Loop N Stitch

Services: Alterations, embroidery, custom sewing, sewing machine service/repair, more

Location: 61 Hooker Road

Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; Saturday by appointment

Contact: 360-477-4970, Brenda@LoopNStitch.com

On the web: www.loopnstitch.com, www.facebook.com/LoopNStitchLLC

If every day was the same at her business, Brenda Lawson said she might not find the same enjoyment for what she does at Loop N Stitch.

“Every day is different, which is what I love,” she said.

The Jill-of-all-sewing and stitching store recently moved to 61 Hooker Road in Carlsborg after being at another nearby storefront.

Her sewing requests range from alterations to zippers, dress and suit jacket fittings to hemming curtains, to boat/RV cover repairs, and much more.

“I almost always have pants to hem, and a zipper to repair on a jacket,” Lawson said. “I love the diversity. I don’t want to do the same thing everyday.”

Loop N Stitch started at the Sequim Farmers and Artisans Market in 2017 as an effort to provide some additional family income for Lawson, her husband Matt and their two children: Kaylee, now 9, and 6-year-old A.J.

“The market was an easy start-up and inexpensive,” Lawson said.

“I didn’t want to do (a business) at my house. People would bring me (a project at the market) one Saturday, and I’d bring it back the next week,” she said.

The work was mostly hemming, repairs and taking clothes in, Lawson said, but “it’s a highly needed service for the community.”

At the end of the market season the Lawsons felt they could pursue a storefront of their own, which was an easy transition.

“The market people followed,” Lawson said, “and a whole new clientele came in especially after an article ran about us in paper about the market … it’s still drawing people in.”

Mask master

Differing projects is important to Lawson, but the pandemic led her to focus on a new need: making masks. She’s created 6,000 so far … and counting.

When state-mandated closures took place in March, Lawson closed too, focusing on helping first responders with their gear. She also began her large effort of making masks.

Lawson estimates that through September she used about 27 miles of thread for masks, keeping each used spool as a mark of progress.

Lawson donated some masks to local retirement centers and continues to sell them at her business. In the summer, she worked outside with her sewing machine and offered masks with a no contact exchange.

With other projects on hold, she said making masks sustained the business during closures.

She continues to make masks with varying fabrics for $3, tax included.

“I wanted to make them affordable and easy for people and accommodate as many people as possible,” Lawson said.

What’s next?

The flow of work has remained steady, Lawson said.

When was a slow time? “Three years ago before I started the business,” she said. “Customers are phenomenal, and it’s an amazing community to be a part of.”

Lawson is a third-generation Clallam County resident who bought her first sewing machine from 4-H sales at age 13. She moved to Sequim in 2006 when she married her husband.

The couple began broadening some of Loop N Stitch’s goals by expanding its retail side with more fabrics and refurbished sewing machines that Matt repairs.

“I appreciate all the customers who come through the door and building those relationships with regular customers and first time customers and getting to know them,” she said.

Lawson also started partnering with Project Linus, a group that provides crisis blankets for local children, by offering a space for their retail fundraiser after several bazaars were cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more about Loop N Stitch, call 360-477-4970 or email Brenda@LoopNStitch.com. The business is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday, and on Saturdays by appointment.

Since March, Brenda Lawson of Loop N Stitch has used 27 miles of thread and counting to make masks for sale in her store and to support local retirement communities. She said during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, mask sales helped sustain the business. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

In the summer, Brenda Lawson made masks outside and provided contactless transactions for them at Loop N Stitch. Photo courtesy of Brenda Lawson

With many bazaars closed for the pandemic, Loop N Stitch offers space for Project Linus to sell its wares to support local children facing a crisis. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash