It's here! Episode number 2!
In the previous episode Aga and Katie explained all about Sewing Solutions as a company, but this episode focuses on their individual sewing backgrounds. It's a refreshing look into the similarities so many sewists experience along their journey.
Oh....and there's also juicy details about one of them being FIRED, funny insider stories about how they met, and so much more!
Podcast Transcript
Katie: I am so excited because we are now officially on episode number two of the Sewing Solutions podcast and in this episode, well the first episode we dove deep into what exactly Sewing Solutions is and then now we're going to dive deep into our backgrounds, what got each of us into sewing and then how we kind of got together to create this.
So we're gonna kick it off with Aga.
Aga: Hi everybody, my name is Aga and I started sewing I guess when I was really little and I didn't know that this was not common, but I made Barbie clothes when I was a little kid and when I went back to Poland, I was looking at all my old things and I saw the Barbie clothes and I was like, wow, this is so cute. Look at these buttonholes, they were just holes cut out of a jersey without anything in there.
Katie: Aga, I have a question.
Aga: And I thought it was so cute on my part. I made like little overalls, it was great.
Katie: Okay, I already have a question for you. How common is sewing in Poland?
Aga: Probably, I don't know, probably same as here, maybe a little bit more prevalent, but it's also dying a little bit, at least in my hometown. Hard to find someone that's like got enough skills on a higher level.
Katie: Gotcha, okay, I didn't know, I didn't know.
Aga: So then I was in art club among many other clubs in high school and we had some events that, you know, you just make your own costume, right? So of course, like I made a couple of dresses, this was like two or three years in a row where I've like made my own jibang, okay? And it turned out okay and I thought, okay, I can actually do this and I had no idea what I wanted to study in college. So my art club teacher was actually like, you should do fashion design and I was like, I love to sew, I'm doing this because I had no other plan.
So I studied fashion design because I really liked to sew and from there I was just being fed all this information, which is great. I took a lot of fun elective classes like millinery, which I really enjoyed. There was a lot of like advanced pattern making and more events draping, that was very challenging.
And then when I got out of college, I thought, okay, I'm gonna move to France and I'm gonna be a big fashion designer. And you know, I graduated top of my class, I had some, my senior thesis was on like the main street in Chicago on display. So I thought, okay, how hard can this be? I already put in the work, give it to me.
But that's not how life works. So then I started working for a designer in Chicago, I have a bridal store. I made like activewear and twirling costumes.
And then I thought, you know, I really miss bridal because there's something about it where you are interacting with the client and you're not only just sewing the thing, you're also part of the whole entire process, which I really enjoyed. So then I went back to bridal. And after a few years, I was like, Hmm, I think I want to design more.
That's that that was kind of, I just felt kind of limited in that setting. So that's when I started my own company. And I incorporated in 2015.
And I've just been doing whatever I wanted ever since. That's awesome. It's been working out great.
Katie: So it sounds kind of similar, but also very different to my background, my story. I feel like most of us start like with a knack as little kids. Like, I don't really know too, too many people who do who do this professionally, at least, who picked it up later in life.
I feel like statistically, the people that I've met and chatted with, who do it professionally, started really, really young, making like you said, Barbie clothes and doll clothes and stuff like that. What was your favorite? Other than working for yourself? What was your favorite place? The favorite place that you worked, though?
Aga: Um, I don't know. I think I got a lot out of every single place where I worked.
I think I was just a sponge in the beginning. I just took what I'm thinking of me and I was super ambitious. So I'm not gonna answer that.
Katie: Sorry. I mean, no, it was a good answer. Like, I don't know if you can really pick a favorite because there's good and bad things with every scenario.
And like you said, I will say and I'm pretty sure you can relate to this. I feel like I hear this. It's very common.
A lot of people just started David's bridal. And that's where they're like, Hmm, I like to do this. I can do this by myself.
Aga: And that's definitely what it was for me. Like this is not my first Agadesal company. It's not the first business that I started, actually.
I started a business with one of my friends from school. She was a very strong pattern maker and thought, Oh, we could start a business making like women's ready to wear dresses. We were going to design a little black dress line and that didn't go anywhere.
But it was a learning experience.
Katie: How old were you when you guys were attempting to start that company?
Aga: This was like straight out of college. Yeah.
And none of us know much about business either. So I have another really common thread with people who, who are really good at sewing. Yeah.
Katie: Should I go? Yes. Okay. So it all started when I was a little girl.
Um, but no, for real, I remember I had like little sketchbooks when I was little and I would constantly be drawing my fashion sketches and one of my like core childhood memories, I, I have a really bad memory actually. So it's interesting that this is what stuck out to me. My, my mom is like very, very, very conservative and she would always look at my drawings and be like, the shorts are too short.
You have to draw them longer. She needs like a strap on that dress or, and I remember being like 10 and trying to draw and design, like, you know, women's evening gowns and stuff like that. And, um, not that they mom, not that my mom was like squashing my dreams.
I just, that was one of my core memories. Um, but I always grew up like my parents were that generation were going to college and getting a college degree was what you were supposed to do, especially since my mom wasn't born in this country. Um, she immigrated when she was little and her parents, they have like a second grade and like a fifth grade education.
So for her, going to college was really important. So I don't want to say it was like necessarily like pushed on me and my siblings, but it was definitely like subconsciously like, you go to high school, you graduate, and then you go on to college. Plus, you know, I'm in my mid thirties and I think that I'm also that generation too, that society as a whole was like, you have to go to college in order to get a good job.
Um, and I'm a family of like brainiacs. I'm number four out of five. And like, my brother is a civil engineer.
My sister has like a double master is all these crazy things. So I was like, okay, I need to go to college for something like smart person. Right.
So I started at U-Dub and was trying to go into nursing.
Aga: I do have to say though, that having your own business, you have to be a smart person. Yes, absolutely.
Katie: Smart and scrappy.
Aga: So new accomplishments set up for you.
Katie: Thank you.
But I remember going to U-Dub and starting all the classes to go into nursing and just absolutely hating it, hating it. And I actually dropped out of college. So I did two quarters at U-Dub and it just, it wasn't for me.
And I dropped out and I felt like the biggest failure. I remember coming home and moving home and like crying on like the staircase in my parents' house. Cause I was like, and I'm telling my mom, like, I don't want to go into nursing.
Like it was gross. I got my CNA license and it was gross.
Aga: No, I didn't know this about you for the longest time.
It wasn't until the last hangout that you were telling one of our founding members about this, that I found out about this. Yeah. This was like one of those really- You kind of keep it a secret.
Katie: I don't know. It was one of those pivotal moments in my life. And then I, I just decided like, I really like to sew and I want to sew for a living.
I decided that that's what I was going to do. But I actually knew several people that I graduated with high school, graduated high school with me. And they went on to fashion school.
They mostly went to FIDM down in LA and they were doing like fashion design there. And they didn't know how to sew. Like these are people who were like a year or two ahead of me in school.
So I'm watching them on their social media and I'm like, but I want to actually sew the thing. Like, I don't want to just, I really wasn't, despite all my drawings as a little kid, like I really wasn't as drawn to design. I really liked to physically sew the things.
And I was like, you Aga, I was making Barbie dresses and doll dresses. I made like a really hideous dress for my junior prom. I don't think I have it anymore, but.
Aga: Do we have pictures of this?
Katie: Oh, probably. We'll see if we can find some. Oh gosh.
Okay. I'll see if I can find some of my earliest creations there. You, you'll see my prom photo as well.
That was pretty horrifying. Um, okay. But I was doing all that.
I would watch my mom cause my mom could like sew from patterns and she grew up the generation where like you would buy a flower sack, use the flower. And then it was like a printed cotton material. And my grandmother would make each of the girls a flower sack dress.
So my mom grew up around sewing. So she knew how to use patterns and stuff like that. So she actually made my sister's prom dress and like all her madrigal choir costumes.
And I would like help with the hand stitching. And so I took my sister's prom dress and I redesigned it into the hideous thing that hopefully I can scrounge up those photos. I cannot wait to see it.
I don't look the same. It's all good. It's all good.
It's part of the process. You know, I wish I had some of my beginner projects from when I first started sewing because they would have been pretty fun to look at. I have, I think the earliest project that I still physically have was the dress I made to the first military ball that I went to with my late husband.
And I will never get rid of it. I look really cute in that one, but like don't look very closely at the construction.
Aga: Why have I not seen these?
Katie: Those ones? I think I do have some cute photos in that dress.
The cups were like really gappy because I didn't know how to do like a set in cup. Anyways, that's fine. Yeah.
Aga: For those of you who don't know, Katie's like the fairy boob mother. She can do any bust reduction on a gown, on the dress, on anything that you need. So for her saying that she didn't know how to do it then, she's come a long, long way.
I can't wait to see this. We're going to put all these pictures like on the show notes. So go check that out. (JK we made episode 3 all about these projects)
Katie: That's a really good point. So yeah, if you're feeling like a little crummy about your skills in the princess seam area, don't worry. I was probably way worse than you were.
We all started somewhere. So then I decided, okay, I want to do this for a living, but I don't want to go to fashion school because I want to actually learn how to do the thing. So I started at the community college going to school for business.
And then at the same time, mind you, I'm only 18 years old at this point. Like I started college when I was 17. I was a year ahead.
So I think I had just turned 18 when I dropped out of UW. So then I got the first job that was available in fashion and dresses, and it was at David's Bridal. But it wasn't in the alterations department.
I didn't apply for alterations because I was like, I'm not ready for that. I'm just going to get a job on the sales floor. And they hired me with zero qualifications.
I don't know how I got that job. And I was really, really bad at it. Like, I'm very bad at selling things.
I'm like, oh, if you want it, like, sure.
Aga: I sold bags for a while. I was horrible at sales too.
But I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna take a quick detour to say that, like, when I first started with David's Bridal, like the first David's, I interviewed at two David's Bridal's. And the first one did not hire me.
Katie: This is a, you should tell the story. This is a good story. Tell it, in it’s full.
Aga: Okay, so this David's Bridal was a little bit farther away from my house.
And, you know, this was after college. So I knew how to pretty much make a dress from scratch, right? So they interviewed me. And that went okay, I think.
And we did a sew test. I did a narrow rolled hem, twice turned. And I had my hem transition, like super perfect, because I know they're going to be doing quality checks.
So I need to make sure it's amazing, right? So I unpicked the edge. And I did my first roll, I did my second roll. And now I feel I was pretty good.
And throughout this whole process, I'm like, chatting with the manager, she went to the same school as me. So I was like, right, isn't this such a good fit?
Katie: I feel like the fact that you could be doing that. Sew test and chatting is like a testament to your skill level at the time.
Aga: Perhaps, perhaps, but then I interviewed at the second David's Bridal. And she was like, here, so an invisible zipper was like, okay, they sold it. And the manager comes back from the fitting.
And she's like, Oh my gosh, you finished it already? I was like, Yeah, there you go. And she's like, here we go. Yes.
I guess I was good at zippers not good at rolled hems.
Katie: I mean, I don't know. I feel like I can say this because it's such a big conglomerate, but the retention, like they have a problem with turnover.
So if you're like too good, they're probably not going to want to hire you because then you're more likely to leave. So that's my rationale. Everybody leaves eventually, right? Everybody starts their own thing eventually, or at least they should. If that's what they want.
Aga: So for those of you who are watching, I want to just show off Katie's cup real quick.
Katie: Oh, is it? I think it's backwards in the mirror.
Aga: I can see it. I know. I do.
It's cute. And it's your it's your Katie Rose brand colors.
Katie: Oh my gosh, you're totally right.
Yeah, this is like, I love this color. Okay, so where was I in my sewing journey? That dusty rose pink color. That goes with my name and my skin tone.
Yeah, so I got a job at David's Bridal and that’s were I was working on the sales floor for a couple months. And if any of our listeners have ever worked at David's Bridal or known somebody who works at David's Bridal, the quotas are crazy. Like there's so much pressure to hit so I wasn't hitting them.
So I was about to be fired. But the alterations manager at the time, like they needed, they always needed people in alterations. And at David's, they do it like assembly line style.
So you don't necessarily have to know how to sew everything, but you can be like the one who does the steaming and the pickups. Or you can be like a fitter, um, stuff like that. So I interviewed with the alterations manager, and she trained me as a fitter, being a fitter.
And at the time, I just kind of lucked out because all the seamstresses that worked at that David's Bridal location, they were really, really, really good. Like the only reason that they had been at David's for that long is because English was their second language. And so they weren't really comfortable, like doing full fittings.
They were all like moms as well. And so they didn't want to like have a business out of their home or even like run their own business like it wasn't their thing. So I slowly started like sucking up hardcore.
Because I really wanted them to teach me how to do all these alterations. Um, and there was this kind of stigma against the foreign seamstresses, like just because their English wasn't very good. There was a couple people like young women my age who were American who were the fitters.
And the other ones that kind of had this attitude against the seamstresses, like, oh, yeah, I'm like, yeah, I can sew whatever, whatever. And they kind of poo pooed them and looked down. Like they didn't really give them the respect that they really deserved. And so I saw this and I'm like, well, I want to do what they know. I know that I don't know how to do that.
And I started sucking up and I actually know a lot of Russian words now. Because they were Eastern European. They were all Ukrainian Moldovian, but they spoke Russian.
And I started learning their language. So I would come in every single morning and be all chipper and be like “privet”, and every day I would leave like “paka”. Um, so then like, they started to like me, right? Like I would just be really nice to them. And then when I would watch them doing something, I'd be like, Oh, like, can you show me how to do that? And they would they were so nice.
They would take time out of their sewing hours, because mind you, they're like on the clock. Like they don't mess around at David's, they have like the ticket with all the little individual items. And if you take too long on a specific item, like you will get in trouble.
So the fact that these women took time out of their sewing time to like slow down and show me like that was a really big deal. I I'll never forget that. Yeah, I worked there for a while.
And then several years, actually, I like bounced around through throughout my entire four years of undergrad, I worked at different David's bridal locations. And then I got my degree in business and marketing, my bachelor's degree. And then I came back home.
After graduating with that, went back to David's and I worked there for about another year. And then I transferred to and you're like, there's at the time David's didn't do any like custom work. So for example,
Aga: Do they now?
Katie: No, they do. They do now.
Aga: Where was I?
Katie: Okay, so at David's? Yeah, you can't do back then you couldn't do customizations. You could you could not change the design whatsoever.
But I'm pretty sure now you can. I'd be really curious if people if people like can comment and let us know in the comments.
Aga: I'm thinking it's an independent contract with each designer that they have.
Katie: But I thought they're all owned by David's now.
Because before it used to be like Melissa sweet for David's bridal like Vera Wang for David's bridal. I don't know. It's been a while since I've been in the David scene.
Aga: I was just always told no. No, you can't do that. No, even at the other salon where I was at no redesign.
Katie: Oh, interesting. And that's why I kind of felt like okay, what if I want to make some custom sleeves for this girl? Yeah. I remember we would get like strapless straight across strapless straight across strapless was very common because this was like 20 like 2013 2014.
And the girls wanted a sweetheart and at David's we were not allowed to cut into the neckline. We had to do a pinch. And it was Yeah.
Aga: You know what I think it was like two years ago that I did this for a bride and it completely made her look so much better. She loved it. It was but you know, it's like once every few years I would have to see the design of that dress.
Because like I'm picturing it's like, like a three ply gather. What was the fact you imagine that it was it was satin with some lace over it, but it was sparse.
Katie: I'd have to see this because I'm having some serious design doubts.
All right. I trust you. I know.
By the way, Aga is a phenomenal designer.
Aga: But it was just that one time that I was all right, do you want this? And yeah, it was great.
Katie: So then after I felt like, okay, I've kind of learned what I can learn at David's. I was like you I was like a sponge.
I was soaking up as much as I could. I went to go work for a local boutique that had in house alterations. And their thing was custom, custom, custom, custom, we can do sleeves build up whatever you want.
And I'd say that I actually I learned a lot of what not to do. If we're being completely honest. It was very, very difficult because I mean, the manager wasn't really managing.
So it was kind of like me and all the other seamstresses really were just kind of like thrown into it without any actual like instruction on like how to pattern a sleeve or build up or there was Yeah, and then some of the advice was not super good. So I actually got fired from that
Aga: How'd you get fired?
Katie: Wow. I never told you that?
Oh, yeah. Well, they fired me.
And then they told LNI or not LNI, unemployment that I quit. It was pretty shady. But basically, I got fired because I whistle blew.
Like I was really not happy with the workload and alterations like, I would be sewing dresses that were due in like an hour. And I would like the bride was going to be coming like any minute and I'm like still sewing on it. And then I would have like three dresses due the next day.
And then they were still booking us first fitting. So instead of being able to sew, I'm like taking fittings. Like it was awful.
Um, so I told the owner, I was like, hey, like, this is what's happening in alterations. And then of course, it got back to the manager. And then it was kind of like, yeah, yeah.
And then the manager brought in way more money than I did. You know, because she's been doing it for like ever. And so I was the one that was, you know, told to leave.
Um, and that was really devastating for me. Like, one of the reasons why Sewing Solutions is so important to me is because I had to fight really, really, really hard and work in a lot of like toxic work environments in order to learn the skills. And I just don't think it needs to be that way.
Aga: I feel like a lot of alterations departments, unfortunately, run that way, where everything's very last minute.
Katie: And it's just like, do more, do more faster, take more clients, get paid less, but produce more. It's rough.
So I was like super down after that. Like when that business meeting happened, when they like let me go, the manager straight up told me like, I was a terrible seamstress. I couldn't even sew a straight line.
Like said really, really like tore me down like that.
Aga: And then how did you bounce back from that?
Katie: How did I bounce back from that? Yes. Um, I took a few weeks off.
Aga: Because some people, some people would definitely just shut down.
Katie: Yeah, I and just I shut down for like a couple weeks. And then after I was done being like hurt, I was angry.
And I like a fire was lit under my butt. And I was like, you know what, I'm going to be the best seamstress that you a-holes have ever seen. I'm gonna sew circles around you.
And I did. So I started looking for jobs. And I got a job all the way in Seattle, at the most prestigious couture dressmaking, like designer in the area, probably like the Pacific Northwest.
I showed her at this point, I'd already made my own wedding dress. So I'd already gotten married to my late husband. And I made this like, huge, silk, red, like burgundy red, like the kind of color of your shirt ballgown.
Yeah, and it kind of launched my career because it was really weird. Like colored wedding dresses were really not a thing at this point. And so everybody knew me as like the girl with the red dress.
So I took that portfolio up there. And it was kind of the same thing. Like they did a sew test.
And there was only one other seamstress working there. Her name is Mei. She's still like, um, and same thing.
She was used to people coming in there and being like, I'm so big and bad. I know so much. Like, I don't need to listen to you.
And it was the same situation. Like because Mei had a really hard time speaking English, people mistreated her. So I went in there and I listened to her.
Yeah, so I went in there. I respected her. She was the one who gave me the sew test.
And I was like, Yep, tell me how you want me to do it. That's how I'll do it. And she was like, I like this girl.
So I did all of the alterations for that store. I just ran all the alterations, did all the fittings. And then Mei made the custom dresses and did the pattern making.
And I learned from her how to do all like the custom dressmaking stuff.
And it was really [00:30:00] wild because a lot of it was like drawing pictures. Like pictures and hand motions because literally that's how big the language barrier was. Um, it was wild I
Aga: takes it and she's like, chop, chop, chop. And I was like, how is she holding this?
But now, now I know exactly the angle and how to maneuver it, but it's like, you don't know until someone shows you and they make you do it their way because it is better and it's faster. But unless you want to be sitting there, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp. But no, I want to be chomp, chomp,
Katie: like my My understanding of gowns, like, skyrocketed under Mei’s What was that?,
Aga: [00:31:00] Sorry. Oh sister be calling me right
Katie: no. Um, because I already had, like, a pretty strong foundation for gowns. I don't know why I said it that weird, gowns. Um, because I had such a strong foundation in that, I was able to learn so much more under May.
And get away with, like, drawing the pictures and the hand gestures and stuff like that. But, like, she was a wizard at pants. Like, genius. This woman, she would take the fashion fabric, she would, like, press and block her fashion fabric, and then she would, on the back side of it, she would just look at the client's measurements on the sheet, and then she would take Taylor's chalk, and she would chalk directly on the fashion fabric, the pattern, like, her pattern.
Like pull it out of her brain and then she would just cut directly the fashion fabric and like, yeah
Aga: the designer I worked for did the exact [00:32:00] same thing. And it was like rocket science
Katie: It was wild to me because at that point like I had never done pants before and so to see somebody go from like square one all the way to z. And have everything in their head. I was like, I can't I can't follow along
Aga: Yeah, I remember when she tried to train me like that just draw it out. And I definitely messed up some dresses
Katie: That's not the way to start like you have to have
Aga: It was pretty traumatizing at the time
Katie: you have to have years of experience. I, I don't think I would ever, um, teach someone to start that way.
Aga: Mm hmm, mm hmm. I want to know how you got there. Show me your work
Katie: Yeah, let's make a pattern first. I'm gonna need my paper pattern.
Aga: hmm.
Katie: Um, but yeah, I worked there for a while, and then I eventually left because the commute was just like, [00:33:00] I was, it took me about three to four hours each day just commuting. Um,
Aga: You know, that's how far it took me too. It got, it got to
Katie: yeah, and like, I wanted to have a kid and we were buying a house and so logistically, you know, I had to give it up. So then I actually went back to that old store, the one that fired me. But it was different because at this point, I had like, way more confidence and boundaries. And I told them, I was like, I'll work for you, but like she's not my manager. Um And you know, it went way better like it went way better just me knowing what it was going into it. And then I got pregnant with my daughter and that was the catalyst that like [00:34:00] finally because my goal was always To have my own business But that's a really scary thing You To just like, um, that wasn't that bird leaving the nest
Aga: know. Yeah, when I was first starting, I definitely was doing it on the side, on the weekends, or on the evenings. Um, and it wasn't up until the point where I thought, okay, I'm making a decent digits here, so let me move on, and it's gonna be a viable source of revenue
Katie: yeah, and you got to get like the book of business You got to get the the clients knowing that you exist. Mm hmm. And um, so my problem when I was Starting my business is I had never taken photos of my work at this shop because Like, why, why would we do that? Like, you just pin it and then you sew it and then you do the pickup.
So my [00:35:00] portfolio was like incredibly lean. Um, so I did the same thing that you did. Like, when I was pregnant, that's when I started, I went out to like the different shops to try to get my name like on their referral list so I could start working on the side and I was rejected by all of them, but one.
Aga: You only, you only need one
Katie: Yeah, just needed the one. Um, that's what I would do. I would work my full time job, then me and like my big old pregnant self, I would actually go to that other store to do the fittings there, and then I would just take the gowns home, sew them, and then bring them back. Sorry, and then bring them back to do, you know, the pickups.
Um, I did that for about a year. I Then I quit my full time job when I was like eight months pregnant. I wrapped [00:36:00] up there.
Aga: That's exactly what I did too. I did a fitting and I sewed from there. a storefront, you need a physical space.
Katie: That's exactly what I did too. I drove out over an hour each way. the fittings, and I sewed from home. This store, I mean, it was, it was a ways away. It was like minimum 30 minutes with no traffic, but a lot of times, you know, like 45 minutes. And then even when my daughter was born, for like a whole nother, over a year, I would still go to that store to do all the fittings and I would just put her in like a little Baby carrier and like wear her it was kind of hard to like pin the hem because you're like Like with the baby right here trying to like look around your kid's head To see the hemline Um, but yeah, it was great.
Oh, and then I got like another referral store So I actually at this point I was like I don't [00:37:00] know if this is going to be a viable option if i'm going to be able to make enough money You Um, so this new bridal store called Brides for a Cause was opening up in Tacoma. So I went and I interviewed for the management position.
And she did not hire me as the manager, but she said I would love to To have you as a referral seamstress, so I was like dang it like i'm never gonna get out of this But it turned out it turned out great I love my career now um
Aga: You gotta start somewhere
Katie: Yeah, so I would go into that store as well And I would literally just like put up I would go not on weekends because they were stores are busy on weekends So I would go like in the middle of the week, I would just put like a little blanket on the floor and put my baby on the blanket and then do my fitting.
I hustled and then it wasn't until she started getting mobile that I started doing all my fittings from home. [00:38:00] Because she was like grabbing veils and stuff and it was time to go.
But yeah. I think that pretty much I mean like once I started my business there was still like we could do a whole other episode about you know how we each grew our businesses but like in a nutshell like that's how I got to where I am and then I want you to tell the story of how we met.
Aga: Oh, you did the work. I'll tell it from my side and then you can fill in
Katie: Sure.
Aga: Uh, so I'm just sitting and sewing one day at the studio. And you know, you're scrolling Instagram, and the app,and I see some stranger message me, and I say, who is this girl? And she said something, like, really nice to [00:39:00] me. She said, so what did you say?
Katie: I like stalked you before I messaged you. I like scrolled back for like years on your pictures and I was seeing like some of these custom dresses that you were making and I was like This girl has skills Like my jaw hit the floor. I was like, I just I need to know her So I think I told you that I was like wow Like your work is beautiful like some of the best work i've ever seen and then you were
Aga: And I was like, oh my god, thank you! And I thought that was gonna be it. I was like, thanks, your work is pretty too.
Katie: Well, then you were like, yeah, do you want to get on a phone call? And the millennial
Aga: I think that was like, that was at least three to four messages in
Katie: it was the first conversation. It was still the first conversation though. Yeah, I was like three to five messages in and the millennial inside of me [00:40:00] my heart like
No, it's like a weird. I don't know why My generation is like that You're not…we're the same we're the same age, but
Aga: And you're not the only person that I've done this to. So maybe I'm just a weirdo
Katie: You're just an anomaly because nobody else in our generation calls people. So I was like, okay So I get on a phone call with you and um I don't think i've ever told you this but I was I really liked That you challenged me because I would say something about my business because we talked a little bit about sewing but like mostly we would talk about business stuff and then Instead of you being like, oh, yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. That's a great way to do it. Whatever whatever you'd be like Well, why do you do it that way?
Aga: That’s just my style. [00:41:00] Just so people are aware, our first conversation was probably like 45 minutes
Katie: it was a long one. Yeah It was a long one. Um,
Aga: Because I was like, great. How do you do this? How do you do that? Why do you do this? And it was a lot of good feedback. So I was like, yeah,
Katie: but you were fun. I was like, I like this chick. Like, I don't know. I feel like our relationship is, you know, that saying iron sharpens iron. I feel like that's what's been happening with us for years ever since that first Convo.
Aga: I would say, I would say my first impression of you is I appreciate how like open and honest you
Katie: Oh, yeah.
Aga: with how you do things because a lot of people are not, and that I think is really translating into Sewing Solutions too.
Katie: I remember you asked me a ton of questions on like pricing and stuff like that. Pricing and like how you book and I was just like, sure.
Aga: hmm.
Katie: Like, yeah, this is [00:42:00] how I do it. How do you do it? Yeah, a lot of seamstresses are like, I'm gonna take this information to the grave. And that's clearly No, and it doesn't do the world good and it's clearly not what our company stands for
Yeah, but that's um that story of us like meeting online and like phone calling That's why we have the little phones. Aga’s is not with her right now But I know but yeah, we came up with a fun idea because we we don't live in the same state I'm in washington state. And Aga’s in chicago, so our entire relationship was like phone calls video calls.
I mean it still is
And then I remember the first time we met that was a really fun trip The [00:43:00] first time we met we actually went to a networking conference So we are both members of stitched collective if you haven't heard of it. It is founded by melissa otto She has the DeMelis Atelier over in Connecticut, and then she also founded this amazing networking group for seamstresses, tailors, like anybody in the sewing space.
And I think it was their second get together, and it was over in New York. And so I was like, I'll go if you'll go. Well, I'll go if you look out.
Aga: Yeah,
Katie: So yeah, our first meet
Aga: there's a little bit more of a hike for you,
Katie: it wasn't that bad. Um, it's easy to fly in a JFK.
Aga: And I remember we were like, well, if we're gonna go, we're gonna make it worth our while. And we went all around the garment district, all the fabric stores. And it was kind of a lot of back and forth. [00:44:00] Uh, because, you know, Chicago is one of the big fashion capitals of the U. S. So I kind of have a lot of perspective of, like, finding fabrics locally that Katie perhaps doesn't on
Katie: I have nothing here. There's nothing.
Aga: she mostly orders like online. So she skips kind of the middleman, the fabric store. So it was just really interesting to who, who's like on the opposite side,
Katie:. It was fun to go with you too, because you'd gone to the New York, um, garment district before, hadn't you? Yeah. So she'd already been gone couple times. A couple times, yeah. And so it was nice to go with you. 'cause otherwise I would've been so lost in New York.
Um, but it was really funny because the first time we actually met. was literally in the JFK airport. I landed first. I waited for about an hour and then I just like kind of hunkered down in the airport where I knew she would walk past. [00:45:00] And I think the first thing you said to me was, Oh my gosh, you're so tall.
Aga: I was like, how is the weather up there? And you just look down like, Oh, you look completely different.
Katie: So here's a really fun fact. I'm going to spill the beans on some of our secrets. Um, we are very sneaky when we take photos together, because I am almost six feet tall, with the hair definitely over six feet. And how, how tall are you, Aga?
Aga: Five one
Katie: Yeah, so I got like a foot on her.
Aga: and a half.
Katie: Um, and it looks neither one of us likes the way it looks when we like actually are standing next to each other in pictures because like I don't want to feel like a giant and she doesn't want to feel like a little kid.
Like so we're very strategic when we take photos to be like okay Katie needs to sit down and then Aga is going to be the one standing or like I need to be in the background [00:46:00] or um stuff like that.
Aga: Or I need to make my hair bigger. I'm working on it.
Katie: Yeah, yeah that's how That's kind of our backgrounds. So, not kind of, that is our backgrounds and then the background of how we met.
Aga: And it definitely influences everything that we've been doing for the company and probably will be moving forward
Katie: Yeah. That trauma sticks with you. Yeah, I don't, I personally don't feel like our backgrounds are unique. I think there's a lot of people that have, um, My background, a lot of people who have Aga's background, and we call each other like yin and yang a lot, because we really are, we really, there are lots of similarities between the two of us, but there's a ton of differences.
And one of those really is in our backgrounds, you know, Aga [00:47:00] pursued the traditional education and fashion degree, and her strengths are. Um, at least, at least coming out of school, like her strengths, I would say, would be opposite of what mine were, because my background was like, basically an apprentice.
So, I started out pretty weak in like, pattern making. Because, That wasn't taught to me. Or like draping. Uh, but things like the actual like nitty gritty of like altering something and making it fit like a weird button not, no weird, no body types are weird, but you know what I mean, like a non industry standard size.
I was pretty good at that.
Aga: Which is pretty much any size out there, because all they teach you in school is how to sew for a twig
Katie: Yeah, the dress form.
Aga: Mm hmm. So it wasn't until I started own company that I the opportunity to work on, [00:48:00] on a variety of sizes. Also when you are in a store, getting referrals just from one source. that store will have their own target market, like their own clientele, that fits a body, you know, ideal.
Katie: Mm
Aga: that's how they market too. So if you are only getting referrals from one store, for example, those are the types of clients that you will have.
Katie: That's a really good point. So, it takes a while to really spread your wings and get referrals from everywhere so you can practice on. Lots of different body types and make clothes for, for different types of people. petite curvy, I'm not sure. But anyways, I would be super interested to hear from the listeners [00:49:00] on what their sewing background is.
So you can follow us on Instagram. It's sewing. solutions. official at Instagram. We have the same, a Facebook page with that same username, and then we also have a Facebook group, which we would love any and all of you to join the Facebook group. You can tell your stories there, and then just be in a community of like minded sewists.
So yeah, we'll catch you guys on the next one. Bye!
Aga: Bye!
Comments