THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 25, 1995 TAG: 9510240138
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: EARNING A LIVING IN VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Shirley G. Perry always felt that sewing was in her blood.
She first picked up a needle as a young girl growing up in Norfolk. As one of 12 children, she learned to sew so she could make herself clothes. Twelve years ago, she began making custom clothing on a $25 sewing machine in a walk-in closet in her home.
Since then, she's opened and closed one business, Customs by Shirley, a small custom sewing concern in Chesapeake. She got a divorce, a full-time job and eventually a degree in psychology from Old Dominion University.
But her heart was in sewing.
That's why Perry, 40, opened the Elizabeth Institute of Sewing Inc. off Princess Anne Road in June.
The institute teaches six levels of instruction: beginning sewing I and II; intermediate sewing I and II; and advanced sewing I and II.
Perry can teach up to 96 students a week, with six students per session and three sessions a day beginning at 9 a.m. at the institute in the Princess Anne Shoppes.
Her curriculum includes instruction on textiles, or fabrics, and how they are formed or made and which fabric is good for what.
Then there are lessons in the fitting process, patterns, operating the equipment and, one of the last lesson's learned, how to operate a legitimate small sewing business.
Perry has spent nearly $9,000 on equipment - six sewing machines with accompanying cabinets and two sergers, as well as irons and ironing boards, tape measures and scissors.
Each class meets for two hours each week and is eight weeks long. Classes start at $125 for beginners and go up to $250 for the advanced II class.
One full year of study, or all six classes, is $1,075.
Perry is in the process of trying to get her curriculum approved, or accredited, by the Virginia Department of Education's Institutional Participation Division.
She already has become a vendor to teach unskilled or unemployed people the craft of sewing for the local Department of Rehabilitative Services and for the Southeastern Virginia Job Training Administration.
``There are no educational requirements for this, except a very basic knowledge of math and reading,'' said Perry.
Over a three-year period of teaching out of local fabric stores, Perry has taught nearly 100 students; 25 of them still take classes with her. Students range in age from 11 to 72 and are both male and female.
The institute is named in memory of her mother, Elizabeth Snider.
``I attribute all my skills and success to her,'' said Perry, herself the mother of three.
Perry's divorce resulted in her having to close the doors to her first custom sewing shop, which was actually tucked into a bridal consultant's store in Chesapeake in 1991.
After going back to work full-time and earning a degree, she began teaching sewing in local fabric stores part-time.
``I started teaching as a way to keep sewing,'' said Perry.
``The jobs are definitely out there. There's a lot of need for a good dressmaker or tailor,'' she said. ``But, there was nowhere to teach people the art.''
She approached a local bank about a small business loan and was approved. Although the amount wasn't enough for her to create the kind of institution she wanted, the loan did help her to open the doors of the school.
Her dream is to one day add industrial sewing machines to the school's lineup of equipment.
Perry offers this advice for getting a business going: ``Really, the best way to get started is just for someone to see the garments you've made and are wearing. They'll ask, `Where'd you get that from?' Once you tell them you made it, they'll ask you to make them one, too.'' MEMO: The Elizabeth Institute of Sewing can be reached at 474-6098.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LORI A. DENNEY
Shirley Perry, owner of Elizabeth Institute of Sewing, instructs
Charles Hebert, a beginning student. The institute teaches two
levels each of beginning, intermediate and advanced sewing.
Students Nancy Smith, foreground, Cynthia Olds and Otha Church
practice sewing at the Elizabeth Institute. Shirley Perry spent
nearly $9,000 on equipment, including six sewing machines.
Photo by
LORI A. DENNEY
by CNB