SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
When seamstress Marie Merrall saw that Diamond Drycleaners was looking to expand its services to sewing, she jumped at the opportunity.
Seamstress Marie Merrall, who opened a new business, Diamond Sewing Services, inside Diamond Drycleaners on Woolgar Avenue, works intently at the sewing machine last Friday. - Thandiwe Vela/NNSL photo |
"They were looking for a seamstress to open up their own business to be right here with the dry cleaning," Merrall recalled.
"It was actually my husband who pointed it out. He said, 'Hey, your dream job might be available here.'"
Since her mother is an avid seamstress, Merrall learned to sew by hand as a child growing up in the East Kootenay region of B.C.
"I learned to use a machine before I even went to school," she said.
Merrall worked odd jobs sewing on the side throughout her life but eventually became a paramedic, and most recently worked as a Yellowknife school bus driver.
Last month, she opened Diamond Sewing Services inside Diamond Drycleaners on Woolgar Avenue. It is her first business.
"It will be easier than the hard winters of driving a bus, and just pursuing something I've enjoyed all my life," she said.
"Just the basic things that grandma and mom used to do, that's what I want to do. Help fix and sew on that little button and repair a pair of jeans or hem a pair of pants. Or let a hem out for little Johnny who's grown 10 inches."
Merrall is now offering sewing services for Diamond's dry cleaning clients - a service that was sorely lacking at the business before, said owner Dominic Cousineau.
"I had a lot of customers who came here to the business and said, 'Oh can you fix that?'" Cousineau said. "No," he was forced to tell them.
Sewing and dry cleaning services go hand in hand, he said, noting that typically dry cleaning businesses will have some sort of alteration service.
In addition to alterations, Merrall also enjoys custom designing chef aprons.
She has started taking walk-in orders and is hoping to have all of her equipment at the shop up and running by the end of the month, in addition to a fitting room for clients.
Depending on the job, her service can be done within one to two business days, she said.
