By SUSAN KANTOR/For The News-Gazette

This is part of a two-day look at the trades in East Central Illinois.

When Tina Colombo needed a dress for a special occasion as a girl, she didn't go to the mall or nearest dress store. She sewed something herself.

Today, if a bride wants her dress made by hand, Colombo will sew her something, too.

Colombo's passion for sewing started at a young age. Her mother taught her how to sew in grade school and she made dresses for herself – even her own wedding dress – and for family members. But then life took her away from her hobby. She earned a degree in finance from the University of Illinois. She worked as a legal secretary in Savannah, Ga., and Atlanta and then worked as a stay-at-home mom for her two sons. When she and her husband moved back to Champaign, she met a local dressmaker who encouraged Colombo to go into business making wedding and special-occasion dresses.

"I kind of thought, my boys don't wear party dresses, and that's the kind of sewing I really like to do. One thing led to another, and that was in 1997. And here we are today."

Colombo turned her hobby into her business. She now runs Treasures by Tina, a custom special-occasion and bridal dressmaking business, out of her home in Savoy. She wants to give people the option of having a dress made if they can't find something they like off the rack or if they have a difficult body to fit.

Her business is heavily reliant on word-of-mouth referrals, and she says it took years to build a reputation. Brides come to Colombo with photos of dresses with elements they like, and they work together to create a custom dress.

"People like to see what they're going to get. It's interesting because when we make a dress, nine times out of 10 we don't make exactly what we thought we were going to when we started out. That's really the fun of it because when you see it evolve on your body, then you can see things that I thought I would like and I don't."

Colombo averages six to eight bridal dresses and eight to 10 mother-of-the-bride dresses in a year. She will occasionally make bridesmaid dresses and also restyles heirloom dresses. She recently built a new strapless dress using the overlay from the bride's grandmother's wedding dress and the sheer jacket her grandmother wore.

"I really like doing those. It's a lot of fun because you see the pictures of when it was worn originally and it can be a challenge sometimes to make it into something that someone wants to wear today – modernize it, but still preserve the heirloom qualities. It's really a very special thing."

Colombo is a member of the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals. There are dressmakers throughout the country, but Colombo is one of a handful in this area who do this specialized work.

"I don't consider it to be selling a dress. I'm offering a service. The service gives you a dress that fits you perfectly, which you cannot always achieve through altering a dress that's already made up that you purchase."

Often, people think a handmade dress is cheaper than a dress from a store.

"I am as highly skilled as your plumber or your hair stylist or your mechanic or your lawyer. I want to be compensated accordingly. It's always a process of educating people about my skills and my background. With a business, you have certain costs you have to cover. It's a constant battle over the 'grandma sewing for pin money' mentality."

Colombo's wedding dresses range from $1,000 to $4,000, with an average dress costing between $2,200 and $2,500. Her business has been slower this year, and she knows of other sewers who haven't been able to make it in this economy.

"It is a hard business to really make a living that you can live on. I'm very fortunate that I don't have to pay the mortgage doing this. I run it as a business. It's not a hobby."

Colombo gets to create the look of the bride on one of the most special days of her life, and she gets to sew with fancy fabrics and laces – the things you don't get to see every day.

"Weddings are usually a happy time. It can be a really fun thing," Colombo said.