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Entrepreneurs find niche giving new life to old objects [The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
[February 27, 2011]

Entrepreneurs find niche giving new life to old objects [The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]


(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (PA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Feb. 27--Emily Stimmel's greeting cards gave new life to forgotten photos in vintage books.

Jackie McDowell's dresses, hand-sewn from thrift store clothes, show a love for the environment and fashion.

The jewelry that Susan and Stewart Webb create from scrapped computer electronics appeals to those fond of motherboards and Mother Earth.

All began their crafts as hobbies, interested in taking old things and creating something unique. But more recently, they've realized there's money to be made in a growing market for repurposed -- or upcycled -- goods.

"It's cheaper than going out and buying materials that are prepackaged," said Stimmel, 30, of Verona, owner of disCARDS. She sells her $4 cards online and in a shop, Wildcard, in Lawrenceville. "I realized as I got more into it that was very much a selling point, and there were people who built their whole brand around that." Many crafters have virtual shops at Etsy.com, an online marketplace for handmade goods. Since launching in 2005, the website has amassed more than 400,000 sellers, and sales hit about $273 million in November.



"(Handmade goods) have this value; there is an object that has a story because it's created by a person," said Adam Brown, an Etsy spokesman. "It makes things more memorable over their lifetime." McDowell, 31, of Stanton Heights, who dubbed her clothing business Iron City Upcyclery, sells mostly dresses and blouses on Etsy.com and in Pageboy Boutique in Lawrenceville. She's been sewing since she was a child and began making clothes from thrift store finds as a teenager because she couldn't find the colors and patterns she liked.

It was only in the past few years that she began selling her designs.


McDowell said she charges $50 to $110 for each piece, depending on the time spent on it.

She recently quit her job to run her business full time.

When McDowell and her husband moved here about two years ago, she said, she said she noticed right away that the city is a great place "to start your own homemade project" because the handmade artist community is growing.

"People who are trying to make a living doing handmade goods are being taken seriously as entrepreneurs," McDowell said. "It's a great time to be doing something like this in Pittsburgh right now because people are receptive and excited about it." Locally, people can sell their wares at I Made It! Market, a craft fair that travels around the Pittsburgh region, or at the many neighborhood craft and art shows. The Pittsburgh Craft Collective, a member-funded group dedicated to the advancement of independent crafters and the handmade movement, provides resources and workshops for crafters.

Linda Bodo, an Edmonton, Alberta-based author who has written books featuring do-it-yourself projects using recycled household items, said upscale and big box stores are beginning to sell repurposed goods and things made from sustainable materials.

"I think that's really opening people's eyes," she said.

The Webb's have been crafting for two decades. They make items including jewelry, clocks and votive candle holders from satellite components and computer circuit boards.

They have jewelry for sale in Sugar Boutique in Lawrenceville and in a shop in Huntsville, Ala., which is a hub for research and technology development. Their designs have begun selling much faster than Stewart Webb expected.

"People make this instantaneous connection with it," he said.

Joseph Morrison, 44, of Mt. Lebanon said repurposed items have a solid feel that people notice.

"The stuff that's being dumped on curbs is old, well-made materials," he said. He and Lindsay Woge, 32, also of Mt. Lebanon, plan to reopen Fresh Heirlooms, formerly of Lawrenceville, in a bigger space in New Kensington, where they'll sell repurposed goods.

"As Americans change the way they consume, this is only going to become more and more popular," Morrison said.

To see more of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/.

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