Resoutions - Business Style

So, I have the typical resolutions in my personal life...get healthy; aka. stop being lazy because it's too cold out (remember I spent the first 24 years of my life in south Florida, the last 4 in Virginia, a "southern" state. I realize many places are far colder, but here we spend 4 months in the 30s or lower. Not. Good. I liked when it was "freezing" in the 60s in South Florida) and start running again. I *swear* I was being good about this when the weather was mild. I do live within 10 minutes to an entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mountains. The backside of my neighborhood lets out onto a ridge, and when I first moved here (from South Florida, only saying that again so you relize I lived in COMPLETE flatlands before moving here) I literally couldn't even walk around the circle of my neighborhood. So, for me to have been running the last few months is a major deal to me. With twin 2 year olds in a massive double stroller, no less. I hate running. Got cold out, lost motivation, enough said.

Anyway, been eating like it's Christmas and not running. SERIOUSLY ready for a good workout, so I might suck it up and bundle myself and the 2 non-school age kids up and start running again. And ignore the whining of said 2 year olds who also hate the cold and complain a LOT. Or maybe it's a normal amount of whining but just seems like a lot because there are 2 of them. ****Life is more annoying when you have multiple 2 year olds*****

BUSINESS RESOLUTIONS!!!!!!!
The point of my post, so I'll stop with the other stuff.

1) GET ORGANIZED, for goodness sake! I literally have 3 different calendars for organizing myself and still forget to fill them out. Maybe this year I will find that *perfect* organizer including all aspects of my life to use this year. And maybe it will cost so much money that I will have no choice but to use it, for fear of wasting hard earned money. ***Note to self:: Google search a mommy/business organizer and sort by the MOST expensive first (always wondered why that was even an option). This will likely force me to use it***

2) Every morning, spend 10 minutes cleaning the sewing room from the night before. Typically, I sew until midnight or later, at which point I decide I am about to pass out from tiredness and barely brush my teeth and fall into bed in the clothes I am wearing. Luckily, I am a morning showerer. Taking a shower in the morning - before your husband leaves - buys you 10 minutes of alone time. So, so, so worth it. Somehow makes it better that you went to bed at 2:30, and your kids wake up at 6:30 in the throws of extremely loud and hyper behavior (SUCKS!). So, the room typically builds up into such a state of disorganization that when it becomes mandatory that you clean it (or risk losing all of your scissors in a pile of fabric scraps), it takes a whole night to do. Cutting back on sewing time. Also?? That gives you ANOTHER 10 minutes to yourself in the morning. Take a shower and then clean the sewing room = 20 minutes of almost quiet time (cause generally you can still hear the kids screaming and running in the shower AND downstairs in the sewing room. But you can choose to ignore it because you are "busy"). My kids are awesome!! And best served after 8:00 in the morning :))

3) Use up all the fabric erupting out of my cabinets and onto all surfaces of my beautiful, husband-created, workroom. Good lord, I love fabric. So much. And it shows in this space. Time to get busy with the stuff I have already picked out and not drool over the stuff that I don't own yet. I love fabric. Did I mention I love fabric? **Another note to self: look into a 12 step program for fabric addictions**

4) Make beautiful stuff and take beautiful pictures of it. Have already conquered the first and am working on the latter ;)

5) Make lots of happy customers!!! Thank you all so much!

Merry Christmas!

I LOVE Christmas. And yet, I am one of those people who start dreading Christmas being over before it is even here. So, here we are - the depressing day after Christmas, when all my previously fun and festive holiday decor now looks messy and stresses me out and I want to put it away and just look forward to next Christmas. I do also have 3 really littles, and hence lots of new toys and tiny pieces of shredded present wrappings all over the place. I am still in that place where putting away their new goods really means Christmas is over, so I haven't done it yet. It's coming, a massive reorg of their closets to fit all this new stuff. We didn't even go overboard (I mean, Santa didn't - I am lucky I still have 3 gullible toddlers/preschooler or I would have been caught in a lie probably 27 times this year), but when you have 2 pair of spoiling grandparents added to Santa's pressies, it turns out to be a lot! Luckily, I have been slowly doing a massive toy purge over the last few months, and they don't have a whole lot outside of the new stuff. The twins are in the phase of leaving baby toys behind and moving on to big kid stuff *sob*. Anyway, this is good, because disorganization and clutter hurts my mental piece of mind. (and I am NOT normally an organized person - 3 small kids will make you that way).

So, kids are napping, company is watching a movie, and I came down to my little basement hideaway to get some sewing done. Christmas is over, time to look forward to new designs and fabrics!!!!

Sneak Peek!

Had SO much fun breaking into all my glorious new bolts of fabric today and creating with it. And had fun realizing that my little girl is a lot easier to work with for pictures! No more crawling away, no more screaming at me, no more wandering off. My tactic of, "hey! Look over there! It's something amazing!" actually worked. She'll wisen up again though :)

Today I also got 5 dresses/outfits cut out and will be ready to bang out some orders tonight - and maybe sneak in more more item for my Fall/Winter line. Probably a boy thing, I have so many ideas that I need to make into reality.

Today I ALSO found myself annoyed at my poor children for asking for drinks. But it's like a wash, rinse, repeat kind of cycle that could go on all day. And then when I realized my head hurt and I had eye fuzzies (do you ever get those white dancey things in your vision??) that I had absolutely NOTHING to drink since my morning cup of coffee. This realization occurred just as I was refilling the 20th sippy cup of the day and so I chugged my own sippy cup of water. With three kids, you kinda need to do everything at once so you get a break. Like with dinner...I don't serve any food until I have all food, drink, and utensils on their high chair trays. If not, the second I sit down to take a bite (or wash dishes) someone says, "more dis" or "down!" or "dink!!". Well, they do that anyway, it just buys me 2 minutes of stuffing my face and "enjoying" my food (wait, what did I just eat?)

Color Pallette

I've had to go back to the drawing board a few times on my fabric choices, but that's okay because I love nothing better than looking at fabric!!!

So, here's what my shop will look like when I stock it back up in September:









Yummy chocolates, peaches, greens, blues, ORANGE! My faves. Can't wait to get this stuff :)

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

Some of you might have noticed that my shop is pretty empty. This has been a big decision for me, and it's based on several different things.

1) I have decided to create "lines" in my business. My first line, Fall/Winter 2010, will debut in September 2010. This will limit the choices a lot as far as fabric color but I am pouring over all my options to pick the most amazing color and design schemes that I think will appeal to everyone. It will create a more put together look for my shop/name and I think is altogether more professional and easier to maintain.

2) I realize that 2-3 weeks is a long time to wait for something, coming from someone who believes immensely in instant gratification :) However, when you consider the time and energy that is put into making an article of clothing from a bolt of fabric into something made specifically for one very special little girl or boy, it's really not a lot of time. And I am on the verge of having to bump my turnaround time up to 4-5 weeks, and I really don't want to go there. But my "timeframe" has become something I think about constantly. In fact, I dreamt about it the other night. It reminds me of when I was a waitress in college and on busy nights when you would get triple or quadruple sat and could hardly keep up - and would then go home and dream about serving chicken wings and beer all night. No rest for the weary ;) I am "in the weeds" my friends. So it's time to catch up, get organized, and find different ways to maximize my resources. In the meantime (until my Fall/Winter line debut) I will be adding things periodically in one of a kind sizes. I do, afterall, have massive amounts of gorgeous fabric that needs to make way for the new stuff! I will be a busy bee making new products, and making many of them to allow for a shorter turnaround time. I am VERY excited about Fall/Winter 2010!

3) I am a candidate for one of these reality TV shows about organization. Don't think "hoarders". I am NOT a hoarder. I am generally a purger. Except when it comes to fabric. So, I need some down time to make use of the 7 foot tall cabinet I have full of different fabric. I absolutely cannot wait to go picking through there and come up with some new things. Also? I have two friends about to have babies and I need to get cracking on some baby projects! Crib sheets/skirt, nursing cover, big brother shirts, and CLOTH DIAPERS!! I have a love hate relationship with cloth diapering and my twins (currently *love*), but overall really think it's a great thing and I am very excited to try my hands at some diapers for tiny baby Ari.

Anyway, just thought I should mention the sudden departure of PRODUCTS from my store!! I already have a one-of-a-kind knot dress to list. Trying to decide if it should be called Sugar and Spice or Cotton Candy. It's that sweet.

Giveaways for my Facebook Fans!

(I realize I neglect my poor blog. Vacation coming up means more time for Internet funsies!)

When I first started selling products online, I had a shop on eBay and I strictly sold embroidered T-shirts, onesies, blankets, etc. I am a self-proclaimed "craft-it-all". Meaning, I have turned into my mother :) She used to tell me "oh, I can make that" to anything and everything. And she literally could...I am sure I get alot of my skillz from her, but she's even more broad in her talents. She paints, draws, sculpts, sews, crochets, knits, and is absolutely talented on a scroll saw.

I have pretty much always known how to use a sewing machine but admit I never had much fun with it until I had a baby girl to act as my muse. I can't draw, paint, or use a saw. I have tried knitting and crocheting, but I am simply not patient enough for that. But, when I see something made out of fabric, my thoughts are always, "I can make that". Totally unrelated, but my husband is the same way. Because he thinks we have more time than money (not true, 3 under 4 makes for precious little time), we have about 2 pages worth of household projects waiting to be done. And, bless his heart, he can do anything. But then he has to deal with the wrath of a wife who doesn't want to be the car/basement/water softener/insert project here-widow. It's a lose-lose situation :)

Anyway, all this to say that I prefer to make my own clothes now than order blank shirts and embroider them. I'm sticking to the basics - white T-shirts and onesies are the only thing I stock anymore. But I have TRIED AND TRIED for years to get rid of the stuff that I do have. It bugs me to have my humongous storage cabinet full of stuff that I don't even sell, when I could be stacking my beautiful bolts of fabric in there.

So, I had the BRILLIANT idea to start some giveaways for my facebook fans. A little reward. Starting tonight I will be doing random giveaways of one of the items (blue/pink T-shirts, T-shirt dresses, bloomers) I am trying to destash. I will pick the item and announce on my facebook page the steps required to win it. The winner will simply have to pay postage and will receive their very own cust om embroidered clothing (for kids, of course). Here's a link in case you aren't already a fan:
http://www.facebook.com/leaveyouinstitches
The first random giveaway will be tonight! Stay tuned!!

Mother's Day Items, Sale, New Sewing Machine --> Rambling

Couldn't pin down a title for a rambling sort of blog post.

First of all, I am having a SALE on some of my ready to ship items! Check it out!


Second of all, my sewing machine broke (did I already mention that?) and I had to search for a new one. Meanwhile I've been using one that I am glad will not be my forever machine. I went and tried some out at a couple different places around here. I really was in for some sticker shock, who knew that *quality* sewing machines were so expensive? Anyway, I found my dream machine in a Viking Sapphire. There is actually a sewing machine that will trim your threads for you? And sew through 5 layers of fabric? I thought I had to do that stuff manually. Anyway, I ended up finding it for a substantially less amount on eBay, hope I don't live to regret that. 3-8 days baby! This purchase may or may not have lead to the sale on ready to ship items, heh.

Lastly, I had a customer mention how she would love the white linen peasant shirt I make in an adult size (she had ordered one for her daughter already). I jumped right on that offer, as this was on my to do list. And, having a paid order for one jumps it way up on my to do list. Turns out that she is the same size as I am, so I just cut out and made 2 of them as I went. I *love* this shirt. Seriously. No more Target T-shirts for me, I am making my own from now on. I added these ones to my shop, in time for Mother's Day and hope to add more soon. The husband took this photo, if it were me, I would have used an artistic face chop on me. I don't love looking at myself as many times as I open up my etsy shop per day :)

Giveaway Winner!

I used Random.org to generate my giveaway winner - and the winner is Renee! My fellow mom of a 3 year old boy and twin 1.5 year olds. Get me your address Renee, and I'll ship your new key fob wallet ASAP! I will do another giveaway in April, so stay tuned for more chances to win!

And, as soon as I get my act together a little I will post the promised tutorial on how to make your own ID holder. I was too embarassed by the shape of my hands currently to take photos of myself sewing something. Baby girl and I had a mini manicure, and I only got through 3 of my fingers. So, I am left with 3 chipped, bright red painted nails and 7 others that are badly in need of some love. What can I say? I was never one for manicured hands. So I opted to take pics of the tutorial without my lovely hands. To be uploaded later ;)

My Sewing Room (in all it's put together glory)

Phew. I can't believe how long it took me to clean this room up. And I can't believe how messy I let it get. To be fair, when I am busy with orders, I am more concerned with getting them done and out in a timely manner than with putting fabric back where it belongs. Or to be bothered with throwing my thread snips in the garbage as opposed to on the floor. So I took some pics while it's like this, because knowing me, it won't last. Or maybe it will, because I've been super conscientious about putting things back, loving the way my room feels right now. Peaceful. The absence of chaos (in the form of a well organized room and the lack of children in this space) makes this a really nice place to escape to.

Did I mention my husband built this room from scratch? Well, from a completely unfinished basement space that is.





And this? My pile of small quantity fabric that I need to make one of a kind pants, dresses, skirts, etc. out of. Lots of it is already cut into the final product, I just need to sew them up. Stay tuned :)

Happy Day

The sun is out I took the mini twerps out to play. And, I happened to notice the bulbs I planted 2? 3? years ago starting to bloom. That makes me happy because #1 it obviously means Spring is coming and I love, love, love spring! And #2 because I gave up on those things ever growing. I wrote it off to my bad luck with plants.

I love Spring because I get to see all the new life blooming, it's so fresh and wonderful. And warmer. Plus, when we moved into our house, the yard was like a barren wasteland full of rock and clay. We've done a lot and planted literally hundreds of baby trees, so I love to see them start growing each year. Someday we will have a re-forested yard, for now we have lots of sticky trees that look kind of ridiculous in the winter. As soon as the little guys are done with their smoothies and fruit lunch, we're headed off to Lowe's to buy more flowers. I'm inspired.

Also a happy day because I spent 2 hours cleaning my sewing room last night. Normally, it looks like a tornado went through, spewing pieces of fabric and thread as it went. When I am done, I will have to post a pic of the awesome room that my husband built me. Anyway, when it's clean and organized like this, I'm newly inspired to make new things. Here's my running list:

*Baby shoes embroidered with name/birthdate on bottom. Special occasion, keepsake shoes.
*Personalized crib decor
*Matching mommy shirts to go with the items I already have for sale.
*Cloth diapers. This is more for us, because I don't plan on becoming a cloth diaper seller. But, the beebs are growing out of their mediums and the thought of fully restocking a diaper stash for twins with new diapers hurts my bank account.

I also went through my fabric and pulled out the tons of different prints that I have in small quantities so I can get rid of it by making one of a kind items. Sooooo many cute things planned.

Oh. And I recently realized I can buy fabric at wholesale costs straight from the manufacturers and that knowledge has been burning a hole in my pocket. I finally gave in to my desires and bought some MORE fabric. So, I really, really really need to work on getting the stuff I have out of there. I told you I had a problem ;) Here's the newest:

Just Another Typical Day

Sometimes I like to browse through the etsy forums when I am needing an Internet fix and nothing else is going on. I've seen various posts that outline someone's day with their business. Some folks only do the craft thing, others are trying to work it in with their day job.

So, I was thinking about my day and how very little of the daytime hours are actually spent on Leave You In Stitches. Here's a basic outline:

6:30 - Kids wake up and start playing in their rooms. Talking to each other. I hear them but have somehow developed the ability to tune them out and go back to sleep. I NEVER used to be able to do this. Sometimes the older Twerp will yell at me to come let him out. I usually yell back "Just a minute!!" and go back to sleep.

7:00-7:30 - Can't ignore the kids any further and roll out of bed to get them out. Change diapers. Change clothes. Make breakfast. Make coffee. Feed kids. Go, go, go! What a nice peaceful way to wake up.

8:30? 9:00? Remember that full pot of coffee and have my first of many cups. Never did drink coffee before the twins were born, but now it's my crutch. Play on the floor with kids for a while. Read some books. Get the itch to check my Etsy shop.

10:00 - Laptop is calling my name. Open it up and check out my new orders. Answer convos. Browse around the front page and drool over all the stuff I would love to buy. Remember that the kids are awake and crawling all over me and spilling drinks/snacks/drool on me. Close laptop. The babies have recently dropped a morning nap. This time was AWESOME for a while because the big boy goes to preschool tues, wed, thurs and in this period I would go downstairs to my shop and get the previous nights' orders packed up and ready for shipping. Now they are awake all day and I basically play on the floor with them until it is time to get big bro. SO EXCITING! I just never get bored of interacting with 2 18 month olds all day.*

*sarcasm

1:00 - Have picked up the brother boy and now it's time for a nap! WOOHOO! Once I get them down then I get downstairs and either work on new orders or pack up finished orders. The packing up takes a surprisingly large amount of time, so most days that's all I have enough time to do during naps.

3:00 - Kids up, head to post office to drop off packages. I live in a neighborhood, but it's kind of in the sticks, dirt roads and all. Here we all have acres or more with lots of trees and a lake for swimming, and mountains in view. But, we don't get our own mailboxes. It's a tradeoff. Everyday I go to the Post Office to drop off, but the ladies there know my kids and I and it's kind of nice. And it's an excuse to get the fighting twerps out of the house for a little while.

After that, there's a lot more playing on the floor (or outside whenever this snow decides to clear out), dinner, baths, and finally, BEDTIME! Kids are all in bed by 7:30. I usually allow myself internet time until 8. So, that's when I answer convos, set up embroidery files for custom orders, answer emails. Facebook, twitter, blog. You know. And I make myself go to bed by 1:00. I listen to audiobooks while I get my orders sewn and the time really flies. Most nights I really look forward to my time down there. At the very least, it gets me out of laundry, heh.

Stress Reduction in the Form of Chocolate

The other night I was feeling a little overwhelmed with my sick kids and unfinished orders so instead of doing something productive, I went browsing the sweets section of Etsy. That is a dangerous thing, my friends. There is so, so much for the sweet lover in me. And I am slightly embarrassed to admit a whole pound of fudge lasted barely 2 days in my house. But, it was well worth the extra 3 hours of exercise I had to do this week to burn it off. Oh wait, I don't exercise. It was well worth the extra 3 pounds I gained.

I ordered this fudge from Broken Road Farm on etsy. Here's a link to some for yourself: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36306270

I sure do wish my creative abilities extended to the kitchen. Alas, I am resigned to making fudge from the Eagle Brand ready to make kits found in my grocery store. Doesn't.even.compare. This fudge was so good and creamy, and never got crusty like my version.

YUM!

"Got A Blog, Need Some Followers" Giveaway

So I broke down and made a business blog, even though I can hardly be bothered to update my personal blog. Time to consolidate my efforts!

I will be doing a monthly giveaway of various items in my shop. This month I'm giving away a handy keychain wallet, in gorgeous Heather Bailey fabrics. This has been my lifesaver. I am prone to losing things. Credit cards, ID, phone, keys. I am on my third set of keys since the babies were born, much to my husband's annoyance. I have NO idea what happens to them! The babies must be putting them in the garbage, I swear. After paying for something I (stupidly) tuck a credit card into my pants pocket and then have to suffer the embarassment of having no way to pay the next time I am in a store.

So was born my keychain wallet. I'm much more likely to put my cards back in here when I am holding the keychain anyway. And I am much less likely to let my kids play with my keys when my wallet and all my credit cards are attached to it.



This month, simply become a follower of my blog and you will be entered to win. The giveaway will end on March 7th and a winner will be announced.

Stay tuned for a tutorial on how to make your on keychain wallet, for the sewing inclined. Next project? A keychain wallet CELL PHONE holder. Now, where is my darn cell phone?

Product Photography

I am so done with this winter. DONE!!! For one thing, I have 2 toddlers who are at that "let's empty every drawer and cabinet we come into contact with" stage (and they go in separate directions so it's needless to say I can't clean fast enough to keep up with them) and a 3 year who's little life revolves around picking on his twin siblings. Being stuck inside is not doing nice things to my mental state :)

For another, I need to get pictures of my dresses ON my daughter! I have a Canon Rebel XT (digital SLR) and I am definitely still learning how to use it. I can take okay product pictures in my basement workroom. But, dresses just look better on a child than on a hanger. And sometimes the lighting in there is just plain bad. But I stink at taking indoor pictures of my kids and it's just too cold and gray to take her outside in a sundress. Besides the fact that there is mud and snow everywhere and my children attract dirt like magnets.

My plan was to create a sort of studio in my garage. That way, I can open up the door and let in all the natural light. The trick I've learned from scouring photogaphy forums, is to hang a piece of pretty designer weight fabric (less wrinkles) from some clips. Then, you attach a piece of baseboard to the bottom and set up a square of vinyl wood flooring in front of it. That way, it looks like your kid is in a room with beautiful wallpaper and flooring. I happen to have all of these things fom my husband creating my workspace in the basement. I, however, lack the child free time to create this setup. By the time I get around to it, it will likely be warm enough to just take her outside for pics. I will surely get to it by next winter! (sarcasm, as I know this project will be put on the backburner)

In the meantime, I am trying to be crafty with the clothespins and straight pins sticking in my wall (don't tell my husband I am putting holes in the new walls).

Joel Dewberry halter dress (I love this fabric and think my next new item will be matching mommy and daughter shirts, not because I want a new shirt or anything :) ):



Summery halter dress, using my limited and favorite Momo Odyssea fabric:

Rolling in Fabric

I am a self proclaimed fabric addict. I.LOVE.FABRIC. It's a problem. Or not, if you love the fabric variety I offer, I suppose. I recently put in a rather large fabric order and told myself NO MORE FABRIC. And I am STILL having a hard time not drooling over the fabric shops on etsy. I just love a well coordinated bundle of designer fabrics.

Here's a dress I made out of the beautiful line of Heather Bailey Nicey Jane:

And I have some beautiful Joel Dewberry burning a hole in my closet. I've got a halter dress cut out, I just need a little breather in orders before I can put it together. Totally unrelated, but I recently found out my husband went to school with and played soccer with Joel Dewberry. And they're facebook friends, isn't that crazy? The hubs saw the Joel Dewberry website open on my laptop late one night and just HAD to wake me up to tell me. Also? His mom is Donna Dewberry. Might not mean anything to you unless you are a craft-it-all like me and frequent Michaels. Anyway, here's what I've got, yummy:

Last but not least, one of my other favorite fabric designers, Riley Blake. His designs are a little more childlike, without sacrificing the modern feel. I love using them for my children's clothing. I've got a LOT of this coming, so hopefully I'm not the only one who likes it :) They are new lines so will be here around April...

(sucker for gray and yellow)