Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Miller
Hi Heather , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in a small town called Yucaipa, in Southern California. After graduating from high school I attended Ricks College in Rexburg Idaho, where I earned a degree in Fashion Design and Production, I began my career as the “in house” seamstress for wedding dress alterations at a bridal store in Salt Lake called “A Bride Beautiful”. After I began to have my children, I continued to do alterations for the customers, but worked from home, and came into the store for fittings. After awhile, with 6 kids at home, I decided to dedicate more time to my family, and discontinued with receiving clients from the store, but did various alterations for people in my neighborhood by word of mouth. When my oldest kids were in high school, they were very involved in theater, and so from about 2013-2019 I made and altered costumes for the Stansbury High School Drama productions. This was a fun way to help and be involved with my kids, and their friends and parents. I also had a younger daughter very involved in dance, so I also made and altered costumes for her dance studio, The Dance Centre. Throughout these years I continued to do alterations for weddings and school dances for people in my area. In 2020, I was at a place in life where I started thinking about going back to work, and thinking about where I might want to look for a job. The owner of the dance studio, and one of the teachers there, had been encouraging me for awhile about starting a business and making their team warm ups for them. I had been reluctant because I didn’t feel like I had the right equipment, and it was a new genre for me, and I wanted to learn more of the “tricks of the trade” for the world of dance. Eventually things fell into place, and the time was right, so I started my business, Dancewear By Heather. I have absolutely loved working in Dancewear! It has become my new favorite genre of design. I love creating beautiful costumes, and getting to know the dancers who I have worked with.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My first obstacle was needing to create a good work space that would allow me to be creative and effective. Starting my business in 2020, during the COVID pandemic, might seem like a difficult time to start a business. But it actually created a good opportunity for me to have more time to get my space set up, and get the business organized and ready to go when things opened up again, and dancers returned to classes and competitions, and the need for solo costumes picked up again. Another obstacle I experienced was a learning curve on how much time a project would take, to be able to know how many clients I could reasonably take on. I got a feel for that as time went on, and found out the hard way, how much was too much! One of the things I wasn’t sure about at first was where I would be able to find the materials and supplies that are specific to dancewear. I knew the local JoAnn store wasn’t going to be sufficient. I had a trip to California planned for shortly after I started my business, so I knew I wanted to make a trip to the LA fashion district, and I found my favorite supplier for spandex on that trip. I’ve learned a lot from other people about the best places to get rhinestones and other supplies. I found a woman in Louisiana who had a business similar to what I wanted to create, and she gave me a lot of valuable advice and recommendations from her years of experience.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in custom designed solo costumes. This is where my passion lies, and what I enjoy the most. I love getting together with the dancer in a design consultation and discussing the style, colors, and fabrics they have in mind, I take their measurements to give them a completely custom fit, and one of a kind creation. Everything is designed and created by me in my home and not mass-produced, so I provide each dancer with their own unique design, personalized care and quality . I also offer alterations on existing dancewear, whether something just needs to be sized, or changes made to it to give it a different look. For the past 2 years I have made custom costumes for the Stansbury High Ballroom team, and semi-custom costumes for the Stansbury High Drill team. There are a lot of big companies that sell mass produced dancewear, but the personalized custom services I offer are hard to find. I take great pride in the satisfaction of my customers, and stop at nothing less. I want my customers to feel confident and beautiful while performing, and I know that a well made and unique costume is a big part of their success.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
One of my favorite toys as a child was my Barbie fashion plates. There were 3 parts that you could mix and match to create different outfit combinations, and then place paper over it and rub with crayon to make the picture transfer onto the paper. I also loved camping in the mountains with my grandparents Labor Day weekend, and camping at the beach during Spring break. My most favorite place to be on earth is at the ocean.
Pricing:
- Custom Costumes range $250-500
- Alterations $40 per hour
- Rhinestone Design $40 per hour
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dancewearbyheather.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancewearbyheather/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DancewearByHeather?mibextid=JRoKGi
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@dancewearbyheather
