Beyond The Seams

Bio

Meet Yasin! First generation, born in Alexandria, Egypt and raised in South Philadelphia. Yasin graduated from Penn State with a Bachelors in Graphic Design. Throughout college and after, Yasin worked with embroidery and screenprinting. He brings his expertise and knowledge of branding, graphic and apparel design, creating meaningful relationships with everyone who walks through the doors.

Meet Idalia! Second generation, born and raised in North Philadelphia (now known as Northern Liberties just 5 minutes from Beyond the Seams’ Shop) to Cuban and Puertorican parents. Idalia graduated from Marywood University in Scranton, PA with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Interior Design. Her experience in project management from previous positions keeps the administrative side in order.

After graduating during the recession, as for many, it was an uphill battle finding good, reliable work. So, when husband and wife duo Yasin and Idalia came upon an opportunity to take a risk and create something of their own, with no backing and little to no money, they started Beyond the Seams. Combining their design degrees and complementary strengths like project management and graphic design, Yasin and Idalia wanted to create something that allowed them to use their skill sets while also giving back and engaging with their communities.

Origin Story

We just hit 5 years! In such a short amount of time Beyond The Seams has transformed tremendously and amazingly. We are one of those people where chance came across in our favor. We were asked if we knew anyone that needed a store front and we raised our hands.

We took a risk as we never owned a storefront before but Yasin always had it in his mind as a goal. We didn’t have any machines in the beginning. The space was an open room where we initially used it as a gathering space for artists and creatives alike. We functioned initially as an art gallery for local artists, hosted pop up shows, music shows, paint nights, dance practice, all sorts of different fun things to do. In the midst of all this, a friend of ours loaned us money to buy our first used embroidery machine. We would sQuEeEze it into our little tiny closet space when we held events. It was a wonderful time.

When Covid-19 shut everything down we didn’t know what to do. How could we best use our time? How can we help?  We decided, since face masks were unattainable basically everywhere and people were upcharging wildly for them, to make our own and give them away for free to whoever needed them. It was through this that our name was carried throughout the neighborhood, and later the city, that people began to notice us and use our embroidery and printing services. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the support and patronage of our community. We are eternally grateful.