Homespun E5 | Stephanie Organes

[Music] welcome to Homespun where creativity Finds Its voice I'm your host Misty D join me each week as we dive into the mind of designers industry experts and individuals as they share their unique processes their inspiration and their creative Journeys it's going to be a wild ride this week I'm talking to Stephanie organes an incredible fabric designer with Andover Fabrics hailing from Mexico City meico I know you're going to love her story I'm so excited to be here with Stephanie organis Stephanie thank you so much for joining me today I really appreciate it you know virtually even if we can't be in person I know hi VY I'm here thank you for having me it's always an absolute Delight to talk to you I I just love you to death so for those that maybe don't know you can you tell everybody a little bit about yourself yes of course well thank you for having me and well I'm I'm Stefan organis I'm from Mexico City and uh well I'm a fabric designer for Andover Fabrics awesome and how did you get started designing Fabrics H it was yeah it it comes a long way like I started designing fabric just a couple of years ago but I think I have a like I start like I've been always like very creative since I was a child like I I've been always very drawn to uh all kind of crafts and and doing like uh scrapbooking and well since I was a kid I always love like I remember always buying like crayons that that was like always drawing like um yes that is something that I really enjoyed since since I was a kid so um when I grew up and I I wanted to well I I I went to University I was between studying graphic design and starting marketing so this was really tough because I was like oh I like both but at the end like I I took a year off and I went to Italy for a year uh to study in in Florence so this year uh was like really how you say it like very decisive or very because like living there I started like uh art history and a lot of uh you know painting classes and drawing and just being there like surrounded about all these beautiful art and museums and everything like that's when I really realized I like no what I'm gonna do in marketing I I have to stud design so I yeah so I went to University I went back home and I studied graphic design and from there uh like I well I graduated and then I I worked for um and in advertising and publicity and then in packaging design and so you got to use both both design and marketing in that way yeah exactly I I yes it was very good because I get to be in the creative part of like uh doing campaigns and everything but also Pro producing the art uh all the graphics and so it was good because I I learned of both so yeah and and and after that I uh well I was working and also advertising is very very demanding like the hours are crazy so um I was working and then I I got married and um we went to the US for because my husband he studied there so we were abroad um and but I couldn't work when I was in the us because we were on a student visa so I don't know if I have told you this before so I when I was there I started taking like all kinds of classes in well scrapbooking and all these things I love them and oh how fun you didn't tell me that yes I I started needing as well and then I took some baking classes like and cookie decorating and like so I started to it it was very fun that was another age like stage in my life I I really enjoyed when I so was that like your first creative love the the cookie decorating was yeah like that was I think my first entrepreneurial or like my on my own because I started I started doing like cookie decorating and then I went back to Mexico and I didn't want to go back advertising because of the hours and my husband also was working crazy hours so I started doing um uh yeah cookie decorating like for like cookies for events like for baby showers and then it was so much fun because there's this event in the US and it it started in Sol Lake City that is called that um cookie con like Quil conon oh my gosh yeah it was so much fun that sounds amazing do you just get to eat sweet treats all the time when you go exactly were eating all the time and decorating the whole day and you know like taking lot lots of classes and learning all the techniques and uh so I went I think I went three years no just or two I don't remember two or three years I even got like some of my cookies won is some of the contest over there and it was so much fun uh but uh it was also like I really enjoyed the designing part like I love to draw and when I came back to Mexico and people ask me like oh I love this design I love to make it or create like something very special for that event but when they asked me okay now can you do 150 cookies the same it's like oh my God like it I don't know I took the joy out of it a little bit L became work ex exactly because I what I really enjoyed was designing uh making the designs like for Christmas I did nativ nativity sets like 200 nativity sets and it was it was amazing but it was too much like I so I after that I started teaching uh classes like just the techniques uh but then no more I was like like I really enjoy I didn't enjoy the baking like I love the design and everything but you know the icing cross and everything so you when you start decorating a cookies you have to sit down and finish it so if you have a 100 cookies you have to finish them like so at the end I was like I mean I love it but not anymore it wasn't that joyful anymore for me so and and then I I I have H an Sophia my first daughter my first baby and um and yeah so I I I I I quit cookus I was like no I I can't do this with a newborn so I stopped doing that and then uh that's when I I like my journey in quilting started like I I and Sophia was very little and I was again in the search of a like of a creative Outlet uh like that's what what happened when I was uh with my husband when he was starting his NBA like I was like okay this is fun and but I really need to I I always enjoy learning and doing things so that's why I want to like learn baking and all these things so now with Ana Sophie I was like okay I'm enjoying my baby and everything and it's been fun it's like a new stitch in my life but I really uh needed uh to do something else so yeah you needed that creative Outlet yeah exactly like uh and and this time for me you know like when I'm like right now is it's sewing but before if it's drawing and like I I think it it gives me I don't know it disconnects me you know like it really relaxes me and and this is my time for me like when know you are doing like things like scrapbooking or kind of scraps or also knitting so um there's this uh shop near my house where I used to live um that it was it's a quilt shop that now the owner L's a a very good friend of mine a so I like I always it was my stroll with an aopi and Welling here stroller and I was like okay some maybe someday I'm gonna go there and yeah to see what's all about and did you just go to look at fabric is that what like that was the first thing that you went for I you know no yeah the Fabrics but I wanted to take classes like I okay you were looking for those classes yeah because I've never s before I never own like a sawway machine like my mom did she did like all our you know costumes and yeah she she she likes to so but like I never was like very drawn to it like for me it was I don't know scary like the sewing machine was well sometime the machine can be intimidating for people right like it's a it's a big barrier of entry for a lot of us exactly like threading the machine and everything I don't know I I don't know why I I didn't come to that earlier but uh well it came at the at the right time at the right time exactly everybody has their own journey to get there exactly exactly exactly so so yeah so did you find classes then that that yes yes yes they they were super welcoming uh because it could be intimidating to to walk to a Quil shop and like it's people that have been sewing for years and I don't even know how to use a machine but they were like the loveliest like super patient so I took my first class they showed me like how to use a machine and um I also I have I have it here my first project that I made with them um oh my gosh I'm so glad you brought it with you it's like show everyone so this was my first my quilted project oh my gosh so cute you know I have never made a stuffed bear so you were already farther along than me it was pretty easy like I want so cute I wanted to make um a pouch like a bag and everything because they have so many bags and I was like that's what I want to do and the owners were like no Stephanie please we need to start like slowly you need like the first steps no so we did you know like all the panels like quilted and then like for her in her story this is like the beginner uh friendly project so I love that I love because in my mind that like it seems difficult and so I love that that you were able to dive in with that exact first first thing I mean I'm sure you learned so many skills yeah in a couple of of classes maybe one or two it wasn't that that many and uh took you to do it yeah and and this really like opened my my mind you know I was like oh my God I can do so many things now so so I started like doing uh well I I kept on learning like a lot of you know um through the internet and then uh like on my own and trial and error and then I found out about quilon I was in pasadina well I was in Los Angeles when when quilon was there so I decided to go and yeah that was my first one I think it was I don't remember two 2018 I think it was and um it was amazing when I get I got there and I saw like all the fabrics and all the colors and I was like oh my God it was I was just like so impressed by it and um your inspiration right exactly like I didn't know that it even existed you know like so many fabrics and and and styles and uh and super modern that's what I like and and you know me that I love a lot of color so um so yeah I got that's I I got a lot of fabric well I brought back home a lot of fabric and I started doing um things well for my kids well for an Sophia I did a like I started doing pouches and then diaper bags and a lot of things to organize like yeah your the the things for your kids like for when you go to the nursery or things like that so um I started like a small well that's how I started my brand pretty pleased yeah and I started selling my bags and doing like um I don't know how you call them like small markets in the schools you have different U like fairs or like that here exactly so that's where I started selling them and people recommend me and and that's how I started like my brand and and doing my my bags and then I I love that and the thing that it it brought to mind for me sorry to interrupt you just a little bit the thing that it brought to mind is is um so many of us come to sewing or quilting uh because we're looking to make things that are functional that are all so cute and what we want right because it wasn't always easy to find I can remember being a young mom and feeling that myself and you know wanting to wanting this certain dress for my daughter or this certain pillow for my son and I think that's why so many of us turn to this craft is to be able to say okay well I want this thing but I want it to look like this and if you're a creative at heart then then it's just kind of a natural progression so I love that that's part of your story yeah and it makes it like so so special no like I have the the first that I did for each of them of my kids and and yeah it's like a like a treasure like yeah it makes it like super super special and um absolutely because we know how much heart goes into it right I know I know and filled with love yeah the first ones like now I see the first ones and I'm like oh my God like the other day I have two uh how do you say it like men like one one was coming out and I was like oh my God like I think the scene was like super tiny and but but it's still holding after almost five years so exactly exactly and if it starts to come loose it just means it's been well loved that's all exactly exactly I love that so so you you built your business making making bags and small projects to to sell and so then how did you make the leap into fabric design yeah from there like um well then we have the pandemic uh yeah when the pandemic hit um well we remember we were at our houses all day long and so that's when I started like sewing I think that was really my therapy like I was sewing all all the nights like my husband he always tells me that that when he hears the machine he reminds him of that because he heard at the end like like all night uh and I started taking a lot of classes online and um yeah like sewing sewing all all like all night and from there Missy I have like um um how you call it um well I had like a I had a a trombosis well it's like a very bad health issue and uh so that was I think that was really like like the beginning how you say like it it it marked like a difference in my life uh because it like awakened me woke me up like I was like I I I realized after quilon that all these beautiful Fabrics that I really love and all the patterns and all the things that they were made by designers so that's when I hit me that okay I'm a designer I can I can create my own so after this like this event like I was uh like almost for for a month recovering during the pandemic uh that's when I started drawing and I found um I I when I was in the University I studied for a year in London and the university that I was studying there they they started doing like all the short courses online so they have a course textile design so during the pandemic I took this course and I started doing my collections then I found uh uh you know Bonnie Christine she had a the immersion course so I took her course as well and then uh that's when I started doing like like all my collection putting collections together and um and then I print them uh with spoon flour like I I started sending all different samples to my house and uh well you know like squares and well different yeah like all my collections I printed them so I I yeah what was it like seeing your designs for the first time it was amazing was that a big deal it was it was yeah when you see them like in real life and then that's when you start like this Perfection is like oh this should be a little bigger smaller but it was it's amazing when you see your designs like come to to real life and when you start cutting the fabric and doing the the samples and it's amazing I have yeah I love that I I can relate to that I mean I don't design fabric myself but I design quilts and I do a lot of the design work digitally and so I I imagine I I think you do digital design as well for your fabric don't you yes and so when you're creating on the computer um you're not always 100% sure how it's going to translate into Fabric and so that process for me is really exciting and I can see the correlation between designing the fabric itself and designing the quilt and it's it's always exciting when you find that perfect Fabric and I just always love yours so I can imagine when you first had it printed it was like yes you know what it was amazing because when I was doing maybe like a bag and I was like no I need another blender it was so much fun and that I could make another one and print it and and have it here you know and I was like no I need another lighter color or something darker and it it it's so much fun that you can play and yeah customize it as the way as exactly as you like so it was amazing so I I started this um all these samples because I was building my portfolio uh I wanted to show to companies like actually because we do a lot of mockups and to see how your fabric will look but I think it adds something more and people can see it better when you actually have the product so absolutely yeah so that's why I I did uh I have different bags uh one of the bags that that you put on you remember in Instagram it's a one that one of my first samples that I made with my yeah with my spoonflower samples uh and then yeah I buil my portfolio from that and and started yeah like uh knocking on on doors and yeah and my sister she lives in New York so when I was in New York I I went to visit her after the pandemic and um I sent um my portfolio to Andover because Andover is there and yeah and they they like like it and yeah now I'm working the rest is history yes and and it's been great because we we make a very good match they're amazing people and it's been like really fun and easy and and I've learned so much working with them like we that's amazing do you have any advice that you would offer to other upand cominging fabric designers or people who are interested in getting into that space yeah I I think to like for me um to to not be afraid to to reach out and to knock on doors because sometimes like for me I'm in Mexico City and it feels that I'm like so far away of the game you know like like the whole industry most of it is in the US and uh and I I I felt that I that it was like so hard to reach and but I think it's uh what I would recommend is like to be consistent to reach out like don't doubt doubt yourself and don't be afraid yeah to knock on doors and send emails and make those calls like it it feels sometimes very uncomfortable but at the end I mean if they don't like it they don't like it and maybe it's not don't take it personally because also like uh it could be that they have already designers new designers so they are not hiring right now but that doesn't mean that maybe in a couple of months or maybe a year they can reach out back to you like just don't be afraid to put your work out there and um yeah like be very consistent that I really believe that you can do it like I love that because uh no doesn't have to be a no forever it can just be a not right now and and I think sometimes when we're working so hard for this thing that is important to us we hear no and it just crushes us but it's just part of the journey and um I think every every know that I've gotten i' I've certainly learned some major lessons and so I think that's a good reminder to just keep pushing through if it's something that you love and you're passionate about it it will work out yeah and and and don't be afraid to follow up because sometimes like if we don't get a response or maybe they say no we we say okay they say no that's it no like for example for me when I sent my portfolio to and over I think it passed I don't remember how many months it could be that I didn't uh heard from them and uh but then I say okay I'm gonna send them an email like okay my portfolio that I sent because I sent like a physical copy and uh and then they responded oh yes we love it and I was like oh my God maybe I would never send that email and they forgot because they they're super busy and uh no so don't be afraid to yeah to reach out and to and to share your work also like yeah exactly because I mean what's what's the worst that could happen you already thought maybe they weren't interested because you hadn't heard but what's the best that could happen you get this amazing opportunity to collaborate and I love that such a such a powerful lesson for all of us to uh be willing to put ourselves out there so I'm so glad you were you were brave enough to reach back out because what a gift your designs are to to the it was hard I'm not saying it was easy because of it's very hard and you're very close to your to your work but uh but yeah there's a lot of vulnerability there you're really putting yourself out there so much you've put so much heart and soul into that and so then to put that out there and to have it be you know critiqued um I can imagine yourself it's difficult like oh hi my name is it was I did that also in in Pilan I think it was what was that I don't remember the first one after the pandemic I think it was Phoenix I took my portfolio and it was not it was it's Bor but but at the end I I felt very good about myself because I went there and and I was like hi my name is Stephanie I'm this is my portfolio do you have time and sometimes he's like oh my God was like oh can you come back we're a little bit busy it's like oh my God that's so embarrassing but I mean doesn't care I mean but it's just part of it right it's it's not it and like I said it doesn't have to be a no forever it's just a not right now and and so being willing to be flexible and work with people is such an important lesson for all of us so I I love that thank you so much for sharing that if it's okay with you I would love to Circle back a little bit to um your taking classes and your first Fay into quilting because I know you have mentioned to me in the past that it was a little bit difficult because English is not your native language you're from Mexico City and you said that there's not a lot of resources for Spanish speaking Quilters so can you just talk a little bit about that yeah um actually yeah there are not many like there I think there are books that have been translated but actually like I've learned everything in English like like all the my quilting like for example in Mexico we have uh our metric system is uh centimeters so learning even that like an inch I was like how much is an inch you know now I have it in my mind but for me it's you know it's oh okay it's like 2.5 you know you have to make this adjustment and uh yeah I I I I learned everything in English like all the well I learned at at Lily's uh store but even there uh like we talk about inches well in Spanish but it we don't translate it to to our system like to centimeters she has a lot of books that are in Spanish uh but yeah most most of the things are everything's in in English so and yeah I learned a by watching YouTube by watching Jenny's videos so like all qu thing is in English so it's at the beginning it was and and now it's difficult because I I yeah when I I explain it in Spanish I'm all the time talking words in English and I'm like oh my God like it's it's not very good and um but yeah it everything's in most of the things are in are in English I I me our our qu so what would you world is it's growing what would you sorry what would you like to see to make it easier for Spanish speakers to be introduced to this wonderful hobby like what what changes could be made I think uh yeah we should like have I mean it's growing here and there are like wonderful wonderful teachers here in Mexico like all around the country great and uh I think they're doing a great job like teach like everybody teaches in Spanish but I think we definitely need more um like how you say like yeah like media creative for Spanish like videos more specifically in Spanish uh even the patterns because most of the patterns the patterns are in English so I think a lot of people just watching the pattern like try to translate it and like create their own you know uh but yeah I think we need more resources in in Spanish I love that I would love to see that too I know when I was at this last quilt con it seemed to be a a reoccurring theme of people that I talk to really looking for this desire for more um Spanish speaking tutorials Spanish speaking patterns um or and and Beyond you know even other languages obviously and I I think it we just have to talk about it and make sure that people realize that the need is out there and people are looking for it so when you design patterns do you write them in both English and Spanish no I write them in English see Stephanie I know I'm designing like I'm designing for every collection we have h a pattern so I do the design and and over um they write the pattern so we're Distributing through through Andover but these are like free patterns so but yeah I need to start making patterns that are oh I would love that I would love that well well I believe in you if anybody can do it you can for sure yes yeah yeah all the patterns from my collections are in English because they do it like the company writes the patterns and everything like i writes the pattern for you yeah that makes sense well just just tell them so many people would benefit from from Spanish patterns so that would be that's something that I want to start doing like um I have patterns but they are all most of them they're with Andover so I want to start creating like well having my own patterns uh written by by myself or maybe have something in bre them for them for me but I want to start um having more patterns out there yeah I think that's so important and I would love you know to know what other resources are out there I'm sure if if you knew about them you would you would be utilizing them but people ask me often they're like do you know about any tutorials in Spanish and it certainly seems to be um a missing piece in our industry so I hope it's one that we can help uh help fill up and and find more availability there in the near future because there's so much amazing talent all throughout the world and we need to make sure that we're uh utilizing and sharing all of it so I I certainly hope we get more in the future Spanish like I I know um what my friend Le leave with Lena from uh from Colombia they this this amazing retreat with you guys at Missouri Star and and that was the first retreat in Spanish so I think that's a great um yeah and it w it was so wonderful and people loved it I was so thrilled to hear that that was taking place here in Hamilton and for um it to be full of people who are excited and to be able to uh you know speak their native language and be comfortable and learn in their native language I love it and I hope we we just continue yes yes they already are planning the next one uh for next year it's already it's gonna be again in November so yeah I'm excit oh that's that's so great I can't wait I can't wait so Stephanie is there anything else you would want to say to creatives in general about the process maybe about how to continue to find inspiration when things get hard um because I know we all can fall into creative ruts so maybe just a little bit of encouragement if uh people are in that place yeah for me what it works like I I try to schedule the time like when I because sometime also when I'm working a lot and then like maybe I finish a collection and you know you have this Rush that of all the work and and then you have to start doing quilts and other things like what I like to do is is pause like really have like some time like time off um for myself with my kids with my family uh that really helps to to have a time to to rest and then I schedule I try to be like for me I need to be like drawing all the time so I like to schedule maybe once a week week or every other week I mean I I should do it weekly but sometimes I can't but I like to schedule as you schedule like an appointment for going to the doctor like I do it the same like from this hour to this hour I'm gonna it's for myself and I'm gonna be drawing or I'm going to be sewing or or or I uh like the I don't know if I have a project that I that has been seting there for a while I'm like okay I'm gonna commit an hour to finish this quilt or to do something yes yeah so it really it really helps me and and for me it works that I I have to push myself to do it like if not it could go by weeks and weeks and weeks so sometimes um we don't need to wait to creativity to to spark you know like I I love who says that I I I have it written I think it was like Einstein or someone like it says that don't wait for creativity to come like creativity has to find you working so you have I love that so because that think that way for inspiration to come I think it's never going to come you you have to because that M motivates you when you are working or sewing that's when you say oh maybe I can do this or maybe I can try this EXA so so yeah absolutely I love that and it was interesting for me because as a natural creative I've been cre you know creative my whole life whether it's you know drawing or painting or or writing poetry or sewing or whatever whatever I'm doing I have always been a lot of a I've been a free spirit I don't like to be tied down to schedules um but I found a lot of creative peace since I I realized that as a professional creative I have to schedule that time whether it is like you said the downtime to just pause and enjoy uh everyday life and my family and some of those successes that have come um but then also I have to schedule it's time to design I have to get into the studio and do these things and for a for a little while that was a hard transition for me because I just want to maybe I want to bake this day and I want to draw this day and I want to design this day you know um but since really putting those parameters on myself I've seen great personal growth and so I think I think I can attest to what you're saying there that if you want to be creative as a hobby it's okay to just let it be when inspiration strikes but if you want it to be your career you have to treat it as such and you have to um you have to schedule it and you have to give it time and attention so thank you so much Stephanie for spending time with me today for sharing a little bit about your journey um I just I just love you I think you're amazing yeah absolutely anytime can you let everybody know where they can find more about you and your work um if they want to follow yeah my website is H stepan ares.com and I'm starting my newsletter so if you want to join and also I'm social media at pretty please. MX that's how can find both Facebook and Instagram awesome you guys will be sure to want to follow along she has such beautiful designs and projects so you won't want to miss it Stephanie thank you again and I will see you next time thank you for having me yeah bye bye thank you [Music]