We recently connected with Hillary Davis and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Hillary, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I believe we’re all makers, and getting back to the roots of using creativity to make things with our hands is invaluable for our mental health and general well-being. I’m also a practical person, so making with an end purpose in mind is much more appealing to me than making just for the sake of making. Ultimately I’m happier when I can get good use out of the things that I spend time making. Thus, sewing.

For the past decade-plus, I worked as an in-house graphic designer. So, I was fortunate to have a career that was based on creativity with a practical twist. I’d still find myself feeling disconnected from my brain and totally burned out at times. I later made the connection that I could directly correlate my burnout periods with how often I was making time to sew. Both were creative yet fulfilling in a useful sense, so they both tickled my brain in all the good ways, yet the big difference was how I was creating, and it being tangible versus conceptual.

So back to my mission – I want to empower people to feel confident making, and in my case specifically, sewing. I want to spark the “I can” mentality that will lead them to a life of tangible making. I find that so many people that I meet, and so many of my students, have adopted the “I can’t” mentality. “I’m not good at this” or “I’m not a crafty person”. I’m not sure when in our lives we adapt that mentality, if it’s a weird puberty thing, or what – but I often joke in my adult classes that they’re part sewing classes, part therapy sessions. When I teach kids, they dive in head first and are there to have fun. They don’t care about straight lines or weird finish products. They use their scrap fabric to make the weirdest, most enduring creations and they just do. not. care. what it looks like. They leave my class with an infinite excitement to continue sewing, making, and creating which for me as the teacher is as rewarding as it gets, so I try to help bleed some of that mentality into my adult classes. Yes, we do a lot of talking about settings and technicalities – but in the end, my goal is to make sure they leave my class with something tangible that they made, and that they proved to themselves that they can and that in doing so, they had a good time. I preach that sewing isn’t black and white, there isn’t a “right” way per se, and that whatever way you find brings you joy and relaxation is right for you – as long as those pieces of fabric are sufficiently stuck together and you are happy with it. And hey – while we’re at it, let’s go ahead and be conscious of how bad fast fashion and consumerism are and feel proud that we’re going to be making our own stuff, that we will hold on to longer, and find out joy in creating instead of buying… but that’s a conversation for another day.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Can you please tell our readers about yourself, how you got into your industry / business / discipline / craft etc,

I grew up with a mom who sewed, so that was definitely an inspiration for me, and she did teach me the basics. However, I really got into sewing after college when I was broke, but wanted nice clothes for my office job. I would go to thrift stores and alter or change clothing I bought there to fit me or create something new and fun out of them. A little later, I learned about the perils of fast fashion and the toll it takes on the environment and society, and vowed not to buy any new clothes. I lasted about 5 years and made or thrifted everything I wore, including my underwear and wedding dress. This forced me to learn to sew my clothes if I wanted something new and trendy or had a vision in my head that I couldn’t find in thrift stores.

What type of products/services/creative works you provide, what problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others.

I teach sewing workshops for adults and kids from absolute never-even-looked-at-a-sewing-machine-before to people who want to make their own clothes. All my workshops are very beginner friendly. I also provide a community for sewists with free stitch social nights, open studio memberships, and a free sewing machine library that allows people to borrow my machines and take them home for 2 weeks at a time.

I also do private lessons and parties. My workshops are super fun, laid back, and friendly. I keep them really small (5-6 people) so I can give attention to everyone to make sure everyone leaves feeling comfortable and ready to continue sewing. I provide everything – sewing machines, fabric, notions, and even drinks and snacks – so people can just show up and not have to worry about figuring out what they need to bring and what’s what in the sewing world.

What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc.

I’m proud of the amount of work I put into making the barrier to entry non-existent. I strive to make sure my students feel comfortable, and the environment is friendly and inviting. My job is to make my students’ sewing journey as positive as possible and help foster their growth.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

It may sound cheesy, but the two things I’ve found that has worked well with this business and stands apart from previous failed side hustles are truly 120% believing and living what you’re selling, and giving as much resources and perceived free resources and opportunities to your audience as possible.

The first one is obvious – you can’t always sound like a salesperson, you need to sound like a person who is truly in love with what you’re selling and truly believes that what you’re offering will make someone else’s life better in some way. We’re smart animals and can sense the difference.

The second one has worked well for me so far because people interact with and know about my brand because they want to be a part of what I’m doing and the community I’m creating – without feeling like they have to spend money to do so. They usually do eventually become customers, or tell other future customers about me. Some ways I do this are:
-I offer free stitch social nights where we hang out and make things together. Anyone is welcome to come and I make sure it’s a welcoming space.

-I have a resources page on my website that gives people a wealth of information to help them on their sewing journey.
-I do free craft swaps in my community which allows people to clean out their craft rooms, and then come take craft and sewing supplies for free.
-I have my free sewing machine library, that anyone can borrow from. These are machines that were donated to me by the community, so they aren’t costing me anything other than small upkeep.
-I started a facebook group that I don’t try to sell my services in, it’s not even directly related to my business, but instead is a general sewing group for my area for people to connect and ask questions. In doing so, I positioned myself, the admin, as the subject matter and community expert.

Have you ever had to pivot?

This business is a huge pivot for me. I had a great career and achieved what I thought I always wanted to achieve – I climbed the ladder and became a creative director of an established company. And yet… I was incredibly miserable. That was in part because I had a baby deep during Covid times, worked through post-partum depression, and wasn’t sleeping – but I also wasn’t finding any kind of respite or purpose in the work I was doing. So, I was fortunate enough to be able to quit my job to be poor but happy and start my own business. On a smaller scale, I am constantly pivoting my business. Sometimes my workshop themes flop, sometimes they’re a success, sometimes the fabric I choose is a hit and sometimes it’s a miss – I am constantly adapting what I’m offering to fit what people want. The important thing is, I’m pivoting within my beliefs. I’m not going to offer a class that I’m not passionate about or change any fundamental part about how I’m teaching – if someone doesn’t like that, then they aren’t the right customer for me, and that’s ok. I wouldn’t be able to follow my principle of truly believing in what I’m doing if I pivoted outside of my beliefs.      

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sewhillary.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thats.sew.hillary/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thats.sew.hillary

Image Credits
Ashley Jayde Photography ashleyjaydephotography.com