It feels like I’ve been running on empty/low for so long that I don’t really know what a regular pace is. Since I started my business in 2009 I have lived in what feels like a constant whirlwind; juggling my own business, my family life and the lives of 3 children; making costumes for our local youth theatre company, working part-time, and attending craft shows as a vendor. This week I’ve decided to stop. For now. And just see what that feels like.
I’m not stopping everything. I have a new part-time job which I love. You would have to drag me out of the theatre world screaming. Kids and husband need to come first again. So for now I have put the craft shows on hold.
I love craft shows. I really enjoy the atmosphere, hanging around with crafty types, meeting vendors and customers face-to-face. But they are physically and emotionally exhausting. There’s all the time spent in my studio sewing things I love, in the hope that other people will love them too (and buy them). There’s the planning and preparation, set-up and tear-down of booths. And this is before putting on my happy face to meet the public. Don’t get me wrong, I REALLY enjoy meeting my customers, both old and new, but for every person who loves and buys my work, there is someone who thinks my prices are too high (they’re not) , they could make it themselves (they could, but they didn’t), or they want to haggle for a deal (they’re already getting one). There are some people who walk into my booth and just scowl. Seriously, how can pretty little girls dresses and bloomers make someone scowl?
So, I’m finally going to work on the list of household projects that I always keep meaning to get to but never do because there’s another craft show deadline approaching. Ironman needs frilly curtains in her room, Boy needs cool blinds in his room, Guy wants a bean-bag chair. I have 2 deckchairs to recover, and numerous cushions to make…for me.
This weekend I had the privilege of working with our local youth theatre group to put on the musical “Oliver”. In 15 rehearsals a show was learned, memorized, blocked and choreographed…an amazing feat in itself. My children and I have been involved with this group for 5 years now, and every year I am in awe of what this group of young people, aged 4-14 can achieve. This year was particularly sweet for me because I coordinated the costumes for 2 shows, each with a cast of around 50 kids. (Below are some of my workhouse kids, in karate gis teastained for the production).
Since September I have enjoyed getting to know both casts and so during the performances I was proud not only of my offspring, but every one of those children on stage. I’m glad it was dark backstage so they couldn’t catch me blubbing.
Last night’s Grammy ceremonies may be celebrated around the world, but these kids deserve all the awards.
I love rainy days (except when I’m camping). I can hunker down in my studio creating things, without experiencing any of the guilt I might feel on a sunny day. On those days there’s always a little nagging feeling that I should be doing something else like sorting out my garage/shed, weeding my garden, getting some fresh air or something else that’s good for me. On rainy days I can snuggle up with a good book and a cup of tea, knit a few rows of the sweater I’m working on, or plan lists of future sewing projects.
It’s been pretty damp this week, so I have enjoyed participating in KCWC, and have these to show for it. As usual my list of projects was far too long, but I’m really happy with what I achieved, and so are my kidlets!
What’s your favourite thing to do on rainy days?
I made some Thanksgiving napkins yesterday, while the turkey was roasting in the oven. I’m thankful that I found all the fabric I needed in my fabric stash. I sorted out my fabric cupboard a couple of weeks ago, and organized everything by colour, so I was able to put my hands on all this orangy goodness really quickly.
There are a lot of really good tutorials on the internet for making napkins, here are a few of my favourites:
make your own cloth napkins at skip to my lou
these next ones are all from the purlbee, I love the variety of styles she has made.
handsewn napkins (these are great for using up all those tiny scraps you can’t bear to part with)
linen thanksgiving napkins
spooky cocktail napkins (love the zigzag detailing on these)
If you start right away, you can make some for Halloween….I’d love to make some in this:
Once upon a time I used to make clothes for my children. Then I started my own business making clothes for other people’s kids, and since then, besides an annual birthday T-shirt, their clothing has been store-bought. My daughter does at least get the chance to model some of the dresses I make to sell, but my sons aren’t really in to cross dressing (except my middle one informed me yesterday he wants to be a princess for Halloween, but that’s another blog post).
So, I’ve signed up for the kids clothes week challenge. I’m hoping to make at least 3 pairs of PJs, and my middle son wants a shirt made from this:
Every autumn I pick up the knitting needles again, and last month I embarked upon this adorable cardigan which I fell in love with initially, but have recently started to hate as I have had to undo the cable pattern too many times. At the weekend, when I was working in my local gift store/coffee shop, I got chatting to a customer who was knitting as she ordered her coffee, and she told me about lifelines. I had never heard this term in relation to knitting before, (pardon my ignorance all you seasoned knitters out there), so at the end of my shift I dashed home to google it and found this fabulous tutorial. I have tons of little dental floss samples from my dentist, and I have now found a use for them….and I will be able to continue on my quest to complete this cardigan THIS fall, not next!
The kids went back to school today, well, the two oldest ones did. The youngest, who has already spent one year in JK, and will be nearer 7 than 6 when she starts school full-time, is disgusted that she has to wait 2 more weeks until she goes, and even then it’s only alternate days. Sssshhhh, don’t tell her how happy I am to still have her at home with me!
In celebration of first day of school, Ironman (youngest) decided we should bake cupcakes. She is truly a girl after my own heart, I never need much of an excuse to bake!
On Saturday I had the great pleasure of meeting Lizzy House, and taking a class with her at The Workroom in Toronto. I (mostly) love my life in the suburbs, but I always get excited about a daytrip to Toronto. My friend and I arrived early, so we took a stroll along Queen St, soaking up the early saturday morning vibe, before joining our classmates for the Champion Ribbons class.
Since I know Lizzy loves cake, I baked one to bring to share with the class. Inspired by the Arabian Nights of Lizzy’s latest fabric collection, I wanted to make a cake recalling the Spice Route of the Orient, so I turned to my go-to recipe blog, Smitten Kitchen, and found this. (As a side note to all the Lizzy excitement, I want to note that I absolutely love the recipes at Smitten Kitchen. Deb has figured out all the potential problems with each recipe, such as that this partcular cake can be tricky to turn out if you don’t use sufficient butter/flour in preparing the cake pan. If you follow her instructions carefully, you can be guaranteed success!)
I felt that this particular celebration cake required a little decoration, so I made some miniature bunting, from tiny pieces of all the Lizzy House fabrics I own. I struggled with cutting some of the new ones, as they have only been in my possession for a little while, and I generally have to hoard them for a bit before letting the scissors at them, but it was for a good cause after all!
The cake was a success, and after 3 short sweet hours at the Workroom, we had these to show.
Thanks again to Karyn for bringing Lizzy to Canada, I hope there will a repeat of the classes in the future, and hopefully they won’t clash with family commitments so I can stay longer.
Since the Toronto One of A Kind I have been working on making dresses for a large (for me) wholesale order, and on the following list:
10 pairs of goose (geese) feet (that’s 20 feet if you’re counting!)
5 pairs of frilly bloomers for goslings (with the help of this tutorial, thanks Miss Chris)
5 mop caps for goslings
3 full stretch velour cat-suits (it was supposed to be only 2, but let’s just say that I’ve never worked with velour before and the sizing was not quite right for one of them!)
2 zoot suits for 2 Hep Cats
1 cravat/ascot for a spiffy (and sneaky) butler
1 poodle skirt with a twist
various costume sizing adjustments.
The dress rehearsal is this afternoon, show goes on tonight….2 months of hard work for less than 2 hours of performance…but I’ll be doing it again next year!
I’ve been watching the news from Japan, and wanted to do something to help those affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. A fellow blogger and one of my fabric suppliers, A Bit Of This and That is a British WAHM, living in Japan. She is safe, and is running an appeal on her blog to raise money which will go to help in the relief efforts.
Here’s how it works. Different crafters are holding blog auctions or raffles, we are not collecting any money, that’s being handled by global giving. I’m offering a few of my creations for raffle, here they are:
This is a cushion cover, made in 100% organic cotton fabric. If you live locally I will also include the pillow form, but otherwise I will be mailing just the cover, which is made to fit a 16×16 pillow form, snugly.
I’m also including a buttercup bag, made from a cherry print fabric (reminds me of cherry blossom time) and lined in a solid pink cotton, together with a crayon roll in Lizzy House Castle Peeps fabric. The crayon roll holds 6 crayons and a small notepad.
To participate go to Global Giving and donate at least $10 to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief.
NOTE: Bids are made in US $ and each entry must be a minimum of $10.
When you have done it come back to this post and leave a comment with your receipt number and you must also leave a valid email address, you can write the address in the format of mymailname ‘at’ hotmail ‘dot’ com.
You may enter as many times as you like but each time you need a new receipt number.
I am not affliated in any way with Global Giving. It is just the way I have chosen to help this effort.
Thank you so very much for donating to this cause!
I’m happy to mail internationally, a winner will be picked on March 26.
For more information about how to make a donation, click on this link.
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