CPES teacher turns hobby into thriving business

Most early mornings and late evenings, you can find Erin Moody in her sewing room crafting creations and fulfilling orders.

When the Chelsea Park Elementary School teacher was pregnant with her first child, she asked her mother to make the bedding for the crib. Moody wanted to be able to make clothes for her daughter, Emma, so she decided to get a lesson from her mom.

Her mom first showed her how to make a dress, but not long after, Moody forgot. So, she asked her a few months later to go over it again, and she taught her to make pants. Another year went by and Moody had forgotten and needed a third sewing lesson, and it was then that it stuck.

“I just wanted to make stuff for her [Emma],” Moody said. “The stuff I made when I started off, it was terrible, but people would say it was cute. It took me a lot of time to get to do what I do now.”

She has now been making clothes for her daughter for the past three or four years, but business has increased the last couple of years. Now she makes clothes for many other children besides her own. Her business, E&L Clothing, is named after her children, Emma and Logan.

Moody makes custom creations for both girls and boys from newborn to tween sizes. Her tagline is “custom clothing with memories that will last long after your child is grown.”

“I pretty much sew anything,” Moody said. “I can buy patterns from websites that are easy to follow and have picture instructions. When my friends see something they want, they send me photos and ask me to make it.”

Moody said she sews for her sanity. When friends ask how she does it, she tells them anyone can. Some of the outfits she makes for Emma she finishes in just one night.

“If you can read directions and look at pictures and have a lot of patience, you can practice and get even better over time,” she said.

She loves Hobby Lobby and gets much of her fabric from there. She also has her favorite online fabric shops that she buys from. She said the online option has come in handy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I get a lot of business from people I know — especially during any sort of holiday season, I get really busy,” she said. Back to school is her busiest time besides Christmas.

After using the sewing machine she got from a Walmart black Friday sale for many years, her husband bought her a new one last year, and it is getting plenty of use.

In addition to clothing, Moody has also been making masks during the past few months. After she had a friend call and ask her to make some for her husband’s construction crew, she asked on her Facebook page if anyone else needed any. As of press time, she had already made over 200 masks for adults and children.

Whether it’s after a busy day of teaching or juggling her business during the summer when her children are out of school, Moody said most of the time sewing doesn’t feel like work. She said it would be a dream to get to the point of having her own store where she could design clothes and pick out fabrics and have other employees to help bring her ideas to life, but if her business doesn’t reach that point, that’s okay, too.

“This may stay just like it is, and that is perfectly fine,” Moody said. “I stay busy and [am] still floored when people ask me to make them things. If strangers order things, it makes you feel pretty good.”

For information on Moody’s products, visit eandlclothingco.com, or find the company on Facebook and Instagram.