Meet Taylor Kalatschan | Sew Cool: Embroidery By TK

We had the good fortune of connecting with Taylor Kalatschan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Taylor, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Going into this process of starting my own business with an extremely open mind has been by far the most important factor behind my success. Embroidery By TK has evolved so much and will only continue to evolve. With everything I do, I go in with an open mind. Whether that be with the actual pieces I’m creating and what a client is requesting, or what my business actually looks like. Being open to change has helped my business become what it is today, and I am looking forward to what is to come.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I create hand embroidered pieces that range from shoes to bags to clothing to tablecloths! I mainly work on custom pieces and live events, but my next project is to stock my Etsy shop. What sets me apart from others is that I do everything by hand, so every single piece is unique. I am also extremely flexible and open-minded. If you can imagine it, I will definitely attempt it. Have you heard of a rainbow llama-corn (llama with a unicorn horn)? Because I’ve embroidered one. This open-mindedness has helped me create unique and meaningful pieces for people all over the world.

My journey has been an interesting one, and it sort of began accidentally. I have always been into art – particularly drawing and painting. I’ve always thought that embroidery was cute, but just never attempted it. Over the pandemic, my mom got us a hoop and some thread – a fun activity for us to do while we quarantined. Once we started, my brain became filled with ideas of what I could customize. I began by putting my favorite song lyrics on different pairs of jeans and started to post them. To my surprise, I had a lot of people ask if I was selling them! It wasn’t until I had started receiving messages from people I didn’t know that I decided to create a separate instagram (@tk_is_sew_cool) to post my pieces. I really was having fun embroidering fruits and vegetables, and with the world being so crazy during the pandemic, I decided to start selling shirts with food on them to raise money for my local food banks. Shortly after, George Floyd was murdered, so I decided to shift my efforts into creating shirts with different designs and donated the money to multiple organizations that were taking action to support the Black Lives Matter movement. This is really what started my business – people from around the country were ordering shirts for amazing causes.

When I first began, I was learning as I was going. I wasn’t valuing my time as I should so I started to get really burnt out. After speaking to multiple female artists, I learned that this is a common occurrence among that group. It was difficult for me to outright say “I’m worth this.” Because of this, I hit a point where I took a break for over a year from doing any sort of embroidery. It wasn’t until I was able to take a step back that I was able to reevaluate what about it was making me happy. I learned to say no when I was feeling overwhelmed. This not only made me happier as an individual, but it made my work better. I cared about what I was doing, and was able to put more time and effort into my pieces.

As I started to revamp my business, I had the opportunity to do a live event. I found that I could embroider quickly, and I also really enjoyed the opportunity to mingle with people and work with different brands that I love. Since I started doing live events, it has quickly become the largest part of my business. I work with brands to create a themed menu so I can be as efficient as possible, and use the opportunity to meet new people and get out in LA and other parts of Southern California!

My brand is forever evolving and growing, and it’s been such a journey learning how to run my own business and also create a work/life balance. I wouldn’t be where I am today without all of the people that have supported me along the way, and I am so excited to see where my journey will take me next!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Although I love all parts of the city, I really have found a home on the westside. I would definitely recommend a workout at my favorite place to exercise – CAMP in Santa Monica – I personally love their pilates. My favorite activity is to get a big sandwich, a bag of chips, a soda, and head to the beach. For that, Bay Cities is a must. I love the beach in Ocean Park – a nice long sandbar and juuust far enough from the pier that you can find a good spot to layout. I’m a sucker for drinks and apps – for this I definitely recommend Cou Cou in Venice. For dinner some of my favorite spots are: Pasjoli, Rustic Canyon, Ospi – all so amazing. One reason I’ll leave the westside is for entertainment – the Largo has some of the best standup comedy in LA. I’ve seen some absolute legends there. I also love The Echo, the Wiltern, and the Hollywood Palladium to catch a show!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would love to shoutout my friends, family, and boyfriend for supporting me throughout my whole journey. My mom got me my first embroidery hoop, both of my parents are small business owners so they’ve helped me navigate the process of actually starting a business. My friends were my first customers and my first supporters! My boyfriend has helped me to value myself and my pieces . I would also love to shoutout The Monogram Store in Newport Beach – they shouted me out to a brand that was looking for an in-store embroiderer. Now, my in-store live events are the largest part of my business!

Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TKisSewCool

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tk_is_sew_cool/