Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Williams.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started sewing when I was young — small projects that my mom deemed me capable enough to work on. I’ve been in the dance world since I was 5, so as my abilities with sewing increased, I became interested in putting together parts of my solo costumes or customizing the costumes we ordered.
In college, I started trying to make a few costumes with A LOT of trial and error involved. At the time, I had to use the few activewear and lingerie patterns and video tutorials I could find online (I’ve looked at the available resources now, and the market has EXPLODED — there are so many more videos and creators making tutorials or walkthroughs of the dance costume-making process now).
As I started to teach and choreograph, I also began to costume my own students. After a bit of practice with these students, I started to advertise designs that I felt most comfortable with on Etsy. I had some experience with the platform as I had a small custom shoe-painting business when I was in high school (always the entrepreneur, haha).
It took a while to start to gain traction on Etsy, but once I changed the structure of my listings and started offering “custom” costumes rather than made-to-order costumes with set designs, messages started coming in.
At the start, I charged barely enough to cover my materials and overhead, paying myself less than minimum wage for hours and hours of work. But if anything, I consider it to have been SUCH a valuable learning opportunity, as I trialed new designs and had to find creative solutions to unique client requests. I learned what did and didn’t work for my own design process, dealt with some difficult customers, and also connected with some absolutely lovely people.
During this time, I bought a dance studio, and this gave me the opportunity to move my little costume shop into a small storage room in the facility. Doing both was difficult, but it also gave me access to fit models in all the sizes since my students were always happy to try on a costume for me to pin straps or mark hems.
Eventually, I had to move to a larger space — first moving my machines and fabric into my sister’s childhood bedroom, and then eventually taking up an entire rehearsal room at the dance studio as it expanded into a larger unit. At that point, I started hiring contractors to help me with portions of the work, including rhinestoning, applique sewing, and fabric cutting. After a year in this larger space, I hired an operations coordinator to manage communication with clients, social media, workflow management, and shipments.
After two years in the dance studio room, I decided to sell the dance studio to focus more primarily on my costume work, which was consuming the majority of my waking hours. I moved once again to my current location in Westside Costa Mesa, where there is warehouse space for industrial fabric roll holders, all of my many sewing machines, a fabric dyeing room, and a small photo studio.
At this point in my journey, I create anywhere between 20-35 costumes per month during the busy season. I work with dancers and studios all over the US, and my next goal is to break into the figure skating world.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Running a dance studio at the same time as trying to build this business was challenging. I often overcommitted to costuming work and felt like I had to choose between my original passion and this new one. Deciding to sell the studio was an incredibly hard choice, but I ultimately realized that while I loved those kids and that environment, I could serve the dance world better and with a healthier mental state as a costuming designer that still teaches and choreographs on the side.
Working out of my sister’s bedroom was a challenge in itself as well. As I started hiring contractors, I would either have to take material to their homes to cut, or coordinate with some of the rhinestoning assistants to come during times when I could be there. It’s a complete 180 turn now being able to virtually assign them work and allow them to come in to the design studio on their own schedules. Everything is in one place and it’s SO much more time efficient.
Client communication was one of the giant obstacles as well, as I would be constantly switching between patterning, sewing, and then back to my phone or computer to answer client questions or send updates. Back then, all design was done over messaging, which was not ideal due to miscommunications or long response times. Having Morgan, my operations coordinator has been a game-changer, and now I do design sessions on Zoom with a document camera and multiple screens where I can sketch out designs, look up unique findings like beaded fringe and three-dimensional appliques, and collaborate in real time with the client.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I design & create custom costumes for clients all over the US. My primary market is dancers, however I am slowly making my way into the figure skating world and circus/acrobatic world as well.
Over the years, I have refined my skills and I am always up for new challenges in creating unique pieces that stand out on stage.
There are many other talented individuals in the same space as me, but there are definitely aspects that set me apart. I don’t outsource my bases — everything is created by me in house from sourced materials and individual patterning techniques.
I also come from a dance background, so I understand what dancers need from their costumes in terms of functionality and fit.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love the diversity within the greater Los Angeles area. There are so many pockets of culture that I love to experience. The maternal side of my family is originally from Mexico, and while sometimes the general Orange County experience doesn’t reflect Latinx culture, you don’t have to go far to find mariachis and banda music. Latinx culture has started to become more and more ingrained in events that occur in the city, which I think is beautiful.
Within LA, the traffic and parking situation definitely leaves a lot to be desired. Public infrastructure should be more of a priority to encourage more use of public transit, and an extension of this out to the Orange County area would be amazing. Currently, most bus routes in my city (Costa Mesa) would take a similar amount of time to walking.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://avenuebluedesigns.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avenueBLUEdesigns/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avenueBLUEdesigns#
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avenueblue?
- Other: https://avenue-blue.com/
Image Credits
Personal Photo: C EVENT PICS
All Other Photos: Emily Williams
