Meet Margaret Jane | Seamstress & Pattern Developer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Margaret Jane and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Margaret, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Kindess! Honestly, I’ve only been open for a little over a month now. I assumed I’d be doing one-off custom clothing orders for the most part, but during the launch a few small businesses reached out to me wanting to know if I could do their small-batch manufacturing. That kind of work was my five-year goal… So I have this big win really early on in my story, and I have to accredit it to how these women heard about me. They met people who I had interacted with in life. It’s such a compliment! They heard a little about who I was as a person and what I do, and that’s all they needed to reach out. I’d say the impression you leave on people in day to day life matters a lot in the growth of your business. Don’t just be kind to your clients, be kind to everyone. And not just because you want business. Do it because people are valuable.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I help people bring their ideas about clothing to life. It’s an incredibly rewarding line of work. My customers lay out their ideas with whatever artistic language they have at their disposal, and I give it a technical backbone. I guess you could say I’m an artist who supports other artists? I’ve been making clothes for other people for years. However, it took a while for me to be really good at it. My creative journey has been a long walk, full of trial and error. My degree is in fashion design, but my start was in ripping up clothes from goodwill and putting them back together. I made my own patterns, discovered different techniques, and it was all so organic until I went to school. I think refining is a great word to describe my experience. The way I learned to make clothes serves me in what I do. I’ve been taught proper technical skills, but I know how to explore and push a process until I’m thrilled with the result. I can actually look my customers in the face and tell them “I can bring that idea to life, no problem”, and really mean it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Dallas, Texas. So it really depends on what your vibe is. I like walking around White Rock Lake. There’s great restaurants in Lower Greenville, Bishop Arts, Uptown. It’s interesting with social distancing… we’d get creative. A loooooot of picnics and long walks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Allison Hall aka the Small Creative

Website: https://www.margaretjane.com
Instagram: margaretjanemakes

Image Credits
Rebecca Chapman, Quinn Beaupré