They say you’ll succeed if you do what you love. A small shop in Downtown Ames, tucked at the end of Main Street, knows this well. For 33 years, Michelle Adams has owned and worked at A Stitch on Time.
Adams started hand sewing at age six or seven. Her dad would draw pictures on tea towels for her to embroider. By age seven or eight, she started using a sewing machine and made lots of her own clothes growing up.
When Adams was pregnant with her oldest daughter, she didn’t want to continue to commute to Des Moines for work. She quit her job at Von Maur and told her husband to find a place to start her shop. She remembers him being skeptical, but Adams said he trusted her.
“He found a building, rented it, moved my sewing machines in and put a sign out front, and here come the people,” Adams said. “33 years later, I’m still here. That one daughter got five sisters. So there’s six of them. We are working on the fifth wedding. It’s been crazy.”
Instead of daycare, she brought her kids into the shop every day until they could go to school. They spent many of their days growing up downtown with other shop-owner’s children.
“My daughter made two pairs of pants for herself before kindergarten,” Adams said.
After a while, the love of sewing stopped with her six daughters. They ended up finding their passions elsewhere. When asked about the future of the shop, Adams said she would continue “til my hands won’t handle it anymore.” Then, if she found the right buyer, she would potentially sell it.
A Stitch On Time gets many of its customers from the Ames and Iowa State communities. Adams has met many of the Iowa State coaching staff and ROTC members and recalls how when meeting Dr. Wendy Wintersteen, Iowa State University President, they just “clicked.”
Although she is fully capable of patching up blue jeans and doing wedding dress alterations, don’t come to Adams with thousands of dollars of white cloth. The responsibility of a wedding dress is not something she chooses to deal with anymore. However, Adams does do many alterations on bridesmaid dresses, prom dresses and uniforms.
COVID-19 impacted many small businesses, but Adams didn’t stop sewing. Her sister came to her shop, cut fabric and sewed masks with her, using ponytails when they ran out of elastic. They didn’t sell these masks, instead they donated them to county hospitals, nursing homes and other places around the community.
“I’ve thought long and hard about what I could have ever done that would have been as beneficial for our family, and I come up with nothing,” Adams said.
Adams showed this in her work ethic and kindness to customers. I watched her interact with two customers at the shop. The environment was welcoming and personable, and she was very accommodating.
Adams said she’s never had to do any advertising. Word of mouth has kept her doors open and supported her family. If you need hemming, altering or a friendly face from the Ames community, stop by A Stitch On Time.
A Stitch on Time is located at 120 Main St, Ames, IA 50010.
