About Us
The Sewing Story Begins
Howard Most begins a family connection to the sewing machine business that continues today.
Our family's story in sewing machine sales and service begins in 1953 in Ogallala, Nebraska. Singer Sewing Machine Company needed an outside sales representative, and Howard Most accepted the position.
By 1954, Howard was running Singer's store in North Platte, Nebraska. It wouldn't be the family's last move as his career with Singer continued.
A Move to McCook
Howard takes on a new role with Singer and moves the family to McCook, Nebraska.
On March 26, 1956, Howard signed a management contract with Singer Sewing Machine Company and moved the family to McCook, Nebraska.
1956 Singer Management Agreement
Lincoln, Omaha & Westroads
The Most family continues moving with Singer as the company's Nebraska retail operations grow.
By 1959, the family was on the move again, this time to Lincoln, Nebraska, where they stayed until 1964.
The next move was to Omaha. After three years managing Singer's downtown location, Howard moved to the new Westroads Mall location when the shopping center opened in 1967.
A Second Generation Joins Singer
Jerome Most joins his father in the sewing machine business.
In 1969, Howard's son Jerome joined him at Singer Sewing Machine Company's new Westroads Mall location.
What began as Howard's career with Singer was becoming a family business in its own right.
The Sewing Business Changes
Changes at Singer create an opportunity for the Most family to build something of its own.
By the end of the 1970s, Singer Sewing Machine Company was changing. The company had acquired other businesses and expanded in new directions, while household sewing machine production had moved overseas.
Locally, Singer-owned stores were being closed in favor of authorized dealerships. That change opened the door for Jerome Most to start a sewing machine business of his own.
Fremont Sewing Center
Jerome Most opens Fremont Sewing Center in Fremont, Nebraska.
In 1980, Jerome opened Fremont Sewing Center as Singer shifted from company-owned stores toward independent authorized dealerships.
Soon after the store opened, Jerome's wife Cheri joined the business full time.
During the 1980s, Fremont Sewing Center also became a Necchi dealer, beginning the family's first connection with a sewing machine brand that would return to the business decades later.
Jerome at the Repair Bench
Cheri inside Fremont Sewing Center
Brandon at the Singer 2001 Sewing Machine
80s.
Millard Sewing Center
Howard Most continues the family's move into independent sewing machine retail.
Howard remained with Singer slightly longer before opening Millard Sewing Center. The exact opening date is still hiding somewhere in the family archives, but the store began around 1980–1981.
Howard operated Millard Sewing Center with his wife, Dolores.
One Family, Two Sewing Centers
Jerome and Cheri purchase Millard Sewing Center from Howard and Dolores.
In January 1994, Jerome and Cheri purchased Millard Sewing Center from Howard and Dolores, bringing the next generation of the family into ownership of both stores.
The Stores Come Together
Fremont Sewing Center and Millard Sewing Center merge under one name.
In 1996, Fremont Sewing Center and Millard Sewing Center were merged into one business under the Millard Sewing Center name.
The Fremont name remained an important part of our history. Today, as Millard Sewing Center once again serves customers throughout Nebraska and beyond, that connection to Fremont is becoming a more visible part of our story.
A New Millard Location
Millard Sewing Center moves from T Plaza to 135th & Q while remaining the same family-owned sewing business.
After years at T Plaza, Millard Sewing Center moved to its longtime location on 135th & Q in Omaha.
The address changed, but the business did not. Jerome and Cheri continued operating Millard Sewing Center there, serving many of the same customers who had known the store from its earlier location.
A New Direction
After nearly five decades of family history with Singer, Millard Sewing Center ends its Singer dealership.
After Singer's bankruptcy and corporate restructuring at the turn of the century, the sewing machine company Howard Most had joined in 1953 was undergoing another period of major change.
In 2001, Millard Sewing Center sold its final new Singer machines, including the newly introduced Quantum XL-5000, and ended its Singer dealership.
The change brought nearly five decades of the Most family's direct connection with Singer to a close. Millard Sewing Center increasingly focused on sewing machine service and repair, used and vintage machines, parts, and helping customers keep older machines sewing—expertise that remains an important part of the business today.
Building a New Kind of Sewing Store
Millard Sewing Center begins building its first modern online store and a new way of reaching sewing customers.
In early 2019, Brandon began rebuilding Millard Sewing Center's online presence, teaching himself e-commerce while developing a new website, photography, and marketing for the family business.
By April, products were being photographed for the growing online catalog. What began as a small website project would eventually become a major part of Millard Sewing Center and allow the store to serve customers far beyond Nebraska.
The Third Generation
A difficult year becomes the beginning of a new chapter for Millard Sewing Center.
Following Jerome's passing in April 2019, Cheri and Brandon continued the family business into its third generation.
In May, the family signed a lease on a new Omaha-area building that combined space for the growing sewing business with warehouse space behind it. The new store opened July 1, 2019, at the location that would later become known as Millard Sewing Center's Gretna store.
By late 2019, the business was beginning to take on a new identity, combining its longstanding focus on service and repair with a growing emphasis on vintage and used sewing machines, restoration, photography, and online sales.
A New Vintage Showroom
The First Art Machine
Building Something New
Sewing Through the Shutdowns
An extraordinary year brings extraordinary demand for sewing machines and service.
When the COVID-19 shutdowns began in 2020, interest in sewing surged. Millard Sewing Center suddenly found itself repairing around 90 machines a month while demand for used sewing machines, parts, and restoration work continued to grow.
Vintage and used machines became especially important during a period when customers were looking for machines to sew masks, return to sewing, or simply find something productive to do at home.
In the spring of 2020, Brandon and Jamie moved from California to Omaha, and Brandon took over the daily operation of Millard Sewing Center. The website, photography, repair shop, and growing catalog of machines and parts increasingly became parts of one business rather than separate projects.
Sewing Through 2020
Vintage Machines Find New Homes
Restoration Becomes Art
New Machines Return
For the first time in years, new sewing machines return to the Millard Sewing Center showroom.
After years centered primarily on service, repair, vintage machines, and used equipment, Millard Sewing Center began selling new sewing machines again in March 2021 with the arrival of an EverSewn Sparrow 25.
By the end of the month, much of the EverSewn line had joined the showroom. The move marked the beginning of Millard Sewing Center's return to new-machine retail and laid the groundwork for the manufacturer partnerships that would follow.
New Machines Return
Room to Learn and Grow
Millard Sewing Center expands beyond machines and repair as education and a broader selection of sewing products become part of the store.
As the business continued to grow, the repair department moved from the front showroom into warehouse space in 2021. The newly available space became a dedicated sewing studio and classroom, giving Millard Sewing Center a permanent home for classes and hands-on education.
The showroom was changing too. Thread, sewing notions, Sew Steady products, and expanded displays joined the growing selection of machines and parts as the store evolved into a more complete sewing destination.
In November, Millard Sewing Center leased additional warehouse space in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, providing room for the inventory, machines, parts, and projects that no longer fit behind the store.
A New Sewing Studio
A Growing Showroom
The Warehouse Opens
Millard Sewing Warehouse opens to the public, adding another customer-facing location for the growing business.
In January 2022, Millard Sewing Warehouse opened to the public with repair services, used and vintage sewing machines, new EverSewn brand sewing machines, notions, and a small retail area.
The warehouse had originally been added to support the growing operation behind the scenes, but opening it to customers gave Millard Sewing Center additional room for repairs, inventory, and an expanding selection of sewing products.
Around the same time, Aurifil joined the growing thread selection.
Elna Joins Millard Sewing Center
A new dealership marks another major step in the return of new sewing machines to the showroom.
In March 2022, Millard Sewing Center became an Elna dealer, expanding the new-machine side of the business beyond EverSewn.
The addition of Elna helped establish a new direction for the showroom and began a period of expanding manufacturer partnerships that would continue over the following years.
Moving Into Longarm Quilting
Millard Sewing Center expands into longarm quilting machine sales.
In March 2023, Millard Sewing Center became a Janome longarm dealer, bringing new longarm quilting machines into the growing showroom.
Years of servicing and repairing longarm machines had already given the Millard Sewing Center team firsthand experience with the equipment available to quilters. Becoming a longarm dealer was a natural next step, allowing the store to pair that service experience with carefully selected new machines, accessories, education, and support.
A Broader Sewing Store
Millard Sewing Center expands its fabric selection, reconnects with a historic machine brand, and reaches new sewing communities.
In 2024, Millard Sewing Center continued growing beyond its roots in sewing machine sales, service, and repair. The store became more involved with local quilting, fashion, garment sewing, and costume-making communities through quilt shows, events, and sponsorships.
In March, the first bolts of fabric yardage arrived at Millard Sewing Center. The store had previously offered precuts, but adding fabric by the yard marked the beginning of Millard Sewing Center's modern fabric department.
In September, Necchi sewing machines returned to the family business. Fremont Sewing Center had been a Necchi dealer during the 1980s, reconnecting the modern Millard Sewing Center with a brand from an earlier chapter of the family's sewing-machine history.
Sewing Meets the Runway
Necchi Returns
A New Home at Oak View
Millard Sewing Center consolidates its locations at Oak View Mall and begins another major period of expansion.
In May 2025, Millard Sewing Center signed a lease for a new storefront at Oak View Mall. After a busy month of cleanup and construction, the store moved into its new home at the end of June, closing both the Gretna store and Millard Sewing Warehouse and bringing the business together under one roof.
The new showroom quickly opened new possibilities. In July, a major expansion of the fabric department began with the arrival of Riley Blake Designs fabrics, followed by Millard Sewing Center becoming a Janome dealer.
The longarm department took another major step forward in 2025 when Millard Sewing Center became an Innova longarm dealer, expanding its longarm sales beyond the Janome machines introduced in 2023. Millard Sewing Center also began offering longarm quilting services for customers, adding another dimension to its growing quilting department.
A Growing Fabric Department
Janome Joins the Showroom
Innova Joins the Longarm Showroom
More Room to Grow
Less than a year after moving to Oak View Mall, Millard Sewing Center moves across the hall and roughly doubles its retail space.
In 2026, Millard Sewing Center moved again—but this time only across the hall. The larger Oak View Mall storefront roughly doubled the store's square footage, providing more room for sewing machines, longarms, fabric, notions, parts, classes, and the growing repair and quilting operations.
The machine showroom continued expanding as Millard Sewing Center added Brother and Feiyue sewing machines to its lineup, joining Janome, Elna, and Necchi.
The longarm department grew again with the addition of Grace Company, joining Innova and Janome and continuing Millard Sewing Center's evolution from a longarm repair shop into a full-service longarm sales, service, and quilting destination.
Twice the Room
Brother Joins the Showroom
Grace Joins the Longarm Department
Millard Sewing Center Today
Family owned, sewing focused, and still growing.
Today, Millard Sewing Center brings together sewing and embroidery machines, longarm quilting, service and repair, fabric, notions, parts, classes, and online shopping under one roof.
More than seven decades after Howard Most first went to work for Singer, sewing machine sales and service remain at the heart of the family business. What began with one generation selling and repairing sewing machines has grown into a third-generation sewing destination serving customers in Nebraska and across the country.
That growth has never been the work of one person or one family alone. Millard Sewing Center today is built by a team of people who teach, repair, quilt, ship orders, help customers, build the website, manage the thousands of products behind it, and keep the store moving forward every day.
Through all of that growth, the goal remains much the same: help people find the right machine, keep the machines they already own sewing, and give them the products, knowledge, and support to make what comes next.
