Dec. 1, 2023

Giselle Chaput makes things dreamy for young readers.

Her storybook pillows come in dozens of themes, each with an embroidered message that emphasizes the importance of — and the magical journeys that can come — with reading.

Chaput often lets the fabric suggest the slogan.

“A firetruck fabric would say something like ‘All fired up for a good book,’” she said.

For the pillows made of fabric featuring the popular Harry Potter series, Chaput reminds children that “Books turn muggles into wizards.” Fabric that displays the Paw Patrol animals will share a rhyme: “No book too big, no book too small, we pups will read them all.”

Storybook pillows with dinosaurs are always popular. On those, Chaput might embroider: “Don’t let books become extinct. Reading is quite fun, don’t you think?”

Or the message can be a simple plea: “One more chapter.”

“Whenever I find a fabric, I look to see if there’s a saying I can match with it,” Chaput said.

Her storybook pillows along with kid-themed pillows, fabric-backed composition books designed for children and adults, and pillowcases filled with smaller gifts will be available Saturday at the 605 Made Holiday Market. One of her most popular items, tooth-fairy pillows, can be found at Mulberry Market, but it’s difficult to keep up with the demand for those, Chaput said.

The first sewing machine that Chaput owned was a high school graduation present. In 2008, she upgraded to a model with more features so she could focus on large projects.

“Quilting is where I started,” Chaput said. “I thought, I’m never going to get into embroidery.”

Never say never. In 2020, when the COVID pandemic began and vacation travel ceased, the owner of the travel agency Dream Getaways knew she had to find another income. And she learned she enjoys embroidery, finally investing in a specialized sewing machine. She established her own business, Designing Threads, in August 2020.

“When I gave it a shot, I decided this is actually fun,” Chaput said of her embroidery work. “Every day I’d think, ‘What can I make?’ It was always on my mind, and it still is to this day.”

Not everyone understands her love for sewing, she said. They view it as taking fabric apart and putting it back together again. For Chaput, it’s a relaxing time of day.

“There’s something about being able to create something and be proud of what you’ve done,” she said. “It allows me to create outside of my job. My kids are gone, I’m not a huge TV watcher, so I fill my time with sewing. And I love fabric. I enjoy going to the store and seeing what I can create that’s different or new, what nobody can do or would like to have.”

This will be the first time Designing Threads has participated in the 605 Made Holiday Market. Craft fairs give makers a chance to talk shop with others who enjoy making beautiful things.

“It’s fun to learn about what they do and how they do it,” Chaput said. “You’ve met your people – people who like to create.”

Chaput likes to imagine the uses customers will find for her fabric-covered notebooks. They can journal in them, she said, or copy family recipes to pass down to younger generations. They can doodle their own artwork or keep track of important matters like a person’s medications.

With the storybook pillows, Chaput takes pride in fostering a love of reading in children.

“To me, reading is very important, especially to little kids,” she said. “You can use them for coloring books or whatever you’d like, but the main theme I put on them is that everyone is going to talk about reading.”

After all, as her superhero pillows say, “Reading is my superpower.”

The 605 Made Holiday Market will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in the lower-level parking ramp of the original Cherapa Place office building in downtown Sioux Falls. Items will be sold as one cohesive pop-up shop.

605 Made is co-organized by Knotty Gnome Variety & Salvage and SiouxFalls.Business. The First National Bank in Sioux Falls and Pomegranate Market are the sponsors.

For a complete vendor guide, click below.

605 Made Holiday Market vendor guide