For Elizabeth Hoffman and her daughter, Jamie Hoffman, a passion for sewing has stood the test of time.
Elizabeth’s mother, Jane Cooper, taught her to sew at 7 years old (after having learned from her own mother). Then, when Jamie and her sister reached the same age, Elizabeth passed the skill down again, teaching them to sew as well.
In that sense, sewing has become a familial tradition for the Hoffmans — a legacy of sorts.
Hence the name of the mother-and-daughter duo’s new venture, Legacy Fabrics, where they’re passing the skill on to others. The store opened earlier this year in downtown Mission, offering fabrics and other clothing supplies.
Legacy Fabrics is at 6124 Johnson Drive
- The shop moved into a space just off Johnson Drive and Lamar Avenue, next to clothing store Lil’ Dudes.
- Mission Arts Center previously occupied that space.
- Legacy Fabrics is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Legacy Fabrics offers all things clothes-making
The shop’s inventory includes a vast range of fabrics in different materials — from flannel and denim to lace and velvet.
Those fabrics come in a variety of colors and patterns, some of which come in “deadstock” fabrics (made from fabrics leftover from design production). In addition to fabrics, customers can find other sewing “notions” (small accessories) and tools like buttons, thread and zippers.
At Legacy Fabrics, Jamie said, customers can leave armed with the supplies to make anything from formal gowns to athleisure wear.
“We’ve got a wide range of pretty much everything,” she said. “There are so many people out here in the city that make stuff, whether it’s somebody that finds it difficult to find their size in a store, or designers who make their own clothes and sell them.”
Legacy Fabrics isn’t just a place for designers to come grab supplies and go, either. The store also offers private and group sewing classes, and some community programs — including a monthly free “sew and tell” event for makers to come and discuss all things clothes-making.
“We keep classes pretty small, so that way we can actually help each person individually,” Jamie said. “You get to walk out with something really cool and maybe pick up a new skill, but you also get to hang out and talk to other people. It’s really very social.”
The Hoffmans wanted to fill a gap in the local market
For Elizabeth and Jamie, Legacy Fabrics aimed to solve a problem they had noticed in the community.
They’d noticed a growing enthusiasm for handmade clothes, they said, but those who wanted to sew their own clothes (including themselves) didn’t have many local stores to turn to for the colors and materials that they wanted to wear.
“It was just very limited, and the quality was going downhill,” Elizabeth said. “(The most exciting part is) just to see people come in and thank us for being open, and just seeing what they choose to make. They come in here and they feel comfortable, and they feel confident to be able to tell us what they want.”
Going forward, the mother-and-daughter team say they hope to expand the shop’s offerings with more specialized classes and programming, as the Legacy Fabrics community continues to grow.
“We know what it feels like to find something that really excites you and (sparks) your creativity,” Jamie said. “More people are turning to sewing because more people are valuing handmade goods. It’s been so fun to see what all these people create.”
Want more local business news? Guitars, mandolins and more — Longtime JoCo music shop expands with acoustic-only store
