Hats off to young entrepreneur
Wilton's Sadie Rose Zavgren, 14, sews her way to success
By Kathleen Humphreys / for The Cabinet
February 15, 2008
Sadie Rose Zavgren with some of her creations.
Kathleen Baglio Humphreys photo
MILFORD,
New Hampshire (STPNS) -- A passion for sewing that started when she was
5 has turned into a lucrative on-line business for 14-year old Sadie
Rose Zavgren, whose website — doyoulikemyhats.com — offers hand-made
fleece hats.
Zavgren’s hats have an unusual feature — a built-in
scarf in the tail that can be wrapped around your neck for added warmth
and fashion. The extra-long stocking hat with bright multi-colored
stripes is reminiscent of a Dr. Seuss’ “Cat in the Hat” hat.
The teen’s hat business took off after she got rave reviews for fleece hats she designed as Christmas gifts in 2004.
“I needed gifts for the family so I made these hats and I got a lot of
requests for them so I started to make them for other people,” she
said.
By February 2005, she had launched her website and started selling her original design.
The
scarf section of the hat was somewhat accidental. As she was sewing
strips of colorful fabric together, the hat just kept getting longer
and she liked the look.
“A friend tried on a hat and wrapped the tail around her neck and I saw that it could be used as a scarf, also,” said Zavgren.
At first her hats were custom ordered by customers who would select their color scheme and e-mail their orders.
The
website now offers pre-made hats but because of a large demand, Zavgren
has moved some of the cutting and sewing responsibilities to a shop in East Boston to help her fill the orders. Each hat takes about an hour to make.
“I
usually have no orders in the summer, but around October and November I
could get 15-20 and in December it could be has high as 40 hats and by
March the orders taper off,” said Zavgren. The hats sell for $30.
Sewing
is a passion for this Wilton home-schooled teenager, and she makes most
of her own clothing and coats and wants to expand her on-line business
to include handbags.
Zavgren also wants to be an actress and a
costume designer one day and has acted in Andy’s Summer Playhouse
productions and recently assisted in making costumes for some of their
plays. She plays violin in the Manchester Youth Orchestra, plays soccer for the Bedford Classics, is an actress with a Boston company as well as Andy’s, enjoys cooking and was a ski racer for the Crotched Mountain Junior Race Team.
Starting her own business has introduced her to the worlds of finance, technology, marketing, and time management.
“She’s a joyful person, and though focused and a hard worker she never loses her happy outlook on the world,” said her mom, Bridget Mooney.
She
also invested some of her earnings into the stock market as a way to
learn about investing. “I was doing great, but stocks went down last
week,” she said.
Zavgren’s sister Maggie has talents of her own as a weaver and enjoys her sister’s sewing.
“I think it is great she is doing this and enjoying her talents,” she said.
The hats are also sold at the Golden Egg Gift Boutique at Salzburg Square in Amherst, the Brooklyn, N.Y., Women’s Exchange, a boutique in Lexington, Mass. and at various craft fairs.
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