BUSINESS FEATURE
BY KAREN CHANEY
Made by Sue sells a variety of items, including stued bunnies ($35.95) and nap mats ($87).
Owner Sue Pruente puts her sewing skills to work at her Keller shop that she opened in 2001.
The cubbies display various merchandise available at Made by Sue located on Keller Parkway in Keller.
Among the popular items at Made by Sue are college spirit towel wraps with a name or monogram ($42.95).
PHOTOS BY KAREN CHANEYCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Made by Sue 1103 Keller Parkway, Ste. 101, Keller 817-431-8182 www.facebook.com/MadeBySueTX Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-6 p.m., closed Sat.-Sun. MAKING MEMORIES Made by Sue owner Sue Pruente lists the steps used at her shop to make memory quilts. A customer brings in 16 shirts of any material. A customer chooses the sashing—material that connects the shirts—backing and binding. Sue cuts the shirts down to 14-inch-by-14- inch pieces. Sue color balances the layout. Sue sews the quilt together on a machine and does binding by hand.
Made by Sue Keller shop specializes in sewing, embroidery and alterations S oon after Sue Pruente moved to Keller with her family in 1999, she met people who needed her skill set. “We were at a baseball game, and a mom was
embroider items that customers bring in, she said. Pruente also does a wide variety of alterations, including tting wedding gowns and shorten- ing baseball pants to knickers. She also has a long-standing annual order from a medical com- pany to modify 5,000 kids’ backpacks to accommo- date feeding tubes. “My granddaughter had a feeding tube, so when they called me, I knew exactly what they needed done,” Pruente said. “It was denitely a God thing.” She said customers bring with them a mix of emotions, from those buying birthday gifts to those needing alterations on pants for a funeral. “It’s trying to have kindness and compassion for where people are at that point,” Pruente said. For many of her customers, their rst visit was to have a prom dress altered. Then they needed col- lege dorm items, and that was followed by wedding dress alterations. And after that, Pruente said, they need items for their baby nurseries. “It is their life journey,” Pruente said. “And [I’m] helping with all these fun events as they go.”
saying she needed to get a headband made, and she didn’t know who she would have put beads on it,” Pruente said. “She showed it to me, and I said, ‘I can make that for you.’” For the next two years, Pruente fullled a variety of sewing requests from those in her social circle. In 2001, Pruente launched Made by Sue on Keller Parkway, which is walking distance from her home. She uses an acronym to describe her services. “We go to the SEA: sewing, embroidery and alterations,” she said. She said she sews quilts, tote bags, stued bun- nies, nap mats, pillows, towel wraps and more. Her top seller in this category is memory quilts made from shirts. Those sell for $300-$600. When customers choose products Pruente has made, such as the stued bunnies and nap mats, the pricing includes embroidery. She also will
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