Sew Much More in Waukesha celebrates 50 years

Jul 09, 2023

WAUKESHA — Sew Much More, 2140 W. St. Paul Ave., in Waukesha is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023. Frank’s Sewing Center was started by Frank Kruchowski in 1973. Decades later, Frank’s grandson Brad Kleman bought the store 1994 and renamed it Sew Much More. Brad said back then his grandfather was in a Singer store. The Singer company decided to shut down the Waukesha store while Frank was a district sales manager.

He was just getting sick of traveling and decided to open his own store, according to Brad.

The store was small and only offered threads and basic notions. Frank mostly sold and repaired machines. After Brad took over the store operations, he wanted to expand it.

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“He (Brad) had a vision to have more sewing supplies, notions and threads, so we moved across the street where the JCPenney’s used to be. We were there until 2015,” Wendy Kleman, Brad’s wife, said.

It got to the point with all the classes and other offerings that they outgrew the building. The Fox Run Shopping Center offered more parking which helped with customers coming in with their heavy sewing machines.

The store offers various classes at different skill levels. Classes include quilting, embroidery, garment and basic sewing applications.

The classes range from children’s ages to the young at heart population.

Some of the store’s staff teaches but also offers outside instructors as well.

There are one to two classes offered almost everyday of the week.

“Our theory is that an educated customer is your happiest customer. The more you teach them about how to use their machine and what are the different applications of their machine, the happier they will be and that helps to sell things,” Wendy said. The store also has clubs such as Embroidery Club, Sewing Club, Quilt Club, Wool Club and Serger Club. The store opened a Longarm studio around the corner from the store’s location. In the studio are machines with a frame that are 10 feet wide to do some layering. Customers can rent time on those machines. “Not everyone wants to bring their machines. So you can come and learn. All the clubs have a show-and-tell component. You can bring things and be inspired by what they bring,” Wendy said.

She remembered a show-and-tell where a person brought in a landscape designed quilt. She added it looked like a painting.

What Wendy loves about sewing is the broad spectrum of possibilities. There’s something for everybody no matter if you are a beginner sewer or an expert. People can do basic mending or quilting.

“There are just so many facets,” she said.

COVID was a huge shot in the arm for the sewing industry and put the industry at levels that have never been seen before, according to Brad.

“There are more people sewing today than ever before. It’s not just about making clothing but also crafting, home décor, embroidery and things like that,” he said.

During the pandemic the store never closed because there was a shortage on face masks.

“We never closed a day because we were in an essential business because of the masks,” Wendy said.

Wendy added because people needed masks they took out grandma’s old sewing machine and started sewing.

“Across the industry people sold a lot of machines and got a lot of new people interested who weren’t before,” Brad said.

Due to people staying home they were able to finish projects.

Long gone are the days of home economics classes where the teacher would measure how close the pins were to each other.

“You think of the skirt you made in seventh grade and how it looked terrible on everyone. Sewing has come farther and there are so many more creative choices. It’s more fun than it used to be,” Wendy said.

The sewing industry has changed drastically from the earlier decades. For example, sewing machines have become more user-friendly. Wendy said machines do more such as pushing a button and it cuts threads. A push of a button will thread the needle for the user.

“You could put your fabric in a frame and the robotics of the machine will embroider something,” Wendy said.

Brad added the more user-friendly machines are not a hassle to do some sewing applications.

The store has different machines for different skill levels and price levels.

Sew Much More will be celebrating its big anniversary with sales and events. At 7 p.m. on March 20 at Silverspot Cinema at The Corners of Brookfield, there will be a private showing of “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.” The cost is $12 which includes a small popcorn, beverage and the ticket stub is worth $10 to spend at the store. The store is inviting customers to dress up in 1950’s costumes.

Also scheduled is a visit from Hanspeter Ueltschi, the fourth-generation owner of BERNINA, a premier sewing machine company based in Steckborn, Switzerland. He will be the guest speaker at Sew Much More on April 27 at 12 p.m.

The Waukesha Water Utility's transition to using Lake Michigan water is coming soon.

Click here to read a Q&A with Dan Duchniak, the general manager of the Waukesha Water Utility, who answers many of the most frequently asked questions about the transition.

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