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!