A year has passed

And with it has brought so many projects with so little words. Who knew writing on this thing would be so darn hard!?!

That being said ....We have now completed sewing week, and we have been some mighty busy

girls.

She is making the most rockin' maternity clothes any hot mama would want to wear, and I am knee deep in a quilt (Pottery Barn style) for a certain 7 year old that keeps lurking around my kitchen table.

There is also a few new projects on the horizon that are very eyebrow raising.....I'll let you know.

Life is good.....

Joy

...because we didn't have enough to do...

First, let me start by saying (listen up, husbands) everything I'm about to explain IN NO WAY changes our goal of not spending money on fabric/patterns and chipping away at our 'stashes'.   Original purpose still in place, and faithfully being adhered to!  We hope to continue to update everyone on our progress in that endeavor.

Breathe in through the nose - and out through the mouth...

Joy and Amanda have opened an Etsy Store!!  I know - finally something to do with our time, right?  (If I have to eat one more bon-bon and spend one more day by the pool, I might go crazy and fire the nanny or something...)

Here's the why's and the what-now's:

We found ourselves at an amazing little event called 'Crafty Wonderland', which is a wonderfully huge - and so very Portland - craft expo featuring local artists and crafters from all over the area.  It was our little slice of heaven, to be sure.  Check it out:  www.craftywonderland.com

However, being sewers and crafters ourselves, we began to notice that the items being sold (for a butt-load of money, I might add) were not exactly 'up to our standards'.  This rant is for you, mom! ;)  For example: one vendor had some beautiful purses made from lovely fabrics, and as we started our critical inspection of the workmanship, we noticed... (horrified gasp inserted here) the back of the magnetic snap was completely exposed on the inside!  What?!  Has the next-gen-hipster-indie-crafter lost all sense of  straight-seamed integrity and interfaced pride?!  There are some mothers, grandmothers and home-ec teachers rolling in their graves over this, I guarantee it.  Apparently the phrase "Look at this thing!  I could make it better..." is not just something that was passed down through the women in my family (usually to avoid spending too much money on an impulse purchase) - because it came out of Joy's mouth before I could open mine.  God meant for us to be friends...

Ok, I know that I just totally lost some if not most of you on this topic.  It's okay, you can go ahead and keep spending money with blissful ignorance, on this kind of shoddy workmanship.  But, those of us who understand the horrific offense committed here, we'll be able to follow the logic from here on out...
 
It started to dawn on us that, indeed, we could make some of these items better, and that, logically, lead to the obvious conclusion that we should make them better.  If for no other reason than to prove to our generation that quality exists - and we are convinced that there are a ton of people who will immediately start throwing large amounts of money at us to thank us for giving them what they didn't know they were missing, and to personally own a piece of art that  possesses a quality and attention to detail that they didn't even know they should care about. 

I mean, it's charity, really. 

So, we instantly began scheming.  Which, is the best and most enjoyable part of any venture - solely because reality hasn't entered the picture yet.

We were able to float on this euphoric entrepreneurial cloud for about a week.  So, I sat down to start a list of all the ideas and considerations to take into account to make our dream a reality.
It was a really long and really depressing list.  Including pesky things like 'time' and 'money' and 'energy' and other irritating little things we were sorely short on. 

Enter Plan B - which began to take form for the two of us - over coffee (the great equalizer).

We started to discuss things we actually wanted to make, and how much time and energy we were actually willing to devote to it.  Ironically, it turned out that we only were willing and able to devote the exact amount of time we currently devote to our creative endeavors - except here's the amazing part:  we put the finished products in an Etsy store.  Then, to solidify our entrance into the 21st century, we - wait for it -  blog about it.
I know, frickin' brilliant, right? 
Oh, if our kids only knew how cutting-edge and hip their moms were, it would most certainly  
Blow. Their. Minds.  Fo' Shizzle Yo...

So, long story slightly longer, here's the link - pass it along!  This is stuff you wouldn't be ashamed to give to your home-ec teacher.  The hip one.
 Click Here!   SewAHolics

There's only a few things listed right now, but we're just getting started... ;)


Happy Sewing!
Amanda

Ode to the sewing machine that never works…….

My dear Sally (which is my viking machine), I can't seem to coax her to work. I pay her nothing, ask her to do unreasonable things, flip her switches and push all her buttons, and now my abuse has come back to bite me. Her needle is in the down position and that is that. I can't get it to move one iota. So things came to a screaming halt for a while there in January, but please note that I did get much done. Tons of knitting, a Waldorf doll, Jedi robe, a skirt for R, and started 3 rugs. So at least I wasn't a bump on a log. I'm on my second borrowed machine now, this one is named Janice, from Amanda (Thanks Amanda!). Imagine her (Janice that is, not Amanda) as having blue eyeshadow a gold jumpsuit and glitter in her hair, but the good thing is that the ol girl works. THANK GOODNESS!

So as for this month I have made 1 sling purse for my Supplier. $0

And finished one for myself $0

4 little star Waldorf dolls

and

I would love to make this dress for R but I might be going overboard on that one…we'll see.

As for poor Sally, I can't say I know when she will be going back to the shop, but I am very thankful for Miss Janice ;)

-Joy

Crisis averted!

My machine, whom I call Sally (I think of her as a cheerleader) decided to work again with no help from me whatsoever. After she broke down, I think her boyfriend broke up with her behind the bleachers (see the high school thing again) she sucked it up, put on her big girl pants and decided to work, once again. Miracles do happen! So, I was able to get an enormous amount of sewing done this month. Thank goodness! I was 2 seconds away from pawning my husband for the money I needed to get her fixed.

I was able to finish all 4 stockings.

From L to R stockings belong to, husband, me, daughter, son.

All of the fabric was from last year’s stockings that I hated once done, so all of that was free, and so were the buttons thread and batting.

I also made 4 clutches on commission (now I can go buy presents for us this year WOO HOO).

One of my kiddo’s Christmas presents this year is a Waldorf doll with all the clothes; a dress, bloomers and a pair of shoes. I had bought everything I needed to make the doll for last Christmas and never got around to it so it worked out great. I still have her PJ's to finish up but I'm well on my way.

Also, another doll (Molly the Dolly) that I did finish last year, needed a new face which turned into a whole new body as well. She had been loved to the point that her face split in two and stuffing was coming from her nose. After many, many tears from R, Molly has been all fixed up again as of this morning. That was a close one!

And last but not least, I made a small cuddle doll for the prettiest red head in town, turning 1 year old today.

I had a very full month!

-Joy

Can't breath can't breath....

MY SEWING MACHINE JUST BROKE!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Joy

Better Late Than Never...Or Is It??

So there was this sewing project that I started in August...
Here's a reminder:

I seem to remember ranting and raving about the absurdity of the pattern I was using... After re-visiting this project (after trying not to look at it for 2 months, 'cuz it kept making me mad) I came to the conclusion that I did not, in any way whatsoever, over-react.  But, what makes me more irritated than a next-to-useless pattern, is a half finished sewing project taking up valuable real estate on my sewing table. 

So......  I got all jacked up on extra strong black tea and went to it.
Here's the finished project!!  In hindsight I could have picked fabric that was a bit more wrinkle-resistant, but my cup is half-full folks. ;)

Ta Da!

-Amanda

Christmas Here I Come!

So another month has passed and onward I trudge. Slow and steady wins the race, but I am quickly finding out that standing still will get you nowhere.

On that note, the purple dress took so long I was spent for the rest of the month. Although, I will say, it was worth it. Once the sewing machine part of the dress was finished, the detailed hand sewing began. And so, in turn, October breezed by in a whirlwind of pink thread and really sore fingers.

So this month is all about Christmas.

Stockings 4 times over!

This is the pattern I used for the stockings although I don't think I will be using the same quilting pattern on the front. http://blog.maggiemakes.com/files/stocking-tutorial.pdf

A few commissioned presents for a friend.

Then, I think I will be able to call November done. On the down side I am a huge over commiter kinda gal so let's just see how much I really get done. ;)

- J