Enchanted Creations is a fabric shop and home-based business, located at 1447 32nd Circle.
Photo Amy Byres / Observer

Pulling up to 1447 32nd Circle, it may look like any ordinary Rio Rancho home, but a pathway leads to the backyard, up to a door where a sign reads “Enchanted Creations,” a fabric store operated by Hertha Sabol.

There are rows of fabric, yarn and sewing essentials in the 81-year-old’s home. Sabol has been running Enchanted Creations for about 10 years.

She said it is nice to be home and she is able to multi-task around the house while still operating a business. Sabol’s best-selling service is machine embroidery.

“Now I love to do machine embroidery,” she said.

Sabol has thousands of designs to choose from. Once she picks a design, a sewing machine prints it onto fabric, ready for the next step. She uses the designs she prints for anything from tree ornaments to pillows.

This is not Sabol’s first home-based business. Before she opened Enchanted Creations, she ran a day-care out of her home for 11 years.

According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 55 percent of new businesses and 59 percent of established businesses are home-based.

Small Business Development Center Director Tim Harjo said many of his clients conduct their businesses from home.

“It is a very common practice, and I believe most cities like Rio Rancho have made arrangements to allow entrepreneurs to run a business out of their home,” he said.

About 20-25 percent of the businesses that Harjo works with operate in this manner, he said.

“If you’re paying for those costs already, then that’s a really good way to keep costs low,” Harjo said.

Hertha Sabol demonstrates how to cut monks cloth by first pulling a thread out, then cutting along the missing thread-line.
Photo Amy Byres / Observer

Sabol is able to sell most of her fabrics $2-$3 per yard cheaper than other stores, she said.

“Because I run a home-based business, I am able to keep my overhead low,” Sabol said.

Sabol operates as a home-based business because she is not on a strict schedule and is flexible to customers’ needs, she said. Whether it is opening her shop during off hours or shipping products to Canada, Sabol is more than happy to help.

“I recently sent an order up to Canada, where a lady found some things that she liked on Facebook. And actually, this is her second order that I sent up to her,” Sabol said. “This makes me feel appreciated and happy; I am happy doing this.”

People shop at Enchanted Creations because there is high-quality fabric for a lower price and because of Sabol’s humor, she said.

“I crack jokes here and there when I have customers,” she said.

For more information, visit Enchanted Creations’ Facebook page or call her at 892-8916.