2024 was a bit of a crazy year here at Sew Lovely, but not in a bad way, but we had a lot of major changes!

On Etsy, we had 371 orders (many were multiple shades per order) and a similar amount of orders here on our website. We made over 2000 shades, plus many curtains, pillows, cushions, bedding and more! It’s been a busy year for us!

The biggest change this year was that my seamstress of over 10 years retired in October! She had been with me ever since the very beginning, when I was just starting the business and trying to figure everything out. When I first started, I was sewing the shades myself and also had a full time job at CNBC (my career for over 20 years). I was doing it as just a side business and sort of hoping to make it a full time business and career change, just because it was more ideal for being a mom to young kids and I could make my own hours and maybe more money.

As the orders started to pick up, the work got really overwhelming here. I would be working until 2am, sitting on the floor because of lack of space, sewing in a bedroom and really scrambling to do both jobs and also mom duties. It was pretty tough. It got to a point where I decided it would be best to hire a professional seamstress to sew the shades for me and I would just do the customer service and construction of the shades, but she would do the actual sewing part. I put out an add on Indeed and other places and found Yolanda, who would be with me ever since!

At first it was not easy because I was trying to figure out the best way to make the shades and fastest but still great quality, as I was getting more and more orders. I did not want to UP my pricing and get less orders. I wanted to keep the price point fair for buyers and less expensive than many other custom shops, but still have a great product and be fair to my worker and also fair to myself, with the price point. It was tough trying to come up with a way to do that and it took a great deal of trial and error. I would say about 2 years of a lot of trial and error and finding different and unique methods. I had a lot of competitors out there (other workrooms) who actually seemed angry with me because my prices were “too low” in the industry and said it affected them due to making the shades less expensive. I was never trying to negatively affect other workrooms, but I was trying hard to find a way for homeowners and the non-wealthy folk, to be able to afford a custom item without paying the high price point all the time. And I realized there are ways to do that, and offer a fair price point, while still paying myself and employee fairly. It just takes a lot of trial and error and thinking outside of the box.

I am writing about the beginnings of Sew Lovely because my first seamstress really played such an important role and helped me along the way. I am sure it was not always easy for her since I had so much trial and error and was just beginning the company. Throughout the years, we developed a nice flow and system here at Sew Lovely and I really only had the one seamstress making all of my shades! She started off making only about 15 every few weeks and in the end, she was making about 60 shades every 10 days or so! She would sew and I would do all the construction.

Around September of this year, she told me she had decided to retire from making shades and move across the country and be with her mom. I was happy for her, but also very anxious about this big change. I had a few seamstresses who I had known for years, making cushions and other items for me, so I trusted them and knew they would be a good fit for the shades job. I asked my one lady if she was interested and right aways she said YES and that she had been waiting to take over and would love the position! I felt confident but still a bit worried bc the flow was going to be a bit different. With my other seamstress, I did everything on paper and the old fashioned way. But I have now begun using a production app and it’s been working out really great! It makes things a bit easier and I take photos of everyone’s fabric and the production order and post it on the app for the ladies. Applying the new structure and technology to the business has really been helpful for me! I went from being VERY nervous about the changes to feeling very confident and happy. It’s now been a few months with the new ladies and new system and things are flowing very nicely! Happy customers, happy employees and happy me!!