Words Jamila Douhaibi
Photo Tanya Murchie
Lucy Lacet Stevens is one of those remarkable women that knew what she wanted to do at a young age, and made the dream a reality. Shy but passionate, she moved to Canada from Brazil in 2003 with her three boys and husband Richard. Her first job after the family moved to the mainland was in fibreglass. But the “love of my life,” as Lucy refers to it, is sewing.
In Brazil she trained as a fashion designer and says that she didn’t actually learn to sew until she taught herself. When she moved to Sidney from Vancouver, she became a caregiver and loved helping people, but felt that something was missing. When the pandemic hit, she learned to sew. Beginning with making masks in her home, customers started dropping off clothes to get hemmed or altered. Lucy says that she’s “never stopped being busy since 2020.” Lucy worked out of her son’s room, then expanded throughout the basement, and recently opened her shop “Stitch in Time” on Beacon Avenue in Sidney.
The main thing that she took with her when she moved from her home to the store was a feeling of comfort and ensuring that everyone that comes into her shop feels welcome. Entering the second-floor space via stairs or elevator, two big comfortable couches are the first thing you see. “Once a caregiver, always a caregiver,” Lucy says. The desire to create through love and make people feel at home in Lucy’s “second home” is top of her list.
Because Lucy worked so hard to get where she is, she says that she enjoys everything that her job entails. Throughout her work day, she is “never bored, never angry,” because she is designing and creating like she was trained to do, and fashion and clothing make her happy. Lucy mentions that she sews in her dreams, often waking her husband up when she measures and cuts out fabric on his back. She has always wanted to work with her hands, and even as a child told her mother that she would work for herself when she was older.
Knowing that her business will continue to grow, Lucy plans on teaching sewing classes on the weekends. She wants to continue having a community space where there are multiple machines, people start a sewing club, and everyone who walks through the doors sees the space as a social network where they can sit and share stories. Currently getting a lot of appreciated support from friends, Lucy wants to say thank you to: Janet Thompson, Laurie Salvador, Lucia White, Diane Elliott and Michele Holmes.
As the business grows, Lucy wants to hire an assistant. As a perfectionist in her work, she doesn’t want just anyone on her staff, saying: “I want to teach the person that’s going to help me.” Lucy also wants to expand what she produces and start making cushions and bags. Her space is full of colourful fabric and her contentment in her work speaks to the pride that she will continue to have creating and sewing for her community. When she moved from her house to her home-away-from-home shop, she brought her customers with her.
Lucy has always been someone that takes work on honestly, rather than simply to get a job. She provides advice rather than fixing items just to fix them. Balancing the time it takes for her to do good work with customer’s money, Lucy says “let’s be fair with each other.” Because when you’re doing the job you love, it’s just like being at home.
lucylacet@hotmail.com.
