Like most students, Meghan Curran spends a lot of time in her dorm room studying. When Curran is not in her dorm room studying, though, she dedicates her time working on her international business venture.
Curran, a St. Ambrose senior majoring in elementary education, is the owner of The Status Sew, the small business she operates that sells soft and stretchy headbands, scrunchies and doggy bandanas. Curran sells her hand-made products via Facebook and Instagram, as well as at Jessie’s Closet in Kewanee, Ill. and Pontiac, Ill..
“I have sold over 1000 headbands and 50 doggy bandanas,” Curran said. “I have sold to about 10 states and Canada.”
Curran recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of her beginning The Status Sew.
“I officially started The Status Sew in April 2020,” Curran said. “I can’t believe we just celebrated our one year!”
Curran hopes to have a presence on the small business site Etsy in the future, when she has more free time after student-teaching. She also hopes to sell to all 50 states and begin selling at farmers markets and pop-up shops.
Curran began her passion by making scrunchies in the fall of 2019, teaching herself to use her mother’s 40-year-old sewing machine.
“I made scrunchies for my closest friends, and figured I could do well selling bee scrunchies to people I knew at Ambrose,” Curran said. “I sold over 100 in just a few short weeks, so after that, I was hooked.”
As her scrunchies began getting snatched up by students, Curran realized that she would need to upgrade her sewing machine, so she used the money she earned from selling her scrunchies to purchase a new sewing machine.
Over spring break of 2020, Curran began making headbands to sell alongside her scrunchies after hearing the news that SAU would deliver classes online for two weeks, eventually turning into the rest of the semester.
I knew if I loved (headbands), someone else probably would too,” Curran said. “When we found out Ambrose was online for 2 weeks I bought a bunch of fabric for something to do at home.”
She created a Facebook page to market her new products, and people quickly became hooked on the idea. Adding on to her popular products includes doggy bandanas for customers’ furry friends.
“I began making doggy bandanas for my brother’s dog in the summer of 2020 and wanted to sell them so people would send me pictures of their dogs, too,” Curran said. “My brother gets great pictures of the doggy bandanas by having his German Shepard model them. Don’t worry, she gets paid in treats for her hard work!”
Curran credits much of her support to her family.
“During quarantine, my dad was the only one going into stores, so he took packages to the post office for me, and now he gets to hold all my fabric when we go shopping,” Curran said. “My mom and my sister help me take pictures and pick out different prints.”
Curran hopes that people who seek to begin their own small business take pride in each order, as each one is a way of customers telling her that they support her business.
“The connections I’ve made through starting my business have been amazing,” Curran said. “Every ‘customer’ feels like a friend to me.”
Find Meghan’s business on Facebook (The Status Sew) and on Instagram (@TheStatusSew)