New England Maker: Sewcialite

As you know by now, I love sharing about companies and products we love on the blog and our Instagram - and most especially those made right here in New England!  Next in our series of interviews from New England Makers, we have Roula Rallis from Sewcialite!   

Roula Rallis is the one-woman show behind Sewcialite, a seacoast-based company best known for their gorgeous coastal-inspired creations - all made of rope, fabric, and paint!

Tell me a little about yourself and your business.  

Roula Rallis:  I am a wife, full time IT project manager, and mom of 2 (ages 7 and 4).  Sewcialite is a part time home decor business.  I design baskets, planters, wall baskets, bowls, coasters, and most recently tote bags and clutches using clothesline rope.  All my designs are inspired by the coast and I am a huge fan of modern coastal interior design. 

How did you start Sewcialite?  Had you been making rope baskets for a while or was this a new leap for you?

RR:  Sewcialite began as a hobby and has since turned into a side hustle.  In March of 2017 I decided to make myself a basket for my home and I just fell in love with the design process!  With the support of family & friends I opened my Etsy shop.  And over the past 1.5 years I have continued to refine my designs by weaving them with fabric and hand painting them. 

What does a typical day look like for you? 

RR:  My days are typically very long!  I’m up at 6am packing lunches, orders, sometimes styling and posting products, and getting my kids ready for school!  I drive my youngest to school, I then commute 45 mins to work.  After working all day I am back in mom mode, I help make dinner, give baths, do homework.  But once my kids are in bed the Sewcialite studio opens (my guest bedroom).  My husband has been so very supportive and he does quite a bit of heavy lifting to give me time at night to design!

What is your favorite part about owning your own company?  And least favorite part? 

RR:  My favorite part is being my own boss!  Having worked for someone else my entire career it’s great to be able to call all the shots. 

The least favorite part is being responsible for everything!  Sometimes I wish I could clone myself!  I’m designing, styling, photographing, advertising, fulfilling orders, blogging, etc. it can get overwhelming at times and I’ve had to learn to say no to be able to balance my full time job with Sewcialite. 

What has been the most exciting moment for Sewcialite since you started?

RR:  I’ve been so fortunate to have a few so I can’t choose just one!  I am a HUGE fan of Serena & Lily!  It’s one of my favorite home decor brands!  They have actually liked a few of my social media posts and designs which is mind blowing!  I’ve also been lucky to connect with a few amazing interior design social influencers who I’ve worked with like Jordecor and Coastal Interiors! 

Also getting to meet many of the amazing entrepreneurs I follow on social media in person has also been so exciting and inspiring! 

What advice do you have for people just starting out?  

RR:  Be prepared to take risks and work your butt off!  Being an entrepreneur is not easy!  Success does not happen overnight! 

Make sure you have a good support system of family and friends!  They will be crucial for those rough days where you may feel overwhelmed or frustrated! 

What is your long-term goal?  Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

RR:  My long term goal is to continue to slowly grow my social media presence, as it’s been the my primary channel for all of my online sales.  I would also like to design a better/bigger studio space for myself too! 

Who's one of your favorite New England Makers?  

RR: I love Watts in Maine she designs the most beautiful jewelry and she works full time. I was lucky enough to meet her in Portland this year!

Update, Spring 2021:
I just wanted to share that Roula from Sewcialite is still going strong and adding even more amazing rope and coastal-inspired products to her lineup, including items such as: tote bags, hand-beaded clutches, statement jewelry, photographic prints, and more. Her beautiful work has been featured online and in print.
Some of these newer items are pictured below but be sure to check out her accounts for more!

Keep up with Sewcialite!

Etsy | Instagram (@sewcialite_nh) | Facebook

All photos courtesy of Sewcialite.

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DO YOU OWN A NEW ENGLAND-BASED BUSINESS AND WOULD LIKE TO BE FEATURED IN AN UPCOMING INTERVIEW?  OR WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN HAVING ME STYLE, REVIEW, AND FEATURE ONE OF YOUR PRODUCTS?  
Please drop me a note.  

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More Interviews from New England Makers:

Young Toddler Easter Basket Ideas

Today I thought I'd share what we'll be putting in our little one's Easter Basket.  My goal was to spend less than $20 and fill it with practical and fun items.  | This post contains affiliate links |

Our little girl is only 15 months old, has more than enough toys, and doesn't eat candy yet so I was a little stumped as to what to put in her Easter basket at first.  After some thought I decided to fill it with some items she needed anyway and a few things to use outside once the warmer weather comes (someday soon, I hope).  

I started with the Easter basket I made for her last year (you can read my post on making her Button Easter Basket here).  First I filled the bottom with paper Easter grass - having a toddler and a dog, it's so important to use the paper Easter grass over plastic just in case any gets eaten.  The paper grass is also a lot more eco-friendly.  

I love what I found to put in her basket!  

In her basket:  

• Owl Lunchbox by SkipHop.  She desperately needed a new lunchbox (hers broke) and this owl one from Amazon was just the cutest.  There are many other animal styles to choose from too if owls aren't your thing.  
• Purée pouches by Plum Organics.  What toddler doesn't love snacks?  We picked these up last time we were at Target but they can be found at just about any grocery store or purchased by the case from Amazon.  
• Baby Farm Animals board book by Golden Books.  We actually got this book for free from the local library (they were clearing out duplicates) but you can usually find inexpensive board books on Amazon or on sale at your local book store.  
• Child's Watering Can.  We got this from the Dollar Store, but these can also be found at your local pharmacy.  (Similar one here.) 
• Egg-Shaped Chalk.  These came from the dollar bins at Target, and I love them because they're easy for little hands to hold.  (Similar ones here.)

Since I got the board book for free I spent right around $15 for everything - wahoo!  

Other basket ideas for a one-year old or young toddler:  

• puzzle
• socks
• crackers
• crayons
• busy book
• sunhat
• bubbles
• educational placemat
• teether
• rubber playground ball
• shovel and pail for the beach

All of these items can be done for a girl or a boy, and are easy to tweak if you wanted to tailor it more to your own child.  I hope I've given you some ideas of what to put in your little one's Easter basket - Happy Easter!  

Looking for more Easter ideas?  Check out our other Easter posts:  

• DIY Button Easter Basket
• Chicken-Themed Toddler Easter Basket

Art Caddy

A few weeks ago my mom picked up this Longaberger silverware caddy for me from a yard sale for $1.  I couldn't find the exact item on their website, but a different style of silverware caddy is listed on there for $65.  Gotta love yard sales.  

I didn't really see myself using it as a silverware caddy though so I decided to ditch the fabric insert and use it as an art caddy on my little craft desk and I absolutely love it.  It's great for corralling brushes, markers, pens, and scissors - not to mention it looks really nice against the yellow walls.  I have to say, I'm pretty happy with this re-purpose!  

DIY Button Easter Basket

I've never really liked the cheesy Easter baskets they push at the big box stores.  You know, the cheaply-made dyed ones.. the ones you always seem to need to re-buy every year because they're so easily damaged?  Not to mention, they're pretty boring.  This year I decided to make a special one for our daughter.  I LOVE buttons and thought that would make a very adorable theme for decorating an Easter basket.  | This post contains affiliate links |
 

Materials: 

• willow basket
• buttons
• heavy button thread
• sewing needle
   

How-to:

I started with a sturdy willow basket (we purchased ours off Amazon, but you could get one just about anywhere), and used a needle strung with heavy button thread to "sew" the buttons to the basket.  Really I'm just tying them on, but the needle makes it a lot easier to thread the string around a few times.  

"Sewing" the buttons to the basket.

Once I felt as though the button was good and secure (we don't want them coming off, remember they can be a choking hazard), I tied off the thread with a couple knots and cut off the excess string.  

Sewing one of the last buttons on. 

This project took less than half an hour and now we have a cute, special Easter basket to use for years to come!  

Looking for more Easter ideas?  Check out our other Easter posts:  

• Young Toddler Easter Basket Ideas
• Chicken-Themed Easter Basket

DIY Mail Basket

This is an old project, and while I don't have photos of the process I'd still like to share it with all of you. 

Like most people, when it comes time to mail something we've got to hunt down the stamps, and the return address labels.. or maybe it was the thank-you cards we can't seem to find.  To combat this, I wanted to make a little catch-all to keep in the kitchen and corral all these necessities in one place.  

Materials:  

• basket
• scrap wood
• saw
• paint
• stencils
• Dremel tool or small drill
• wire

How-to:  

I already had a cute little chicken-wire basket I found at the dollar bins in Target (yes!), but you could use any kind of small basket or bin.  The bottom of my basket was slatted so I needed to make a new bottom in order for the contents to stay in, to do this I cut a scrap of wood down to size and painted it black to match the basket.  

To make the "Mail" sign, I took another small scrap of wood and cut it to size.  I painted it black and used some stencils (I used a Martha Stewart stencil set) to stencil MAIL in white.  

After everything was dry, I lined up the sign where I wanted it on the basket and marked where I needed to drill the holes for the wire.  Once they were drilled I threaded some wire through and twisted it in the back to secure the sign to the basket.  Done!