TULSA, Okla. — Sewing is one of the oldest professions. With Home Economics classes not provided as often, there is a great need for not only tailors but teachers.
Shaelynn Haning, owner of Tallgrass Tailor, is doing both.
Brides are just one of a growing list of clientele for Haning. That’s fitting because it was her marriage to a serviceman that would be the first swatch in her sewing career.
Haning is self-taught the old-fashioned way. “It was a little bit before the time of YouTube,” she said.
Ironically, she credits picking it up easily to her dad who taught her to weld.
“It’s oddly similar to sewing,” she explained. “In welding, seaming pieces of metal together is similar to stitching seams together.”
Moving a lot with her husband, she created a portable profession as a stay-at-home seamstress.
“As long as you have the know-how, you can take the minimal machines with you and go anywhere,” Haning said.
The couple eventually settled down in Tulsa. Cost of living made opening her dream of a shop easier than their East Coast roots. Business flourished more than she anticipated. Haning realized she was spending more time upfront handling clients and less time actually tailoring. So she came up with an idea.
There’s a pattern here.
Remember, sewing is a portable profession. So, she hired stay-at-home experienced tailors to lighten her load and grow the business.
“And do that work on their own time, in between nap schedules with kids and taking care of families while being able to provide,” she said.
Haning purchases machines for her employees. Today, she employs 12.
“It’s actually blossomed into a pretty big organization,” she said.
And, there is more to take in.
Haning created YouTube tutorials, originally, for her employees and a seamless operation. However, others started watching. Because YouTube can translate video into 50 different languages, Haning can hire and teach people without a language barrier.
21,000 subscribers later, new episodes of “The Sew Show with Shae” are uploaded weekly.
“We were able to use that and grow into this learn-to-sew platform.”
Turning something old into something new.
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