Rough & Ruffles: finding success, fulfillment with unique upcycling clothing designs

Since exiting a career in education, Rough & Ruffles owner McKenna Marcy hasn’t looked back.

“I was originally a kindergarten teacher and found out I was two weeks pregnant when I moved here for my job, and just knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom,” she shared in a recent interview at her vendor booth at the Waxahachie Farmers Market. “I was already upcycling clothes for my oldest daughter and decided to make that a business so that I could stay home with the girls.”

Four years later, and Rough & Ruffles is going strong.

“We’ve been able to expand and grow, especially at the farmers market,” she said. “We have a great community and clientele that always come back. … Everything is upcycled and handcrafted, so everything’s eco-friendly, and we try to make sure we add quality to each piece and make it better than it was before.”

Much of her clothing is denim-based, with Marcy adding various embellishments as she upcycles gently used items into something fashionable and one-of-a-kind.

Her children’s line continues to be a business mainstay, with a significant number of repeat customers who participate in the business’ “size up” program that allows parents to bring back Rough & Ruffles clothing their kids have outgrown for $10 off their next purchase.

It’s more than just children’s clothing one finds on the Rough & Ruffles racks and shelves, however. Marcy also offers women’s and men’s items, including handcrafted earrings, shirts, and more. Always the creative, Marcy recently expanded her offerings to include upcycled hats and cowhide embellishments.

“[Custom work is] another big thing we do,” Marcy said, noting that customers can bring in their own items or tell her what they’re looking for.

“If they want overalls, they tell me a size,” she said. “If they have a brand in mind, they can tell me. We can buy it new, but what we normally do is upcycle and thrift.”

She and her mom are always on the hunt for gently used clothing they can use in the business.

“We go thrifting a lot of the time, garage sale-ing,” she said. “We try to get the most affordable prices so we can keep our prices affordable (children’s clothing starts at about $25, with adult items starting at about $30). I want to bring [the price point] down for other people, where they can afford fun, fancier items that you couldn’t necessarily get otherwise.

“We’ll find pieces that we love,” Marcy said. “We’re more western, and we go to the western side. So, I’ll see like a John Deere shirt that’s more vintage or different, and I’ll grab that. Then we’ll piece it.”

That’s where the creativity and design come into play. Sometimes they’ll pair up items, like a denim jacket with pink stitching and a pink John Deere shirt. Other times, it will be different things they’ll put together in a unique way.

The bottom line: “We upcycle and make it better.”

Not long after launching her business, Marcy took on a booth at the farmers market, where she’s been a mainstay since. For a while, she also kept a storefront in downtown Waxahachie, but when that took too much time away from family, she opted to close that site and instead expand her presence at the farmers market to a double booth.

She’s also purchased a boutique trailer and is doing select events in the area, such as the Ellis County Youth Expo and Rodeo and a recent George Strait concert.

“We’re going to try to be doing that quarterly: Pick one big event and go do that, but our main base is the farmers market,” she said.

Marcy acknowledges it’s a bit of a juggling act at times between family and what is a thriving small business.

“My mother helps me sew everything, thank God,” she said. “I would not be able to do it without her.”

Since the beginning, the best part for Marcy has been how having her own small business has allowed her to spend more time with her children. There’s another perk as well, she shares with a smile.

“Being able to dress them is a lot of fun too,” she said. “I like styling my kids a lot.”

Through the ups and downs and challenges and successes she’s seen over the past several years, Marcy said she’s learned to “enjoy what you have while you have it, because you never know, one day it might take off on you. So, enjoy the small things and be able to take advantage of a small business while you can, because it doesn’t stay super small forever, and there’s a lot of moving parts. Just try to enjoy the small parts.”

A familiar face on several social media platforms, you can find her on social media channels Instagram (RoughRuffles), Facebook (Rough&Ruffles), and TikTok (roughruffles) or catch her at her booth at the Waxahachie Farmers Market, 701 Howard Road.

Written by Jo Ann Livingston/In The Know Ellis