Today we’d like to introduce you to Susie Kirch

Hi Susie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

I started sewing and selling aprons as I neared retirement back in 2009. Initially, I sold the aprons locally at craft fairs and other similar events. In late 2011, my daughter-in-law helped me set up an ETSY store, which went live February 1, 2012. Within 24 hours, I’d made my first sale and I was hooked! Within a couple of years, the craft fairs were history and I sold exclusively on ETSY.
Quite honestly, the whole thing started as kind of a lark – simply something to do once I retired. Since then, it’s been my creative outlet, my therapy, my connection with the world and so much more. I enjoy the process and the interaction with my customers. It’s so true that, if you love what you do, it’s not work.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

One of the biggest bumps in the road came when I learned a hard lesson about “intellectual property rights.” That was an eye opener! I had been making a lot of aprons from licensed prints such as Disney, John Deere, and others. I saw plenty of similar items on ETSY and figured it was okay – without fully understanding. A complaint was made and I received a warning from ETSY to cease and desist, or risk having them shut down my shop. WHOA! Naturally, I had to stop, which was a huge hit to my children’s market – they want the latest cartoon characters, super heroes and such on their aprons. I could still make dinosaurs, trucks and butterflies, but gone were the days of Minnie Mouse, Spider Man and Frozen princesses. I just had to adjust. I studied the other shops with similar products and learned that they seem to be able to use the licensed prints if they add a caveat that they’re not associated with the company, etc., etc. By that time, though, I’d been doing okay with what was safe and decided not to take any chances.

If I were rich, I’d love to challenge that law, at least as far as cottage industry crafters go. In my mind, if a company produces a fabric and sells it, why can’t someone use it to create something and then sell that something? At the very least, perhaps a small time crafter could purchase a limited license . . . I’m probably not going to solve this one in my lifetime, but I wish I could!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I’ve always tried to keep my shop’s focus on aprons. That way, people know what they’re going to find when they go to my shop. Admittedly, there have been a few sidebars resulting from the mountains of scraps that I generate with the aprons – mug rugs, quilts, children’s fabric games to name a few. But the main product has always been aprons.

What I offer that many apron makers don’t, are aprons for larger people. Everyone in my family (except me) is in the large/tall group. My husband is 6’7″, my son is 6’4″ and all of the girls are closer to 6′ than 5′. I also had some plus size friends who kept telling me they needed an apron that would “cover the girls.” LOL! So, I looked around at what was available and found that choices were very limited, especially for extra tall men and large ladies. So, I made it my mission to give them choices.

Full aprons in larger sizes have been a staple in the shop now for many years, but I’ve just recently started making half or “waist” aprons in the plus sizes. One customer complained that all she was able to find were aprons that SAID they were plus size but, in reality, they weren’t big enough. The apron maker simply put longer ties on the apron and called it “plus.” I read through a number of on line listings for such aprons and realized it was true – and, that I was probably guilty myself! I changed my evil ways and started making truly plus sized half aprons and they’ve been a huge hit!

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?

Keep going. Listen to your customers. That’s all.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tieoneon.susie
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusiesTieOneOnAprons
• Other: https://tieoneonsusie.wordpress.com