Busy sewing day.

I have had quite a busy day. First off was to finish the self drafted undies I have been working on and I think they turned out great. Then I decided to make a ring sling for my sister, and just got the rings in the mail today. I ended up finding some pink fabric in my stash and used a purple thread. Its so pretty. Anyhow I hope she likes it. I have been trying to get my scraps sorted and finally got that done. Getting rid of any that really were useless, lol. I tend to hoard everything. I have a few more projects that need done, a diaper for a friend, a purse for another friend. Then maybe it will be back to some more sewing for me. I found a great tutorial on a zipper fly today and am hoping to give a pair of shorts a try for me using it. But my time is short. I will be starting a dressmaking and graphic design course so it could get interesting around here. I wish things would pick up and I would actually sell some things. Its kind of depressing lately, but that what most wahm's are dealing with as well. I was very disappointed that the cpsia has decided on no component testing, although fabric is exempt, pretty much everything you would use with it is not. How we are expected to afford to test the finished product is beyond me. Not that I am against protecting the children, its just that we are totally screwing small/micro business's by not have an organized plan for the cpsia. When everything passed it was aimed at big companies and keeping them in check they kinda forgot about everyone else. But HELLO it does affect us. I have some great designs running through my head for children's items, but there is no way I could stay afloat right now and afford testing. I guess patterns may be in higher demand for parents to make their own custom items for their children, or we'll just give the chinese more business. They can afford the testing, they'll just quit paying there child laborers. Ok stepping off the soap box now.......

Tester # 2 scores a home run, yay!

My second pattern tester finished her pattern. She did a wonderful job on the pattern and has a beautiful fabric choice. I am so relieved to see that people can follow my pattern and make beautiful things from it. Yay! I am so happy, anyhow here is a pic, and thanks mama for being a tester!

Penpals

Well the kids have kinda slacked this summer with writing to their pen pals. I recently made some appliqued shirts for the kids when they suggested their penpals might like one as well. Great idea. So they helped picked the fabric scraps for the applique's and I sewed them up. Max's turned out fab but the back of Ina's didn't go so well. I am not one to give up so I made some modifications and it turned out ok.The pics of course show the shirt different colors it is the pink like the close up of the back applique. Of course I don't think I am ever 100% happy with anything I make, lol. But I think the kids will like the shirts well enough.

Mama Skirt

I got some new Ottobre patterns in the mail before our vacation last weekend and I couldn't wait to try some out. I have used the childrens Otto before but not the womens. For those who are wondering what in the world I am talking about you can check out the site here. I am always so hesitant with patterns for myself because nine times out of ten it doesn't fit after its all done, despite measurements. I did the flared skirt from the 02/07 magazine and it actually turned out pretty good. I just used cheap fabric and didn't line it because I wanted to see what it was like before going to all that work. Amazingly enough it was actually a bit big, but with a minor adjustment it should be great. Yay! Now I just need to find some fabric from my stash that I want to use. Its not a great pic because it is a bit big and I was using the self timer, ughh.

One Mei Tai Coming Right Up

I finished this Mei Tai for my friend Jenn. I am very very happy with how it turned out even despite the photos displaying the colors differently. It
is definitely the best one I have made. Next will be onto some sewing for myself I think.

Sale Prices on Etsy

I lowered the prices on most of my Etsy items. I would like to get some things sold so I can add some more different items. I hate having to lower my prices but its not doing any good to keep things stored here if nobody is buying. It is really not a great time to be a small business owner, especially with the recent changes in regulations for selling items. Anyhow I am hoping for some more business and hopefully things will get better with time.

First Test Results Are In

My first tester finished the cover and sent me some awesome suggestions. The good news is that there were not any major problems just some super suggestions. Whew, I was so worried that I didn't make it easy enough to understand. 3 more testers have not finished yet so there is still the possibility that somebody thinks I am a nut and should not be writing patterns. Yes I know that I should have more confidence in myself, but I am such a perfectionist it makes it hard. I am also posting a picture of the finished cover, the tester did a super job with fabric choices! Well its off to the sewing room with coffee in hand this morning.

A Pattern Adventure

Yesterday I finally completed my first pattern. I have worked hard all week to make my pleated mixer cover pattern just perfect. Changing my mind many times on ways to make the pattern easier. Finding programs that did what I needed and were free were quite a challenge though. I tried many unsuccessfully. I am very excited with how it turned out! I sent the pattern to 4 super nice mamas that are testing the pattern for me before I officially put it on the market. I have moments of panic where I feel that maybe it has been a waste of time and that nobody will want this pattern, but I have to remind myself that only time will tell. I have lots of other projects I need to get busy on, undies and a mei tai, but I am already looking forward to designing my next pattern. I found that power point was the way to go for designing the pattern. It has simple enough cad features pared with creation of photos and text that worked great. Then I used pdfill to convert the powerpoint presentation to PDF form and merge pages. You can download the tools for free and it worked great. Eventually I would love to have the program garment designer to do some fun clothing editing. For now I am just anxious to see how the pattern adventure plays out, or maybe pays out:)