When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, FSU student Megan Rodriguez wanted to learn a skill that was both practical and permissive to her own creative abilities. “I started sewing because I wanted to upcycle clothes, hemming and fixing old stuff and adding little details.” Rodriguez says.
With a little help from YouTube, online DIY channels, and her grandma’s old SINGER machine, Rodriguez soon found herself tailoring. This eventually turned into making scrunchies, which she learned to do by cutting strips of fabric, lining them with elastic, and then closing up the seams. But Rodriguez’s craftiness didn’t stop there.
“A week before lockdown, my family had just gotten back from a Disney trip, and I wanted to have cute ears for my next visit,” Rodriguez says. “But when I looked online, all the sellers I found were either expensive or not shipping at the time because of COVID-19.”
Determined, Rodriguez decided to take matters into her own hands — literally — by making her own ears. “I first tried by cutting out square shapes and then stenciled out circles from craft foam. I did this because it was sturdy and I knew it would give the ears their shape. Then I hand sewed them onto a headband to make them durable and long-lasting,” she explains.
The project was ambitious, requiring lots of time and meticulous handwork in attaching the pieces and securing elements of the design. Soon enough, Rodriguez had accumulated a substantial collection of her own creations, scrunchies and ears alike.
“The better I got at it, the more I realized the things I made were actually really cute! I figured that maybe other people would think so too,” Rodriguez says. A year later, she launched her Etsy store, which featured a wide variety of original scrunchie and ear designs, now branded as Meg Sews Cute.
As a first-time entrepreneur, Rodriguez recalls the pressure she felt in the beginning when it came to wanting to impress her customers. “I got my first order five days after I launched, and I was really nervous because I knew it had to look good,” she says. “This wasn’t just me making fun crafts for myself anymore. This was real, and this was a stranger paying money for something I created.”
But Rodriguez’s fears were soon allayed when her reception turned out to be nothing but positive. “Once I mailed it and she gave me a five-star review, I was like, okay! I’ve got this.”
Meg Sews Cute jumped from 17 orders in its first month of operation to nearly 50 just a few weeks later and has been growing ever since. Rodriguez shares that she bases a lot of her ear designs around her favorite Disney-owned films and musicals like Tangled, Hamilton, and Star Wars, and she often uses patterns and colors that evoke them from an aesthetic perspective.
“I also try to see what’s trending and look at what girls my age tend to wear,” she says. “When it comes to scrunchies, satin ones have been popular for a while. It’s a bit of a difficult fabric to work with, but I always love the way they turn out! College patterns are also a fan favorite for both scrunchies and ears, and are perfect for game days or representing your school when you’re out and about.”
When labeling her products, Rodriguez likes to give them real names like “The Rachael” or “The Stephanie” for a personal touch. Sometimes she’ll choose patterns that remind her of friends and their favorite colors. Other times she’ll name them after film or TV characters, such as her Mediterranean-inspired scrunchie named after Sophie from Mamma Mia!
Rodriguez claims that one of the best parts about being a small business owner as a college student is the flexibility to work around her own schedule. “There’s no set time for me to make things, and I’ve done a good job of pre-making designs,” she shares. But her favorite part, she explains, is the opportunity to interact with new people and see her creations out in the real world.
“One time I was at Disney World and I saw a girl wearing my UF ears,” Rodriguez says. “I walked up to her and introduced myself, and she was so excited to see me that she wanted to get a photo together! It was so sweet honestly, getting to meet someone who wanted to buy something I made with my own hands.”
More recently, Rodriguez has gotten involved with Student Made FSU, which launched in the fall. The organization allows FSU students to showcase, sell, and support one another in promoting their own handmade creations and small businesses. Meg Sews Cute and other creators from Student Made FSU often appear at pop-up shops both on and off campus, including Market Wednesday.
“The whole experience has been really positive so far,” Rodriguez shares. “I’ve gotten to meet other student small business creators, and knowing that there’s a community is awesome,” she shares. Rodriguez, who is majoring in Political Science and Psychology, also emphasizes how accessible the community is for non-business students and those who are less familiar with the mechanics of entrepreneurship.
So, what advice does Rodriguez have for other students looking to get crafty or start their own small businesses? “All I can say is, if you’re good at something, don’t do it for free. Take full advantage of your abilities because you never know what it can turn into! I never would have expected that I would still be doing this three years later, but it feels like I’ve never really worked a day in my life because I love what I do.”
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Pinterest!