A former high school quarterback who took up sewing during the pandemic has now launched his own clothing line – despite haters calling him a ‘grandma’ for his passion.
Wyatt Miller, 19, from La Ronge in Saskatchewan, Canada, said he spent most of his childhood ‘mainly focused on sports.’
‘Football was definitely always going to be part of my life,’ he explained to Newsweek.
But during the pandemic, he discovered video of people making clothing on TikTok and was inspired to try it himself.
He eventually launched his own brand, Sparked Apparel, which he runs out of his basement and sells through his Instagram account.
A former high school quarterback who took up sewing during the pandemic has now launched his own clothing line – despite haters calling him a ‘grandma’ for his passion
Wyatt Miller (pictured in high school), now 19, from La Ronge in Saskatchewan, Canada, said he spent most of his childhood ‘mainly focused on sports’
He has now launched his own brand, Sparked Apparel, which he runs out of his basement and sells through his Instagram account
Wyatt had learned to sew during a nine grade home economics class, where he was taught to use a sewing machine (pictured in a yearbook photo)
Wyatt had learned to sew during a nine grade home economics class, where he was taught to use a sewing machine.
With the basic down, he tried his hand at making a shirt by cutting apart two old shirts and combining them.
He documented the process and uploaded video to TikTok, where it got a lot of traction.
‘Everyone’s reaction was, “Holy c**p, Wyatt, you’re pretty good at that!”‘ he recalled.
Around the same time, his mother asked him what he wanted as a Christmas gift that year.
‘I was going through my old clothes and I figured that instead of getting her to spend $500 on new outfits, I could ask her to spend $100 on a sewing machine so I could make all my old clothes fit again.’
Wyatt – who was also working part-time cleaning a hospital – taught himself how to use the machine, and decided he was going to start his own clothing line.
Impressive: For his first design, he combined two old shirts together to form a new top – and documented the whole process and uploaded it to TikTok, where it got a lot of traction
Determined: Wyatt, pictured in high school while playing football, asked his mom to get him a sewing machine for Christmas and decided he was going to start his own clothing line
Wyatt has now made over 180 garments and has more than 1,000 Instagram followers
He runs the business from his basement and sells the clothing through his Instagram account, but he plans to move to a local office space soon
‘Coming out of high school, I actually did want to try out for football and continue the football journey, but ever since I found sewing, it’s kind of taken over,’ he also told the CBC.
‘When I am sewing I actually, I kind of go into my own little zone. ‘If you would have told me now, when I was in high school getting taught how to sew, that I would be sewing, I would have laughed at you.
‘But now, after high school, you kind of grow up a little bit and realize that everyone does their own thing, everyone finds their own journey in life, and so far this is mine.’
So far, he has now made over 180 garments and has more than 1,000 followers on Instagram, but he plans to move to a local office space soon.
‘I remembered that when I first gave people my clothes, I could see they had a spark in their eyes,’ said Wyatt. ‘After seeing that spark a few times, I settled on the name Spark Apparel.’
All of his pieces are made from two shirts with different patterns or colors sewn together. Wyatt gets the old clothing from local thrift stores or from wholesalers.
Wyatt will be selling his clothes at a music festival this summer, and said it would be ‘awesome’ to see ‘big Canadian names, like Justin Bieber, wearing his clothes’
Big plans: He is currently applying to a fashion design school, but wants to take classes online so he can continue to grow the business
Looking ahead: The teen is not planning on ‘stopping the journey’ he’s on any time soon, but said if the opportunity to play football again ever arises, he will take it
‘My plan for the next few years is to sign a lease and open a storefront locally. And, it would be awesome to see some big Canadian names, like Justin Bieber, wearing my clothes,’ he added. ‘This summer I will be selling my clothes at a music festival.’
He is currently applying to a fashion design school, but wants to take classes online so he can continue to grow the business.
Wyatt also said that he doesn’t mind if people tease him over his hobby, telling the CBC, ‘When people do call me a kokum [a word for grandma from the indigenous Cree or Saulteaux languages] or a grandma, because I sew all the time, I just take it and laugh. People enjoy their grandmas.’
Wyatt said focusing on Sparked Apparel has helped his mentality, after having some ‘problems’ in the beginning of 2021.
‘It really helped switch my mind up. I realized that I have to take my own journey in life, we all take our own steps and God just does what he wants,’ he shared with Newsweek.
The teen is not planning on ‘stopping the journey’ he’s on any time soon, but said if the opportunity to play football again ever arises, he will take it.
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