Rye Resident Sews Together Home Business

Kim Mulcahy’s dining table and kitchen counter are covered with scraps of fabric and projects in various states of completion.  Laid out with strips of material, there are baskets and pillows, as well as a sewing machine.

What’s coming together is a home business, Sew Happy Sewing that offers sewing classes to her extended network of neighborhood friends and their children.

Since March, Mulcahy has turned a gathering of ex-patriate friends into a promising sewing-class business.  Mulcahy has lived in Rye for two years and it was women from the ex-pat group that Mulcahy first started inviting over to share conversation and sewing tips.

“I’ve been with Kim from the start,” said Swedish neighbor Jessica Collins. “We love all the things she’s put together.”

The things Mulcahy has put together are what she calls “heirloom items” made into something useful and cherished instead of forgotten in a box in the attic.

She unfolds a baby blanket that has pieces from her grandmother’s cashmere sweater, her husband’s old shirts and a tablecloth from her wedding. It’s pieces are no longer dusty relics hidden in a closet. They’ve been transformed into something to be used that also has history and value.

A long way from her native England, Mulcahy stitched ties to a group of women that includes transplants from Sweden, Holland, Belgium and South Africa. It was get-togethers with this core group of women that gave her the idea of offering sewing lessons to pass along sewing skills and to earn extra income.

“Kim has all the extras you need,” said Laura Booth-Freda.  Kim’s baskets of fabric scraps, spools of thread and canisters of glitter were sources of inspiration for a Christmas stocking Booth-Freda was putting together for her son. “Instead of getting stymied working by myself, Kim’s here.”

“We talk so much,” said Collins” “it’s really sociable.”

Mulcahy looks over the Booth-Freda’s shoulder offering guidance on her project.

Different bits of material turn into representations of her son’s childhood: an orange cat, the Eiffel Tower, even the Statue of Liberty. Booth-Freda has a bit of fabric to represent a poinsettia and plans to add a skier.

“The technique has been remarkably easy,” said Booth-Freda.

“What people like here is that when they get stuck, they don’t feel abandoned,” said Mulcahy. “I know how to fix it.”

Around her house, Mulcahy has made curtains, pillows, and even re-upholstered her living-room chairs. For her classes, she adapts projects she finds in books and even takes cues from her students. These small projects are fodder for learning sewing skills that might otherwise be daunting.

Mulcahy picks up a pillow she used to teach teenagers to make proper buttonholes and then points to a monster puppet she will teach to elementary school students.

Starting with pillows and projects from craft books, helps kids to gain traction and confidence before they take on garments or more ambitious projects.

“They need experience first, there’s a lot to understand,” Mulcahy said. When they see the finished product of their handiwork, “they are so proud of themselves.”

That’s not just true of the teens Mulcahy teaches. “The women are very pleased with themselves too,” she said.

Mulcahy learned how to sew from her mother and grandmother. “This requires craft and skill,” she says. Yet she strives to make sure sewing is neither intimidating nor overly complicated. “I’m not a by-the-book sewer.”

Perhaps because of the economy or even an interest in recycling, Mulcahy says she’s found more people are looking to sewing as a way to re-use the resources they already have and to save money around the house or on alterations, even to find an outlet for their creativity.

“I’m grateful,” said Booth-Freda about Mulcahy’s willingness to teach her sewing techniques, “or no one would have taught me.”

At the kitchen counter, as Booth-Freda frets over her Christmas stocking, the women compare notes. Mulcahy says she took an interest in learning to sew from her mother and grandmother, but her sister didn’t.

“It used to be part of our high school curriculum,” remembers Booth-Freda. Collins recalls boys and girls in Sweden learning woodworking and sewing.  “It’s lost its place, they need it back,” said Booth-Freda.

Mulcahy has plans to do just that, teaching after school clubs to sew at Milton, Osborn and Resurrection schools and continuing to offer lessons to teens at her home.

The sense of accomplishment and practicality that sewing offers turns out to be just as relevant as it was in past generations.

Eventually Mulcahy would like to offer four classes during the week and the after –school programs. Having a sewing business strongly appealed to Mulcahy who is ready to get back to work now that her daughter is 6. “I like the feel of working from home,” she said.

But Mulcahy is also savvy about her market. “I try to keep it priced right.” Besides the classes, Mulcahy says she also offers private tutoring sessions, $25 for two hours, for those who might want to drop in for help with their projects. A beginner's class starts on September 12.

She notes that right now the only other sewing classes in the area are Nimble Thimble in Port Chester and Hartsdale Fabric, neither of which offer the personal touch she gives at her dining room table.

“I want to end up with a lovely little shop in town,” Mulcahy said. “But people seem to really enjoy the idea of sitting in my kitchen, learning to sew and sharing conversation.”