We were lucky to catch up with Wendy Spann recently and have shared our conversation below.

Wendy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

The biggest trend I see in my industry, creating handmade items, specifically concerning sewing/creating is to find a niche market unique to what you make, and tapping in to that audience. When I began sewing about 3 years ago, I just wanted to learn to sew. Turns out I loved sewing so I began making face masks, as it was the start of the pandemic.

From there, I began to upcycle clothing, which became somewhat of an obsession for me!

I realized, however, that only unique, unusual Upcycled items were what sold the most. That posed an interesting problem, because I had taught myself to make tie dyed sweatshirt and t shirt mini dresses from t shirts & sweatshirts, and most of them sold. And I knew I could make a lot of them, and I did. But when I began taking custom orders, allowing people to actually tell me what and how they wanted an item done, it dawned on me that the market for unique, one of a kind items was wide open!

That’s when I started upcycling jeans in unique ways, with many different colors, patchwork panels, trim pieces, unique fabrics, etc. That became my passion, and I have sold several pairs of them. They typically take 3 days to make one pair, so there is a lot of time, effort, design, and fabric that goes into each unique piece.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into the sewing business simply because I wanted to learn to sew. I had no idea I would love it so much!

As I began to create sewn and Upcycled items, my friends saw some of my work. One of my closest friends encouraged me to sell my items on Etsy, so I tried it! I don’t have a large store, because I don’t mass produce anything – each item can take up to several days to make, especially the jeans. So I have usually 20-30 items in my Etsy store at any given time.

As I began to grow in my business, I decided to take custom orders, which has been where most of my revenue has come from. I also have been doing live sales on an app called Whatnot. My store name on Etsy and Whatnot is SaltCreekStyle.

The custom orders are what I love to create because the customer is able to tell me exactly what she/he wants and then I have a direction to go in and can produce an item that is special and unique to them, that they truly love.

I think I’m the most proud of the blue jeans I upcycle – they are truly a labor of love. Every pair that I do is unique, and is carefully made to stand the rest of time. It brings me joy to know I have created something that someone wants to wear, because our clothing choices express who we are – it’s a very personal and emotional thing to clothe ourselves, especially for us as women. I am humbled and honored every time someone asks me to make them a special item! And man, it never gets old when a customer tells me they love what I have made!

Have you ever had to pivot?

There was a time in my life, about two years ago, that I had to learn to pivot in my business. In the summertime, sales slow down naturally – people are on vacation, they are not buying as much online. I had become kind of stale and comfortable in what I was making/creating, sales were really slow. I knew I needed to learn something new, make some changes….pivot.

I had been selling on Etsy for about one year. I had been a reseller for 4 years before that, so I knew the general ups and downs of online selling. I had gotten tired of keeping inventory in my home, so that’s why I stopped reselling. Handmade was a different story. In reselling, you look for items that are in high demand, brands people look for that sell well, etc. With handmade items, you have to do a lot of research on many different apps and websites to see what people are looking to buy. But what sells for one person may not sell for another.

I knew I had to find my niche. I needed to greatly increase my knowledge of sewing and keep learning. I had gotten comfortable and safe continuing to make things I knew how to make. I realized I can never stop learning – I will never know all there is to know about sewing. That was when I made my first pair of patchwork jeans!

I had no idea what I was doing or how it would turn out, but I kept going, and kept researching how to put fabrics together, learning as I went – baptism by fire!!

I still start projects that I’m not sure will work out……but I need to try….for me.

Sometimes you just have to do it – make yourself try something new. If you fail, guess what? You just learned one method that doesn’t work. Try a new way. It fails? Try again. When you are in business for yourself, you CANNOT give up. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. Don’t dare tell yourself that you can’t! Because YOU CAN. The only person you have to prove anything to is you. Did I have to learn to use my seam ripper more that I’d care to admit? Absolutely!! I still have a love/hate relationship with my seam ripper! But I don’t let it stop me when I have to rip out a seam for the 2nd time. I ruined more fabric with my mistakes than you would believe….that didn’t stop me either.

What’s true in all business, not just sewing or handmade…..is that what you are doing (methods you are employing) may work well for 6 months or a year. But at some point, if you don’t learn and change with markets, your business might not make it.

I have a good friend who wisely says that in business you must fail forward.

I want to leave you with this: the first time you fail is not the end of your story, it’s the beginning of true learning.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for me has been live selling platforms. Talk about a game-changer! Live selling is our future, and it has helped boost my sales and give me exposure to a much larger audience that simply having my items listed on a selling app.

When live selling, people on the app can come in and out of your show. This means just out of curiosity some people are going to come see what you are selling! There are also people who are looking for the category you are selling on, so they will come in your show to shop. Being on the app regularly helps you to gain repeat customers, which is what we all want in sales! I can honestly say that all of the repeat customers I have had on the Whatnot App have become friends of mine as well.

Another source of new clients is social media. Social media in this world is very powerful! Don’t be afraid to share what you make or sell because of judgement of others. Believe me, I have been through the gamut of emotions of not wanting all of my Facebook friends (and family) to know that I sew and sell items because I think many of them will judge me. It has to come down to this: if I’m worried about being judged, are these people really my friends? Are they decision makers in my life? Are they paying my bills? My answer to all of those questions is a big NO. I’m guessing it’s the same for you.

Use social media to promote your business – you will be amazed by your results. Gaining a following takes time- it doesn’t happen overnight. Start with the platform that you have the most followers on, then create a business page on that platform or transfer your existing account to a business account. You already have a following, so let people know what you are doing – there will always be someone who is interested and will want to know more.

Then create accounts on other platforms and post to each something about your business a few times a week. Be consistent. You will grow organically.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: SaltCreekStyle
• Facebook: SaltCreekStyle
• Whatnot App: SaltCreekStyle

Image Credits
Images all property of Wendy Spann