We had the good fortune of connecting with Monica Tetteh and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Monica, so given that most of us are stuck at home due to the crisis, we’ve been asking folks about what they’ve enjoyed doing during quarantine. We’d love to hear what your favorite thing to do has been.
To be honest, its been sewing and spending more time with family. I truly enjoy sewing already, but I finally had the time to make things for myself. Working from home has been busy so, it has been great to get away to my sewing room and sew my cares away. I started making masks for family and now I am working on making masks for the Dallas community. I always spend time with my family, however being on quarantine, gave us the much needed time and focus to strengthen our bonds.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am an event planner for one of the cities here in the DFW. I truly enjoy my career because it allows me to blend my love for project management, event production and creativity. I started my career in Higher Education where I worked for many years. Event management has always been a focus of the various positions I have held. I planned events such as homecomings with over 30K people as well as concerts, conferences, speaking series, parades, galas, just to name a few. My passion for bringing people together ties into my love of sewing. My employers knew that I loved sewing as I would show up in my makes and one day asked if I would be willing to bring my sewing group to the facility as a free event for the community. I was so thrilled because I could blend my two loves. Project Sew was created and now we are in our 5th year. We have branched to Atlanta and the DC area. There are a community of sewers who enjoy fashion sewing, coming together and sharing in the art of sewing. Working in events isn’t an easy job. Of course I make it look easy. Often times, people see the end results and think that it was a breeze to put together. However, they do not see the many months of planning, money, time and the early morning prep and late night breakdowns. It can be taxing physically, however when you see the faces of your guests that are pleased it is all worth it and you will go back to doing it again. The lessons I have learned along the way is to know that there will always be a problem. However, it is important to not let anyone, especially your guests see you sweat or know there is a problem. I am always calm though I am a high energy person. Another lesson is understanding your target audience and their needs and wants. The event isn’t about you its about them. I would love people to know that I am passionate about bringing people together through events and community. On a sewing level the same. I would love people to learn more about the art of sewing and the passion that I have for creating and bringing sewers of all backgrounds together. We are bonded by the needle and thread. I enjoy everything I make and most of the time when you see me I am wearing something that I have made.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is a great question. If my friend was visiting for a week …..let’s say around October I would first take them to one of the events that I plan so they can see me in action and I can also put them to work…LOL! Second, we would have to make a pit stop to the State Fair and enjoy and evening in Deep Ellum for the experience. The next day I would take them all over from Plano, Frisco and McKinney. I love North Dallas so we would try different restaurants and the scene out there. A visit to South Dallas to explore. Visit the stock yards and Cowboys stadium for some Texas flavor and definitely try some good ol Texas barbecue. Everyone always want to do that. Head back to Dallas and visit Uptown, the Reunion Tower and Arts District for a little evening scene and then top it off with visiting Possum Kingdom Lake area for a day of relaxation. After writing this I feel like I need to explore more now…..LOL! Hopefully, they will have a great time hanging with me.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would love to shoutout my support system. My sewing family. The wonderful ladies from Project Sew and online sewing community. We have been able to come together and though we can’t see each other in person at our monthly gatherings our online zoom meetings have been a blast. They have been awesome and so supportive. They are part of my family.

Website: www.thatssewmonica.com
Instagram: @thatssewmonica
Linkedin: Monica Tetteh
Youtube: thatssewmonica

Image Credits
Taylor Tetteh