Natalie's Everyday Heroes: Woman's unique love story turns into sewing passion

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- K.C. Brookshire has run K.C.'s Creations in Dousman for almost 21 years. She specializes in altering wedding dresses, but it’s her own love story that brought her to Wisconsin.

We first met K.C. Brookshire during our CBS 58 Hometowns visit to Dousman, but her story is so good, we had to go back for a longer visit.

Brookshire specializes in altering wedding dresses -- making sure brides look beautiful on their big day. When we went back to talk to her, we also found out about her love story.

Most days, you'll find K.C. Brookshire surrounded by yards and yards of silk, lace and tulle.

"Our passion is in the bridal world," she said, feeding fabric into her sewing machine. 

She has to keep the machines humming.

"Not only do you have multiple layers, you have multiple machines and steps that need to be done," Brookshire explained.

This year alone, she's altered 450 formal gowns.

"There's no more important time in a girl's life, in a woman's life, than that day. So where can I make the biggest impact," she said.

She's run K.C.'s Creations on Main Street in Dousman for more than 20 years. She took up sewing as stress relief after hearing an ad on the radio.

"I went really? And I looked at the radio and I said, well, that's nuts, because sewing is stressful. I had a class when I was 12 and I absolutely didn't like it," she said.

While it wasn't love at first stitch, it stuck.

"I think it's a process and what I've learned in the course of all of this time, is the more you practice, the better you get at it," she explained.

A process that takes practice, which is how life can be, too. 

"I've found out that I don't make mistakes if I always do it the same way," Brookshire's husband, Homer said.

Homer works in a quiet corner of the shop.

"He's very much the seated one, and I fly by my seat," Brookshire said with a big laugh.

He's her high school sweetheart, but their relationship also took some practice.

"We had what we considered, 1976, the summer of love," Homer recalled. "We went different directions. Twenty years later, I was at a point, I wondered what she was up to."

Homer tracked down K.C.'s mom and wrote her a letter.

Which is what eventually led K.C.'s Creations to open in Dousman.

"It was no time at all before he drove his chariot down to Missouri and brought me back to Wisconsin," Brookshire remembered. She had been sewing and designing costumes for shows in Branson.

"The inseam's 28 inches," Homer said, giving a pair of pants a measure.

Homer is an engineer by profession.

"It's fun doing it. It's interesting to do it. From an engineering standpoint, I want to know the process through," he said.

Brookshire said there are many benefits of having an engineer on staff.

"Let me tell you! Sometimes I think I'm Tom Sawyer," she said. "I taught him what I didn't care to do."

To hear Homer tell it -- he did try to retire. But clearly, he's still an engineer at heart -- creating a process to keep track of the work.

"The top tells me what to do. And later on, on the bottom, I fill in what I did," he said, showing off a worksheet he made to help with the workflow.

"He's meticulous, and he is amazingly talented with that meticulous stuff," Brookshire said about her husband.

An engineer, and an artist.

"I do the prep work. The busy stuff. And then she puts it all together with her magic," he said. " I'm proud of her. I'm proud of her."

A little bit of magic, and a lot of love. The two of them working together to make sure someone else's big day is perfect.

"I'm really happy that I took that path and this direction because of the people that I can impact," Brookshire said.

For more information on K.C.'s Creations, just visit their website.

If you'd like to nominate an Everyday Hero, send Natalie a message at [email protected].