Juicy Bits

93: saying it out loud

OK, deep breath... 

Here I go.

I’ve designed a line of fabric.

 

There I said it.  Now you know.  Notice I said I did it, not “I’m trying to do it”.

Now, the trick is to sell my designs to a manufacturer.  So I’m off to Quilt Market in a few short weeks.

I’m being honest with you, even though it’s putting me on the line a bit.  It’s a real possibility that I’ll come back having heard a lot of “it’s just not what we’re looking for right now”.  I thought about waiting to tell you all until I have a contract in my hand, but I do believe that saying it “out loud” makes it more real. 

I believe in myself and I believe that my designs are good and are something lots of you would like to buy.  (Well, most of the time anyway).  So, even if I don’t get a contract, I will share them with you and hopefully I won’t feel like a failure.  I wish I could show you now, but I don’t think I’m supposed to.  :)

But, one thing this means is: I get to go to Market!  Yay!  I am so excited to meet some amazing people and be inspired by all the overwhelming creativity.

So, who else is going?  Seriously, I don’t know anyone who will be there.  Who will I hang out with?  Who can I say “Oh my God, did you see THAT?” to?  Don’t you want to be my new friend?

Whoever you might be (designer, fellow blogger, or occasional reader), if you’d like to get together and meet and hang out a little (admittedly I won’t have gobs of free time), just drop me a note.  If you’re not going, I promise to take lots of pictures and report back on all the details…it will be just like you were there!

 

And while I’m discussing career stuff (and I don't want to leave you without a picture), here’s a birthday crown I custom made and sold to a very nice mom who found my blog.  (If you’re new to my blog, check out the tutorial to make one yourself)  I get a lot of  “you should sell those” from family and friends…so, yay, I actually did!

 

JT

92: things i have no business doing (but am doing anyway)

This list is getting long right about now.

I have a little announcement to make soon (basically me fessing up really) that will explain why I’m so busy and shouldn’t be indulging in these kinds of things.

I always wanted to have “big” secret like the all cool designers do, so that’s why I’m not telling you now.  J

Anyhoo, things I should not be doing include:

Sleeping til 11 or 12.

Going out for fondue.

Writing this post.

Getting a pedicure.

Reading so many amazing blogs.

And starting this knitting project.

I’m not a knitter…yet.  My sister is and she rocks.  So when she came to visit recently and managed to forget her needles, I dragged out mine and couldn’t resist picking it up again.  I know this doesn’t look like much (it’s not!) but I really enjoy how soothing it is.  It’s the start of a little fingerless glove.  Maybe it’s something I can finish before the cold weather returns…

JT

91: no regrets

I have this fear about pictures of my kids.  I’m afraid I’m gonna wake up one day and be devastated by the fact that I totally missed getting a picture of them looking a certain way or at a certain event.

I know it’s basically me worrying about how fast they’re growing up and not wanting to miss it.  So you’d think I’d take pictures of them every day.  Nope. 

As typical as it is, I was much better with Aurora when she was little.  It’s funny because I think it was partly because I was worse at photography then so I just shot her on auto with whatever light.

I do want a ton a photos of them.  My dad’s a photographer so we don’t lack for shots of me and my sisters as kids.  And I love ‘em. 

I wish I could capture all their amazing expressions.  It would be like preserving their childhood for me to look back on.  But I know I can’t.

I don’t do the regular portrait studio photos.  But I do wonder if I should have.  For the most part those are pretty shots of them looking “nice”.  I certainly wouldn’t mind having them, but they’re not crucial to me.

But one thing I have done with both kids now is have my amazing photographer friend Christianne, do a portrait session of each of them.  You’re looking at Theo’s today.  Aren’t they great?  I always hem and haw at the idea of spending energy and money on this kind of thing, but I never regret it. I’ve only done it once for each of them, but I’d like to do it more.  And I’m planning on a family session this year.

My friend and I were both kinda worried that there wouldn’t be any good shots, because, of course, he did NOT want to stay put.  If some of the shots look like he’s trying to look around the camera, well he is.  We had to bust out the DVD player at some point to keep him focused. 

But they sure did come out great.  Some even brought a tear to my eye, when I first saw them.  So, nope, I surely don’t regret the hassle and I’ve got to try to remember that and do it again.

JT

90: easter goodies

This was my easter creation for Aurora.  I guess you can ignore all my comments about not sewing clothes for the kids much.

I really love this dress, particularly because I could use lots of my favorites from my stash.

She had quite a few compliments on it, and it's funny because she's come to expect that.  She told me that people had better make a fuss about how pretty her dress is.

   

I created my own pattern for this dress.  The inspiration is this dress from Chasing Fireflies.  As you can see it's not really the same style, just shares the ruffled back.  By the way...I love the kids clothes at Chasing Fireflies, but they're SO expensive. 

I'm wondering if this is something others would like to buy a pattern for.  It's not the easiest dress ever.  The actual sewing level isn't that high, but it's time consuming making all those ruffles.  I already have some modifications in mind, but I wondered if it was too intimidating for anyone to want to buy.

You're my market research, so speak up if you're interested...

I didn't make an outfit for Theo, but of course, he looked darling.

Here's the whole happy family:

So, I'm wondering....didn't it used to be warm for Easter?  I have all these pictures of me outside in short sleeves and I know my dad would have made me suffer through the cold like I did to my kids, but I really don't remember that.  I should probably just make my kids do a photo shoot like 2 weeks after Easter on a nice day.

Oh, and I ordered these awesome bunny cookies from cakebox cookies and they really rocked.  I mean so delicious, and I'm really picky.  I wanted to test them out as a potential source for party favors and I will definitely order again.

JT

89: all grown up

This is my new love.  

Isn’t she beautiful?  Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever thought a bag was more gorgeous.

She was a saw-her-in-the-window-and-simply-could-not-pass-her-up purchase.

Generally I’m not that much of an impulse buyer, but I had encouragement from a good friend.

I did have a hard time with how much she cost.  I feel I’m all grown up now because I’ve bought an expensive bag.  I don’t think I’ve ever bought any kind of bag before that cost more than like $30.

Are you seeing all that amazing embroidery and the cute bird?

I got her in a Brighton store, which I’ve never even been in before.  And, get this, she’s a registered handbag.  With a serial number and everything.  All that means to me is if she gets dirty in the next 2 years, they’ll clean her…..for free!  That was my big concern with the cream colored canvas, so yay!

Now I wish I could carry her everywhere and I didn’t have to bring a diaper bag half the time…

JT

88: sweet ruffles

Happy Easter to all who celebrate.  And, Happy Spring to everyone in this hemisphere!

This is a little preview of the easter dress I made for Aurora.  It's my own pattern and you will see it in it's entirety very soon.   I have to process the tons of pictures I took today.

It doesn't have the high twirl-a-bility factor that her Xmas one did, but what it lacks in that department, I think it makes up for in poofy ruffles.  Tons of 'em.

It was fun using some of my favorite girly fabrics from my stash.  I think I only bought 1 yard of fabric for the main body of the dress...

Have a great day...

JT

87: do you spoon?

I actually think that spoonflower itself is becoming a verb: to spoonflower.  Much to my delight, I finally spoonflowered some fabric.  But, alas, it was just a boring color test. 

 

It does look kinds pretty though, doesn’t it?  Maybe I’ll make something out of it anyway…

 

Now, for those of you who don’t know what Spoonflower is, well, where have you been?  No, really, I think I have a few family and friends type readers who aren’t deep in the crafty world who might not have heard of it.  So, it’s this awesome company that takes whatever design or picture you want and prints them onto quilter’s cotton fabric.  Sweet, huh?  And it only costs $18/yard.  So now anyone can be a fabric designer.

 

Of course I’m wondering if this adds another level of complexity to quilting since I can now design a quilt and if I can’t find the exact right fabric…well, just get it printed.  Hmmm, I’m not really sure this is a good thing….

But it will be very exciting to see my own designs on fabric, and then make something with them.  The colors did indeed come out totally different, so I’m glad I took the time to do the test.

 

Oh, and those of you who have spoonflowered fabric before…what did you do with it when you got it?  Did you wash and press it?  It feels a little stiff and kinda icky to me right now, but I’m wondering if this goes away with washing.  I think I’m afraid to wash it because it feels like the color will just wash away (I know it won’t, but try telling that to my sometimes irrational brain).

JT

86: the weekend

Well, I guess I should say "The Weekender", since I don’t really have anything to share about this weekend except that I’m sick.  Boo hoo, me.  Seriously, though, it sucks.  I haven’t been this sick in a while.  But Aurora rebounded fast so I’m hoping to be better before I know it.

 

I spent some of this week working on this big consignment sale I take part in twice a year.  It rocks.  I probably should have told you before it was over, but if you live in the area you should check it out next time.  I usually consign some stuff (a ton of work to get it all together, but this time I got rid of a lot of stuff and made more than I spent!) and volunteer so I can shop first.  It’s very well run and there’s a TON of great clothes and toys.  I kept buying dresses for Aurora that she totally didn’t need, but for $3 who can pass them up?

Anyway, this is my version of The Weekender bag by Amy Butler.  It’s a little misshapen since I made it a while ago and it’s been crammed full several times.  For me this is totally not a weekend bag.  More like a good overnight bag.  Even then I can barely fit everything in.  But I’m an overpacker.

 

I must say, I did NOT enjoy sewing this bag.  It’s not fun at all.  It’s somewhat difficult, but as I feel I’m a pretty accomplished sewer, it wasn’t so much that it was hard to follow or anything, it just took a lot of work.  It’s really the cording that does it.  It’s hard to get it in the first time and I think most people have to go back and stitch it again to prevent other unsightly stitching from showing.  I felt like I was making the bag smaller and smaller!  Of course, in the end I love how it looks.  Just another case of suffering for beauty. 

But I doubt I’ll make another.

 

What did you guys do this weekend?  Hope it was a good one…

 

JT