This blog post comes from a cross-collaboration with Jess from Prairie Soap Shack in Alberta. We thought it would be fun to interview each other and share each other's websites.

Jess Mose from Prairie Soap Shack recently suggested she’d like to ask me a few questions to get to know me better.  This is a great way for you to get to know me a bit more and to learn more about Wheat & Wildflower, too.  Do you have any other questions?  My inbox is always open!

I met Jess a couple years ago through the Trailblazher Inner Circle Collective and I’m so glad I did!  I have been so inspired by her, her brand story and her business!  Jess is a farm mom to two boys and they live in Red Deer County, Alberta.  I feel like we have so much in common and look forward to meeting her in person one day soon!

You can check out Jess's shop at Prairie Soap Shack.

Here are the questions Jess sent to me:

1.  What is the most favourite product you make and why?

This is such a tough question because my recent makes are almost always my new favourites!  Everything is sewn inside out, and I sew 12-20 of a similar item at a time, so it feels almost magical turning a batch of clothing and seeing the beautiful colors and prints!

I think my favourite product is my print-all-over lounge sweaters.  I love picking prints and colors for my shop.  And I love the coziness that these bring to a little one.  They are easy to wear and to care for.  Plus they are one of my quickest products to sew.  Each collection I release has several prints in this style and they are always well loved both online and at markets.

2.  Why did you start your business?

As a mom of three, I am in constant disbelief at the amount of clothing that I buy for my kids and how quickly they outgrow it!  Sorting outgrown clothing is overwhelming!  So many clothes.  So much of it hardly worn!  Even clothes from well-known brands are shrunken or twisted with unraveling seems.  They are in no condition to be handed down to another child.

In 2020, mid-pandemic, corporate downsizing left with without work.  Faced with daily commuting to find a similar job, I began exploring what options would allow me to stay at home and provide more flexibility and balance as a mom to three on our busy and growing farm.

With a huge leap of optimism, I started into the small shop life!  Wheat and Wildflower Handmade has combined my business skills with my love of sewing and well-made clothing!  And I’m so proud to be creating a shop that fits with my core value to be sustainable!

3.  Do you get sore from sitting at your sewing machines?

Yes!  I try to plan my day and week to break up my sewing time.  And I try to make time for a walk most evenings, too, often walking out through our farmyard.  An advantage of having cattle to feed on our farm is that there are always cleared and packed paths, even in the winter!

4.  What is something you want to make and haven’t yet?

I’m a pretty fearless sewer, so I’ve tried making lots of new things!  A few years after getting back into sewing, I made a denim jacket for myself.  And I’ve made a couple button down shirts too!  I’ve also made a few throw-sized quilts.  But now that much of my day is spent sewing, I tend to spend less evening time sewing for me.  A couple projects that have recently caught my eye are the new softshell jacket pattern from Styla Patterns.  And the quilted duffle bag from Knot and Thread.

5.  How do you juggle work from home and raising your family?

Some days it feels like juggling, that’s for sure!  My kids are all school aged now and they catch the bus by 7:50 in the morning, so I can usually get started at admin work on my computer for an hour.  And then move out to my sewing studio to work at cutting or sewing.  I try to keep my evenings free of work so that we can eat together as a family and get kids to any evening activities.  And if I’m going to fit in a little more work during a busy season, its after my younger two get to bed for the night.  (My teen is a night owl!)  I also try to work weekdays only (with the exception of market days) so that I get a break from my work on the weekends.

I use my day planner religiously to plan out my week and block in time for work and projects and keep track of appointments and activities.  And I’m fortunate that Scott and our kids are very supportive of my business!

6.  What is your favourite thing to cook?

I really like cooking!  And cookbooks are some of my favourite things to read.  But lately, it feels like we are in a bit of a mealtime rut.  My kids have taken on careers as food critiques and it’s been pretty tough being adventurous with my cooking, so I make a lot of the same things every week just to keep the complaining at bay.  I’m sure most parents can relate.

I love making home made pizza!  And as beef farmers, I love just about anything using ground beef.  A couple of my favourites to make are homemade burgers and lasagna!

7.  What is the biggest blooper you’ve made while sewing a product?

Mmm… I’ve sewed cuffs on upside down!  And I sewed a jogger leg together with one piece upside down.  Of course, that was a 6-9Y size, so it was a long seam to seam rip!

8.  What is your favourite book?

I don’t read often (mostly because if I read a good book, no one gets fed and my house falls apart while I read it), so this one is tricky!  I have a huge stack of books sitting beside my bed that grows faster than I can read them.  I really loved "Caroline" by Sarah Miller.  And "Marilla of Green Gables" by Sarah McCoy.

9.  Who or what inspires you?

I am inspired to do the best I can for my family!  They are definitely one of the reasons I’ve chosen create a business where I can work flexibly from home.  And I feel that much of my desire to make sustainable products comes from my desire to improve our environment for them in the future.

I am inspired by nature, especially the beauty of the prairie plants and landscapes.

And I’m inspired by some of my Trailblazher friends, like Jess!  I love seeing how they are balancing busy rural/farm-life and growing unique businesses.

10.  When you were 10, what did you want to be when you grew up?

This is something I’ve never thought about before!  But much of my current path in life came during my teen years, so 10 puts me back before my increased exposure to agriculture or to 4-H.

When I was 10, I used to spend many hours creating designs for elaborate forts that we would build in my grandparents’ pasture with my sisters and cousins.  So I think I imagined growing up to be an architect or designer.  At that age, I used to sew a bit, too.  I loved creating things for my room or small stuffed animals.

At 12, we moved to an acreage where we had horses and became involved in horse 4-H and livestock events, which started my love for agriculture, which put me on the path to the 17 years I worked in agriculture.

 

Thanks again Jess for the interview questions!  Be sure to head over to Jess's website www.prairiesoapshack.com. 

 

Jess is the owner of Prairie Soap Shack and she makes amazing soaps, balms and salves that are free from synthetic fragrances and artificial colors.  She grows and forages the prairie plants used in her products.

As someone who has become more and more sensitive to artificial scents in the past few years, I have loved every product that I’ve tried from Jess.  Her soap bars last our family for months.  But her solid bar shampoo and conditioner has made the biggest difference for me, eliminating a continuous scalp irritation that I had for years and hadn’t connected to the bottled shampoo and conditioner until after I tried hers.  You can also find Jess on Instagram @prairiesoapshack.