“Fragile, bold, resilient”—Poppy Things celebrates four years in Suttons Bay

By F. Josephine Arrowood

Sun contributor

Poppy flowers look so fragile, with flame-colored, papery petals held high on wiry stems. Yet these bold beauties are surprisingly resilient as well, returning each spring to delight the eye in garden and field. Just so with Poppy Things, the brand and eponymous boutique, which will be celebrating four years in Suttons Bay this autumn.

Chelsey Sawallich Skowronski, creator of Poppy Things, knew she wanted to be an artist from a young age. She describes her delighted discovery at age 12 of an abandoned farmhouse near her family’s Centerville Township farm: “I had never seen poppies before; they were glowing against the weathered siding. From [then on], I knew. It’s something I’ve always loved.”

Although she founded her brand in 2012 (around the time she graduated from Lake Leelanau St. Mary’s High School), she describes it as more of an artistic learning lab than a money-maker at that time. But she’d planted an important seed: “I made things that made me happy, and made other people happy.”

Chelsey continues, “After high school, I was forced to think more practically, so I enrolled in nursing. At Northwestern Michigan College, I also took some art classes. Then I decided to transfer to Kendall College of Art and Design [KCAD] in Grand Rapids, and studied fashion design and pattern-making, sewing, creating clothing collections.”

She also gained valuable business experience at the Leelanau County-founded Haystacks, a women’s clothing boutique with several stores, including in Suttons Bay, Leland, and Elk Rapids.

“I have a love of retail and retail care from managing others’ stores. I love greeting people and helping them. Customers would come from quite a ways to the stores I was working in; I think they appreciated what I had to offer. I realized it was something I could do. A place of my own someday—it was always my goal.”

Even before she graduated from college, Chelsey was busily creating not one but two apparel collections—including designing mood boards, printing the fabrics to be used, and sewing the prototypes.

“I wanted to capture the nostalgia and wonder that I felt my first time discovering that farmhouse and the poppies. The collection was about wonder; about believing you can do something, and then doing it.”

She also continued to nurture her brand philosophy as she learned how the fashion industry typically operates.

“I like to make things for myself and others,” she says. “Things made by hand—it’s something our generation really understands—who made our clothes; who made the mug we hold; the environmental effect of throwaway pieces. We see the direct correlations.”

Her notion of well-made extends to using ethically sourced and more sustainable materials (tencel versus cotton, for example), and goods crafted from artisans who make a living wage. It might not be the cheaper option, she says, but it’s the well-made option that “will see you well beyond one laundry cycle.”

Chelsey’s refreshing, direct communication style has helped her connect with the community as well. “I felt it was important to get my story out. I’m very approachable, and I think people found it endearing that they could connect with me, follow my journey.

“Doing art markets, [eventually] starting an Instagram; my blog on my website—nothing was polished or expensive looking. DIY is a very good way to say it. I didn’t come from money; I didn’t have a smart phone until college! I did the best with what I had.”

While at KCAD, Chelsey designed clothes for a small company in Hudsonville, Michigan. “I was there for about a year and a half—and one of my major jobs was creating ‘tech packs,’ which tells the manufacturer the order of operations: how much fabric is needed, what order to sew, where the tags go. Working there was a good experience, but I didn’t enjoy it; it wasn’t true to my values.”

In the autumn of 2018, Chelsey and her fiancé Jason (now husband) realized that they needed to come home to Leelanau. She worked at Mawby’s Winery, took on clothing alteration jobs, and sold her fiber creations at regional art markets. In all these endeavors, she continued to learn, connect, and grow that fragile seed of a dream: to have her own boutique space someday, her “legitimate business, with a plan, taxes, and everything.”

She successfully crowdfunded to kickstart her venture, and by March 2019 was purchasing fabric, sewing items (including thank-you swag to supporters), and contracting with a Michigan-based textiles manufacturer to translate her fashion design dreams into retail reality.

Serendipity came in late summer of that year, when she found an ideal space in Suttons Bay’s InterArts Building, on the village’s main street.

“Carly at Forget-Me-Not Floral Design was looking to downsize. It was exciting and intimidating. I talked with my family—I thought it might be my only opportunity. With a grand opening in October or November, it was not going to be perfect; a lot of things were working against me going into the winter time of 2019. I was scraping the bottom of the bucket, trying to stay afloat until spring.”

But spring of 2020 brought the novel coronavirus to the United States, and most of the country went into lockdown.

“It was really scary. I had a moment of grieving: ‘I just realized this dream, and now I have to close.’ Then I rallied. I made tons and tons of fabric masks, and sold them online. I gave online seminars to pay my rent—like how to do embroidery—and I did a lot of online sales. I was so grateful that people really wanted to support my dream, and that we had that online presence. I got a really small Covid relief grant, and we were able to reopen for Memorial weekend and (temporarily) throw away the masks.”

Where does Chelsey get her resilience? “My parents! They have a centennial farm with Angus beef and cherries. I think they worried, but they never doubted. And I trust my intuition, if it’s something I can’t stop thinking about and work really hard for.”

Intuition spoke to Chelsey again in 2020, when she had the chance to expand her Poppy Things space. Like many a hard-working, visionary entrepreneur, she was ready for her growth opportunity when it came. “But I’ve had to be really smart in my money moves,” she says.

In the age of e-commerce and internet sales, why have a brick-and-mortar store?

“The whole point is the products. People can walk around and really see how thoughtfully placed everything is. They can try on the clothing, touch the fabric. With an expanded space, I can offer more brands and products that I have selected.”

In addition to her Poppy House clothing and textiles, Chelsey carefully curates items for home, bath and body, baby and kids, jewelry, original artwork, paper products, and more.

“I’m on the other side now, as a buyer,” she explains. “I try to go to as many art markets as I can, like the Leelanau Artists’ Market, and Dallas. I travel to NYC at least once a year: that’s the show that aligns most with my values. You have to do online research, too—people don’t realize that ‘fast fashion’ can be hiding in ‘local’ shows and stores. I can’t swindle people, and I don’t want to, so at buyers’ markets, I really look hard. Shoppers are getting smarter, too.”

Many of the items sold at Poppy Things are locally or Michigan-made. Stephanie Schlatter is an oil painter who lives and works in Grand Rapids and Glen Arbor. “A lot of her work is exclusive to our store,” Chelsey says. “We host her at least once a year, so people can meet her.

“Ted of Northport Workshop creates candlesticks of local wood in timeless shapes. Skylar the Potter is based in Traverse City. We sell limited-editions of his dinnerware and mugs. Mae Stier of Empire makes books and poetry prints. Farm House small-batch soy candles are phthalate-free, naturally scented, and made in Lake Leelanau. E. Lo Ceramics are very colorful, slip-dyed, functional and sculptural pieces from a one-woman studio in the Detroit area.”

In its four years as a “legitimate business,” it seems that Poppy Things has come full season.

“I created the wall mural and the tissue paper wrap we use in the store,” Chelsey says. “I’m selling a small collection of my watercolor prints, dabbling in oil and acrylic, taking some classes. I struggle with being interested in a lot of things and trying hard to focus. But I love to paint and draw and create textile designs. And I’m getting back into sewing.”

Chelsey’s original sense of wonder and delight, nurtured by bold moves, old-fashioned hard work, and resilience, remains at the core of her work. “At Poppy Things, our whole team strives to make people happy and adored.”