Natalie and Louise opened Sew Necessary in November, to offer the community of Medicine Hat high quality fashion fabric, custom clothing, and sewing classes.
Louise has sewn her entire life and always wanted to own a fabric store, but she wanted a business partner for the venture. When Natalie offered to join, the duo started the process of opening their first business together.
They opened the store to inspire people to create, “It’s an art to sew your own clothes and to wear them with pride,” says Natalie. “With good quality products, people can make good quality clothing for themselves that is tailored to their body.”
The journey of opening the doors started slowly, until they were recommended to reach out to Community Futures Entre-Corp. Natalie and Louise were connected with Jordan Pomrenke and Greg Scott, who are business analysts with Community Futures Entre-Corp.
“Once we sat with them, everything moved quicker. They looked at everything to help us succeed. They were encouraging while keeping everything realistic,” says Natalie. “We talked about numbers and scenarios. It was great how they worked with us, and it was very positive.”
They reviewed and polished their business plan, budgeting sheets, and inventory pricing. Then, the duo was ready to set up shop and purchase inventory. The Capital Growth Initiative Loan they received went towards inventory and materials for renovations, like flooring and paint.
All updates to the building were done by Natalie and Louise, with the help of family and friends.
With an open storefront, Jordan and Greg connected Natalie and Louise with Grace Evans, who supports small business owners in polishing their brand digitally through marketing and design with Community Futures.
“It was a huge help getting the website started. One Grace built the basics and had the website up and running, I was able to take over from there. The platform she signed us up on has great customer support. We’ve made massive changes to our website. We’ve added sections for sewing courses, as well as our entire inventory,” says Natalie.
Louise and Natalie offer a “Sew before you Know” course and from there people can book beginner, intermediate and advanced garment making classes. One-on-one classes are also offered to those working on a personal project.
People can also bring custom ideas to Sew Necessary, whether it’s a piece they already own and want in a different print of or a photo of a piece they would like to add to their closet.
“Louise sews it all up, and then they come and try it on to make sure it fits to their liking,” says Natalie.
Find Sew Necessary online at sewnecessarymh.com, on Facebook at Sew Necessary, and in person at #101 1501 Dunmore Road SE.
