Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Torres. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Sarah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Too often the media represents innovation as something magical that only high-flying tech billionaires and upstarts engage in – but the truth is almost every business owner has to regularly innovate in small and big ways in order for their businesses to survive and thrive. Can you share a story that highlights something innovative you’ve done over the course of your career?

I’ve always thought of “waste” differently. My mother had a floral event business out of our garage growing up. I would drag her buckets of leftover flowers to the side of the road with a sign displaying ” Sarah’s Flowers.” Neighbors would pull up and select stems in exchange for a couple of bucks. This was my first experience of my own business transaction.

This notion of making money out of trash continued as I grew older. I showcased upcycled t-shirt dresses in my high school talent show and started my first clothing line made from thrifted garments. Upcycling has always been a passion of mine.

2013, I started working at a deadstock fabric warehouse in downtown LA while continuing to work on my upcycled designs through my Etsy shop after work. For those unfamiliar, deadstock fabric is surplus fabric leftover from the fashion industry. Considered waste, this excess fabric is attempted to be sold for Pennis on the dollar before its last intention of heading to the landfill or, in some careless cases, incinerated.

In 2016, I was commissioned to create custom bridal party robes for my client Heron. We went through my day job warehouse to find fabrics matching her color palette. I made each robe out of a different color and texture, adding vintage inspire tassel fringe to the bottom hem and sleeves. This bride was featured in ‘Green Wedding Shoes,’ a popular wedding blog two years later. I was bombarded with inquiries as they tagged my upcycled Etsy shop. I sat and created a new business and Instagram in 4 hours and started taking orders for my new project, Camas Lilly Co.

My hustle continued in 2021 when I decided to take the leap from my day job and run Camas Lilly Co. full-time. Upon my exit, a handful of clients asked how I could continue to support their businesses by sourcing deadstock fabric for their brands. I launched Sew by Sew, named after my first clothing line out of college. Supporting wholesale clients eventually led me to support hobby sewists in finding Deadstock fabrics for their projects.

I love finding treasure in trash and finding homes for these discarded textiles. This departure from the conventional and polished view of the fashion industry allows me to bring education to the industry’s wastefulness.

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

My mom threw me on a pile of textiles and said, “Pick out fabrics for the jumpsuits and dresses we’re going to make for you.” We were at a massive warehouse in Oregon that sold ‘fabric by the pound.’ I started digging excitedly to find the perfect prints for my next sewing project. This encouragement for creativity at a young age allowed me to feel comfortable exploring as I grew older.

I continued to jump on piles of fabric and thrifted garments in search of unique textures and prints to upcycle into new designs. Turning twenty inspired me to leap into my creativity. I wanted to learn how to make everything, so I applied and went to Otis College of Art and Design enrolled in their Fashion Design program.

After six terms, the program felt too focused on the illustration and insufficient on the technical side. During a discussion with a teacher, she asked me what I wanted to do. I replied, “I want to start a clothing company made of upcycled material.” Her response has always stuck with me, and she said: ” Sure, people start businesses out of their garage all the time.” I had my permission slip to expand my creative ideas.

Exploring, upcycling, and educating myself on the dirty sides of the fashion industry inspired me to make a change. Fashion has a waste problem, and I’m here to explore how to solve it.

I am proud to share my sustainable values and solutions to change the fashion industry with my clients. With Sew by Sew, I provide a unique service that allows fellow small business owners and hobby sewers to upcycle fashion waste. Camas Lilly Co. creates a fresh take on custom bridal party gifts that are sustainable and made with zero waste efforts. I have built businesses I am excited to wake up to daily.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

After Heron picked up her bridal party robes, I remember thinking that offering custom-made-to-order, vintage-inspired ones would be a good idea. However, the style didn’t match my 90s-inspired upcycled Etsy shop Shred Threads. It wasn’t until one Sunday two years later, getting bombarded by brides wanting custom robes, that I would activate this idea and make it a reality. I remember being excited in my dining room, curating a bridal brand out of thin air. The feature of Green Wedding Shoes permitted me to create something that blends my passion for vintage, sewing, and sustainability. Creating custom gifts for bridal parties to wear and robes they’ll cherish and re-wear again and again.

Camas Lilly Co. started in my dining room. I would receive orders, gather fabrics from my day job at the deadstock fabric warehouse, lay materials on my dining room table, place my patterns, and cut in bulk. I created my production line by offering three easy ‘One Size’ robe styles ( Heron, Sheryle, and Victoria).

After a year of cutting and sewing every order, I asked for help. I found a project manager willing to take me on as a small-batch client. This is almost unheard of in the fashion industry— minimums for manufacturers average 100-300 pieces per design. I’m creating custom orders made-to-order to match each bridal wedding palette. These high MOQs felt discouraging as a young designer who wanted to make something bespoke and sustainable.

This was a huge learning experience for me. It helped me become confident in my offerings and inspired me to dream big picture. After a few manufacturing mishaps, I broke up with my production manager and put a pause on Camas Lilly Co.

I wanted to offer my clients products that I was proud of. In 2021, I reached out to my friend Rahnel, who started her own production company, CoLab Fashions, after working years in the industry for major brands. She educated me on the industry standards and had a mother-and-daughter team of contractors open to manufacturing in small batches. I am grateful for finding an all-women-led team working on Camas Lilly Co.

From a project that started in my dining room, expanding to an entire production team has been my most exciting milestone for Camas Lilly Co. I am proud to offer something new and sustainable to the wedding and fashion space. I look forward to finding more ways to upcycle textile waste into bespoke designs and gifts.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

After a couple of years of supporting designers, brands, and indie fabric stores in sourcing Deadstock fabric through Sew By Sew, I wanted to share my experience. Not everyone is familiar with the wastefulness of the fashion industry, and with TikTok on the rise, it was essential to share the ‘Behind the Seams’ of what I see daily.

In early March of 2023, I posted a video sharing how “I’m on a mission to keep textile waste out of the landfill.” My camera scanned a messy hallway with bolts of fabrics stacked on shelves about ten feet high. My eyes are large with amazement as I sit on a massive pile of “end cuts” ( smaller pieces not large enough to be on bolts), ending the video with a smile. These are leftover textiles from large fashion brands and manufacturers in Los Angeles. This still amazes, and it appeared to amaze over 500,000 viewers.

Hours later, the post went viral. Folks asking how they could get their hands on deadstock fabric and support my mission, too. I didn’t have the funding to start buying inventory, so I created ‘Mystery Bundles’ by the pound—each one curated by offering 12 colors and 12 trend aesthetics to choose from. One could purchase one pound of Pink Grunge, Cottage Core, Desert Dazed, or ten pounds of Lime Retro, Resort, or Canadian Tuxedo.

Since the launch, these mystery bundles have helped me save over 300 pounds of textile waste from heading to the landfill. I now offer a range of fabrics to choose from on my website www.sewbysew.com , curated by style, color, and content. Through Sew by Sew, I am proud to extend my deadstock offerings to various consumers seeking to find a sustainable solution for their next sewing project.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.camaslillyco.com and www.sewbysew.com
• Instagram: @camaslillyco @_sewbysew_
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-torres-159a8339/

Image Credits
Arlene Winfrey, Alyssa Hunter, Hanna Costello, Cherece Casale, Deon J.