My Love/Hate Relationship With the Fabric Store

Thanks to Melinda for the photos and Carrie for the models!! http://www.melindabryantphotography.com/

If you've looked at my blog before you've seen the eyelet dress that I used to have. It was unbearably cute and was the undisputed top seller in my shop. The last time I sold my eyelet dress I used the last of my fabric to make it. So, I went to the Joann's to get some more. Gone. I called around to the other stores. Gone. I looked online. Gone. As in, discontinued, never to be seen again. Okay, here is the 'hate' part of my relationship with Joann's. They discontinue stuff all the time. Without warning. The Sweet Treats apron fabric - also gone forever. Lucky for me I found out about it and ordered every yard I could find this side of the Wasatch Mountain range. Seriously, I had yardage shipped in from other states.

So, I had to find new eyelet fabric. This comes from fabric.com - I LOVE them. I have it in white and Ivory. It is FANCY!

The cute hats and ice cream cone rattles are by http://www.nadiasplace.etsy.com/

New Apron Pictures!

My children's aprons and chef hats aren't new...I just never had good pictures until now. Thanks again to http://www.melindabryantphoto.etsy.com/





When people ask me about Etsy and having a shop there, one of the first things I tell them is to get good pictures. It is unbelievable what a difference a picture makes. I've had this apron and chef hat in my shop for almost 2 years and it hardly got looked at. Now it gets viewed all the time. And Nadia is a super cute model, too!


Also featured, cupcakes!! by http://www.nadiasplace.etsy.com/

Here's Nadia tossing a cupcake with a whisk and spatula...ya know, like you do. When I'm over at their house, Nadia likes to fry up a cupcake in a frying pan. It's super cute and fun :)

Oops, got that pic in twice.

This is my cherry apron and one of Carrie's crochet cherry pies.

Rolling out your imaginary pie crust.

Mixing your pie dough with a spatula...ya know, like you do :)

My Shop Needs New Stuff!!

I've been dying to get some new stuff in my shop for awhile now. And with my new little model ready to go, I got some ideas out of my head and into production:)

The pillowcase dress is the same style. My new bloomers are shorter than the pantaloons - more like a diaper cover but with ruffles at the legs instead of just an elastic casing. Also, coordinating flower appliques.

Also new, coordinating fabric hair clips. I LOVE these :) I've started making them for the dresses I sell at shows. I've also made a bunch for my girls.

All of these fabrics are by Amy Butler. She has some AMAZING prints and is one of my favorite fabric designers.

Every year, during my Easter sewing season, I get asked if my eyelet dress comes in Ivory. Yes, it does...and now, here it is! All my girls had Easter dresses out of this fabric this year :) So, the project to use up all of my fabric continues on. I'm doing a pretty good job of clearing stuff out. The stacks of fabric are definately getting smaller. I also have new designs to show off...just need pictures!!

Back To Business!!

Okay, so it's the end of September and my last post was in May. Part of me wants to say that I'm a failure as a blogger. A bigger part of me answers back, "Hey, I had a baby!! And I was BUSY doing stuff like this..."

Anastasia Miriam (Taya) was born on April 13 after a whole 2 1/2 hours of labor. Slow for me...which was awesome because we made it not only to the hospital, but also into an actual delivery room!! Now that you all hate me...here are the cute Blessing Day pictures :)

So you might be wondering to yourself, "What sort of dress does a seamstress have her baby blessed in?" The answer: One like this!! I'd had my eye on this fabric for almost the entire pregnancy. It's from Joann's. I have an extreme love/hate relationship with that store. The fabric is an embroidered organza...which I hand beaded. The dress pattern is my mom's design.


Of course, I made pantaloons and shoes. The shoes have an overlay of the dress organza...also hand beaded :)

I think these shoes are one of my crowning achievements :)

Taya is 2 months old in these pictures. Check out her little ponytail!! I love this baby's hair! Carrie (www.nadiasplace.etsy.com) made the cute little crochet hair clip for me. Thanks Carrie!!

The AMAZING photography is by melindabryantphotography.com I'm SO glad that I know Melinda because she's a ton of fun and also because she posses skills that I lack....desperately lack.

Taya is the most happy when she has something in her mouth.

FAQ's for this dress...
Q: How long did that take you?
A: The dress/pantaloon/shoe assembly only took 5-6 hours, the beadwork I'm guessing about 20 hours. It's hard to tell exactly with having to stop and feed a baby intermittently.

Q: How did you find time to do that?
A: I didn't cook or clean or sleep for a couple of days...which is it's own punishment. Then I spent every spare minute beading.

Q: Did you make all your girls' Blessing dresses?
A: No, my mom made the first 2 and I made the last 2. They are ALL fabulous:)

Q: Why would you do that...the baby is only going to wear it once?
A: Because I can. And my baby wore her's to church twice...once for the blessing and the next week so that everyone could see it. And I made sure that EVERYONE saw it :)

Q: Are you insane?
A: Possibly :)