We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Heidi Ferguson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Heidi below.

Heidi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I have always been immersed in vintage and antiquing. My parents were avid thrifter so I few up in that environment. The punk rock scene in Portland Oregon in the 80’s and 90’s was my jam. I was a latchkey kid, so I was always hopping around second hand stores. I started selling the pieces that I no longer wore when I was in my 20’s. I also made a lot of my own clothing because I couldn’t find anything that I fancied in regular stores. Although I made money doing this I never imagined I could make a real living selling my items and art. Fast forward to age 39, I finally had the wherewithal to take the leap and try this out full time. Luckily my gamble paid off, but I wish I had the guts to do it sooner. I am a single mom of 2 and just never thought I could provide for my kids and do what I loved and make enough to survive.

Heidi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a 46 year old single mom of 2 teenagers. I am originally from Portland Oregon but I have resided in South Florida for the past 22 years.

I own a vintage clothing store and also sell Upcycled one of a kind handmade jackets , skirts , shorts and rompers. I believe I am set apart from the competition in South Florida because we definitely have a West Coast vibe here and our store. That comes from my roots growing up on the West Coast in Portland Oregon during the punk era. I’ve always been drawn to anything different or unusual and I feel that that was seriously lacking down in South Florida which inspired me to start my own store.

Additionally our prices are super affordable so we cater to a large group of clientele. My number one pet peeve that I found in South Florida was that Vintage was over priced and very expensive and not affordable to the masses. We wanted to change that and felt that there was a niche in the market and were successful in accomplishing that. Our motto is buy low and sell low.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I would say definitely the fact that we get to dress a lot of people in our one of a kind Clothing. There’s no bigger thrill then seeing someone a few towns or a few counties over or even a few states over wearing are one of a kind items. It’s happened multiple times and I still spot some of our clothing on people years later it’s such a thrill to know that people share our unique taste and love to sport are one of a kind creations.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Right now the real estate market in South Florida is absolutely insane. I’ve never seen anything like this in 22 years. We recently had a new landlord by our property and tried to raise our rent over $5000 per month from what it was previously. Clearly we are artist and a vintage store so we don’t make very much to begin with this is never been about money but more about a labor of love. We were successful in campaigning and canvassing the local neighborhoods and with the support of our amazing Customers we got the landlords to extend our lease and only raise our rent about $1200 from the original proposed plan.

Contact Info:

• Website: Stitchesandrustvintage.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/stitchesandrust
• Facebook: Www.Facebook.com@/stitchesandrust