We were lucky to catch up with Kiersten Hoeg recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kiersten, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I’ve always been into sewing, I even went to sewing summer camps as a kid. Everything took a turn In 2016 my son was born. I took a dislike to the “boy” clothes offered in box stores. I wasn’t into a bunch of graphics and monster trucks. Not to mention some of the quality issues with them. Plus kids just grow so fast I was constantly replacing clothes. I found Grow with me (GWM) clothing patterns, which are clothes that have adjustable features and cover 3-5 sizes in regular straight sizing. After I posted some pictures of my son in his clothes I made, I had people reaching out to make them custom items, lots of birthday outfits etc. I found the custom fabric world on FB where I could buy unique designs. About 3.5 years ago I actually started printing my own fabrics. I work with several artists around the world for limited or totally commissioned designs. This makes my job incredibly fun, I get to have a random idea in my head drawn or painted out, made seamless and then printed on to fabric, then I get to take that and make some really fun clothes.

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

I create children’s clothing. One of my most popular styles are core foundation are Grow with Me styles. I made GWM hoodies, dolmans, pants, dresses, tunics and skorties. These are clothes that are adjustable for several sizes/years. For example one of my most popular sizes is 3-6y. It fits most 3-6 year olds. The cuffs are longer than standard so you can cuff or roll them to fit the child and then just uncuff them as they grow! I also make several straight sized styles like dresses, tees, jackets, shorts and tanks. I make sizes from preemie up to adult women and men’s.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

When I first started I was a new mom, and was able to stay home with him. I needed a creative outlet and something to do during nap times. I started out with a lot of themed birthday outfits. Someone would reach out and ask for a farm theme, or astronauts and I’d source the fabric that fit that and make an outfit for the party. This turned into repeat orders for first days of school, holidays, vacations etc. 3 key milestones were when I was able to start printing my own fabric which reduced my costs and allowed me more creative control over what I offered, I didn’t have to depend on what fabric shops had to offer. It also reduced my turn around time because the fabric would ship directly to me. A second milestone was being able to hire another seamstress. This allows me to cut down my turn around time as well as take on more orders. And the 3rd milestone was being accepted into Facebook showcases which allowed me a larger audience to showcase my clothes to.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I market primarily on Facebook. I have a small team of reps that model my clothes, and post pics for engagement. I also sell in various markets, showcases and in person vendor shows. Facebook showcases are primarily based on applications so you have to be accepted to sell in those. These showcases have different sized audiences from 5000-30,000 people shopping in them. These are amazing opportunities to get new customers.

Word of mouth is another huge one for me. I prefer an organic growth instead of basically spamming rep groups with advertising.

Contact Info:

• Website: Threadedlove.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/threadedlove
• Facebook: Facebook.com/threadedlove
• Other: Fb VIP group: Facebook.com/groups/threadedlovecustomclothing Relaunching Etsy this fall: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThreadedLoveCo