Inspiring Conversations with Emma Newell of Millhaus Sewing

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Newell.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started? 
I was taught the art of sewing and pattern-making by my father and my grandmother back when I was about 10 years old. I picked it back up about 8 years ago, where it was a hobby business making pillows as I was an interior designer, so the home furnishings side of my career was blending the two together. 

In 2020, I was making pillows as Defined Designs; I had so many scraps and didn’t want to just throw away all the valuable “waste,” so a friend (who I now work with daily) asked if I could turn the scraps into little zipper bags. My love for a zipper and a functional bag had opened up a whole new world of possibilities. 

Throughout the pandemic, I worked on honing my craft for bag-making patterns, and started asking a few of my upholstery contacts about leather waste. My curiosity about where all the leather hide scraps went after an upholsterer uses it for their cut turned into a no-waste purchasing program. 

I rebranded to Millhaus Sewing Co. in January of 2023 – I’ve been wanting to rebrand for a while, and with expanding my line of handbags more in 2023/2024, it felt like the perfect start to the new year for a fresh new name! The meaning behind the name brings it back to the house on Mill St. where I learned to sew – my grandparents’ house in Massachusetts, where I grew up, was a big farmhouse on family land. That barn on Mill St is also where my dad had his custom canvas shop making boat covers and storefront awnings… 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Is there anything smooth about owning a small business? I will say the good and the growth have been steady and a worthwhile payoff for all that I’ve dedicated to this little brand. I haven’t gone viral, and I don’t pay for adds, so it’s been true word of mouth, and seeing my bags out in public is still a little odd to me. 

My number one struggle is that there’s no handbook to running a business. It takes a lot of research, asking questions, and learning from mistakes to figure it out. We’re all just figuring it out. 

…and Material pricing – the cost of materials has doubled in the last year or two. In order to make a quality bag that will hold up and be worth its value, you need quality materials, and those prices are just skyrocketing it seems. I’m constantly price-comparing my hardware vendors, asking for bulk rates to lower costs, and running numbers with my leather suppliers. If I add another 10 lbs., can we do $x instead of $x? It’s a constant battle to keep my final product competitive and worth the price tag. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Short Story – I make leather bags. 

Long Story – When I rebranded to Millhaus in Jan 2023, I wanted the branding to really stand out and the story to follow through each and every bag. 

My Story: I hand-craft, cut, and sew each and every bag. I make and customize each pattern. 

The Leather Story: Our mission is to achieve and help maintain a no-waste model within the leather industry. Being based and made in NC, a large upholstery market, I salvage leather from the upholstery industry, never using a full/new hide, and partnering with select upholsterers to utilize their “waste” from hides they cannot use due to small size or rips/tears in larger pieces that I can work around with smaller products and patterns. My seasonal products make up my own waste usage throughout the production year, leaving me with about 8% waste for non-usable scraps. 

The Bag Story: Always named after an iconic singer/songwriter/musician of strong female influence, mostly from my childhood and music that has influenced me & always a first name that stands alone and doesn’t need a last name to recognize who they are. June (Carter Cash), Dolly (Parton), Shania (Twain), Stevie (Nicks), Celine (Dion), Janis (Joplin), Wynonna (Judd), and a men’s travel bag named Waylon (Jennings). 

What does success mean to you?
I think my definition of success has changed over the years. Post-grad, I always thought I’d feel successful if I had a big designer title and made X amount of money per year. 

As I’ve worked my way through my design career and had both successes and failures and have really fallen back on a passion project full-time in the past year, my definition of success at the moment is being happy with your path. Always working towards goals and never giving up no matter if your path changes or shifts at a crossroads. Always coming out on the other side of whatever you’re facing and continuing on with your happiness as the focus. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shopmillhaus.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shop.millhaus/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shop.millhaus