Loni Bright’s heavy sewing business moves into next stage
One of Loni Bright’s most visible projects has been making a summer fishing jacket and winter outerwear for Smokey Bear.
The seamstress said that in 2004, Gary Potter asked her to make Smokey Bear a fishing jacket to wear for the International Falls Bass Championship — and he has been outfitted ever since.
Now, Bright has made Smokey several outfits, which are changed seasonally. In order to outfit the Falls icon, Bright has taken pictures from every angle of the statue, in addition to marking his dimensions. She has photos as close as his eyeball and full-body shots so that she can visualize and accurately measure the giant’s proportions.
And from Smokey, she has taken on lots of other large projects.
Bright has also done work for the local schools — fixing their sporting equipment and making banners. She has made new covers for all shapes and sizes of boats and vehicles, a “chip shaker” to help move pieces in the Boise Inc. mill, and curtains for homes and boats. She fixes winter outwear, four-wheeler and snowmobile seats, and has even recovered booths in restaurants.
She recently opened up at a new store front in the Rainy Lake One Stop complex, where she is able to pull boats and vehicles right into the shop and lay out all of her projects.
This is a new step in the business process, and one that comes with a new name. She was previously Loni’s Sewing, but has renamed her company “Top That! by Loni.”
Bright said she got started in the sewing business by accident. She made a flower girl dress for a friend which matched the bride’s dress exactly. A friend entered it into the 1996 Koochiching County Fair, and Bright won a prize — completely unbeknownst to her.
“When I got home, it was like the next day I started getting phone calls from people to see if I could sew,” Bright said.
So she said she took over her kids’ playroom in her house and started mending and sewing whatever was brought to her. And the orders (and clothes) started piling up.
“In springtime my house would just be filled with bridesmaids dresses and wedding dresses,” Bright said. “One time I had like 17 dresses between weddings and proms. My poor family. We couldn’t even walk in our own house there were so many dresses hanging in doorways.
“It was fun because I got to know whose wedding it was and who was going out with who to prom, that was pretty fun.
“I don’t do much of that any more, that’s more personal work now. There’s no way I could do this and prom dresses at the same time. It would just be too crazy.”
And now the home seamstress has bigger aspirations.
“It’s two totally different ways of sewing,” she explained. “The basic sewing is the same but it’s so much bigger. You’re not using inches, you’re using feet. And the fabrics are way different.”
Bright has quite a different array of materials now being used. Gone are yards of tulle and thin white thread with a paper pattern. Her new store features giant plastic tarps, thick military-grade fabrics and heavy-duty thread that is weather resistant.
“There are so many new things coming out. I just get so excited about what’s coming out next,” Bright said.
In addition to winning at the county fair, Bright has also been recognized for her work and business skills.
In April 2008, Bright won the Joel Labovitz Micro-Entrepreneur Award for her sewing business, in competition with other businesses in the Arrowhead region. She is also involved in the local Women’s Business Network, connecting to other women in the community.
She said that she took on an apprentice student several years ago, who she is proud to say has moved into a larger market and is still using the sewing skills she learned under Bright.
And she said she would like to extend that same education to other people who have an interest in sewing. She hopes to hire an employee who would start on a trial basis with the possibility that the position could become permanent if the business succeeds.
Top That! by Loni is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Her new store front is located at 3204 Highway 11 East in the Rainy Lake One Stop complex (located behind Rainy Lake Spirits). She can be reached at 286-5533 or by e-mail at topthatbyloni@frontier.com.
