SUPERIOR — Bea Erickson couldn’t picture another winter of working dock security. She’d worked that job for several years after her husband died and the dark, cold winters were the worst.
So, in July 2024, she returned to the work that has been her passion for 52 years and started a sewing/tailoring business in her Superior home.
“I just didn’t want to be cold anymore,” Erickson said. “When I started, I thought it’ll supplement my income, but there’s no way I’m going to make the kind of money I made working at the dock, right? Well, soon I surpassed that and had to start closing my doors some days of the week because I need the time to work on orders.”
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Erickson spends her days repairing linings in coats, replacing zippers, hemming pants, altering dresses and solving people’s other sewing needs at her home business, Superior Sewing.
“There’s a level of problem-solving to it. I like taking on some jobs because it’s a challenge and they give me carte blanche. Basically, you’re the professional, figure out what you want to do with it,” Erickson said. “I always tell them the price prior so there’s no surprises. That’s tricky, too; I have my own system for figuring out how much work something will be and how much to charge.”
Payment is due when the item is picked up, and Erickson doesn’t call her customers for pickup “until the last stitch is sewn.” The amount of time for an item can vary greatly depending on the client and the item.
“There are hard dates. I can’t change somebody’s wedding, funeral or prom date. So sometimes I have to push my regular customers two or three days this way or that,” Erickson said. “If somebody can allow me extra time to do something, I will take it and I’m very appreciative of it.”
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Items people bring to Erickson for work tend to run cyclically. Right now she’s working on a lot of jackets, as people discover that they forgot to get their snowmobile jacket repaired last spring or move to winter coats and need a new zipper in their lighter fall coats. In the summer, Erickson finds that it’s wedding central, despite the fact that she won’t take on wedding dresses. She does, however, do a lot of bridesmaid dress adjustments.
“It’s a difficult one because there aren’t a lot of places around to do wedding dresses or bridesmaids dresses, and it seems like people have to order their dresses later and later,” Erickson said. “So I’ve done as many as 30 dresses in 35 days. It’s not ideal, but it’s what happens when things need to get done.”
While Superior Sewing is the first sewing-specific small business Erickson has run, she started sewing at just 7 years old.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
“I would sneak in and sew on my mom’s treadle machine, not to her liking,” Erickson said. “But it ended up being my vocation.”
Erickson wryly remembers, despite all her young experience, getting Cs in her home economics class when it came to sewing.
“I remember Miss Sipola telling me she would have given me an A, but it wasn’t A work because I was helping everyone else,” Erickson said. “Which is still kind of true today. I’m still willing to help people, give them advice on how to do a costume or something. I won’t do it for them unless you enlist my services, but if you have a question, I might be able to guide.”
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
After school, Erickson was trained to become a men’s tailor at 17 at what was then known as The Hub Clothiers in Virginia, Minnesota. She moved to different stores around the region and as far as Minneapolis.
“I did everything — from clothing, draperies, furs, leathers, alterations and custom-mades,” Erickson said. “In every home I lived in, I built myself a large 5-by-20-foot table to work on, and I always had to leave it behind because they were too big to move.”
Erickson eventually gave up the tailoring business for several years after she got married and moved to Superior. She’d take some projects on for friends and family, but didn’t start again until 2024. She said her business is her main means of socialization.
“I get to meet all kind of people doing this work. They come in and share their clothing with me. And it’s almost always something that’s special to them,” Erickson said. “You don’t go to the trouble of replacing a zipper in a jacket you don’t care about. I always ask, is it worth it to you? It has to be.”
Information about Erickson and Superior Sewing can be found at zippershemsandlinings.com.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Teri Cadeau is a features reporter for the Duluth News Tribune. Originally from the Iron Range, Cadeau has worked for several community newspapers in the Duluth area, including the Duluth Budgeteer News, Western Weekly, Weekly Observer, Lake County News-Chronicle, and occasionally, the Cloquet Pine Journal. When not working, she’s an avid reader, crafter, dancer, trivia fanatic and cribbage player.