You may have seen the embroidery small business Madebypiperlilly on your Instagram feed—well, LFHS alumna Piper Rother is the creative force behind it all.
Rother is an upcoming junior at Tulane University as a legal study in business with a minor in political science.
Embroidery has always been something Rother has loved, but she didn’t start to teach herself until recently.
The name Madebypiperlilly sparked from Rother’s first name combined with her middle name.
“I wanted to keep something personal to me without having my full first and last name in it, so after throwing around ideas with my roommates they helped me decide on madebypiperlilly,” Rother said.
Courses such as Business Law, Cases in Entrepreneurship, and Managerial Accounting have helped Rother launch and manage her small business.
Since Rother is now home for the summer, Madebypiperlilly has quickly taken flight.
“Before coming home from school, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my summer and I thought it would be fun to start my own business so I could do something I actually enjoyed doing,” Rother said. “It would also free up some time to allow me to travel and explore bits and pieces of possible career fields rather than doing one set job or internship.”
While at college, embroidery was more of a relaxing activity for Rother to do. She would make family and friends gifts while she was still trying to get the hang of it.
“I already have started to plan embroidery events with my sorority, like doing little embroidery designs on items at our annual clothing sale to raise money for our charity,” Rother said.
Rother creates a variety of designs across different fabrics, including robes, makeup bags, clothing, fabric coasters and more.
Many of Rother’s customers come to her with a clear design they would like done.
“I use a Brother embroidery and sewing machine,” Rother said. “All the designs are programmed into the machine, and it’s almost like babysitting where I have to change the threads and make sure everything is stitching out the way it’s supposed to.”
The process of assembling and creating each design takes anywhere from a minute to an hour because it all depends on the size of the design.
“Depending on how this summer goes I would consider, but as I’m currently at a place where I am constantly learning I think I will keep it small for the foreseeable future,” Rother said.
As of now, Rother is enjoying the fun of creating many embroidery designs and as she continues this hobby, she might further her goals.
“As time goes on, and I work with more and more people I may start to form more long term goals but as of now it’s just something I’m doing for fun in hopes to gain experience in starting a business and to make a little bit of money,” Rother said.
