Small Biz to Watch: SewKC patches together custom path to growth, sports collaborations

Behind the scenes at a tiki-themed coffee shop in the Crossroads, one couple is stitching together a small business strategy that combines high-profile specialty apparel projects with professional sports organizations and live sew-on-the-go activations in the community.

Michele Dawbarn, co-founder of SewKC, sews a patch on a mini pennant during a First Fridays activation in June at HITIDES Coffee Shop; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

“Week to week, we sometimes don’t even know what we’re going to be working on,” said Johnny Dawbarn, part of the serial entrepreneur duo that built Collective Ex, the HITIDES coffee shop, and SewKC — all within the walls of their “East of Ordinary” space at 519 E 18th St.

Guided by the nimble hands of Michele Dawbarn — who first launched SewKC as a children’s clothing line out of her basement in 2011 — business is busy as the two work on projects that range from custom patches and massive art pieces to fabrication of commissioned branding materials and signage.

Click here to follow SewKC and see more of the brand’s custom work.

“So when we do finally get a moment to pause, we’re like, ‘Holy smokes, can you believe we did this? That’s wild,’” Johnny said. “But then you’re right back to it, because you don’t have much time just to sit around, which is a great problem that we’re very thankful for.”

Their business evolution — particularly through the SewKC brand — has notably refocused efforts from retail apparel sales to business-to-business collaborations.

And it’s an exciting time for the pivot, Michele said.

As an avid sports fan, she was happy enough just to use her embroidery and sewing skills for special projects pairing the Dawbarns’ business with the U.S. Women’s Rugby team and the KC Current soccer team. Then the daughter of a friend asked about her dream SewKC job.

A Super Bowl jacket customized by SewKC hanging near the brand’s retail space at HITIDES Coffee Shop in the Crossroads; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

Michele’s answer: the Super Bowl.

“Three days later, I got the phone call, which was just so crazy,” she recalled, noting a local connection in the fashion industry got a request from Nike for SewKC’s help with custom Super Bowl letterman-style jackets. “I never would have thought in a million years that would have happened, but it did.”

Those jackets were just the cherry on the top of a momentous year for SewKC, which included collaborations — often on tight deadlines — with not only the women’s rugby team and the Current but Scooter’s Coffee, Casey’s convenience store, the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament, Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić, plus local favorites MADE MOBB, Dri Duck, Cafe Cà Phê, EB & Co., and Populous.

“Michelle’s work speaks for itself,” Johnny said. “As we’ve built our businesses and established what we would stand for, one of those values obviously is doing the best work you can and consistently keeping it the best it can be.”

“It’s really nice when you’ve got some large organizations actually recognizing that to a degree,” he continued. “It’s validating in some ways, but it’s also humbling.”

“Our business is a lot about the connections that we’ve made over the years,” Michelle added.

Leaning into these collaborations not only fuels custom work, but a new vertical that saw SewKC expand into a mobile “sew-on-the-go” operation that can turnout high-energy creativity at special events with local partners.

 

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“This past year, we decided we needed a shift,” explained Michele, who got to travel to Washington DC for the women’s rugby team’s jacket ceremony after making them. “We dove into embroidery about a year and a half, two years ago. We’ve been backing off on our retail presence to allow for more of those bigger orders with business-to-business.”

“We felt like those opportunities were even larger than just putting out retail products,” Johnny added.

From the archives: Blue collar Friday: Why a KC streetwear project in the works for a decade could sell out in one night

A mobile sewing machine sits in the SewKC area within the Collective EX and HITIDES Coffee Shop space; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

With the help of business partner Angela Watson, SewKC has invested in mobile embroidery machines for its sew-on-the-go events, they shared. The first opportunity teamed them with the KC Current — also a partner on a jacket project, a capsule collection in the team’s retail shop, and Current doll jerseys for an event with Angela Cervantes, the author behind books featuring the 2026 American Girl Doll of the Year.

Johnny Dawbarn shares a laugh with a small group of collaborators at SewKC; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

“​​We embroidered — I don’t know how many — scarves,” Johnny said. “It seemed like a million, but it was a lot. People could personalize them.”

“It’s yet another way to connect versus asking businesses to work through our studio,” he continued. “We were able to bring a piece of our studio to wherever they are.”

Live activations also have included events where Michele sews custom embroidered patches and pennants for national companies like Scooter’s and Casey’s, as well as for local businesses like MADE MOBB and Cafe Cà Phê.

“It’s just a really, really cool way of showcasing all these like-minded people coming together to highlight creativity, allowing people to see a little bit behind the scenes,” Johnny said. “A lot of the people who are in this particular category of business — whether it’s embroidery or the patch and sewing — tend to be a little siloed. So we saw an opportunity to break that down.”

“Our space here with HITIDES is an open studio concept for that very reason,” he added, “but this is beyond it.”

From the archives: Married to collaboration: SewKC couple stitches meaning into each hand-sewn design

“It’s nice to see some of that come full circle to a point where you’re like, ‘Wow,’” Johnny added. “But you’re moving so fast that sometimes we forget to slow down and think about what we’re doing. We’re always already on to the next thing.”