Lily Lawrence (‘22 CO)
Work
Runs Alpine Embroidery, a small business focused on apparel waste, upcycling, and embroidery.
Priority areas for mentorship
Connecting with like-minded people
Community organizing
Business planning
Hello! My name is Lily and I am the owner of Alpine Embroidery! I love all things outdoors, my favorites including trail running, rock climbing, and fly fishing. I also love being creative through different types of arts and crafts! When I came up to college in the fall of 2019 I buried a lot of these hobbies away due to all my time being drawn to track, school, and work. When I got Covid in the February of 2021 I realized that Netflix only stretched so far and started watching youtube tutorials on how to embroider! After practicing some of my skills I realized that embroidery didn't just have to be kept on hoops or in frames as decor, it could be used as a way to upcycle clothing and keep clothing out of landfills.
Around this same time my favorite pair of jeans got a hole in them. With my new skills I decided to patch them and add some mountains and flowers to the pockets. Every time I wore those jeans I got a variety of compliments and people telling me to start a business. So I did! This is how Alpine Embroidery + Repair was born! I've started a mission to encourage others to upcycle their clothing through embroidery and repair, rather than buying new.
Last summer I spent every weekend at the local farmers marketing sharing my embroidery skills. I made patterns and kits to teach people to embroider; however, very few people were interested in the real mission of my business…bringing down clothing waste. They were excited about the craft but not much further than the art. My biggest hurdle I’m facing is meeting the right audience. Last fall I went all in on the business and quit my job to pursue my passion for the environment. Unfortunately, this was around the same time the farmers market season ended. I lost my weekly audience and turned to doing more online. I had a reel go viral on instagram and brought a peak in traffic, however again these people were interested in the art but not really the mission of my business. Eventually engagement went down and with how social media is programmed, my videos were no longer shown to followers. This also led to a halt in sales. So I headed back to work to make ends meet!
I’m now managing a running store in Southern Utah, and Alpine Embroidery has stayed on the small scale of being in a few markets. My next steps are to connect with other outdoor companies, like Patagonia and Worn Wear to teach people how to create art out of their repairs. This is meant to tell the story of your clothing through embroidery, rather than being tossed to the mountains of clothing waste around the world.
