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

Universe , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

As I grew up I’d up cycle thrift clothes I’d find hot gluing things together. I then started to teach myself to hand stitch before I could buy an actual machine. People would see my clothes I’ve made & be interested in how I’d put it together that made me want to teach myself more. I would teach myself how to make patterns draw out my ideas and how to actually use a machine to work faster.. with being a designer knowing how to sew is one thing but an essential skill to that would be pattern making and illustration. I would a lot of times face disadvantages like learning fabrics what goes with what and what type of stitches work best with particular fabrics it’s definitely been a lot of trial and error.

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.

As an adolescence I grew up watching my great grandmother sew, she’d wake up early mornings and sit at her coffee table sewing,making dresses with patterns she’d buy from the fabric/Crafts store. We’d watch those old ad shows of the ladies modeling clothes of the new catalog being sold on television. This really sparked my love for fashion. I grew up really into vintage fashion and up cycling my thrifted clothes I’d go out and find. I always wanted to look stylish and different from the others at school so I’d make a lot of my clothes and wear platforms and just always be really fashionable. An old friend of mine’s mother loved my style and knew I could sew and pattern make so she asked me if i could help sew her ideas up , this turned into me actually helping her design a lot of those pieces mixing our ideas together for her to later use all of them in a fashion show. From that moment I knew i could really make this bigger than just me wearing my creations. I wanted to see other people in my creations loving and flaunting my crafts. What sets me apart from others is my vintage style and passion for what I do , but it’s more than that with me, it makes me genuinely happy to see others smiling and loving what was once just an idea in my head or a doodle illustration I wrote down. I’m mostly proud of myself for really taking that step forward believing in myself and becoming serious about my craft. I provide a whole experience, with my illustrating, pattern making, and styling.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The social media world has been the best source of new clients. I’ve been able to connect with people all over Instagram sending out my favorite looks or bags I’ve made. As well as just being consistent with the content posting bags and different clothing id make. To even going simi viral on tick tock for a “how to make” video I created a while back. Also Just being in the real world rather I’m shopping at target and someone says “ omg I love your bag” and I’m telling them I made it there faces lights up and it goes from me showing them my work and social media pages to me handing them my card telling them how they can contact me . Or me at fashion events connecting with other creatives and others that would like to have my bags or clothing pieces.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective way to grow clientele for me is just being personable friendly and relatable with everyone I meet. Giving out business cards to those I meet out. Also social networking on instagram not being afraid to message those certain influencers.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Universalunii
• Other: Unity collection’s business Instagram @Unity.collect

Image Credits
Photos credit to Mark & Mike