This year, Sofiya Borovytska decided to take a leap.
After years of working at her mother’s Kansas City tailor shop — and growing a steady base of fans of her work — the 20-year-old seamstress decided it was time to open a storefront of her own.
Alla’s Tailor and KC Seamstress recently opened its doors in southern Overland Park.
The shop operates at 11812 Quivira Road
Alla’s Tailor and KC Seamstress operates from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
It’s a one-woman show, with Borovytska doing all the alterations herself.
“It’s been great so far — I’ve been getting lots of new clientele,” Borovytska said. “I’m taking it one step at a time.”
The shop has a family tie
Sofiya’s mother, Alla Borovytska, is a lifelong seamstress herself. She owns and operates Alla’s Tailor & Alterations in Kansas City’s Waldo neighborhood.
That shop has operated there for more than a decade, and working alongside her mother at the original Alla’s Tailor is how Borovytska’s official work as a seamstress began.
The two stores are similar, she said, but one difference is the location. Given that Waldo already has a vast range of small local businesses, she was excited to bring something local and family-owned to southern Overland Park.
“She was really happy when I decided that I was going to take this leap in life and open up my business of my own,” Borovytska said about her mother. “I never really knew when the right time was, so I just decided that I’m just going to do it.”
The shop also has a virtual presence
In 2021, Borovytska launched KC Seamstress — an Instagram page dedicated to her sewing and alteration work.
Today, Borovytska said that form of marketing is how she gets most of her clientele. And even in the short time her new storefront has been open, her following there has already grown by a few hundred.
Borovytska attributes this, in part, to her age. With many tailors running their shops for years before closing them down, she said, it’s not every day that you see a younger seamstress carrying on the family business — or promoting it via social media in the same way.
“I was really intrigued to see that,” she said. “When people see something new and different, it catches someone’s attention.”
Borovytska likes to tailor a little bit of everything
Her interest in fashion goes back to her teenage years, taking fashion courses in school and initially hoping to become a designer.
She ventured into sewing by working on wedding dresses, growing her passion for it “bit by bit” through the years. Sewing, she said, sort of serves as its own form of design.
Borovytska likes to alter everything, from vintage dresses to leather jackets. But she has a soft spot for working on denim and wedding dresses.
“I started when I was really young, and I feel like each year I grow with my experience,” she said. “I’ll get a gown that kind of challenges me, and I love that, because then I get a new perspective on what I can do.”
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