Todays interview is with Melissa Alvarado one of the girls that started the Stitch Lounge in San Francisco. A very unique business that encourages customers to pick a project and just get started! We love that because that is what Smashing Darling is all about, letting your indie OUT! She also co-authored, with her friends and partners, Melissa and Hope, Sew Subversive and then Subversive Seamster. So if you are in the neighborhood, pop in and experience the lounge! These girls are always up to something fun! Congrats are also in order for Melissa and her pending nuptials. She practices what she preaches! She is designing her wedding dress! Hopefully the she will post some pics when she is done!
SD: When did you learn to sew? Who taught you?
MA: My momma taught me how to sew when I was about 7 or 8 years old. She kind of just gave me a push start and let me figure it out on my own, which translated to many broken needles and abandoned sewing projects (mostly scrunchies). I picked it back up decades later (not the scrunchies) when I reunited with some childhood friends in San Francisco after college. We started sewing and crafting and we learned together, the good old trial and error way.
SD: Where and when did you meet the girls you started Stitch Lounge with?
MA: Melissa and Hope and I have been friends since childhood. Melissa and I met in kindergarten and we met Hope in Junior High. We all grew up in San Diego and worked our way up the California coast, reuniting in San Francisco after college. Thank you www.highschoolalumni.com!
SD: How did the idea for Stitch Lounge come about?
MA: I love wearing clothes that are different from what everyone else is wearing, so I do a lot of thrift/vintage store shopping. I like to pair and style pieces in new ways and refashion them with my own twist. Since I didn’t have a sewing room, or my own machine for that matter, I always thought it would be fun to be able to shop in a second hand store and then take your purchases to a sewing area in the same store and refashion or embellish them. This was the basis for Stitch Lounge: a place where you could sew in a group setting… like using someone else’s sewing room and bringing your friends along! The idea grew and morphed into what Stitch Lounge is today, with sewing classes and a boutique, but the basic idea of a modern sewing circle is alive and kickin’.
SD: How Did the 3 of you turn the idea into a business?
MA: Knowing nothing about starting or running a business, Hope and I found a wonderful resource in San Francisco called Women’s Initiative for Self Employment. This amazing non-profit organization provided us with a comprehensive and accelerated business education. They helped us write a business plan and they awarded us with the seed loan to open Stitch Lounge. It sounds sappy, but Stitch Lounge wouldn’t be open if it weren’t for Women’s Initiative. They gave us the confidence and knowledge to make our dream a reality.
SD: Who is the customer at Stitch? Do you find more people wanting to sew and design?
MA: Being in San Francisco, our potential customer pool is very diverse, and at Stitch we get a truly representative sample. While the majority of the customers are women in their 20’s to 40’s, we have plenty of men that come in to sew on a regular basis, and a lot of younger people wanting to learn the craft of sewing and design. It is encouraging and exciting to see the younger generation working alongside the older generation of sewers, all coming together over a common desire to make stuff and be proud of it!
SD: Tell us about your books?
MA: Melissa and Hope and I wrote Sew Subversive and then Subversive Seamster. Both books are about refashioning clothing: taking something old and breathing new life into it. Sew Subversive was our first book, and was intended for the absolute beginner seamster. We walk readers through the basics of sewing, teach them how to set up the sewing machine, and start them off with lots of easy refashioning projects (some only require a pair of scissors and some imagination!).
Subversive Seamster is our follow-up to Sew Subversive and it is chock-full of refashioning projects for the advanced beginner. This time, our projects start with common items that you find in the thrift shop as well as the back of your closet, like muumuus (which we turn into a very NOW peasant or baby-doll top) and bridesmaid dresses (that transforms into a halter top for the lady and matching tie for her beau).
Both of our books emphasize experimentation, reduction/reuse, and FUN! We want to show people that refashioning can be a low-risk, green, and super stylish way of sewing unique pieces into your wardrobe.
SD: Did you all sit down and decide to write a book together or how did that happen?
MA: It was meant-to-be. Shortly after opening Stitch Lounge, we received a call from the editor at Taunton Press asking if we’d like to collaborate on and author a hip book about sewing. Although it was not one of our original intentions with the business, we couldn’t turn down such a great opportunity. We worked with the editors at Taunton to fine tune the concept and develop the content, and then we wrote, edited, illustrated, and modeled for the photos (good times!).
SD: You also run a website together, who writes in the blog?
MA: Our blog is part of the Stitch Lounge website (www.stitchlounge.com). Hope, Melissa, and I post regularly about projects we’re working on or other sewing/crafty related interests that we have. We feature happenings at Stitch, sewing tricks we’ve picked up, refashioning projects that we’re proud of, and our thoughts on Project Runway! We also feature a guest blogger (and great friend of ours), Lisa Bagchi (representing for the East Coast!), who gives us her witty P-Run commentary on a regular basis. Oh, and we’ve got some plans in the works for a new site that will expand the sewing circle concept outside of the geographic boundaries of San Francisco; so stay tuned for more on that!
SD: Are there any thoughts of expanding the business?
MA: We are frequently asked versions of this question, and while we’d love to share with the rest of the world, it is just too much of an undertaking for us three. A number of other sewing/crafting lounges have opened up around the country (and world in fact) since we opened in 2004, and we are always happy to help answer questions since it means keeping this movement a movin’. As I mentioned above, we have plans to grow our community in the virtual world, so everyone can join in and share, no matter their zip code.
SD: What advice would give someone wanting to start a small business?
MA: Get help. It is way more work than you think it is going to be, so make sure you’ve got your peeps behind you. Whether it is for actual tasks like accounting stuff, or marketing stuff, or its just for moral support, make sure you’ve got some friends or family in you’re corner. While it is a genuinely rewarding experience, it can be tough and it helps to not go it alone. Once you’ve got your posse, mount up and learn as much as you can from your local chamber of commerce or city government sites. There are a ton of free resources available, so find ‘em and use ‘em. www.nolopress.com is a great place to start.
SD: Do you have any events or you are getting ready for in the near future?
MA: Personally, I’m getting married this July!! YAY! The wedding planning is so fun (I’m the planner in the bunch!) and I’m working on a piece for my dress—it is an obi-style sash that will also be the train of my dress. I’ll be blogging about it and posting photos as it progresses, so check out our site to see what I’m up to.
SD: Do you have a question or a comment for anyone one Smashing Darling?
MA: Thanks for doing what you’re doing, and thanks for reaching out. My first conversation with Trish was so exciting and enlightening! I just adore that you are so open and in love with independent fashion; I appreciate you turning me on to a bunch of new designers (thank goodness for the interweb!). Oh, and the Smashing Darling site is so pretty and neat and clean – a great model to follow and a great place to shop—nice work ladies!
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