Sew Dayton FUN ~ TRENDY ~ pinch of VINTAGE

Sew Dayton is a fun new sewing shop that will be located in downtown Dayton, Ohio with a modern style and a pinch of vintage inspirations.

Tracy McElfresh (Dresses by Tracy McElfresh) and I (JKessel Design) will be teaming up to open Sew Dayton in September.  Dayton has no resource for fun trendy fabric or patterns, no place to really ask questions about sewing, and no real place to get one on one private classes! And we want to change that.

Sewing has taken off! People are wanting to save money and be creative. I think that it is awesome, I want to help inspire and teach, I want the little girl who came in for classes to leave with her first sewn creation with dreams of becoming a fashion designer or making her children clothing one day.

I love to teach, to talk to anyone about their passions in life, most of all I love seeing smiles on the faces of my customers when I make something that they LOVE.  This also will translate in the students I teach, seeing their smiles and how proud of themselves they are.

The Bag

Recently I created a messenger bag for a client, the awesome part was, her daughter drew out the plans, picked the fabric and altered the pattern to how she wanted her school bag to look.  My client and her daughter were going tot sew together the school bag over the summer as a mom and daughter project (how cute right?!)

However the summer went by way too fast and the bag was never made.  While attending Dayton Fashion Week, to support my partner at Sew Dayton whose fashion designs where to walk the runway!  I was introduced to Kim (my client) through a friend, she needed someone who could make the bag for her before school started. I told her that wouldn’t be a problem at all and gave her my card.

Well a week later she contacted me, we met up at a local coffee shop and we went over the design, fabrics and timeline. I suggested a few additions like a magnetic snap. I explained my fee’s for creating a custom order.

I went home that night, started on the bag, was able to get about 90% done and called it a night (3am). Woke up and finished the bag, sent a picture to Kim and washed it and ironed it nice for the meeting the next day to present her with her custom order.

Everyone was happy, I was able to take a drawing and make this little girls creation become a reality. While meeting with Kim, we talked about the shop Tracy and I are opening, the classes we would have and our vision. Kim was so supportive, throwing out idea’s that I never thought of that were perfect! Girl Scout classes, mom and daughter classes.. etc.  She was so excited to get behind her machine again.

With her daughter into design, she expressed how much she wants to support and help her daughter grow. That is what Sew Dayton will be about, a fun and inspiring shop. A place to come and get idea’s, answers to questions, buy the perfect fabric, or gift!

I am just so excited for this venture!

The Video

Well for the end of this post, I want to share Tracy and my video for kickstarter. Have been working hard, sleeping some and dreaming big! We need help to pull this off and even if it’s just sharing or cheering us on it helps.

Sew Dayton Video on Kickstarter

This video tells our story, and gives you an idea of who we are.. we are already at 40% (as of today) and hope to be successful with funding. Please share if you enjoyed our story and if you know of anyone that would like to help.

 

Thank you for reading my thoughts today.. I am just so excited and passionate about this project!

Stay inspired!!!

<3 Jesy