What do I want?

Well frankly I want a lot of things, many of which I cannot have or aren't in my near future, but what I want out of this new adventure is to do something for myself. It would be nice to work at something that  can make enough money to support my family, of course as small businesses go that can be rather unlikely. I'll keep trying though. It is hard in some ways because I know I do a good job, and friends/family tell me how beautiful my stuff is, but I need others out there to see what I can do and want to buy it. I just can't charge my friends what I would charge someone else, I would love to just be able to give people the beautiful things I make, but then I would be losing a lot of money! hahaha Alas, I have been making some money, so hopefully those that have come to me for business will return or send others my way. We can only hope.

I leave you today with a picture of my newest design, not quite finished yet, here is a teaser:

HALLOWEEN....

So it may seem far off but its time to start thinking about costumes. Halloween has in the past been my busiest sewing time, unfortunately I don't have a ton of pictures of past costumes unfortunately. I'm bummed because I've made some really fun ones. Here are the ones that I do have first are three costumes, a sort of old west corset and skirt combo, a gypsy getup and a funky punk vampire.

These two costumes are a hooded sweatshirt Dragon costume and an infants Knight costume:

Lastly a simple yet fun royal purple cape:

I can do pretty much any costume you are thinking of. If you are interested in custom costume design and creation please contact me. 

Lace Front Tank top Refashion -- Tutorial

Well its a two post kinda day...

I got this tank at a garage sale for .25 so I decided it would be a good place to start with some tutorials:

First either measure the neck line, all around, or do it the cheater way like me and just take your lace and wrap it around the neck to see how much you need

Pin the lace around the neck line and stitch, I chose to stitch around both the top and the bottom of the lace, this really depends on what kind you are using and its up to you.

Take more lace and cut gradually decreasing strips for the front, lay they out so you can get a general idea of what it will look like.

I cut my ends at an angle, this again is something thats up to you, and depends on what type of lace you are using

Pin the first strip and sew each strip

Here is the finished product...I added a lace bow at the top and also took more lace and sewed it along the bottom.

I hope this is helpful in some way, its not my absolute favorite shirt, but it turned out pretty good. Please leave comments of anything I could change or what you like about it. 

Sewing Corner

I am very excited about my new sewing corner, my awesome friend came over and helped me re-arrange some things so that I can sew and keep a good eye on my kids at the same time. I have views of almost the entire house from my area. So here are a few pictures...

I also made this cute toddler girls dress...I need to get a model for it but here it is on the hanger

A few of my favorite things...

I'm sure the title of this blog entry is not uncommon, but it works for me so I'm using it today ;)

I was around the house this morning, playing with Kaden and Peyton, emptying the dishwasher and thinking about what my next project will be and it got me thinking about what my favorite things are. Most of these will have to do with sewing, but I may think of some others as I go along.

1. Of course my most favorite "things" are my little ones...

Kaden

and Miss Peyton

2. Ruffles! (which is very awesome for me because they are everywhere right now)

3. Buttons 

they can just add so much to a garment, even if they aren't actually being used as "buttons" I made a toddler dress yesterday that has a long column of buttons, I'm waiting to get pictures, but its very fun! One of my favorite blogs to read Made By Lex will often put interesting buttons on her clothes, I especially like the buttons used on these tops  made for her daughters.

4. Pleats

(as you can tell I pretty much love anything that adds interest to clothing, These things can all add so much, even when using tone on tone. Its just that little something extra

5. Weddings

I absolutely love weddings, I'm slightly cynical right now and I have a hard time with the Marriage part (yeah I know, thats sad but after what I've been through it shouldn't be a surprise) But the Wedding part is always so fun and beautiful

Here is a Photo from my wedding

6. Cooking and baking

Well I best get back to life, rooms to clean, kids to feed, life to be lived. More sewing projects in the workings, I'm also working on getting some tutorials put together. Possibly on on making fleece sweatshirts. I'll have to see how the first one turns out though! Happy Saturday

Goals of the day

Ok, I have a few goals today

1. Deep clean at least the 3 major areas of my house (kitchen, living, bathroom)

2. stay off the computer until this list is done (i have a bad habit of checking the comp way to often)

3. get outside to go for a walk/run

4. possibly get to the dump

All of these are doable if I practice some good time management. I'll check back in tonight to see if I've done any of these things :) and maybe with some pictures of my accomplishments. Hopefully some pictures of new designs as well...I have so much material that needs to be made into something awesome, and i need people to buy these awesome things so I can buy more material! 

an Un-sewing day

So I took the day off of designing and sewing. I went to visit friends, well more like family in a way, it was good to re-connect with some people. It was also fun to share this new adventure I'm working on. I did do some designing last night (when i should have been sleeping!) though, I've been having fun experimenting with pleats and tucks and ruffles! I'll get some pictures up soon, I just worked too late in the night to take any then. As I should be sleeping now as well, I'll leave you with a couple photos of my baby girl modeling the hair things I was making as an example for a possible client.

These are so easy...expect a Tutorial in the next few days

Number one...and the journey begins

I've been working hard at getting a business of sorts up and going. Thanks to lots of suggestions from friends I've made an etsy shop, sold one item already, and have had others interested. I also posted an add on Craigslist for custom design and alterations. I posted this last sunday and I already have a client that I will meet with next tuesday to take in her bridesmaids dress! This is very exciting for me. It would be a dream come true if this could be my main source of income, that may be unrealistic but who knows. I will certainly be praying for it, although i will have to look for a "real" job in the meantime. I just wish I could stay at home with my kids, but that can't always be the case. Anyway, here are some snap shots of stuff i've been working on.

Some Re-fashions:

Some Bags (there are many more pictures on my Joyfully Yours FB) here are my favorites:

some wedding dresses that I literally just threw together the night I got my dress form:

Lastly here are just the other random clothes and other items, including some fabric flags that have been my most popular:

Well thats quite enough for now...there are children that need tending to.