I am SEW excited to introduce you to Kate Matlock of Sew Po. I have been researching the PDX neighborhoods in hopes to find the best one for me to simply put roots down when the time comes. I ventured into Sew Po, Kate's lovely fabric store, in the Mississippi Arts District (very cool and up and coming arts neighborhood) the demographic is all across the board in this neighborhood, down-to-earth, relaxed and simply calming. I even worked in a wi-fi cafe to get the full vibe of it and it reminded me of Austin, Texas...a city I'm very fond of still. I was very lucky to meet Kate. Tomorrow night we will be sewing dolls for Operation Comfort Doll, a project that donates these dolls to women in domestic abuse shelters.
I asked Kate the following questions and to share 3 of her favorite photos with us:
1. Who are you, what do you do, what is your passion?
I am Kate Matlock, owner of SewPo, a fabric shop in the Mississippi Arts district. I love fabric. Sometimes I make quilts with it, but that's just an excuse to acquire more fabric. Before I had the shop, I would just collect beautiful cotton prints. They were too pretty to cut up, so I would fold them up and take them out every once in awhile so I could "ooh" and 'ahh" over them. I also blog about my fabric obsession over at FabriKate by SewPo.
2. What inspired you to open your business, offer a service or teach a skill?
My husband is a big fan of comic books and his favorite comic shop is Bridge City Comics on Mississippi. I would tag along when Matt went to the comic shop, but usually after a few minutes of chatting about comics with Matt and whoever was working the counter, I'd be in over my head. During one of these visits, I was daydreaming about how great it would be if there was a fabric shop or yarn store for me to wander around in. I couldn't get the idea out of my head and with a ton of help from my family, I was lucky enough to make my daydream a reality.
3. What do you look forward to in 2012?
SewPo will celebrate it's 2nd anniversary in March 2012. We are still building connections, but after two years we have also met so many fabulous, talented people. I love finding out what projects my customers are working on--they are a huge source of inspiration! It is such an amazing feeling when someone comes in with their first completed quilt, or a story of a successful project they recently finished. For 2012, I really look forward to making sewing accessible, interesting and fun for even more people.
4. IF you could go back and do ONE thing over again, what would it be and why?
This is a tough question for me. Of course I have made mistakes in my life, but I feel that those mistakes helped shape me into me. Not that my life is perfect, but I am beyond fortunate to live in a city I love, to own a business I am passionate about, and to have a healthy family.
5. What advice do you offer to other people that want to follow their dream, passion or other?
The hardest part about following your dream is actually putting yourself out there. The fear of failure can be crippling, but never trying is a guarantee of failure. Some people may be more comfortable starting small (say an Etsy shop instead of a brick-and-mortar location), some people like to start off big. Either way, you need to define your goals, harness your fears and just jump right in.
