Faith’s Fashion Designs

Guthrie Center business offers custom-designed apparel and accessories. 

By Rich Wicks | Guthrie Center Times, April 2025

A well-known saying suggests, “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Faith Hockenberry of Guthrie Center has put that concept into practice. She enjoys clothing, and she also likes making artistic designs. So, she merged those interests into a business called Faith’s Fashion Designs, where she creates custom-designed apparel and accessories.

“I’ve been doing this for four years,” Hockenberry said. “I got excited to start my own business, and I wanted to create clothing and designs. I’ve been in this store for 2.5 years.”

Hockenberry specializes in small quantity special orders for events such as family gatherings, weddings, business occasions or school events. She especially enjoys the creative process. She listens to what a customer wants and then works with software to make the idea become a reality.

Hockenberry’s designs include a variety of themes, including inspirational, daily affirmations, seasonal/holiday and school pride. 

The items Hockenberry sells include T-shirts, sweatshirts, caps, coffee mugs, shopping bags and ACGC and Panorama items (such as stadium seat cushions).

Hockenberry is thankful for the assistance of two friends who help in her endeavor. Lill Delin serves as a mentor at the store, and Alicia Ciesielski is Hockenberry’s job coach, providing guidance as needed.

Ciesielski told of the usual process when an apparel order comes in.

“Faith designs it on the computer, and then she cuts it out, and then we iron it on,” Ciesielski said. “We can do just about anything people want.”

Ciesielski and Hockenberry said there is not any clear best-selling item, but Hockenberry said she sells quite a bit of ACGC Charger wear. She also told of recently completing an extensive apparel order for Special Olympics in Winterset.

Faith’s Fashion Designs store is located at 300 State St. in downtown Guthrie Center. Normal store hours are noon to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. The store accepts cash, check or Venmo but not credit or debit cards.

“I’ve got a Facebook page and website for the business,” Hockenberry said.

The store’s website is www.faithsfd.com.

Hockenberry believes in supporting the community, and she has found a way to do that with her business, while also creating a win-win situation for her customers. To celebrate her upcoming birthday, she is accepting donations of canned goods at her store. The donations will then be delivered to New Opportunities to help feed those in need. Those who bring in canned goods to Hockenberry’s store will receive a coupon for $5 off their next order.

Hockenberry enjoys the variety of tasks at her job, which range from doing the hands-on work of printing the apparel or filling orders to putting on her thinking cap and letting the ideas flow.

Hockenberry and Ciesielski shared a story of a recent order in which Hockenberry made 39 shirts to commemorate International Down Syndrome Day and shipped them to Oregon. 

“We’re doing T-shirts for a family reunion this summer,” Ciesielski said. “And we did some for the all-school reunion, with the old Guthrie Center Tigers image.”

Hockenberry invites everyone to stop in to see what she does. Although the store hours remain standard throughout the year, she stays even busier during the summer months.

“In the summer, I set up at the farmers market, too,” Hockenberry said. n