Busy Sewing

Things are slowing way down in my etsy shop, but I have been busy sewing anyway :) I'm working on a few custom orders, and trying to create as much as I can for an upcoming craft show. This will be my first one, so any tips or ideas will be much appreciated! I'm glad I have a handy husband who can help me with the display! In fact, I saw something neat on a blog: http://www.blogmimigreen.com/blog/2008/05/craft-show-good.html. She doesn't sell the same stuff I do, but I liked the thingy made with PVC pipe. I could hang smaller dresses and skirts on something like that, and borrow a rolling hanger from someone to hang some other stuff, as well as placing things on the table. I also plan to make some hair accesories. (for girls and women!)

I am also finally getting some of the professional photos of some clothes I made awhile ago. The little girl is such an adorable model, and the photographer is great! The pictures above are some that she took along with a dress I just made for the craft show. In the meantime, I am praying for more online sales to come my way so I can buy the supplies I need! :D

Aaaand just so everyone knows, right now I am doing a summer special: spend $30 or more in the shop and recieve 15% off. So even if you only spend $30, you still get at least $4.50 off! This does not include shopping.

Pigtails and the zoo!

There is something I have been waiting for since I found out we were having a girl. Pigtails! Her hair is finally long enough, and it looks so cute! Besides, her hair looks like a mop when I don't do anything with it, and she tears out her bows and headbands. So, I bought some little elastics from Target (best store ever) and put piggies in her hair. She didn't even mind and hasn't been tempted to play with them! We also went to the zoo recently...we need to get in as many zoo visits as we can until it is way too hot. It's sad that we can't do much outside (besides swim) during the summer months. Odin's favorite part of the zoo was the splash pad- mine too! Walking around in the heat was enough excercise to last me awhile (kidding, mom!)

I recently added a new top to my etsy shop, red with white polka dots- requested by a customer. I will very soon have several new items up that are busy getting photographed. And right now, I am doing a 2 for $25 special on solid color single ruffle pants, any size! Normally they are $15 each.

More new clothes...

I realize I am not good at updating this blog with family news. To be honest, there is not much to tell! Still can't potty train Odin (I don't know if he is ready yet, and also I need to try harder) and Ally is not yet walking. She did, however, finally drink out of a sippy. It was Odin's sippy, one of those cheap take n toss ones, but she loved it! It had a softer spout than most, maybe that's why. We had a playgroup thing today, and of course I forgot my camera, so no pictures :( It was really sweet when I put Ally on a bench swing next to Odin and she immediately grabbed onto him for safety. Love it! I really do think she will be walking soon...she can almost stand by herself, and with Odin that's what happened right before he took a few steps. I can't wait! Also, less than 2 weeks until I see my family. I REALLY am excited for that. I miss my parents and siblings so much, and wish they would just move back already. I hope my brother and his wife and new baby will come down too, but I am not so sure they will. Allison will turn 1 in less than a month. We'll have a party when my parents are here. I am thinking a Paris theme, which means I will be appliqueing an Eiffel tower onto a t shirt for her to wear. I already have the shirt, and an idea. I think I might even post a tutorial for it! I am hoping to get some tutorials going soon :P. But I always forget to take pictures during the creating process. Anyway, enjoy the photos of some new items.

Drumroll please...

Yep, I got some professional photos! A wonderful photographer named Kimberly Van Sistine- http://www.kimberlyvphotography.com/ or http://www.kimberlyvphotography.blogspot.com/- contacted me for a trade. I made outfits for her girls, and in return they modeled them for a nice photo shoot. I decided to go with brand new designs for these outfits, and am slowly rolling them out in my shop. So you will see new stuff with stunning photos in the week or so to come. Here is a sneak peak of some the pictures she took! They are beautiful, and looking at my clothes photographed that way makes me feel like a real professional. I can't get pictures like these on my own! So enjoy, and check the shop for new items!

Top Things I Made of 2009

Odin's Colored Pencil Roll

Apron skirt!

Ally's Christmas Dress

Pillowcase dress matching my cousin's baby

First dress I ever made- I've come a long way!

So I know it's already February, but I thought I'd look back at the things I made in 2009 and post the top favorites. Today is a weird day. Saturday, but Adam's working today. I need to go to Hobby Lobby sometime after he gets home. Kids are playing outside and I'm still in pajamas. Oh well! Oh, and I finished Ally's Paris top and will post about it soon, but she hasn't worn it yet (well, just to try it on) so I haven't taken pics. I tried to make it in 12-18 months, but she is bigger than I thought and it's more of a 6-12 month but it's stretchy and can be worn for awhile, and I made it nice and long as well. It is really, really cute!

Giveaway!!!

Aubut Life blog is hosting a giveaway for my shop! The winner receives a $15 gift card to my shop...here is the link: http://aubutfamily.blogspot.com/2010/01/joyful-vision.html. Go there for instructions on how to enter!

Almost to 50...

One more sale until 50 in my shop! I am going to give a fun free gift to the 50th customer, wonder who it will be? In between working on orders, I am also creating dresses and outfits for Ally for spring and summer. I want to make sure I get these done since it seems I have been so busy lately! The top/dress (not sure what to call it, as it looks like a dress to me but it's supposed to be a top) that I am working on now is from Sandi Henderson's Gracie pattern and is in Nicey Jane fabrics. I love how it's turning out, and it will also have matching ruffle capris. I will show pictures as soon as it's done.
Sorry there's no pictures in this post- I need to do a better job of taking them! I guess I've been lazy...Also, potty training is not really happening. I still take Odin on the potty, but he won't go, so not sure what to do about that! And I am done giving Ally baby food...from now on she gets tabel food, yay!

Ally's weird teeth

Yeah, so my daughter took her sweet time getting teeth. And now that she has some, they're a little weird. I'll explain. Her first two teeth were her bottom two middle, which is fine. Then she got one random tooth on the top on the side, and then another one next to it. It's not normal, I say! I took a picture to show you. Also she is waving all the time these days, and she doesn't stop until someone waves back. It is soo cute and I need to take a picture of that, too! I added some new minky pants to the shop, so I'll show off a pair of those as well.

Only 2 more sales to get me to 50! I am pretty sure, or at least hopeful, I can do that by the end of the month. I feel like doing something special for #50, or a giveaway, or something to that effect, but I've been so busy lately! I had a fight with the serger today. I was trying to do a rolled hem, and finally got the thing threaded right, but then one thread kept breaking, so had to rethread that and lower the tension, and yeah I got it, but I definitely need more practice. I will be showing you the results of my efforts (in Nicey Jane fabrics!) quite soon. I started working on a skirt tutorial, then forgot to take pictures, so it will have to wait until I make another skirt! I plan to make Ally a couple spring skirts soon, so it'll happen. In fact, i bought some cute Japanese Paris themed fabric the other day and can't wait to turn it into either a shirred top or a skirt. That project will be just for her, not for the shop, especially since Japanese fabric is expensive (probly cuz it's imported). My mom is making my soon-t0-be niece a quilt featuring some Japanese fabric as well, and I'm sure it will be amazing! Speaking of which, Dana is due in about 2 weeks and I can't wait! Too bad I have no idea when we will see said niece...Anyway, that's all for now.

Happy New Year!

Welcome, 2010! Unlike the countless on facebook who seem to think 2009 was just awful, we had a great year. Yeah, financially we aren't exactly doing well, but other than that...we are SO blessed. So I want to take the time to thank God for those many blessings. My children- I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl this year! (My dream come true). My husband, who is always wonderful, my sweet little boy who is growing waaaay too fast and is just as cute as ever. Our healthy, church, friends and family, salvation, and people to lean on when we need it. And the fact that my clothing business is off to a good start. Speaking of which, this week alone I have sold several pairs of ruffled pants, in all kinds of patterns and sizes. Craziness. People love their ruffled pants- and let me tell you, I am loving them too. In fact, I broke down and bought Sandi Henderson's ruffled pants pattern, which means I will be adding capris, double ruffled, and triple ruffled pants to my shop. And tomorrow...I will add my newest dress from the Gracie pattern, and blog about it. So stay tuned! And enjoy the final installment of Christmas pictures!

Peasant dress!

Yes, I know I am supposed to be writing about and putting up more pictures from Christmas, but right now I want to show you the new dress I just finished. This is a peasant dress, made from fabric I bought in Maui, and I really love how it turned out. However, I fought with my sewing machine for awhile until I could get it to shir correctly. Has anyone out there shirred before? I tried it first with my mother-in-law's machine, and it did not work. I worked at it for a long time before giving up and using my own method of sewing with the elastic and then pulling it so the fabric would gather. Same results but took a lot longer than shirring. With my new machine, I discovered that it can shir! However, the thread kept breaking and getting stuck every 2 seconds and I was getting very frustrated. Finally, I took a break. When I came back to my machine, I adjusted the tension again, and it went smoothly. So a lot of work went into this dress, but it was worth it. I at least know that next time it shouldn't take nearly as long.

Anyway, so here is the dress. I have it in my shop has a 2T ready to ship, but I can definitely make it in any size...I just don't have enough of the same fabric for anything bigger than 12-18 months, and can't find the exact fabric online. Oh, well!

Countdown to Christmas...

So, in the spirit of facebook, here is my current "status" in the countdown to my favorite holiday (besides Easter), Christmas. Most gifts bought, probably shopping today, completed making many gifts, house semi-decorated, Christmas cards ordered (but not sent out), have a custom order to work on and hopefully finish next week, and just sold a ready to ship item today :). Oh and we did our Christmas bake the other day. No pictures, because I of course forgot my family. Maybe if I had a decent camera, I'd remember it more! Another thing is that I should be putting up a few ready to ship pants in the next few days, so someone can buy them in time for me to ship them before I leave. One of them is a pair of red ruffled pants with polka dots in size 6-12 months (above). And they will be on sale as I want to move them quickly!

Also, for your viewing pleasure, our Christmas picture this year. Not ideal, but it turned out pretty good and I am loving Ally's dress (which sounds conceited since I made it, but I do really love it!). Merry Christmas everyone!

A new skirt :)

I made another apron skirt. I love these skirts, and I especially LOVE this fabric! It is by Patty Young. I made these for two special little girls, and I can't wait for them to get them! I also listed them in the shop, and have sold two already. Things have been busy, which is great, but a part of me keeps getting discouraged and thinking the sales will stop. I hope not- I hope things keep going steadily as they have been, as we can really use the extra income!

I have also enjoyed purchasing some gifts on etsy. So excited about these! A certain ebay commercial says "No one wants handmade for the holidays." I find that rude, insulting...and not true! I love handmade things (like last year's "bacon bowl" from my brother Andre) and I think the people I made or bought them for will love them, too.

Christmas dress

I made a Christmas dress for Ally, which is also in the shop. It turned out exactly as I envisioned and I got to use some cute Michael Miller Christmas fabric. I also made my first dress sale on etsy, so that was exciting! Another new item is the peasant top, which is also available as a dress. I am wanting to keep everything for Ally, but I need to make some sales, too!

Dresses for sale...

Well, I decided to do it. A lot of people have asked if I sell the clothes I make...at first I was just doing it for fun, but I enjoy it so much I thought I would try to sell some. "Try" being the operative word here. Sometimes I feel I am taking too much on- MOPS, playgroup, writing, my cards, and now sewing. Not to mention raising two kids, being a wife, spending time with God...you get the picture. So is it too much? Not sure. In fact, I might eventually stop doing the cards (except for friends and family who ask) and just focus on other things. To be honest, designing cards is not going well. I suppose I could put more effort into advertising- but who has time for that? This clothing venture might turn out the same way, and I'm ok with that. If God puts the breaks on it, I'll continue sewing just for fun. And all those clothes in my shop? Stuff for Ally and gifts for friends :). I'll stick to my writing though...that is something I feel I really SHOULD be doing, and maybe the other stuff is just for me. As far as playgroup and MOPS, those are important for my sanity and for my kids to make some friends until they begin school. They always have their cousins, of course, but it's good to make other friends too.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my honesty. This is where I am right now. Life is good, and I have learned recently that I don't need to do everything- not supposed to! I should be focusing on whatever God wants me to do. Now, here are some pics of clothes I am planning to sell- the skirt is a personal favorite and will probably remain in Ally's closet :D.