She sewed clothes for her trolls as a child. Now she embroiders Tampa Bay Storm clothing and almost anything else.
By STEPHANIE HAYES, Times Staff Writer
Published February 3, 2006
WESTCHASE - Susan Urbach can make even the most ... er ... functional item look lovely with a little embroidering.
Exhibit A: the rolls of white toilet paper displayed in her Westchase home studio, cottony surface monogrammed with powder blue thread.
"You can have it right out in the open," Urbach said. "It's just a little extra decoration."
But toilet paper is small-time. Urbach, who runs her business, Embroidered Pelican, from her home in the Harbor Links neighborhood, jazzes up everything from baby blankets to linebacker-sized track suits with her hulking sea foam green embroidery machine.
This year, the Tampa Bay Storm arena football team enlisted Urbach to embroider 35 sweat suits for players to wear to away games. Urbach helped the players pick out which suit styles they liked best, and had them custom-made.
"They all have their tastes, so I wanted to make sure it was something that they would like," Urbach said.
She also put the Storm logo on polo shirts for coaches and players and worked with screen printers to produce 300 T-shirts for Storm fan club members.
The gig has turned Urbach into an instant Storm fan. She plans to go to all the home games and watch the away games with the fan club at an Ybor City sports bar.
"Our allegiance lies here," said Urbach, whose hometown team, the Philadelphia Soul, defeated the Storm at the season opener Sunday.
Working with the Storm has been a big break for Urbach, 49, who moved to Tampa from Pennsylvania in 2003. Embroidered Pelican is less than 2 years old, and Urbach is still drumming up names to add to her list of about 30 clients.
While her Tampa business is still revving up, Urbach has embroidered professionally for 12 years, and has sewn all her life. She spent many nights as a child "sitting at a sewing machine making clothes for my trolls."
Up North, Urbach ran a company that embroidered and purchased sporting goods for teams, athletes and private schools. It was a natural offshoot of being a sports mom to kids Jennifer, 22, and Fred, 24, who swam and played lacrosse. Her husband, Erich, worked in insurance.
In 2003, they decided it was time for a change of scenery. The couple moved to Florida and bought a deli, which they sold a year later. Urbach got back into embroidering.
"I'm starting over," she said. "We moved down here and didn't know a soul."
Urbach has settled into Florida life, training 11-month-old yellow Labrador retrieve r Gillian for Southeastern Guide Dogs. She also builds sets for her church, OpenWater Church, on Race Track Road.
"We did a Narnia set for Christmas," she said. "Give me a piece of cardboard, and I'll turn it into something."
She applies the same ethic to embroidering, which can be difficult with certain odd-shaped items. "If it can be embroidered, I'll find a way to do it," she said.
Embroidered Pelican also orders clothing for customers and works with screen printers to apply logos and designs. Kathy Ran, owner of Yoga Planet, opening soon in Westchase, is working with Urbach to develop a custom line of yoga pieces.
"It's almost impossible for someone to get positive help when they want their own design put on clothes," said Ran, who heard about Urbach through a neighbor. "We got together and within three days, the ball was rolling."
Urbach hopes to expand her business and work with schools and other sports teams, keeping orders small. She has her eye on a new $40,000 commercial embroidery machine. And while her home office is meticulously organized with blankets, hats and bags filed in large plastic bins, she admits that a bigger work space would be nice.
"It gets a little crowded," she said. "That's when we stretch into my daughter's room."
PURSE STRINGS: Once, a customer asked Urbach to embroider some pricey handbags. She didn't know their value until a former assistant pointed out the brand. "It was like, whoa. Because if you mess it up, you've got to replace it."
ROOM WITH A VIEW: Urbach's house has a prime view of Westchase's lush golf course. "It's like you're on vacation every day."
DOG DAYS: Training 11-month-old Labrador retriever Gillian to become a guide dog can be challenging. "I have her do some command every time. That's the hardest part for me. I'm a softie."
SOUTHERN LIVING: Urbach, who moved here in 2003, does not yearn for Pennsylvania weather. "We had a very long driveway that we had to shovel out. I don't miss the snow at all."
