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Meet Janine
Janine Inselmann is the founder and CEO of Sewing Lab, a community-based sewing and sustainability studio in Herndon, Virginia. Through education, textile reuse, and local partnerships, she is building practical systems that help people extend the life of their clothing while reconnecting with skills that have quietly disappeared from everyday life.
The Quiet Power of Making Things Last
Janine Inselmann does not talk about sustainability as an abstract idea. For her, it is something you touch with your hands. Something you learn stitch by stitch. Something that shows up in everyday choices rather than lofty promises. Her work lives in classrooms, community spaces, and sewing machines that hum steadily while people rediscover what they are capable of creating.
At Sewing Lab, sustainability is not framed as sacrifice or perfection. It is framed as confidence. Confidence to repair instead of discard. Confidence to learn something new. Confidence to believe that small, repeated actions can change how people relate to what they own and how communities reduce waste together.
Janine’s approach is practical by design. It is rooted in the belief that people want to do better for the planet, but they need tools, skills, and welcoming spaces to begin.
Learning Before Leading
Long before Sewing Lab existed, Janine was already teaching. Not in formal classrooms, but in community spaces where learning felt human and shared. Sewing had always been part of her life, and teaching it came naturally. At her church, she volunteered her time, guiding others through the basics of repair and creation simply because she enjoyed watching people gain confidence through making something with their hands.
At the same time, sustainability was becoming a growing focus in her life. She served as a sustainability ambassador, learning about waste systems, consumption patterns, and the overwhelming scale of textile waste. Clothing, she noticed, sat at the center of a quiet contradiction. People threw away enormous amounts of it, yet very few knew how to mend a seam, replace a zipper, or alter a garment to extend its life.
The problem felt both massive and deeply personal. Sustainability conversations were everywhere, but the practical skills to act on them were disappearing.
Sewing became the bridge between those worlds. It was creative, tangible, and empowering. It offered immediate results. A repaired garment. A saved expense. A renewed sense of agency.
“I was inspired by a simple problem I couldn’t ignore: we waste so much clothing, yet most people don’t have the skills or access to fix, reuse, or create what they need.”
That observation would quietly shape everything that followed.
A Moment That Reframed Everything
After spending fourteen years at home raising her family, Janine reached a point where she felt ready to return to the workforce. What she found instead was uncertainty. Roles she encountered did not align with her values, her experience, or the life she wanted to build next. Doubt crept in. She questioned whether she was still relevant or competitive after so much time away from traditional work.
Then came a moment that reframed everything.
While watching a woman sew, Janine’s son looked up at her and said, “Hey mom, you’re a master sewer.” The comment was casual, but it landed with surprising clarity. It reflected something she had overlooked. Her skills were not outdated. They were simply undervalued in conventional spaces.
That realization became a turning point. She did not need to squeeze herself into a role that did not fit. She could build something that reflected what she already knew, what she cared about, and what her community needed.
She began to imagine a space where sewing was not treated as a hobby, but as a life skill. Where sustainability was not a trend, but a daily practice. Where education and community could coexist without intimidation.
Sewing Lab was not born from a business plan first. It was born from alignment.
From Doubt to Action
Confidence did not arrive overnight. Starting something new after years away from the workforce required Janine to confront her own hesitation. Instead of waiting for certainty, she chose action.
She attended networking events. She introduced herself to other business owners. She asked questions, listened closely, and paid attention to what resonated. Each conversation replaced a little more doubt with clarity. Each step forward reinforced that she was building something meaningful.
Rather than trying to prove herself, she focused on serving. Teaching sewing. Designing programs. Creating partnerships. Listening to community needs.
Over time, Sewing Lab evolved from informal teaching into a structured, circular education model. Skills training became the foundation, but reuse, repair, and community engagement shaped the larger mission. Programs expanded to include partnerships with schools, local organizations, and community groups. The goal was never scale for its own sake, but access.
Janine wanted sustainability to feel possible, not overwhelming.
Building Systems That Support Everyday Action
Today, Sewing Lab operates as both a studio and a community hub. It offers classes for different ages and experience levels, from beginners learning basic repairs to more advanced makers exploring garment construction. Corporate workshops and community events invite broader participation, showing that sustainability can be social, collaborative, and even joyful.
What sets Sewing Lab apart is its emphasis on measurable impact. Janine is intentional about building systems that track how skills translate into waste reduction and long-term behavior change. Textile reuse is not treated as symbolic. It is treated as practical.
Her leadership is grounded in service. She designs programs that meet people where they are, especially those who may feel excluded from traditional education spaces. Accessibility is not an afterthought. It is central to the mission.
“What drives my work and leadership today is making sustainability practical and accessible, not just something people talk about.”
That philosophy guides every decision. From curriculum design to partnerships, the focus remains on real outcomes. Clothing diverted from landfills. People empowered to fix what they own. Communities learning together.
Recognition That Confirmed the Need
Within its first year of operation, Sewing Lab received the 2025 Fairfax County Environmental Excellence Award. For Janine, the recognition mattered not because of prestige, but because it validated the need she had sensed from the beginning.
The award confirmed that combining sewing education with circular sustainability was not niche or nostalgic. It was necessary.
It also reinforced her belief that meaningful change does not always start with large institutions. Sometimes it begins with local action, shared skills, and spaces where people feel capable.
Redefining What Success Looks Like
Janine measures success in layers. As a teacher, it appears in the moment a student finishes a project and realizes they did something they once believed was beyond them. As a community builder, it shows up in the relationships formed inside the studio. As a business owner, it is reflected in trust, consistency, and contribution.
Personally, success is about alignment. Living with purpose. Sharing skills in ways that help others. Building something that feels honest.
Her principles are steady and clear. Purpose. Integrity. Service. She values work that is practical rather than performative. Leadership that centers people. Systems that are built to last.
When challenges arise, she returns to her why. Progress matters more than perfection. Showing up matters more than having all the answers.
Looking Ahead With Intention
The future of Sewing Lab is rooted in thoughtful growth. Janine is focused on expanding partnerships with schools and community organizations to reach more people, especially underserved families, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. She is investing in stronger curriculum development, teacher training, and impact tracking to ensure programs remain effective as they grow.
Long term, she envisions Sewing Lab as a trusted model for community-based circular education. Not something to be franchised blindly, but something other communities can adapt thoughtfully to their own needs.
Her vision is not about being the loudest voice in sustainability. It is about being a steady one.
Coming Full Circle
Janine Inselmann’s story is not about reinventing herself. It is about recognizing the value of what was already there. Skills learned quietly. Passions nurtured patiently. A desire to teach that never faded.
Sewing Lab reflects a belief that meaningful change often begins with overlooked abilities and ordinary actions. Repairing a seam. Teaching a class. Creating space for learning without judgment.
In a world that moves quickly toward the new, Janine reminds us that there is power in preserving, repairing, and reusing. Not just our clothing, but our confidence in what we already know how to do.
Her work shows that when purpose meets practicality, sustainability stops being a distant goal and becomes part of daily life.
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