Whidbey auto customizers are in the fast lane

Tricking out a hot rod at one of the finest automotive customization shops in the Pacific Northwest — located in Oak Harbor — could mean spending at least four years on their wait-list. And it opened only a little over a year ago.

Artisan Stitchworks, an automotive customization shop, recently moved into its new home on Barlow Street, an approximately 11,230-square foot building teeming with luxury vehicles that have been or will be revamped with swanky interiors, high-end audio systems, fancy lighting and more.

Reflecting ahead of Artisan Stitchworks’ grand opening on Sept. 27, Gracin Bryan, the owner, said the growth of his business still feels unreal.

“That’s crazy. We went from just having fun with it to now, a million dollar business within a year,” Bryan said.

Bryan, a self-described “Florida boy,” retired from the Navy as a deep sea diver in 2010, working in diving before eventually switching to automotive upholstery. At Ocala Auto Upholstery, he studied under a man named Woody who taught him the “old techniques” of the craft. Eventually, Bryan ventured out on his own with a partner at First Coast Auto Creations in Jacksonville. The business blew up but burnout forced Bryan out of the industry and back to diving.

When Hurricane Ian hit in 2022, it “destroyed” Bryan’s life, he said. So he picked up and moved to Washington soon after to join Associated Underwater Services in Kenmore as an operations manager, but the company fired the office staff after a year. Bryan officially retired from diving and heeded encouragement from friends familiar with the quality of his work in Florida to take up upholstery again.

What would become Artisan Stitchworks started out in a 200-square-foot paint booth at one of Bryan’s best friends’ houses and operated out of a couple other locations before closing on its current building in May and beginning renovation in June; the Barlow Street building is spacious enough to allow Artisan Stitchworks to work on eight cars at once. Four employees work for Artisan Stitchworks and a metalworker specializing in body restoration rents space, but Bryan wants to hire more help.

Attention to detail is Artisan Stitchwork’s modus operandi, exemplified by Bryan’s use of old-school upholstery techniques in his work.

Everything is hand-made when Bryan revamps interiors. Fabrics and leathers are often imported, and Bryan opts to use a sewing machine for some of the seat quilting rather than a computer numerical control machine, which can be programmed to embroider the same patterns. Bryan even uses hand-stitching on steering wheels.

“You have to understand the old ways of doing things before you can really grasp the newer techniques,” Bryan asserted. “I’m a firm believer in that.”

Bryan said he used to love drawing, learned to sew at 18 and shared his stepdad’s love of building model cars and airplanes, qualities giving him an artistic nature which come in handy with his work today. Bryan draws plans for each vehicle customized by Artisan Stitchworks, visuals which are then digitally rendered — or, given a three-dimensional quality — by someone in Massachusetts. Having such a visual leaves no questions about what the plans are for the vehicle.

Each project differs wildly from the last, but the process remains largely the same.

Potential customers reach out through Artisan Stitchworks’ website or via phone or email, then fill out a questionnaire to help Bryan determine if the customer truly knows what they want — but only enough to “get himself in trouble,” Bryan jokes.

If all goes well with the questionnaire, Artisan Stitchworks begins calculating an estimate which could fluctuate as the project continues. Basic interiors, Bryan said, can start out around $15,000-20,000, and full custom interiors can hit $20,000-50,000; some projects rack up totals well beyond those estimates.

Customers sign a contract agreeing to the upgrades, approve the project rendering and pay 50% of the projected cost upfront as a deposit. Then, the fun can begin.

As the projects are entirely custom, and somewhat fluid, Artisan Stitchworks does not provide deadlines or time frames.

“It’s done when it’s done,” Bryan said.

Bryan explained passion and, admittedly, a healthy dose of ego drives car owners’ desire for maximalist upgrades, seeing as for some, the vehicles are their “coffin cars” — the last car they likely will ever invest so heavily in. Making a statement is of the utmost importance, so the onus is on Artisan Stitchworks to get the job done right. Vehicles are barred from leaving the shop bearing his logo until Bryan is totally satisfied with the finished product.

“I say we’re a hot rod restoration company, but we’re really not,” Bryan said, only half-joking. “We’re a bank. We’re an investment firm. We’re taking (clients’) money and putting it into an investment and they’re trusting us with hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The owner of a brilliant yellow 1987 Z28 Camaro originally requested a seat repair and is now $285,000 into a customization including adding carbon fiber fenders, new wheels, an exposed caliber brake, an electric steering wheel and a digital dashboard, among other things. All projects are named, and the Camaro, built in remembrance of the owner’s father, is called “Cowboy6” — that was his father’s call sign when he served in Vietnam. The “Camaro” inscription on the dashboard will be changed accordingly.

Bryan quipped the Camaro will be the “wildest car on this island” by the time Artisan Stitchworks is through giving the American car an “exotic European flare.”

Acclaim for Artisan Stitchworks is widespread and word-of-mouth, making marketing unnecessary according to Bryan. A photographer from Hot Rod magazine is expected to attend the grand opening. Bryan said he sees clients from in- and out-of-state, including California, Colorado, Oregon and Idaho.

Whidbey remains a hotbed for hot rods, according to Bryan, part of why he chose to move to the island. He fell in love with the island when he was stationed at NAS Whidbey in 2008.

“The amount of cars, the amount of what people are willing to do to their cars — there’s nothing around here like this,” Bryan said.

All things considered, Artisan Stitchworks is on an upward trajectory. In pursuit of making the block the “hot rod mecca of the Pacific Northwest,” Bryan wants to open a hot-rod-themed speakeasy and a performance parts store nearby within the next 10 years.

Artisan Stitchworks’ grand opening on the 27th will include a car show, set to begin at noon, and an open house.

(Photo by David Welton) Whidbey Island is full of hot rods and Bryan, owner of Artisan Stitchworks, wants to trick them out.

(Photo by David Welton) A rendering is created for each car Artisan Stitchworks sees, leaving no uncertainty about what the final build will look like.

(Photo by David Welton) Jeff Faris sits in his cream-and-tan 1959 Chevrolet Apache, the interior done by Artisan Stitchworks, won “Outstanding Interior Truck” at the Portland Roadster show in March this year.