey.

08:42 - 08:48

I can make a little bit of money off of this. So here we are. Are. Yeah.

08:48 - 08:53

I think it it was the it was the same for me because I I I did when I was in high school.

08:53 - 08:54

I used to make clothes for people.

08:55 - 08:57

So it was more like a custom thing.

08:57 - 08:59

It was people in the community.

08:59 - 09:01

Actually, I'm the oldest of seven kids.

09:01 - 09:05

Every, id, you know, which is the Islamic holiday.

09:05 - 09:10

So every id, like, the night before, all of us everybody in the building used to make clothes. You know? Everybody you know?

09:10 - 09:12

It's like the dress, whatever.

09:13 - 09:16

So once I learned how to sew, that became my job.

09:16 - 09:18

Both my parents knew how to sew.

09:18 - 09:19

They no longer did it.

09:19 - 09:20

They say it's like, hey.

09:20 - 09:21

You have to do everything.

09:21 - 09:27

So I was making clothes for everyone, like, seven outfits, which was crazy. Right?

09:27 - 09:27

Yeah.

09:27 - 09:30

So, I mean, I got good quite because you had to.

09:31 - 09:32

I didn't get paid for that. You know?

09:32 - 09:38

So that's not a business, but I was I was making clothes for other people. You know?

09:38 - 09:39

And it was just like Naima.

09:39 - 09:43

It's just like you started to get weary because people don't wanna pay.

09:43 - 09:48

I did that throughout, I would say, college, you know, making clothes for people, whatever.

09:48 - 09:51

After college, I started a business.

09:51 - 09:55

I think it was maybe '97, '90 '8, maybe '98.

09:55 - 10:00

I started officially started a business, but that was more like, you know, T shirts stuff, and

10:00 - 10:01

I used to make skirts and stuff like that.

10:01 - 10:03

And then it just took off from there.

10:03 - 10:07

So I've been doing this, like, for for, like, ever. Like, ever, ever.

10:07 - 10:11

So it's it's been it's been a minute since I've I've turned this into something.

10:11 - 10:19

So, like, what would you say was, the biggest challenge that you overcame when you started to sell?

10:19 - 10:23

Like, I mean, like like, an epiphany moment when you started to sell.

10:23 - 10:28

Like, what was the biggest thing that you overcame? Can you even remember? That's the question.

10:28 - 10:35

I think the biggest thing so when I learned how when I mastered how to do a wall pocket Mhmm.

10:36 - 10:38

This I was like, the lottery.

10:39 - 10:43

Yeah. Yes. I got it. Yes.

10:44 - 10:51

As someone who sews when especially welt pockets, I was like, oh, I got the trait to it. I got it. I got it.

10:51 - 10:54

And I wouldn't have to rip it out, do it over.

10:54 - 10:56

It's like, I got it, and I'm good.

10:56 - 10:59

That's when I'm like, okay. Alright.

10:59 - 11:00

You know, a little bit something.

11:00 - 11:08

So, yeah, it was the wall pocket in the good use of a iron for an invisible zipper. Those two things. Yeah.

11:09 - 11:16

I I know in general, and my my students crack up because every time they ask me something, I

11:16 - 11:18

tell them, and I almost said good.

11:20 - 11:21

That's that's, like, my motto.

11:21 - 11:25

I was like, I think for me, two things.

11:25 - 11:28

You said the well pocketed and the trick thing.

11:28 - 11:35

The first time I actually made a perfect fly on a pair of pants was, like, the moment.

11:36 - 11:38

And updating us a little bit.

11:38 - 11:42

We already know we started businesses in the nineteen hundreds.

11:42 - 11:51

So, back then back in the nineteen hundreds, buttonholes weren't quite as easy to make as they are now.

11:53 - 12:02

So mastering a buttonhole without it being automatic is like screaming from the rooftop. Oh my god.

12:02 - 12:03

Look at what I did.

12:03 - 12:10

I mean, it it was it's just unless you've ever experienced that in some of my home some of my

12:10 - 12:17

students have, like, older machines and vintage machines, I was like, just you wait. And the buttonhole came. You're gonna hate it.

12:17 - 12:20

You're gonna be picking up these cool machines when it comes time to buttonhole.

12:21 - 12:25

But for me, it was the fly zipper and mask and and lining them up perfectly.

12:26 - 12:29

Lining up the buttonhole and torture. Yeah. Through.

12:31 - 12:34

Her moment when I was like, oh, what?

12:35 - 12:43

You know, I I with Naima because buttonholes were my just like I And you're right.

12:43 - 12:46

They didn't have all the attachments they have now. You know?

12:46 - 12:51

I mean, now you can just sit, you know, and they have you can stop and they didn't have that. Right.

12:51 - 12:53

When I was learning how to sew.

12:53 - 12:58

And, you know, it was so crazy that, you know, in the building that I lived in, there were most

12:58 - 13:02

of the women sold because, you know, in it was like a whole Muslim building. Most of them sold.

13:02 - 13:07

And I used to make clothes and go downstairs to one of the women Again.

13:07 - 13:12

And ask her to put the buttonholes on for me because it was like I did not touch it.

13:12 - 13:16

It was like it was really and when I learned how to do it, I was like, oh, I think that's when

13:16 - 13:19

they started getting an attachment, like, the the beginnings of the attachments.

13:19 - 13:20

Yeah.

13:20 - 13:20

And I

13:20 - 13:22

was like, okay. Now I know how to do this.

13:22 - 13:24

And because before, you had to do a freehand.

13:24 - 13:24

I'm like, I don't know

13:24 - 13:26

how to do this. And it's,

13:26 - 13:30

you know, for it's really funny because for the longest time, I was like, yeah. I'm not doing it.

13:30 - 13:31

It wasn't mad.

13:31 - 13:33

That's how I got good, like, visible zipper.

13:33 - 13:36

It was crazy. It didn't have the zipper feet that they have. You know?

13:36 - 13:40

Now they have the invisible invisible zipper foot and all this others.

13:40 - 13:43

They didn't have all of that. So we learned

13:43 - 13:44

the hard way. Have it.

13:44 - 13:47

You've heard the hard way. Those zippers.

13:47 - 13:50

You had to really make those different happen.

13:50 - 13:52

Yeah. For real. For real.

13:52 - 13:55

So the last question, and then we're gonna wrap it up.

13:55 - 14:00

What advice would you give to someone who wants to turn their sewing into a business?

14:01 - 14:07

So for me, I would say understand that it is a business there, and you do have a customer.

14:07 - 14:11

You need to find out who's your customer because your customer will pay your price.

14:11 - 14:21

They will appreciate it, but also understand that it takes a lot of work and skill to make sure you are paid. Set the right rate.

14:23 - 14:25

I had to learn that. Set the right rate.

14:27 - 14:32

Just not just fabric labor because your time is worth it. Stay in it.

14:34 - 14:43

Yep. And that's yes. I'm still learning about charging my prices all these years later.

14:43 - 14:51

But to piggyback on that, I will say for every five notes that cost too much, there's a one

14:51 - 14:53

give me five of them and one in.

14:54 - 14:56

So, you know, just stick with it.

14:56 - 15:04

It's gonna be stops and starts and ups and downs and slow periods and bad markets, and you'll

15:04 - 15:08

be in spaces where they don't like your aesthetic.

15:08 - 15:10

They're just not your people.

15:10 - 15:16

So, you know, staying encouraged is a big, big part of any entrepreneurship journey, but especially

15:16 - 15:23

in fashion because fashion is not always tied to people who look like us.

15:23 - 15:28

Yeah. And, I mean, I would just, like, agree with everything that both of you guys said.

15:28 - 15:34

Know your pricing, know your your materials, know how to, upcharge, basically.

15:34 - 15:39

So take your labor, your supplies, all of the sourcing, all of the notions, all that stuff,

15:40 - 15:43

add that together, and then you triple it, and that's your price. You know?

15:43 - 15:47

At least triple it if you're selling to Yeah. A customer.

15:47 - 15:53

But if you're selling to well, actually, sometimes you have to quadruple it if you're doing retail and wholesale. Yeah.

15:53 - 15:57

Because if you're doing wholesale, you have to sell it cheaper, and it has to be the same price.

15:57 - 16:02

So depending on what you're doing, you have to know your customer, you know, what they want,

16:02 - 16:07

not just what you wanna make because, you know, you can make something and nobody nobody wants it.

16:07 - 16:14

So know your customer, know your price point, and then marketing is a big thing. You know?

16:14 - 16:19

I'm still I've been this in this thing for, like, ever, and I'm still learning things about

16:19 - 16:21

marketing because it's always changing.

16:21 - 16:21

Yeah.

16:21 - 16:24

So, just really I mean, stay with it.

16:24 - 16:27

It's it's challenging, but it's also rewarding.

16:27 - 16:31

So I would I would definitely stay I stay with it. So any final words

16:31 - 16:33

before we wrap up? Hold on.

16:33 - 16:38

I think back before we wrap up and on that topic, just always remember always think of what

16:38 - 16:39

kind of drug for him.

16:39 - 16:46

If yesterday's price is not today's price, you always have to remember that you're gonna evolve

16:46 - 16:48

and your prices are gonna evolve.

16:48 - 16:54

The more skill you have, the more more expensive you are. So Mhmm.

16:54 - 16:56

You know, we were talking about buttonholes.

16:57 - 17:01

Back then, I might have charged $20 per buttonhole. It was a hassle.

17:03 - 17:12

Always remember that your prices will fluctuate when your skills, advance. So Okay.

17:12 - 17:14

So, Tish, you wanna any last words?

17:15 - 17:18

I would say to the just really stick with it.

17:18 - 17:24

Make sure you get into a community or find a community of people of like minded, people who

17:25 - 17:26

are past where you are.

17:27 - 17:32

So that way, you can actually hear their, hear encouragement and words of wisdom that they have.

17:32 - 17:35

Find your commune find the community. Let's stick with it.

17:35 - 17:37

Yep. That's it.

17:37 - 17:40

It's gonna be ups and downs, but stick with it. Stick with it.

17:40 - 17:41

It's worth it in an end.

17:41 - 17:44

And find a mentor. Yeah. Right.

17:45 - 17:47

So that's it for us today.

17:48 - 17:49

Tune in next next two week.

17:49 - 17:52

We do every two weeks, so tune in.

17:52 - 17:55

I'm Zahiyya from Cover Me Chic along with

17:55 - 17:58

LaTisha from Keeping You in Stitches.

17:58 - 18:00

And Naima with Fearless Threads.

18:00 - 18:01

See you next time.

18:01 - 18:04

Bye. Bye. Bye. Thanks

18:04 - 18:07

for hanging out with us on the designer's plans and 12 feet podcast.

18:07 - 18:13

If you love this episode, please leave a review, share it with your creative friend, or tag us on Instagram.

18:13 - 18:17

Until next time, keep dreaming big and growing slow.