BY ASHLEY HANLEY
Julie Drill has been helping women for their most memorable moments. From their dance costumes to their prom dresses to the day they walk down the aisle, Julie has helped to sew those unforgettable moments together. She’s just one of the many examples of the hard-working, creative people that call North Mankato home. It all started about 40 years ago. She says, “I had a friend who opened up an alteration business who needed me to work part-time for her. But she had so much work to do that she had me go full-time. And then I was able to open my own business.” Julie’s business rings to the tune of “there’s no place like home.” Drill operates her business and does her alteration work out of her home on Sherman Street in North Mankato. She doesn’t need fancy signs or advertisements to let people know of her many talents. Word of mouth is the way her business spreads. A simple, yet successful business plan that fits Julie perfectly. With that strong testimony, her clients have spanned from generation to generation. “I love it when I’ve done a dress for a gal and then she brings her girls in to get their dress fitted. Or when someone brings in their grandmother’s wedding dress and they want it to be altered or fitted for them. Just like each person, each dress is so unique, which makes every job special and challenging.” Julie’s recipe for success is creating those special moments, sewn with love and care. On average, she does about 2-3 weddings a month: from the bride-to-be to the bridal party, to the mother of the bride. And it’s not just weddings that she does alterations for. For the Jobs winter formal, she does around 30 dresses each year, all within the short formal dance season in the Mankato area. While the work can be exhausting and timeconsuming to find the perfect fit, Julie says her biggest joy comes from a finished product.
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NORTH KATO MAGAZINE SPRING 2022
“The best part is when they come in with a wedding dress that doesn’t fit them and then they come back for their final fitting and it fits them just perfectly. And to see their expression and their excitement is just amazing.” Other perks come with the job, too. Julie says the flexibility of working from home allows her to travel and stay semi-retired. She says she can create her own schedule, which helps her still spend time with her husband. With no signs of slowing down or stopping, Julie says she also stays busy by doing other projects from her basement, or even her kitchen table as well. “I do a lot of different things. I do upholstery and window treatments. There’s nothing that I won’t try to do.” Letting her creativity and passion help others with a skill-set that others may not have. Like with any job, there come some challenges. But for Julie, the challenges are also a blessing when she sees the countless women and girls come to her with their perfect dresses. Sometimes she says she wants to do so much and help every one for every occasion, but there’s simply just not enough time in the day. “Especially when it is an emergency, a short time-frame for a client that I’ve helped in the past and I want to help them. It is hard to say no. Most of my customers are regulars or have done it for generations and I don’t want to turn them away even when I’m really, really busy.” That busyness, though, has led to the pure joy that keeps Julie going and going for more than four decades. One of her most memorable experiences was when a woman with special needs came to her with a wedding dress that was just too big for her.
