About
Country Stitched Inc. uses handmade production techniques to manufacture high quality, luxurious minky products. Products are manufactured in small town Morris, Manitoba, Canada and shipped to customers around the world.
Country Stitched started as a small side-hustle business for Ashley Budge in 2014. After working a full-time corporate job in the city for years while juggling a 3-hour daily commute and life in the country as a young mother, she decided her work-life needed to change.
Ashley had picked up sewing as a hobby when her oldest son was born in 2009 and had grown to really enjoy it. She had set up a small second-hand sewing machine in a spare bedroom of her basement making blankets, scarves, coffee cozies, throw pillow covers and other small accessories. One day she stumbled upon the marketplace Etsy and was suprised to see such a unique platform for selling handmade items. She decided to master her sewing skills and began putting many hours into honing the craft. She opened her Etsy shop in October of 2014 and began the journey of Country Stitched.
She continued to run Country Stitched as a small side business for the next several years. In 2018 the business had grown to the point that she needed to make the decision to either go all in and give it 100% of her time or shut it down. After months of weighing her options, she knew in her heart she needed to follow her passion and in May of 2018, Country Stitched became her full time job.
After about a year of running the business full time, Ashley had completely run out of space in her home. She had taken over the entire basement with fabric, sewing machines, tables, shipping supplies and everything was spilling over into the rest of her home. Ashley began her search for a shop space outside of her home.
Living in a very small, rural community, she didn't have high hopes of finding anything. She talked to a few of the locals and luckily found someone who was renting a 3,000 square foot shop and was looking to downsize with less than a month left on their lease. Ashley knew it was meant to be and quickly signed the lease, packed up her business and moved it into the Town of Morris in March of 2019.
During this time she was also in the process of looking to hire her first Seamstress. Demand had grown so much that Ashley needed to hire some help. Luckily she found a Seamstress who was willing to take a chance on her and she was hired in May of 2019.
Ashley hired a few more Seamstresses, a Shop Assistant and a Fabric Cutter during 2019 and the business continued to grow quickly. By the end of 2019 they had already outgrown the new shop. Ashley was again challenged to find a larger space to run her business in such a small community. Talking to the locals again, she learned of a large company that recently relocated to another community, leaving a very large warehouse & office space vacant. The space was HUGE - over 5 times the size of her current shop. After a couple of months evaluating the space and strategizing the future of the company, Ashley decided that it was once again meant to be and shared the exiting news with her team and her customers that Country Stitched was moving into this large facility.
Moving out of the old shop May 28, 2020
At the end of May 2020, the Country Stitched team packed up their entire shop and moved it across town. The new larger shop opened up a lot of opportunities and Ashley's long-term vision of the company began to take shape.
Now in 2024, Country Stitched is a dedicated and hard working team of 50. The unwavering support of its customers has allowed Ashley to create unique employment opportunities in a small, rural community where most of her employees work from home. The Company continues to grow and focus on creating premium products its customers have come to know and trust.
"Thank you for joining us on this remarkable journey. I hope you'll stick around to see where it takes us next." - ❤️ Ashley
"Thank you for joining us on this remarkable journey. I hope you'll stick around to see where it takes us next." - ❤️ Ashley