Joe Chisum has missed being a part of a creative community and was inspired to open a store location after five years of working from home.

Chisum recently opened the doors of Sew with Joe, a store which offers sewing machine service and repair, sales, supplies and creative classes. The store had its Grand Opening early in November at its location in the East Suite of 550 W. Hwy 105 in Monument.

Growing up, Chisum’s mother always had something under the needle of her sewing machine. He himself did not take an interest in the craft until the week he moved out of the family home.

At 18-years old, he found himself in a situation without employment or a place to live. A family friend named Carol Vealey Ellis then offered both to Chisum. She owned a store in Port Charlotte, Fla. called “A Stitch Connection.”

Ellis allowed Chisum to live in a trailer on her property and eventually told him she was looking to hire and train a sewing machine mechanic.

“I fell into the sewing industry by chance, and I stuck with it because I’ve always felt like I belong,” Chisum said.

Chisum continued to work in sewing stores from 2007 through 2020. He started his own online company in 2019 where, shortly after, he branched out full-time to produce instructional sewing videos and projects from home.

After five years of working from home and running his online business, he found himself missing what he was familiar with, Chisum said, including the customer interaction and being part of a creative community and environment.

After restructuring his online content delivery this year, Chisum found he had more free time to devote to expanding his business. For a couple years prior, although his business was run from Florida, he had spent time in the Pikes Peak region where his sister had previously moved, and for years he had been attempting to obtain a “territory” from his favorite sewing machine manufacturer, Baby Lock.

After negotiations, Chisum was granted a Baby Lock territory this year “somewhere with mountains and seasons,” he said. Among the territories which did not already have a Baby Lock authorized dealership, the Florida transplant wanted to choose a territory and store location where he could enjoy working and living.

“I have family nearby so this area was on the top of my list,” Chisum said. “I would have been happy with Colorado Springs or Castle Rock, but Monument and the Tri-Lakes region has such a great small-town feel and community. I couldn’t imagine a better location to do business in.”

The manufacturer authorized him to open a store in Monument, and soon Chisum sold his home in Florida to move to Monument and open the brick and mortar location, with the help of local agent Greg Kauffman to find the location and lease it.

Chisum had a soft opening for the store on Oct. 1 and a Grand Opening event on Nov. 5.

“Small stores like this, especially stores with one location, put more focus into serving their local community,” he said. “We don’t have corporate offices to answer to, so our business exists because of the customers who come into our store.”

Sew with Joe’s products, services and classes are all “tailored” to meet the needs of its friends and neighbors, Chisum said. The store and staff hold a passion for sewing machine service and repair. Customers are able to speak with the actual repair technician when making a visit which Chisum said also makes the store unique.

“Most places do not offer this direct line of communication between the technician and machine owner, and this means your technician may not know everything that is needed to get the machine working again,” he said. “All sewing machine service is done on site with the option to have us pick up and drop off the sewing machine from your home.”

In addition, purchasing a sewing machine from the store comes with personalized support after the sale, the owner said. The location is also outfitted with multiple machines available where customers can call the store and schedule a free private lesson to receive training for the purchase of their own so a customer does not have to transport their own machine.

“We can’t wait to exceed our customer’s expectations and set an example for our industry,” Chisum said.

The store carries a multitude of threads, tools and fabrics, offering a colorful and inspiring environment for patrons and clients. In addition a book featuring Chisum’s sewing designs is available as a compliment to the content for his online annual subscribers.

When he branched out to work for himself from home, Chisum started creating embroidery designs and videos made for specific models of sewing machines from Brother and Baby Lock. He first offered individual videos and projects for sale and subscriptions for those who wanted more. Subscribers could access all the content they owned from the Sew with Joe website from which they could download design files, pdf instruction files and videos for 36 projects annually.

After a couple of years, Sew with Joe offered to sell printed and bound copies of the pdf instructions from any yearly subscription. He also offers the annual project materials to be contained on a flash drive.

“Now that I have a physical store, I carry these books and offer them for sale with no subscription required,” Chisum said. “If a customer has already purchased that year’s subscription on the website, I discount the book by taking off the price they already paid for the digital subscription.

“Sew with Joe projects and videos go together with Baby Lock machines like tires go with cars. You can go much further with your machine if you have the lessons and designs that fit it.

“If we could inspire new and experienced sewists to find happiness in creativity while learning how easy it is to sew, quilt and embroider, then I hope they’d return to support their small town business so we can support their creative hobby for years to come.”

Chisum said he finds Baby Lock to be the most reliable, capable and user-friendly of sewing machines. It is the reason he made his first purchase of a top-of-the-line sewing machine the Baby Lock Solaris in 2018. This was the start of his Sewing with Joe adventure, and although he now has a brick and mortar location, he aims to continue to support his online community as well.

“The inspiration and creativity that comes with being surrounded by colorful fabrics, innovative products and like minds means my videos and projects will stay relevant and fresh,” Chisum said. “And now that I’ve opened my first store, I’m so excited to be an integral part of this friendly and supportive local community. I couldn’t dream of any better place to work.”