Lee takes up mending business from Hurlburt

Around the home of Melba Lee you'll find custom curtains, sheets, chair covers and mink throw pillows – pockets included – all handmade by her.

Lee opened her sewing and mending business, Melba Lee Designs, last week and has already been busy with customers. She noted Doris Hurlburt called her last week and chose to refer any calls she gets these days on to Lee.

Hurlburt said she officially closed up her shop on Jan. 31, but was waiting for someone to pick it up because she knew there are a lot of people who would want it. She's done sewing and mending for 24 years, and appreciates all the support she received and the nice people who came to visit.

But, this not the first time Lee has set up a Thermop shop.

"I did have a shop 17 years ago here," Lee said, "and several of the people I go to church with remember me from then and were eager for me to get here." Born and raised in Oklahoma, she moved to Thermopolis 17 years ago but was only here for a few months before her mother became ill and she moved back. "My heart stayed here, though." This past July, her daughter brought her up on vacation and suggested Lee move back, which she did in September.

She's aware fashion trends have changed in the time she's been away, with clothes being less expensive and more disposable, and she expects the customer requests will reflect that change.

At her shop, Lee performs alterations, mending and zipper repair or replacement. "I can also make special designs if I can get a good enough description of what [people] want. I have made su shades for the old John Deere tractors. I made one out of Wrangler jeans. Girls have brought me their mothers' bridal gowns and asked me to update them so they could wear them and be in fashion. I made a Queen of Hearts dress for a prom one year.

"I know that any of the talent I have come from the Lord," Lee said, and it's a passion she's pursued since she was about five years old. "I would watch Mama, and then I would just start hand sewing my Barbie clothes. By the time I was in teh eighth grade I was making all of my school dresses. All but about five years of my life I've had a room where I could alterations. I raised my kids doing sewing. I S-E-W and I S-O-W for Jesus. I'm just and old 'sew and sow.'"

As for prices, Lee said it varies depending on the amount of work put into a project. She's got plenty of thread to get the work done, with several large spools on wall pegs and drawers full of small spools. "There's so many shades of every color, you just have to have a supply."

Lee is available by calling 307-480-8705