It is time for a little Student Appreciation! |
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I am so excited about being able to work full time in my studio, I want to say thank you to the folks who helped me get here. If you have ever been a student of the studio or are thinking about taking a sewing class, now is great time to sign up. There is a chance to collect up to 2 bonus sessions. Details about this student promotion and how to participate can be found on our studio blog. Use the button below to link directly to that page. |
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The Student Appreciation Campaign lasts for a limited time. So be sure to check it out and take advantage before August 31, 2023 To purchase the Student Appreciation Pass, visit our Plans & Pricing page |
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announcing new expanded Studio hours |
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Now that everyone has access to some bonus classes, I need to update my calendar so you all can find a time to come. As of August 1, 2023, we have expanded our hours of operation, so that students have more time options to choose from, and we can more easily service our growing roster of regular students. We will start with the new times you see below and adapt accordingly if needed. |
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Sunday Closed Monday Closed Tuesday 6pm-9pm** Wednesday 1pm-9pm Thursday 1pm-9pm Friday 1pm-9pm Saturday 10am- 7pm |
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**Tuesday hours for make up sessions and special requests. Contact studio directly for available options |
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iMPROVEMENTS TO THE studio website |
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The studio website will be getting some much anticipated improvements throughout the month of August. We will be updating the class menu, website features, and adding several entries to the studio blog. If you subscribe to our site and get updates about the blog, I ask for your patience in advance. I will be adding quite a few entries over the next month as I attempt to provide more information about studio features, benefits, and processes. Initially quite a bit will be informational, assisting visitors to the site with learning as much as they can about our classes, services, and products. But as time goes on I do hope Blog entries will become a little more inspirational and feature stories about how to get creative with their machines. So if you feel like the studio is suddenly flooding your in box, please bear with us, it is only temporary. The goal is to get the site updated now, and then communicate at a more periodic pace going forward. |
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New additions to our Youth Sewing Section |
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We have always wanted to expand our Youth Sewing section, for sewists ages 8-12, but initially due to the limited operating hours of the studio , the Youth Sewing section was kept small. Now that we have expanded our hours of operation we are excited to offer our youngest sewists an exciting sewing curriculum tailored just for them. Introducing Kids Can sew! Sewing projects curated and tailored just for younger sewists. The academy is excited to incorporate this program because it takes so much of the guesswork out of what projects are both interesting and appropriate for younger students... |
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Updates to the class menu with these new classes are being added this week, just in time for Back to School season. So stay tuned if you are interested and if you have questions or need to preorder a workbook, please contact us directly at inkandycence@gmail.com |
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a Student's Success Story |
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So for those of you who may not know the full story of Made By Me Academy, I, Kandyce, actually first launched this in June of 2019. And it started off slow, but I actually grew awareness, participated in a Pitch Contest, and was starting to increase enrollment, when Boom! the pandemic struck. Everything was shut down and the future was quite literally unknown. But in that time I was able to pivot, making masks, and I was also able to spend time reimagining the studio as more than just an after school sewing activity for kids. I widened my offerings back then and developed a class menu that would serve a more diverse sewing audience including, aspiring designers, like I once was before I realized I really wanted to teach. And into that space almost immediatley came Lawson Duvall. |
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Inside Lawson's Journey Lawson is an emerging designer, and though she had paused her formal studies when she first came to me, she wanted to keep growing her sewing skills so that she could develop and distribute her vision for full figure swimwear and beach fashion. In Lawson's eyes, every body is a good body, and deserves to have a passionate designer create stunning, poolside ready, body affirming looks for them. And that has been her goal from day one, improving her skills so that she could potentially produce her first line of designer full size swimwear. Over the course of 18 months Lawson challenged herself; practicing, designing, and finally presenting her debut sample collection at the 2022 Chattanooga Expo. She sent over a dozen Lawson-made, original full size, swimwear looks down the main runway. Then went on to exceed even my expectations by presenting a concept look for the Expo Designer Challenge. There's nothing really more pleasing as an instructor than to see your student filled with the confidence to accomplish their most important goals. Lawson will be quick to tell you just how much she has left to learn and accomplish, but as her sewing guide and friend, I find it important to always celebrate just how far she has come. |
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Because of Lawson I knew right away that I had developed the right "Post- Pandemic" iteration of my business and was targeting the right audience for that space and time. Though my business did not reemerge exactly as it had started, it was able to become what I needed to attract students like Lawson and others who have helped me get the Academy where it is today. Recently Lawson invited me to accompany her, and a be a part of her feature segment for a favorite local lifestyle show in Chattanooga, The Daily Refresh. |
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Normally I would have been incredibly nervous and even too afraid to go on air, but I was too excited for Lawson, to bother giving in to fear. All I felt was excitement about seeing a student enjoy success with sewing. I am learning on this journey that timing is key, and it is interesting to me that here I am coming back full circle and "re-introducing" Kids Sewing to my class menu. If there had never been a Pandemic, I might never have pivoted or reimagined this enterprise, and I would have missed out on meeting Lawson and all of you that make my studio, and the academy therein, a growing success. So thank you all once again for your patience and patronage. It is all really just a work in progress. I hope I get to reach out to you individually in the coming month, both in class and by email. I'd really like to see some of you that have been on a break maybe come back and show me what you are working on next. And as always if you have any trouble on the site or need some kind of assistance related to getting a class set up just contact me. My current students know how to text me, but anybody can email me at inkandycence@gmail.com Best wishes & Straight stitches Kandyce |
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...p.s. cfe 2023 is casting now |
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Don't forget. If you, or someone you know, might be interested in participating in this show, use these links to learn more and submit your application. Though some printed deadlines have passed, Shanna assures me that applications and inquiries are still being accepted. Check it out!. Designer Submissions Vendor Submissions Model Casting I will provide more links and more info in my next newsletter. |
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