I'm sure you're familiar with Betsy Ross, she is is best known for the stories she told her children about sewing the first American Flag. But what you might not know is that she was also an 18th century entrepreneur! Have we piqued your interest? Read on to hear the truly remarkable story of her establishing a successful upholstery business during a time when women were not usually at the forefront in the business world.
Bonus Giveaway: Scroll down to the bottom of this post to enter to win the complete set of Flossie Potter Betsy Ross 18-inch sewing patterns and a ready to sew kit to make the dress!
More about Betsy Ross: On January 1, 1752, while the rest of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was ringing in the new year, the Griscom family was busy welcoming their 8th child into the world. The baby's name was Elizabeth Griscom, but she quickly became known to her family as Betsy. The Griscom's, like many families in Pennsylvania, were Quakers. When Betsy was old enough, she was sent to a Quaker school where she was taught reading, writing, and a trade – which was most likely sewing. After she finished school, Betsy's father apprenticed her to a local upholsterer.
During her apprenticeship, Betsy did what many young girls did, she fell in love. The young man that won her heart was a fellow apprentice named John Ross. Betsy and John were married in November of 1773 when she was 21. Betsy joined her husband at the Episcopal church, the same church that George Washington attended.
In 1775, John and Betsy started their own upholstery business. This was a very bold decision as competition was tough and there was a great deal of political unrest at the time. In January 1776, their business was struggling from want of supplies from Britain so John joined the colonial militia. Sadly, John was killed in a munitions accident that same month. It was a very tough time for Betsy, but she carried on and kept her struggling business going by sewing flags and filling munition cartridge's for soldiers.
According to the stories she told her children, it was in May or June of 1776 that she met with George Washington, George Ross, and Robert Morris about making the first American Flag. She said they originally wanted a six pointed star until Betsy showed them how easy it was to cut a five pointed star.
(Photo credit: USHistory.org Painting "The Birth of Old Glory" by Percy Morgan 1917)
We don't know for a fact that Betsy Ross made the first American Flag. It's not that her story is untrue, there just simply isn't any evidence to prove it. The facts we do have are that she did know George Washington and made flags during the American Revolution. Whether or not the stories she told her children are true, Betsy Ross is still a woman to be remembered for her contribution to the American Revolution as well as a great example for women entrepreneurs from the 18th century. During one of the most difficult times in American history, Betsy Ross established a successful upholstery business in a male dominated society that would eventually employ a number of people from her family. Her daughter Clarissa took over the business when Betsy finally retired in 1827 at the age of 75.
And the rest is history...
Interested in recreating the Betsy Ross look? We have a beautiful collection of patterns from Flossie Potter available for 18-inch American Girl dolls.
Enter the Giveaway!
Enter to win the complete set of patterns, plus a complete sewing kit to make the dress! The kit includes all the dress pieces already cut from a darling vintage print cotton fabric. The neck trim and bias ties are already sewn too! All the fabric pieces are neatly labeled and ready to sew!
To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below this post by telling us about one of your favorite Women-owned businesses! We'd love to hear who you admire, who's inspired you, or who you simply love to shop from. Tell us in the comments below.
The contest is open today July 1, 2021 through Monday July 5th at midnight PST. We will pick a winner on Tuesday July 6th and update this post once they are contacted.
187 Comments
My inspiration to sew came from my mother. She sewed for me all my life making me simple play clothes to my wedding dress to making my father leisure suits to making me a fabulous wardrobe of Barbie clothes which I still have and love. She was self taught and always worked very hard to do as professional job as she could on a simple Sears zig zag sewing machine, the machine I learned to sew on.
My favorite women owned businesses are women on Etsy
I most admire my little sister, she is a full time mom, home schooler, crafter, and she is a fitness coach as well! She balances her life so gracefully. She works very hard to keep her family healthy and happy! I’m so proud of her! I want to be like her when I grow up! 🥰
Dana Claus of Castle Noel. She may not be sole owner but she is amazing. She goes out of he way to help employees who need her. She has managed to help keep the business through covid when she had to lose 3/4 of her guests but keep 3/4 of the staff to run the place. She makes me want to be a better person.
My grandmother and her businesses inspired me. She was a natural entrepreneur. She taught me to sew at age 3 and I adored being her little “apprentice”. She was a seamstress, quilter, and upholsterer; both in her own cottage industry and working for local businesses too. She also ran an herbal garden business on the side. My family had a lot of problems and hardships. My dad was in the military and we moved every 3 years. My mom was sick for a long time following the birth of my brother when I was 6. I became responsible for the care of both my baby brother and my mom. Money was always very tight. One of my mom’s friends had an alteration business. She saw that I was very good at hand sewing, (meticulous in making even, tiny stitches which I controlled by pre-marking each stitch with a school ruler), and so she offered me a part-time job putting hems in garments for her. I made enough money doing that to buy supplies to make my own clothes and baby clothes for my little brother as well. When I was eight, we moved to Hawaii, and I needed to find a new source of income. There were lots of kids on our military base. So I came up with the idea to make doll clothes using my own designs and patchwork stuffed animals from a single commercial pattern. I made the items by using the remnants of my own clothing garment sewing. I made up some business cards and started selling handmade items door-to-door. I sold everything I made as fast as I could make it. People quickly started calling me to make toys and human clothes too. One door that I knocked on happened to belong to a lady who worked for the Honolulu airport. She asked if I’d ever considered making flowered leis. I asked her how to make them and she told me. That very day, I expanded my business to include making leis from the beautiful flowers that grew prolifically everywhere around me. I still knocked on doors; but in addition to selling things, I offered to rake up dead and fallen flowers in people’s yards if I could then collect additional flowers from their bushes to make the flowers grow even more prolifically in the future. People loved the idea. They often even paid me extra for raking the flowers. So each day, after school, I’d put my little brother in a wagon and go around to houses to collect the flowers. Then I’d go home and let my brother play outside while I sat under a tree and sewed the flowers into beautiful fragrant leis. The lady from the airport would come by every morning before school to pick up the leis and pay me for that day. I made a very good income through the flower business until we moved again 3 years later. After that, I went back to just selling handmade items door to door; but within 3 months I was mostly making clothes and quilts for people who contacted me by using the business cards I handed out. Before long, I was designing my own clothes for them, and I made my first wedding dress for a client at age 12. After that, it was all custom work; and I ran that business for 35 years before I tried to stop so I could focus attention on more traditional office work as my only job. LOL! Even though I said my business was closed, people still kept calling and wanting custom sewing. Honestly, they still call; but I usually just redirect them to local businesses. I’ve happily sewn almost every day for 60 years; and nowadays, I prefer to only sew for friends, family, and charity — but that still takes up most of my time. I’m still in love with sewing and quilting; but it is so much more rewarding to do it for people who really need the help and can’t afford to ask for it. Of course, I still love making doll clothes and giving them to children. I love the surprise and joy on their faces when they receive an unexpected gift from the heart. That brings me the greatest joy of all.