Repeating

At the markets, I'm asked various questions:

"Can you make this in (insert fabric choice here)?"
"Do you take special orders?"
"Do you know where the bathrooms are?"

But recently, I was asked something that really made me think:

"Have you been sewing all your life?"

Well...yes. And...no. I can very distinctly recall being about 5 or 6 and Mom teaching me to sew by letting me make a little pillow. It was probably not very good, but it was very, VERY fun. It was flowered...I think...and she helped me to put a little of that inexpensive "lace" ruffle trim around the edge. A year or two later, Santa Claus...in one of his greatest visits to our house EVER (more on that another time)...brought me a little sewing box. I'm sure Mom hoped I'd enjoy sewing my whole life. After all, she certainly did. She sewed almost all of my clothes until I rebelled (probably somewhere in late elementary school). She sewed Barbie outfits. She sewed (and re-sewed) and stuffed (and re-stuffed) worn and much loved stuffed animals. She sewed curtains for my very first bedroom makeover. She made drill team uniforms in both junior high school and high school, and coordinated a whole group of like-minded Moms to help her. She sewed practice flags for the band's flag corps. She sewed costumes for me for summer community theatre musicals. She was truly a seamstress, so of course, I had it in my genes. Or, not.
Because somewhere around junior high school time, I had to take Home Ec. and had to sew a skirt. The teacher knew my Mom and knew I'd been sewing "my whole life."

Except I hadn't. My MOM had been sewing "my whole life." I, however, had been playing four-square, and riding bikes, and chewing gum, and listening to Shaun Cassidy records, and reading Tiger Beat magazine, and talking on the phone. I had probably not opened that sewing box since about Christmas night many years before.

And, boy howdy, did that skirt suffer. After having taken out and re-put-in the zipper for the seventh time, the teacher finally exclaimed, "Mary Katherine, how is it that you can't do this? Your mother is such a good seamstress!" I guess she felt sorry for me and passed my skirt on the seventh or eighth try, but she clearly had no idea how this skill skipped a generation.

I watched my Mom painstakingly cut patterns...and I learned a little. I watched her match stripes and plaids...and I learned a little. I watched her iron after every sewing step...and I learned a little. But, I didn't write everything down. I didn't ask her enough questions. I didn't listen enough about pinning curves. (I mean, I really, REALLY didn't listen well enough about pinning curves.)

Mom bought me a little student sewing machine to take with me to college...an unwanted piece of baggage that just took up valuable shoe space on the floor of that tiny dorm closet. She also bought me the Vogue Sewing Book to drag along with my enormous text books. What a waste...

...until I needed a shirt for a dance...until my roommate needed some shorts hemmed...until it was time for Christmas formal and a bunch of us wanted to make stockings for our dates...until I wanted a cute new blouse for a date. She knew. And later...when I needed a last-minute formal dress cut out (thank GOODNESS I watched her cut patterns...just enough)...and when I wanted drapes for my first apartment...and throw pillows...and Christmas stockings for my first Christmas in that apartment...and gifts for friends...and a hobby-ish business to enjoy in my 50's.

She knew.

So, "Yes ma'am. I have been sewing my whole life.!"

(I just didn't know it.)

 

Teaching

When I don't blog, I worry that I'm not sharing enough about learning and growing as a crafts business owner. And I know it's been a while since I've shared. For a few weeks now I've been busy reading other bloggers' blogs, checking out other sewers' awesome projects, and visiting other crafters' expert booths and marketing.

Trust me, I've been getting schooled.

A popular, thoughtful, prayerful, and meaningful blog has brought me both weekly joy and tears for the authors' pain. It has given me a new perspective on priorities.

A new sewing friend's project photos have inspired me and helped to show me where my focus really should be...what projects I really enjoy vs. just what will sell. And the sweet ladies at the local Viking Sewing Gallery have (thankfully) been very kind as they painstakingly show me again (and again, and again, and again) what I am doing wrong. 

Did I mention I do alot of things wrong?

Multiple market friends' booth advice has proved invaluable. I was so completely unprepared for the first tuft show booth. I was slightly less unorepared for the second one. Pretty sure in a couple of years, I'll have it down.

So many folks have been teaching me how to "do" tuft over the past few weeks, both knowingly and unknowingly. I hope when I get "good" at this, I can teach someone else.

Don't hold your breath though...

Turning

If you sew, at some point, you have had to turn something inside out. If you sew very small things, this can be challenging. In fact, I have a theory that the smaller the thing is that you are turning inside out...the larger your vocabulary of colorful expletives.

I sew bags. Bags have straps. Straps are small. Ergo, my vocabulary was getting too large.

There are special tools made just for this activity and they don't cost much, but I have recently become fairly adept at using stuff from around the house and garage to get the job done. Here are my tricks:

When I start to sew the sides of a strap, I sew an old piece of cord with some scrap material on the end into the strap, by sandwiching it between the two pieces of material (that are currently right sides together):

 

 

Then I sew across the end of the strap, catching the cord in the stitch line:

 



 

 Next, I sew down the other side of the strap, taking care NOT to catch the cord into the stitch line:

Here's the strap with the cord hanging down from the closed end:

 

Go to the store for a turning tool? Not a chance, when I can find a simple screwdriver!

 

 

 

Using the screwdriver, I carefully push the sewn cord end of the strap back into the strap itself:

 

 

This works to get it started, but then I have to switch to a longer household tool...the paintbrush:

 

 

The paintbrush works great and I can get just about all of the strap pushed back through itself on the handle of the paintbrush:

 

If you think this looks weird...you are not alone. (Hey, it works though and there is much, MUCH less swearing!) You can just see the top of the right side of the strap being pushed through the top now and this is where the cord comes in handy. I gently pull on the cord, which easily pulls the strap right side out, snip off the end, and...

 

 

Ta da!

 

 

Longer straps? No problem! Wooden dowel works in place of the screwdriver and/or paintbrush:

 

 

It isn't pretty, but it works! I'd love to hear from other crafters who sew...how do you accomplish this? Would love your suggestions! 

 

 



 

Haiku-ing

Short Attention Span
I want to sew bags...
I want to sew pillows too...
Gilmore Girls is on...

Reality
Designing is fun!
Buying fabric is fun too!
(Bank wants their cut though.)

So Knots Fun
Thread does not want to
Do what it should do and I
Get cranky quickly.

Defeating the Purpose
Boy howdy this bag
Sure is cute and I want to
Keep it for myself!

Sloppy
Haiku is what you
Do when you know you should do
Actual blogging.

:)

Learning

So after the launch of tuft's first craft show booth, I have a lengthy list of notes. We can put a pretty spin on it and talk about how much I learned about style preferences or having enough change. But  to be honest, most of the notes I took have little to nothing to do with what products our booth visitors seemed to like or which ones garnered absolutely zero interest.

They're more...well...see for yourself:

Wind. Cold this time which was bad. Could be hot or wet next time. But even a gentle breeze on a balmy spring day becomes...at best, a fabric-flapping disruption to your carefully placed display...at worst, a tent flipping nightmare. I counted four complete tent-lifters...thankfully not ours but still scary.

Note to self: so...weights...for EVERYTHING. Hello...I'm a maker of fabric items...how hard would it have been to have made and brought some useful bean bags?

Grass. Soft, green, slightly-clover-y grass. Lots of cute pups, including ours, trotting around on that grass enjoying the beautiful day. Quite lovely really...and a mentally restful break from the bone-chilling, tent-tossing wind. Petting the visiting pups...cuddling our own...then sneezing like crazy. Because...oh yeah...even though the typical Southern allergy season doesn't start for another month or two, pups rolling around in early spring weeds brings the sneezy, itchy histamines right on during a sale.

Note to self: I must start the spring allergy meds NOW.

Smells. Not the dogs. The delicious treats. Oh my word, the treats. Wonderful, warm, wafting scents of meats and cheeses and boiled peanuts and homemade pastries and jams.

Note to self: bring separate treat money. Separate from the tuft till, of course. Separate from the Hubs' treat money too.

And a treat money LIMIT. After you've huddled under your own display tablecloths for warmth, and sneezed your fool head off...you are a little stressed...and even though you JUST had an empanada...oh...yeah...smell that? Yeah, that's scones and I. Want. One.

No...two.

Hence the treat money limit.

Yes, I'm learning a lot. More signs. Move everything that was at eye level, up to not-so eye level. Move everything that wasn't at eye level to...you get the gist. Weight everything down. Bring more tissues. Bring a limited amount of treat money.

Bring a bigger notebook too.

Encouraging

So the crafting of tuft semi-officially begins this weekend on what will probably be the coldest morning of the year so far. We have a booth at a local outdoor market. We won't bring a ton of inventory but it's just the first day out. Kind of tuft-lite.

Tent? Check.

Banner? Check.

Business cards? Uh...well...next time for sure.

Famous brand name tumbler full of the strongest, hottest coffee I can brew? You'd better believe it.

But the most important things coming alongside tuft on Saturday are the pep talks given, prayers lifted, and helpful advice offered over the past few weeks. In fact tuft would never have come even THIS far without the encouragement of a long list of you-know-who-you-ares.

You have listened (or at least pretended to...REALLY well) and let me borrow some of your courage when mine was lacking. You have bolstered my confidence and you have gently let me know when anxiety was about to overtake progress. You have even fed the dog for me while I was busy sewing at night.

OK we all know that last one was the Hubs, but there really have been many others, and you all know who you are and you know the helpful role(s) you've played. Thank you so much!

Hiccupping

When my Mom was in her 80's, she got hit with a double whammy of cancer and dementia. But this isn't about those two mercifully short, experiences. No THIS is about what happened to her before the cancer and dementia.

My Mom had the hiccups.

Now, I mean the HICCUPS. The can't-catch-your-breath-happens-every-single-day-for-hours-at-a-time hiccups. The can't-eat-or-talk-or-rest hiccups. The kind that finally make you go to the doctor.

My Mom did not have a mean bone in her body but after having gone through weeks of these hiccups, multiple exams by her regular doctor and finally being referred to a specialist, well she was naturally frustrated and expected some help. So the doctor's "orders" to go home and eat spoonfuls of sugar and come back again in three weeks (seriously)...well as we say around here...that just didn't set too well with my Mom. I understand from a reliable third party that she was so mad that she got her back up and in that voice only an 80+-year-old Southern woman has she said, "Do you think I haven't tried that?"

Suffice it to say...she did not go back to that doctor. Eventually, the hiccups did subside. Diagnoses of the other two problems followed later but in neither case was she unduly concerned.

She was finally rid of the damned hiccups!

For the past week or two, I have run into what most people would consider minor roadblocks to starting a crafts business...or any business for that matter. All probably very normal and requiring only a few phone calls...a little research...a few spoonfuls of sugar...but very frustrating and worrisome to me. The hubs very astutely calls them "hiccups." And my choice now is to let them win...or get my back up.

Remembering

I was so very honored this weekend to have received tuft's very first order...but not just any order...this was special.

Close friends of ours trusted me with a treasured shirt of their father / father-in-law / grandfather, to have tuft turn it into a pillow. I can't even begin to describe how much it meant to me that they would let me do this.

I'm sorry this will be such a short post, but I really don't have anything else to say except that I am humbled by this honor, grateful for their friendship, and happy that the finished product has the warm, cuddly feel that I wanted.

Friending

"Friending" has only really been a verb for the last few years, since the advent of social media, but it should have been one all along.

Today...I did some "friending." The original plan was to take a few handmade crafts around to some local ladies and do a little relationship marketing...all about drumming up business...shamelessly asking for "likes." But it ended up being more about making me smile on a (really) cold Saturday and connecting with a few folks I don't see often enough.

Met a couple of folks at their work and hope I gave them at least a smile break.

Like!

Met a couple on their way to or from their weekend activities and learned a little more about them in the process.

Like!

Had so much fun chatting with one that I completely missed my next appointment!

Like!

I love social media but also vowing that I will take time throughout the process of creating tuft...to do more "friending" of this variety too.

Overwhelming

Ah yes...the endless list-making, the second- and third- and fourth-guessing, the 2:00 a.m. worry sessions (as I'm writing this, 2:18a.m., to be exact)...THIS is familiar territory. I'm in full-on panic mode.

It all seems very smart and sensible and (dare I say it)...just plain fun...to start a crafts business. Pitch a tent at a show, bring my stuff, meet some nice folks, and make a little weekend profit. Right?

But then come the complications...paperwork and hard deadlines and inventory and insurance and  interest and income...and oh my word, why do so many of these frightening, idea-crushing topics start with "in?"

Indigestion.

2:31 a.m.

It is enough to stop me completely in my tracks. Here I was worried about using a modern sewing machine, a completely unfounded concern by the way; I am truly enjoying that portion of the process now. But THIS...the middle-of-the-night stress...I don't know. This was supposed to be fun and creative but it's a whole new stack in the Stuff I Worry About closet.

2:41 a.m.

Staffing

As a new crafts biz owner, I am quickly learning how critical it is to match the right candidate to the right position in this company.

I got really lucky finding a great Operations Manager. This new hire has already been an excellent sounding board on equipment purchases and workshop layout, and (bonus!) also has prior experience in outdoor craft show booth set up. I have deferred to this person's advice many times in the past couple of months.

In contrast, the new Art Director and I have already butted heads somewhat. Although this employee's initial logo idea really worked for me, we had very different ideas of how the final product should look. Experienced graphic designers that truly "get" you and your business culture are a gold mine though so I'm trying to learn to trust the process more. I really do love my AD's ideas and I think the logo is perfect!

My Chief Information Officer also doubles as a New Media Manager and that is a blessing. We've established that I'm not all that interested in every next, new, tech product and so it's been helpful to be able to leave that realm to someone more into it. To be honest, the CIO / New Media Mgr. is the Hubs.

He is also the AD and the Ops Mgr.

It is hard for me to imagine even considering starting a venture like this without his amazing support. He's the Vice President, head of Logistics, and if there's an immediate need for anything else...a Marketing Director, for example...he'll probably be willing to fill that role too. (I only hope he doesn't aspire to be the Chief Financial Officer, or he'll soon realize how many jobs he's doing for his Tuft salary, which is currently $0.00.) All of this while he finishes a degree and starts his own new career.

I'm guessing a lot of you who craft have a similar supporter. Would love to hear your stories!

Hemming and Hawing

Hemming hospital scrubs on this snazzy new machine is probably a little like calling in Ben Carson to put a band aid on a blister. Definitely overkill but the patient probably feels pretty special. Not to mention that the band aid now has extra cred.


I have to laugh at myself when I think of how long I've been procrastinating at sitting down and learning how to do a simple, straight stitch on this machine. Christmas was...what...16 days ago? I'm very goal-oriented and typically, just knowing there's a deadline keeps me moving forward, but the deadline on these scrubs is tomorrow and I have really been putting it off.


I shouldn't have.


WOW, this thing is super quiet (love that!) and the tension is so perfect. Plus, not pulling out the thread to cut it off...what? (It's a little thang, but a big thang...) And, I've never done any real work on a free arm machine before. It was so easy and fast that I'm wondering what else I've been missing out on...


Cars without hand cranks?
Indoor plumbing?
Books you can download electronically and read on a tiny little screen at night? (Yeah...that one's not a joke...I just got in on that about 16 days ago too.)


I'm just old fashioned. Blame it on my parents who had me late in life. I tend to ponder a new innovation or trend long after others almost consider it passé. I compose lo-o-o-o-o-ong pro / con lists. I do endless research to the point that the new model I'm researching is already three versions behind by the time I make my decision. I. Hate. Buyer's. Remorse.


Happily, the Hubs now has pants for work...their very straight and pucker-free hems were carefully considered for 16 days, completed on a surgeon-quality sewing machine, and laughed about for an hour afterward. Maybe I will try that Crockpot thing one of these days. Did you know you can turn it on and cook a whole meal in it, without actually standing in front of it???

Collecting

I have a problem and I can admit it. I cannot pass a display of any of the following without stopping:

Christmas ornaments
Remnant fabrics/trims
Books
Magazines (especially those big, thick ones that Hubs and I call "mag-a-books")
Puppies
Kittens
Dishes
Cupcakes
Coffee
Special dishes for coffee and / or cupcakes
Purses
SEC Football memorabilia
Oh. My. Gosh. SEC Football PURSES

And if there are awesome clearance prices or otherwise homeless versions of any of the above...Katie-bar-the-door. I think you know where this is going and I'm guessing some of you can relate?

Those remnant fabrics / trims and Christmas ornaments are fighting it out right now in my house and my head. I WANT to put the Christmas ornaments that we used this year away. I really do. In the interest of full disclosure though...I also haven't passed up too many 50-75%  off ornament displays in the last couple of weeks without grabbing at least one (box).

That alone, not so bad. But I also have a new sewing machine to learn and let's just say I've recently fully enjoyed shopping the remnant fabrics and trims at some of our favorite craft-madness-enabler-retailers.

Now, what to do? Get real with the Christmas storage? Buckle down with the new sewing machine? Start cutting into those tempting remnants?

Would love to hear from some of you in how you combat what cannot POSSIBLY be just MY issue?

And notice I didn't title this post "Hoarding."

Down(ton)right Petrifying

Quite seriously, sitting stock still and thinking, "Uh, uh. No way. I have just really messed up and I cannot possibly do this." That's what I'm feeling right now.


Because although I am a fairly confident designer, I am feeling a bit like Carson looking at Mrs. Hughes' new toaster.

Mom's Old Singer

This magical machine is what I've sewn on for most of my life, except for a short stint with a simple 80's-model Singer that I took with me to the dorm and kept until after college. Yes, this 1940's (I think) model still works and no I'm not selling it (sorry). My Mom sewed on it, she taught me to sew on it, and I kept doing so until about three weeks ago. Hubs and Mom even bought me a new Singer 2623 about 15 years ago that barely saw daylight twice. I mean...the old one still worked...so...?


Santa Claus (He's smart, right? He knows what he's doing, right?) brought me a new, slick thing that embroiders and does all manner of other things; heck, for all I know you can cut down trees with it...since the same people who made this beautiful thing also make chainsaws.


And I am scared, stitch-less. It took me half an hour to wind one bobbin and thread the needle. Disclaimer: I am quite sure the problem is me...not the machine. I am not known for being a technology early-adopter. And, I know I have some free lessons that come with the new machine that start some time this month. But, I have to build up inventory to start selling in only a few short weeks!


So...here I sit. Afraid I won't be able to make toast.