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Veronica Archuleta got her first sewing machine when she was 17 years old and taught herself how to sew by meticulously taking old purses and dresses apart and putting them back together. Although she has now sewed hundreds of items, she said of all her creations, her very first purse project is still her favorite.
“I was making a tube top and it didn’t fit me right, and when my purse had broken, I thought ‘I’m going to make this into a purse,’” she said. “Now I actually have that one hanging on my wall.”
Archuleta’s passion for sewing inspired her to create Verokat’s Threads, a self-run business specializing in blankets and purses.
She currently has a few pieces in El Chante, a local artisan store Downtown, and is making more professional and artistic contacts for her business after she graduates in December. She has only been selling items for a few weeks.
“I want to spread that localized feeling around,” she said.
Archuleta said she loves to make blankets and purses, but her main goal is to make her own clothing line.
She said she is heavily influenced by Rockabilly, and her interest in swing music and swing dancing helps to inspire her. She played the upright bass for a swing band, but traded in the instrument for a needle and thread to re-create the fashions she saw on the dance floor.
“We’d go to swing dancing every Tuesday night at the Heights, and I loved the styles,” she said. “It was like punk mixed with swing.”
Archuleta said her work was noticed after a competition in her sales management course. The teacher challenged students to learn all 70 names of their peers in class, and the winners got different prizes donated by the teacher and students. Archuleta decided to make a Lobo blanket to donate as a prize.
“I don’t think they really knew what kind of blanket I was going to bring,” she said. “When I volunteered to make the blanket, my teacher was just like, ‘What do you mean? Like sewing? You sew?’”
Archuleta said she mainly gives her projects away as gifts for friends and family. She said she just started selling her pieces; her blankets and purses are her most popular items. She calls her fledgling business Verokat’s Threads, recycling her old Myspace name. Archuleta said that after she graduates, she wants to focus on selling her items by opening a store on Etsy.com.
She said she’s noticed a decline in the number of people who sew, which she thinks is due to the economy. The price of fabric and other sewing supplies has risen over the years, which she said deters people from doing it. She said it’s unfortunate because hand-made goods tend to last longer than store-bought.
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“I like homemade stuff and stuff that’s made locally,” she said. “It’s better quality when you make it yourself than when you buy a shirt from a store and it’s really thin and tears easily.”
Verokat’s Threads
facebook.com/verokatsthreads
A small selection of Archuleta’s work is available at El Chante: Casa de Cultura at 804 Park Ave. S.W.
