Interview - Aurora Interview

Hi, I'm Kelly Pederson Hanson. And today I am going to be interviewing Aurora Sisneros. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, Aurora? Sure. I have to say that I'm one of the lucky few people that gets to do what they love every day. It's not very often that people get to turn a hobby into a career, and I feel like I've been able to do that. I've been sewing since the age of probably eight years old. My mom is a master seamstress. She did a whole bunch of tailoring out of the basement all the years that I was growing up. And so of course, I fell into sewing that way. And then, of course, I got into knitting not too long ago as well. And so now I own a fabric shop and a yarn shop and I sell supplies. And I get to teach other people all day long how to stress relief by using sewing and knitting, to kind of de-stress from their daily lives. A lot of people don't have creative jobs during the day. And so this is something that they can come and do to get that creative aspect in their life. It's probably very much a social outlet. I myself had worked in quilt shops, and fabric stores. And I know that when the customers come back time and time again, they become like family. Do you have a lot of return repeat customers? We do. We have a lot of repeat customers, and we have a lot of repeat class takers. And I find that a lot of the repeat class takers, they don't necessarily need the class. They're coming for the social aspect of it. You get to be in a room with five other people who are all very passionate about, you know, what they're doing and learning. And it's also an excuse for people to step away from their family for three hours and get something done. I hear over and over a lot of people don't get the chance to craft when they're at home because, you know, they have to make dinner or they're cleaning or they have kids to take care of. So it's an excuse for them to come and actually have some three hours of personal time to take a class, Do you have a special project that you really enjoy doing that just comforts you and maybe relaxes you a little bit at the end of the day? My favorite things to do are just little gifts. I like to make very small short projects like infinity scarves or little zippered bags, things like that. They're very quick, and it's instant gratification sort of project. And then when you're done with them, you can kind of file them away in the closet, and then when someone's birthday comes along, you're like, "I made this just for you." Yeah. I was thinking of you the whole time. Yes. Which isn't necessarily true. But, you know, it's those little things that really brighten people's day that I can do. Yes. And are you going to make sure that those people don't watch this interview that you've been giving these gifts to- I really did think of you the whole time I was sewing that So do you have a favorite machine to sew on? You know, I don't particularly have a favorite machine, which I think is odd. I've owned several different brands of sewing machines. The sewing machines we teach on in the shop are far off machines. And I found that my personal sewing machine that I had was all electronic and it was digital and had all the bells and whistles and the thread cutter- Yeah and things like that. And the machines that we teach on now don't have any of those things. And I find that they're a little bit easier for students to work on. And I actually sold my big fancy machine because I just wasn't using it anymore. So for the general purpose sewing that we do, I just think a basic beginner machine as long as it's all metal parts, I feel has been working just great. Wonderful. Yeah Are you married? I am. I married. My husband actually owns the business with me. So we get to work together a lot, which is really quite fun. We actually met at an IT company. Him and I were both in IT for... Let's see, I was there for 11 years, and he was there for 13. So we met there and that's how we developed a relationship and fell in love. So we're very excellent at working together, and so we get to share that. It's really nice. Oh, that is nice. So you get to spend a great deal of time with him? I do. Oh, that's wonderful. What's your favorite thing to do when you're not in your studio? My favorite thing to do when I'm not in my studio is probably to be outdoors. We're very avid mountain bikers. We like to go hiking. I just learned how to fly fish this last year. Oh. So yeah. That's what I wanted for my birthday. Was fly fishing boots and I was very excited I got those for my birthday. Of course I did want a sewing machine all a long, fly fishing boots. But, you know, it's nice when you... Even though I love my job and I love sewing, and creating and making things, sometimes it's nice to just be out, you know, in the wilderness. You know, being living in Denver, Colorado, there's a lot of access to some beautiful places. So it's nice to get out and enjoy the outdoors and kind of step away from the sewing machine Once in a while. I just have to ask you, because I've known so many people who have got shop cats. Do you have a shop cat? I don't have a shop cat. We have two cats at home, and they're not very well behaved. So they have to stay at home. And I do have a big dog, but I'm trying to convince my husband that we need to shop dog. A shop dog? Yeah, a small one. So we'll see how that goes. Yeah. Well, along with sewing, I know that you are experts sewer. Do you quilt? I do quilt. You know, I discovered quilting when I was in college. I learned how to sew when I was younger, and then once you get into high school, it's clearly not cool to sew your own clothes in high school. So I kind of abandoned sewing for a couple of years. I got into college and I discovered quilting. And, you know, I bought a nice big machine with, you know, big area for the quilt to go through, and I just went nuts and it was a whole lot of fun. And I still quilt to this day. I only make quilts though, for special friends who are having babies or who are getting married. Oh, that's wonderful. Yeah Do you have a lot at home of your own? You know what? I don't. I don't have a single one. I make them and I give them all away. Sounds like I need a project, right? I think you need a project. Absolutely. What is your favorite tool, when you are working in the shop? My favorite tool, I think would have to be the iron off pen. I don't really know how I even lived without it, and I just discovered it maybe two years ago. But when I'm doing quilting, there's a particular quilt I love to make that has radii. And you have to drive from one end of the quilt to the other and you have to draw the lines. I just can't eyeball it. I'm not that creative. And I find chalk pencils, they wouldn't come up very easily. And then they would kind of the thread would get that color, and these iron off pens have just been awesome for me. So I can just draw my lines right on my quilt or I can draw my Knossos zone right on my tote bag, so that I know where I'm turning it inside out. I draw on the back of my pajama pants, so I know what the front is and what the back is and all of my iron off pen, and it's been fabulous. Oh, wonderful. Yeah. Do you have a project that just stands out in your mind that you've done that has some sentimental value to you? Yes, it's actually a quilt, which is kind of funny you ask. I made three quilts out of my husband's late mother's clothing for him and his two sisters. And I have to admit, it was really kind of scary to get started. You know, I have all these bins of clothing, and I had them in my house for a good year, year-and-a-half before I could even find a project that was, you know, a quilt pattern that was worthy of doing it. And finally, I got up the courage and I was able to make these three beautiful quilts for all three of them. And as much as I love sewing whenever I teach my, you know, quilting class, Yes. I always make sure I tell my students that this is something that you give to somebody and it means something. I've never given a sewing gift where three grown adults have burst into tears. It was absolutely fabulous. Oh, that is so sweet. It was very wonderful. Have you ever joined a quilt guild or a sewing guild? You know, I haven't. I did join a couple of sewing meetups before I opened the shop just so that I could be with like minded people. And, you know, we could eat brownies and drink soda and, you know, make whatever we were making and just kind of chat about it. So there's a social aspect to sewing that I think is really important. And so finding a meetup group kind of met that need for me because at the time, I didn't have any, you know, close friends who sewed. Now that I have the shop, of course, I forced them all to take classes and now they're all experts. But, you know, before, meeting up with other people is great. That's wonderful. Do you ever get an opportunity just to sew for your spare time at home? I don't. I have to admit that I don't have a sewing machine in my house anymore. Because I have the studio, all of my things have come out of what is now my husband's office. It used to be his office but of course I took it over with all my sewing gear, you know, just kind of- That's great. spreads grows. So now it's all at the studio. But I do have to admit that there are days where I'm like, you know what, "I have all this inventory I have to do, and I have all these website updates that I have to do and accounting and I just don't feel like doing it." So I just put it all off because none of it's really urgent, like my old IT job where everything was always urgent, and I'll just sew all day long. And I'll come, you know, customer walk in, I have a bell on the door, and so I'll go over and chat and, you know, do that kind of thing. But, you know, when I really want to sew, I will. I mean, I'll make time for it. It's important. Do you have a favorite outfit to sew in? If I could sew in my pajamas, I would but now that- Right. I sew at work all day. Yeah, I actually had a special pair of pajama pants I made for myself that I used to sew in. Oh. Yeah It's always so comfortable. I know. Because sewing is very cathartic. Really is. You sit and you quilt or you sew, and you find yourself lost in your own thoughts. Right. Right? Exactly. Yeah. And the thing that I love most about making something, is you don't think about the bad day you had. You don't think about what you have to do tomorrow. You literally live in the moment. It's kind of like yoga, without all the sweating and bending. You know, you're definitely kind of lost in the moment. And I feel like that's becoming a little more, you know, sewing and knitting and crafting and just making something with your own two hands is becoming so much more popular because a lot of people have a lot of other responsibilities. You know- Exactly There's women who have really... I'm learning that women have a lot of responsibility in the workplace, probably more than they ever have. And being a woman who had a lot of responsibility, I was crafting, like crazy when I came home in order to kind of de-stress from all of that. You know, I mean, a lot of my days were, you know, I would get paged at two in the morning, and I've got, you know, 30 people on a conference call and everybody is panicking like, I'm supposed to be saving a life and everybody's depending on me. And it's a lot of responsibility. So you really need to separate yourself from that and do something that allows you to be in yourself and be- Yes. who you are, and kind of step away from that role. So I feel like there's a resurrection in this kind of thing, because a lot of women especially, you know, women in the workplace and stay at home moms, that's a full time job. Yes. I mean, So, you know, everybody needs a little bit of a break from their life. So... Do you feel that your life has settled down a little bit? You don't have that sense of urgency now that you're in your own business? Absolutely. It's funny, when I switched from IT to running this fabric store, my automatic response was to kind of like, panic. "Well, Oh, my gosh, I told this customer, this fabric was gonna be here, and this fabric isn't here, and what am I going to do?" And then I was like, "Wait a minute. I'm pretty sure that they're not going to panic." So I had to kind of retrain myself- Yes. you know, being so many years in that, you know, urgent environment where everything needs to be done 20 minutes ago, you know. To step back to fabric, it's been a really, really great therapeutic thing, even for me. And people are always telling me, you know, "Well, how can you say that, you know, running a fabric store is so much less responsibility? You're responsible for the inventory, and the cleaning, and the accounting, and the teaching, and the planning and, you know, management." And the thing for me is nothing is ever urgent. Nothing is urgent in sewing and in knitting. It's just about living right in the moment and enjoying yourself. Oh, exactly. Yeah So here's a fun question for you. I have this wonderful fabric stash at home because I'm a fabricholic. Do you consider your shop as your stash? Yes. Yes. You know- That's right. Someone asked me that the other day. I was telling somebody that when I was in choir, I had to sell candy bars to raise money- Yes It was in grade school. And I pretty much ate all the product. I remember once I was done, I was supposed to turn in my money. And I was short. I operated at a loss, my very first business endeavor Oh, no. Because I ate all the product. Yes. So I'm always telling people that story because there's a lot of times where, you know, I don't feel like, you know, I need a little therapy myself. So I'll just walk around and be like, "Which one of you is coming with me right now?" So yeah, I'm constantly, I mean, lucky for me, you know, I can write it off as an expense because it becomes something in, you know, to show off or feature in the shop. Exactly. But yeah, I'm constantly eating my product. Oh, that's wonderful. That's what I'd say. Yeah. I bet you travel to a lot of shows so that way you can get out there more. You know, I actually don't travel to a lot of shows. Oh. Yeah. I would like to, but being only two years old, I have to be very budget conscious. So my favorite thing to do is before I go to bed on my tablet is I read sewing blogs. And I kind of keep my pulse on the industry, not because of what the manufacturers are telling me to buy, but what the people are talking about. "Oh, my gosh, I found this new fabric from this designer, and it's fabulous and I love it." And, you know, if I see people talking about things, that's when I start to buy in order to start a shop. Wonderful. Yeah. Do you kind of feel like sewing is who you are or is it what you do? I feel like it's who I am. That's a great question. I feel like it is who I am. It's always kind of been who I was. I've been sewing for a lot of years. And teaching has been a whole other aspect of sewing. Yes. I feel like because I'm so passionate about sewing and I love what I do, it's really easy to tell people how to sew something. And then I'm almost like a cheerleader in class too. Yes. It's probably a little annoying, but they'll come at, you know, everybody will do their top stitch around their tote bag. And I'll be like, "Oh- Right. "Dude, doesn't nothing work great, and doesn't it come out great?" And they're like, "Yeah," and I'm like, "Yeah". I mean, it really gets me excited that people, you know, are able to finish something and feel accomplished. Oh, absolutely. Yeah There's no greater joy as there. I totally agree. When they walk out with a smile on their face. Right? Mm-hmm. When you first teach them to sew it almost feels like you're telling them some kind of secret of the universe. They really are like, "This was amazing. I had so much fun. And I didn't know I could do this." And, you know, I mean, that's what I'm here for. I really want to show everybody how absolutely wonderful it is, how satisfying it is. And people think a lot, Oh, yeah. Sewing, it's so boring, and your grandma and blah, blah, blah, and all this stuff. But, you know, as soon as they do it, they get it. They're like, "This is awesome. And I love to do it. And, you know, what kind of sewing machine should I buy, and, you know, what tools do I need?" And, you know, they just want to get into it. Right. Have you had a lot of education in sewing? You know what? I have had none. I have a degree in computer science, which is kind of funny. But my mom taught herself how to sew, so she hasn't had any education either. I don't do any real technical garment sewing. I could if I put my mind to it. We do very simple things like dresses, skirts, you know, things like that. But I'm not very into the technical, you know, I'm going to make my own pair of slacks because I also do have a shopping problem. And I like to go shopping for those kinds of things. So everything I've learned has just been, you know, from- Experience. learning online and experience and watching my mom for all those years. Wonderful. Yeah. Have you done like draperies at all? I have done draperies. You have? Yes, I've done draperies, throw pillows for the home, you know. And those are simple projects that, you know, and especially if you look at them every day, so you feel really satisfied like, "These curtains are way better than anything I could have found, you know, at a Big-box store. Okay, we're gonna start closing up here, but I need to ask you the most important question of all. Mm-hmm. Favorite food. My favorite food? Absolutely. Favorite food, foodies. Would it be weird if I said eggs? No, because that's mine. I love eggs. Oh my gosh. I can't get enough of them. I boil them for breakfast. Oh. Although my husband is an excellent cook. And he made me this morning, his famous potatoes with scrambled eggs. And then you put cheese and wrapped them- Yes. with potato, yeah. Very good. Eggs for breakfast, is my thing. Oh, my thing too- Yeah. I always go out for breakfast with the girlfriends? Yeah. It's it's pretty funny, too my brother is a chef. And so his favorite thing to cook is the egg. So he's always worked at breakfast places too, because, you know, the egg is his thing too. It must run in our family. The egg is hereditary. If you're going to go out for a special dinner. What would be your choice? There is this... Oh, boy. That's a good question. There is this lovely little Italian place in my neighborhood. It is the smallest tiniest little place you ever did see. It seats, maybe 14, 15 people. And it's a small business too because I'm one I kind of identify, and it's very lovely. Excellent food. Wonderful. So nice getting to know you more, and- Absolutely. We're going to be working together so much. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you so much for coming. And my pleasure And getting to meet us. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Thank you very much. Have a good night.