This Decatur business went from woodworking to custom garments for the stars
Five years ago, Huckleberry Starnes discovered a passion for 1950s-era fashion that changed his life.
The Decatur-based sculptor and woodworker had just closed his studio underneath Highland Inn in Atlanta’s Poncey-Highland neighborhood after the owners sold the building and gave him 30 days to vacate.
“My wife told me I needed a hobby since I couldn’t go to the studio anymore,” Starnes told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He decided to make some retro bowling shirts, and purchased a vintage Singer sewing machine online that he learned to use with the help of a tutor from craft website Etsy.
He developed a following from daily Instagram posts of his creations.
“I wasn’t trying to make it a business. It was just something to do during COVID, and people just started following me and requesting to buy my patches,” Starnes said.
Five and a half years later, Starnes’ COVID-hobby is now a thriving business.
Located on the second floor of his home in Decatur, Huckmade is a design studio specializing in bespoke embroidery, a technique combining custom-cut shapes with decorative stitching called tackle twill and chenille apparel handmade on rare sewing machines. The space features Huckmade’s logo in red fluorescent lights, a wall of blank jackets, multicolored spools of thread, 12 hand-controlled chainstitch machines, four sewing machines, a laser printer and a desk computer.
Huckmade got off the ground after artists — and their stylists — began finding and contacting Starnes on his website and Instagram. That’s how Starnes was recruited to create the varsity jacket Atlanta music producer Mike Will Made-It wore on his “Verzuz” battle in January. Same for singer Mary J. Blige’s touring hockey jerseys, and the jackets he made for the technical crew of the Oscar-winning film “Sinners.”
Starnes’ work has also been commissioned by singer Usher, Adidas, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and beverage company Diageo. He recently completed a capsule collection for sports apparel line Mitchell and Ness, releasing May 30.
Starnes decides which device to use based on clients’ preferences. “The machines are welders for fabric and paintbrushes in my tool kit that do very specific things, so it depends on the jacket, how it’s built, what the customer is thinking and the journey they want to go on with me,” he said.
“I always push (customers) to let me do some tweaks. Some want me to push boundaries as far as I can. I like when people come, present me with an outline of the project — a record, event or biography — or idea and let me interpret that.”
Huckmade’s current studio was originally Starnes’ master bedroom. He switched to his current space as more commissions came in.
“I started across the hall in the guest room, and once it really started taking off, I couldn’t have more than one other person in that room with me,” he said.
“My wife and I discussed moving to a warehouse and agreed that (storage and another location) was more of a financial burden than we wanted.”
Starnes, who was born in Dayton, Ohio, moved to Atlanta after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1994. He originally studied to be an animator and filmmaker, but became interested in sculptures and woodworking.
In 1994, he found studio space on Ralph McGill Boulevard (near what’s now the Eastside Beltline) and opened the first iteration of Huckmade as a custom furniture company.
He built props for catering companies, film and photo shoots, and operated there for 18 months. His projects included retail displays for Metropolitan Deluxe (now Virginia Highlands Books), Atlanta Pro Bikes, Moe’s and Joe’s, Universal Joint and 97 Estoria.
In 2011, Starnes decided to become a stay-at-home dad, then returned to woodworking full time until his studio closed in 2020.
After the shutdown, Starnes taught himself to build websites while doing sewing tutorials.
Inquiries for masks came via Instagram, so Starnes decided to rebuild his website to take custom garment orders.
Huckmade’s first major clothing project was designing varsity jackets and sweats for gospel artist Isaac Carree in 2022. The performer scheduled an appointment with Starnes through Huckmade’s website after being disappointed with another vendor.
“I found (Huckmade) online after going to another spot. They did a terrible job and screwed me over. I came across (Huckmade’s) work, and it was off to the races from there,” Carree said.
Starnes calls customization “problem solving.”
“It’s people challenging you to make stuff. Issac was good at coming, sharing five things he wanted to do and I would take a week to figure it out while deciding what this business could be,” he said.
“I take jobs where people ask me to invent new techniques, acquire new tools and figure out how to solve new riddles. If I was making the same jacket every day, I’d get bored.”
Customers can schedule appointments for custom work on Huckmade’s website.
“I’m booked for the next five to six months turning a handle in a circle for seven hours to draw a boot or whatever it is, but I love when I finish a garment for somebody, put it on them and they get the jacket smile,” he said.
About the Author
Christopher A. Daniel is a Black Culture reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is an Atlanta-based, award-winning journalist, cultural critic and ethnomusicologist. He previously taught courses at Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University and Georgia State University.
