What's worse the pandemic or looking hideous in dumpy ill-fitted protection mask?
The answer is...the pandemic!
But never fear, I've found just the person who can make everyone look cool in a mask. Meet Irena Murphy, owner and operator of Stitch Bitch Masks.
Her story hasn't been a simple path to beautifying a pandemic. She lost her job as a hairstylist during the shutdown of Los Angeles and leaned on her two years of tailoring and design skills acquired a lifetime ago and dusted off her sewing machine to craft masks to donate to hospitals. After running out of material and having to buy more it dawned on her that she might be onto something. If she had to buy more, why not do something different, something out of the box. She wanted to curate a look that's "Irena Approved." The Irena-approved look quickly moved to Etsy where she developed styles that alleviated a lot of problems she identified with other masks on the market. Then when her website Stitch Bitch Masks website launched she was quickly (and temporarily) sold out of everything. But here she is and with the world short on masks, Irena Murphy is a mask maker and a business owner.
MEDIA GUY: That's certainly a nice career pivot. Have you always been an entrepreneur by nature?
IRENA MURPHY: I have always been an entrepreneur. I guess being a hairstylist is running your own business. But I've also sold other things on Etsy. I tried a small pinup headband thing for a bit and I used to make homemade lip balm, packaging, labeling selling it online and to local salons.
MG: I heard that your masks sold out immediately, why do you think yours stood out above the others?
IM: My masks did sell out immediately and it was overwhelming. I think there are a couple reasons. One, the world was seriously out of face masks. There was a call to action article in Forbes magazine last month asking seamstresses to donate to hospitals because they were out or short. Well, guess what? Regular people couldn't get masks either. Bigger companies were starting to sell them but they were sold out too. Buying from independent people like me meant we had it on hand and were shipping out sooner than later. But there's a ton of sellers on Etsy, I think mine did so well because they're cool. I buy specialty fabric and I'm able to source some designs that you can't buy at regular fabric places. I also add wire in the nose to make it more form fitting and the elastic I started using is thinner and you can tie it to adjust. I think everyone is scrambling to supply the demand. It's like the Gold Rush now. But these companies putting out masks are not necessarily designers and they're putting out masks that are baggy, plain, thin, generally not made well and I think people are catching on.
MG: To get everything going, you hired models for the visuals? Where did you find them?
IM: I've been modeling everything because of the stay-at-home order. I have to be my own model. I've started using a few friends, popping over and shooting them at a distance. I figure we're all in masks so it's a bit better!
MG: How has the transition from stylist to seamstress been?
IM: Honesty, it’s been rough. I’ve never worked so hard in my life. (Laughs) I’d get up and start sewing and wouldn’t stop till midnight. But that’s because I’m building something new; both in learning to sew the best mask out there and also learning to grow this as a business. I finally started hiring people to help and it’s been going better! I love creating so the transition with that is easy. Creating new hair as a hairstylist, designing new masks, or creating a new business. As long as things are new and exciting I can handle it well. It’s the monotony of doing the same thing I don’t do well with.
MG: Does this give you aspirations to work on other clothing items?
IM: Yes, my God, yes! I’ve always wanted to go into fashion design. It’s the whole reason I took tailoring to begin with. I just didn’t realize how easy it was till I was pushed to do it. I haven’t had anything mass produced yet but I’ve talked with manufacturers and put together tech packs and tutorials on my sewing techniques and it’s honestly not that hard. You just need money. (Laughs) I really want to focus on masks right now and as long as that’s a need.
MG: Tell me about this vintage van you're single-handedly remodeling.
IM: aaaahhhh hahahaha! Yes! The Dream Machine! Vanlife baby! #vannin haha! I got so obsessed with van life on Instagram. There's something about running away and also being at home that just hooked into me. Although I'm not doing a full build out, my plan is to do a rad shagin' wagon retro conversion that also just doubles as a sort of glamping mobile. I went down the rabbit hole of YouTube videos and learned how to do the flooring and insulation and now I'm reupholstering the walls. I was gonna work on it during the quarantine and then...started a mask business! So it's on hold. Every now and then when I want to get away and I can't I just go sit in there and drink my coffee. It's nice to get out of your house, even if that means going to sit in your car. It's also nice to have air conditioning, a rad stereo in your car and a fold out futon in your car :)
MG: You have done everything it seems—actress, writer, screenwriter, model, hair stylist, director, and now a seamstress—which is the most rewarding career choice?
IM: I have done a bit everything and I'm really hoping it all amounts to something some day They are all very useful skills in different ways. But what kind of rewarding are we talking about here? Financially rewarding or emotionally rewarding? They are usually different. I wish they were one in the same. But emotionally rewarding has to have been filmmaking. It's something I never thought I could do and then I did it. Having an idea, a feeling or even a moment and being able to communicate that in a way that's exactly how you feel is an amazing feeling. It's like poetry, or maybe I'm just not the best with regular words, but when people see a film and say, "that's how I feel!" or "I get that" or "I've had that conversation." It's all those things that connect us as people that become profound and there are so many moving parts to capture that. It's a pretty big accomplishment. Financially rewarding? That's yet to be seen and I really must keep this mask business going, right? So far designing something and making a company around that is like making a film. There's a lot of moving parts. If I can keep the plates spinning It might take over as the most rewarding thing I've ever done.
MG: Launching a business in the middle of a crisis can't be easy in the middle of a pandemic - what were your biggest obstacles?
IM: It's been crazy and I'm a crazy person for doing it. The biggest obstacles, of course, have been that everything is closed and no one can help me. Seriously! Fabric wholesalers or even consumer fabric shops are closed. I can order online but it's been a guessing game as to when the supplies will actually arrive. I've just had to be creative and really dig for different suppliers and ultimately I've had to pay a lot more in both shipping and the cost of fabric and then just wait and make do with what I have. It's also been hard because I'm picky and want to do everything. But then I tell myself something like, "Bill Gates didn't create a huge company by demanding that he build every single computer himself..." or something like that. Plus, the world is bonkers crazy right now. These are just some of the problems with trying to grow a business in a pandemic.
MG: Staying sane during all of this - what's your blueprint?
IM: I am not sane through any of this, let's get that straight. I wish I had a blueprint. I used to mediate twice a day and you'd think with all this time I would be. I go to sleep with a million thoughts and I wake up with a million to do's. I guess in a way what's keeping me somewhat sane is that I have something else to focus on other than the crazy mess that's going on outside. I rarely go to the grocery store or anywhere. I just make masks. It might be making me a crazy but in a better way because it's given me a something to talk about and keep my brain turning with creative ways to run a business given the limitations. All of which are not the big overwhelming elephant in the room: The Pandemic along with the depression from loss of income, uncertainty of the future, inability to connect in person. All that isn't on my mind because my focus has been designing the perfect mask and figuring out how I might be able to grow a business from my home.
MG: Where do you want to see this business go?
IM: I've worked consistently for months and put a unreasonable amount of money into this business so... I want to see this business go as far as it can! I could see this being in stores like Urban Outfitters and boutiques. And I'd like to get more sales over seas where mask culture already existed before. I've also made video tutorials on how to sew my designs so I could see making that available. I think it'd be so cute to make some mask and matching outfit combinations one day. But for now my immediate goals are to get out all the designs for masks I have in my head and make them available. I still have a lot of ideas for making "Summer Masks" and a retro series and even some different cuts I think would work well with different elastic combinations. So there's a ton of possibilities!
Connect with Irena...
Website
Instagram
The answer is...the pandemic!
But never fear, I've found just the person who can make everyone look cool in a mask. Meet Irena Murphy, owner and operator of Stitch Bitch Masks.
 |
| Irena-approved style... |
MEDIA GUY: That's certainly a nice career pivot. Have you always been an entrepreneur by nature?
IRENA MURPHY: I have always been an entrepreneur. I guess being a hairstylist is running your own business. But I've also sold other things on Etsy. I tried a small pinup headband thing for a bit and I used to make homemade lip balm, packaging, labeling selling it online and to local salons.
MG: I heard that your masks sold out immediately, why do you think yours stood out above the others?
IM: My masks did sell out immediately and it was overwhelming. I think there are a couple reasons. One, the world was seriously out of face masks. There was a call to action article in Forbes magazine last month asking seamstresses to donate to hospitals because they were out or short. Well, guess what? Regular people couldn't get masks either. Bigger companies were starting to sell them but they were sold out too. Buying from independent people like me meant we had it on hand and were shipping out sooner than later. But there's a ton of sellers on Etsy, I think mine did so well because they're cool. I buy specialty fabric and I'm able to source some designs that you can't buy at regular fabric places. I also add wire in the nose to make it more form fitting and the elastic I started using is thinner and you can tie it to adjust. I think everyone is scrambling to supply the demand. It's like the Gold Rush now. But these companies putting out masks are not necessarily designers and they're putting out masks that are baggy, plain, thin, generally not made well and I think people are catching on.
MG: To get everything going, you hired models for the visuals? Where did you find them?
IM: I've been modeling everything because of the stay-at-home order. I have to be my own model. I've started using a few friends, popping over and shooting them at a distance. I figure we're all in masks so it's a bit better!
MG: How has the transition from stylist to seamstress been?
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| The Stitch Bitch Ninja Mask |
MG: Does this give you aspirations to work on other clothing items?
IM: Yes, my God, yes! I’ve always wanted to go into fashion design. It’s the whole reason I took tailoring to begin with. I just didn’t realize how easy it was till I was pushed to do it. I haven’t had anything mass produced yet but I’ve talked with manufacturers and put together tech packs and tutorials on my sewing techniques and it’s honestly not that hard. You just need money. (Laughs) I really want to focus on masks right now and as long as that’s a need.
MG: Tell me about this vintage van you're single-handedly remodeling.
IM: aaaahhhh hahahaha! Yes! The Dream Machine! Vanlife baby! #vannin haha! I got so obsessed with van life on Instagram. There's something about running away and also being at home that just hooked into me. Although I'm not doing a full build out, my plan is to do a rad shagin' wagon retro conversion that also just doubles as a sort of glamping mobile. I went down the rabbit hole of YouTube videos and learned how to do the flooring and insulation and now I'm reupholstering the walls. I was gonna work on it during the quarantine and then...started a mask business! So it's on hold. Every now and then when I want to get away and I can't I just go sit in there and drink my coffee. It's nice to get out of your house, even if that means going to sit in your car. It's also nice to have air conditioning, a rad stereo in your car and a fold out futon in your car :)
 |
| #VanLife |
IM: I have done a bit everything and I'm really hoping it all amounts to something some day They are all very useful skills in different ways. But what kind of rewarding are we talking about here? Financially rewarding or emotionally rewarding? They are usually different. I wish they were one in the same. But emotionally rewarding has to have been filmmaking. It's something I never thought I could do and then I did it. Having an idea, a feeling or even a moment and being able to communicate that in a way that's exactly how you feel is an amazing feeling. It's like poetry, or maybe I'm just not the best with regular words, but when people see a film and say, "that's how I feel!" or "I get that" or "I've had that conversation." It's all those things that connect us as people that become profound and there are so many moving parts to capture that. It's a pretty big accomplishment. Financially rewarding? That's yet to be seen and I really must keep this mask business going, right? So far designing something and making a company around that is like making a film. There's a lot of moving parts. If I can keep the plates spinning It might take over as the most rewarding thing I've ever done.
MG: Launching a business in the middle of a crisis can't be easy in the middle of a pandemic - what were your biggest obstacles?
IM: It's been crazy and I'm a crazy person for doing it. The biggest obstacles, of course, have been that everything is closed and no one can help me. Seriously! Fabric wholesalers or even consumer fabric shops are closed. I can order online but it's been a guessing game as to when the supplies will actually arrive. I've just had to be creative and really dig for different suppliers and ultimately I've had to pay a lot more in both shipping and the cost of fabric and then just wait and make do with what I have. It's also been hard because I'm picky and want to do everything. But then I tell myself something like, "Bill Gates didn't create a huge company by demanding that he build every single computer himself..." or something like that. Plus, the world is bonkers crazy right now. These are just some of the problems with trying to grow a business in a pandemic.
IM: I am not sane through any of this, let's get that straight. I wish I had a blueprint. I used to mediate twice a day and you'd think with all this time I would be. I go to sleep with a million thoughts and I wake up with a million to do's. I guess in a way what's keeping me somewhat sane is that I have something else to focus on other than the crazy mess that's going on outside. I rarely go to the grocery store or anywhere. I just make masks. It might be making me a crazy but in a better way because it's given me a something to talk about and keep my brain turning with creative ways to run a business given the limitations. All of which are not the big overwhelming elephant in the room: The Pandemic along with the depression from loss of income, uncertainty of the future, inability to connect in person. All that isn't on my mind because my focus has been designing the perfect mask and figuring out how I might be able to grow a business from my home.
MG: Where do you want to see this business go?
IM: I've worked consistently for months and put a unreasonable amount of money into this business so... I want to see this business go as far as it can! I could see this being in stores like Urban Outfitters and boutiques. And I'd like to get more sales over seas where mask culture already existed before. I've also made video tutorials on how to sew my designs so I could see making that available. I think it'd be so cute to make some mask and matching outfit combinations one day. But for now my immediate goals are to get out all the designs for masks I have in my head and make them available. I still have a lot of ideas for making "Summer Masks" and a retro series and even some different cuts I think would work well with different elastic combinations. So there's a ton of possibilities!
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Website
