Stretch Velvet Gymnastics Leotard from Eastsidelights on Etsy
Like many of us, my full time day job just doesn't pay me enough to pay all the bills, especially in New York.
I have had to come up with multiple creative ways to make ends meet and provide for my loved ones.
Years ago, when I was coaching in the small rural town of Tillamook on the Oregon coast, I started to sew leotards for the kids I worked with so they could look good when they went into the city to compete. They could not afford expensive commercial leotards, but I wanted my little YMCA team to feel confidant so I bought some fabric and made them myself.
Fast forward several years and I am living a new life in New York thanks to a reunion with my high school sweetheart. I work at an expensive children's school and activity center on the Upper East Side and a mom there told me she was trying to find a purple velvet leotard for her daughter's birthday. I told her I could sew one for her. She was delighted and told me I should sell on Etsy.
I am a subway ride away from a fabric junkie's fantasy land, the Garment District. Here I can find fabric for a fraction of what I paid at JoAnn fabrics back in my Oregon days. Rent is too damn high and takes up most of my teaching paycheck so I got to thinking maybe I can sew some leotards to sell.
I can not actively market at the school where I work, here I am strictly word of mouth, but I get a lot of orders from little towns around the country, probably not unlike the one I moved here from. I keep my prices around what it cost me to produce and sell leotards 10 years ago, thanks to the great deals I get on materials here.
I don't pay the rent with my Etsy Shop, Eastsidelights, but I make enough to pay my utility bills, and keep investing in fun new fabrics for the next season. I sew when I get home from work and on my days off from flipping kids around the gym. It's a labor of love and if if makes some little girl feel special...so much the better.
Get pretty velvet leotards for your little gymnast or dancer here.
Take 10% off your order of $20 or more through Nov. 15, 2013 using coupon code FALLFUN.
Thanks!