When my oldest daughter was a toddler (she is now 30), I was shopping at Daisy Kingdom in Portland looking for some fun stuff to make and possible sell. My sweet friend who was with me offered to buy some of their signature girl dress kits for me to make and sell (her family had more money than mine and she wanted to help me). I declined and inside my head I heard my voice saying "I don't want to sell Daisy Kingdom. I want to be Daisy Kingdom." And that statement has practically haunted me since then.
This past fall (2021) I decided life was too short and I needed to take a big leap and open a brick and mortar store and sewing school. There's never a "perfect time" for any big decision but everything in my life was pointing toward THIS being the time. So I took steps forward and figured if I was mistaken and this wasn't the right time then there would be obvious stop signs in my way. I found a great location in a quiet strip mall that had seen better times (hence the affordability) and put down a honkin' big deposit, the landlord gutted the former medical office space for me so I had a bright, open place to work with. We spent a couple of months painting and cleaning the 1500 square feet and in December my sisters and their husbands came and helped us haul 3 rooms of my precious stash and supplies over to the new place. I officially opened the doors on January 8, 2021 and while I'm still settling and unpacking I've been busy with classes and it's starting to feel like home here.
Remember this dresser (November 2007!)? It has a new place here in Make Sewing Studio and is such a lovely greeting when folks walk in the door
Here is the beginning of what I hope will grow into a beautiful, inspiring store filled with irresistible treasures. I want to fill it out with more goodies like buttons, pretty zippers, and lovely gift items.
In the meantime this bright, pretty classroom keeps me busy with people who want to sew (or want their kids to sew)!
A massive thanks to my friend Heather Bailey for bringing in so much color and cheer with her beautiful designs at the front of my store! Could this get any cuter? I don't think so.
See that young man sitting on the left hand side? Yeah, this is him when I started this blog. It's definitely time for a new adventure.
And while I've been buzzing around here our little strip mall is filling out with some great new tenants and so it turns out I get to be part of a rebirth of this cute little corner in Gilbert, Arizona. Come visit! Oh, and I ran across this yesterday as I continued to unpack...
