Buttercuppity thrives underground

So there I was this morning in the building that houses 1900 , one of my favorite furniture and interior design shops in Spokane.

I was there to interview Ariadne (“Ari”) and Michael Rooney, who own Buttercuppity Designs, a fabric and handmade garment and accessories shop .

Buttercuppity is located in the basement of 1900’s building at 114 W. Pacific Ave. I knew that. The question was where—besides down —was the basement?

1900 is closed on Mondays so I couldn’t walk through there (but, oh, how I wanted to. I could have just curled up on one of those couches and pretended that bright, airy space was the downtown loft I’ve always wanted. The well-decorated downtown loft I’ve always wanted).

Somehow I walked in a vertical circle through the building’s three floors and ended up in the alley behind it—trapped between two locked fences and unable to go back into the building because the exterior door locked behind me.

Hmm …

Just as I started to envision how I might survive the rest of my days in the shadow of the elevated train tracks, a man with a bicycle and a key to both the gates and the building saved me.

I’m telling you all of this to drive home one simple point: finding Buttercuppity is worth the effort.

The studio itself is, well, in an unfinished basement of an old building. Personally, I like the rawness of it all, but some people might find it, um, basement-like.

The cheerful fabrics, purses, children’s dresses and other merchandise hanging in the space counterbalance the unconventional setting. The colors, the patterns—it’s all so happy, which perfectly compliments the quick-witted and joyful couple that run the shop.

Ari grew up sewing next to her mother, who made wedding gowns and kept a stash of fabric that filled an entire room of her house as a kid.

“It was like, ‘Need a skirt tomorrow? Just go pick out a fabric,’” she recalls.

Ari put sewing on hold for several years, though, and took it back up again as a way to procrastinate as she finished up her master’s degree in English literature from Eastern Washington University.

“I had no desire to write my thesis, so I said, ‘I have the best idea ever. I’ll sew a purse,’” she said.

One purse turned into two turned into three turned into four. Her friends kept telling her to sell her creations, so Ari opened a shop on Etsy last February and sales took off.

She worked at Itron as a technical writer at the time and “needed a creative something.” But the business kept growing. Within a month, she began selling fabric by the yard since she was ordering so much of it for her handmade creations anyway.

“I made $300 the first month (on fabric sales), and then it doubled, and then it doubled,” she said.

By May, she quit her job at Itron. By June, she outgrew her house in Cheney and moved her operation to the studio downtown.

Michael also worked for Itron, but was laid off in September. He’s looking for other work in his field, but Buttercuppity is so busy he logs a full-time schedule working with Ari now.

Ironically, Ari credits the sour economy, in part, for her business’ success. People want to be unique, but can’t afford custom handbags and clothing, so they’re learning to make it themselves, she says.

“Why get something everybody has and was poorly made at Walmart” when you can make something stylish to your own specifications, she asked.

Ari also has seen many women in their 20s, 30s and 40s who have rediscovered sewing as a creative outlet, like she did.

“It makes you feel good, and it gets you out of your head,” she said. “When you’re sewing, you’re concentrating on the next step. It’s like a brain vacation, and I love those.”

And then there are the fabrics.

Today’s modern fabrics are bold, bright and almost delicious enough to eat. Two hundred bolts fill Buttercuppity’s basement studio. Her goal is to stock the shop with 300 bolts by spring.

The Rooneys hope to open a more visible retail shop somewhere downtown about a year from now. Until then, customers are encouraged to find them in the basement at 114 W. Pacific on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. They’re working on putting up signs that will make it easier to find them downstairs.

And, for the record, Ari did eventually write that thesis.


Check out this slideshow for a few more photos from the studio.