A little of This and A Little of That

We had a lovely and very busy weekend. It went something like this...
Birthday party and park...Happy Birthday Ben!
Nap time/mommy work time. I worked on lots of little loose ends for MAD. Aprons, labels, photos, editing, book keeping...
these are some new aprons and pics...still trying to find the best photo spot and time...

oh and on friday night, we went out on a date.. My mom babysat Annie. Beech went on a sleepover and we went to Thai and shopping..it was nice. Sunday is family day.  I got up early, packaged and labled more aprons. Delivered them(yay).  Then we went berry picking with the kids out at the coast, did water play in the yard and then had our folks over fory our regular sunday dinner. Here are some berry picking pics

As we were berry picking, I looked back at my little family down one of the beautifully colored rows of olliberry vines and literally though...that is my little family and I was just so grateful for them.

Just Popping In...

It has been a big week around here. I am still Blog hopping and loving every minute of musing through all of the wonderful blogs Karen Valentine was kind enough to host at her second annual blog party. Kiddos are on summer vacation, so I am officially living in my car as a sahm/taxi driver taking them to different activities. I am also working madly on MAD Stitches stuff. Still cleaning up pockets and doing lots of finishing work on a new batch. This one is full of cherries, lemons and yummy cupcakes. I have spent the last few days taking some shots of them. My two little models Annie and Daniella(my newest addition to MS) were kind enough to let me take a few pics of them in the sample aprons.

Here is how some of those came out...and what a difference a year makes. Daniella age 4years old was super cooperative. My little Annie was like a moving target and most of my pics of her came out blurry! But, it was fun and we had a lot of laughs. They both shook me down for a new apron and piece of candy as their payment. Ok, well I have more to report, but I am pooped and so I am going to call it a night. Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the lovely sunshine tomorrow!

Attending a Private Party....

The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.

- Helen Keller


Today has been a long, but wonderful day. I was working up in Petaluma this morning and then I raced back to catch my two year old, Annies 1st ballet recital at Princess Camp! And now...I get to curl up and spend the next two days blog hopping...yipee! I will meet other kindred spirits out there who I believe would understand if I asked them to take a picture of my shoes or of some crazy vintage sign..who knows.  Tonight I get to go and peek into the studios of other fellow bloggers because Karen Valentine of My Desert Cottage http://mydesertcottage.blogspot.com/2010/04/where-bloggers-create-ii.html is kind enough to host her second, Where Bloggers Create party.

I have been thinking a lot about this concept because I am often carrying around my latest copy of Where Women Create or Artful Blogging. I usually find about 20 minutes a day to read a few entries and be reminded that there are other women out there living amongst the chaos of their kids, soccer games, laundry and life. Yet, they still find a way to carve out a small nitche in their home where the noise of the chaos deadens and their soul becomes alive as they are creating. One blogger's post said, "it is learning how to live underwater". I love that because that is how it feels sometimes.

Anyway, like some of these other fellow bloggers, I have created a space that was orriginally concieved after I read one of Jo Packhams books, "Where Women Create". At the time...I really did not know what I was planning on creating, but I knew I had to have a space of my own. Now almost three years later, it has migrated into what was once our joint office--this is now MAD Stitches...a room of my own


This was my first studio set up-- and my studio name was actually Stitches and Seams...Which I found from a sentence in the back of my 1960's addtion of Vogue Sewing, yup the studio is...really painted purple and pink....?

This was my second set up about a year and half ago. I was contemplating teaching sewing lessons... Lesson 1 Map out your goals on paper...what's the harm?

Shortly after, I decided not to teach sewing lessons because it would be too tough with having my kids home on the weekends. So I created my first pattern, a reversible stroller cover. I was really proud of it, but it was too difficult to sell because of all of the different strollers out there. --lesson 2 Make six and try to just sell that six and see how it goes before you order the buisness cards and packaging...

The packaged stroller covers...I still have them and I am still very proud of them!

This was my second pattern I created and how I switched my buisness name from Stitches and Seams to MAD Stitches because I wanted to sew and sell things that "Made a Difference" MAD...

I sold them during the holidays and then donated the proceeds to the Samaritian House in San Mateo. I had beautiful friends and family who purchased gloves from me to support this cause--a special thanks to Tracy, Liz and Alicia!--love you ladies!!

Then came spring and Annie started a cooperative program and I discovered that the "washable paint" is not really washable...so I made her a few aprons for school and other moms started asking me to make them some for their kids. After selling quite a few, I approached a local consignment shop and asked if they would like to carry the aprons--or MODERN DAY PINAFORES

I orrigianlly made the aprons in retro like fabrics that you would not normally find on children...

And over time my aprons changed, as did my fabrics and my MAD Stitches studio--I don't know whether it was me who changed to sew more of what people wanted or just discovered it was too tough to guess what might sell or might not....
Lesson three--If I don't keep changing or being willing to change then I won't grow as a buisness owner and an artist.

MAD Stitches to date--aprons and the studio

The Modern Day Pinafore and Cupcake 1/2 apron in Juicy Lemons

and ymummy cupcakes

Welcome to MAD Stitches (Make a Difference)...please come in...

view from in my house to my studio

I have lots of books and magazines to keep me inspired

Sweet pink cottage roses outside my workspace window

racks and shelves for on going projects and notions

my surger space

packaging ribbon

a hot pink chalk paint idea wall

My two littel inspirations, the Modern Day Pinafore was created for my little squirt Annie (on the left) and the Cupcake 1/2 apron was created for my beautiful and creative niece Viv(on right)

MAD Stitches has currently donated $700.00 to the Samaritian House in San Mateo and STaRS. I feel so grateful that I can continue to forfill my greatest passion of volunteering through sewing. By making the aprons, I can sew at night when my children sleep and strive to make a small difference in the world.

I would not have my little buisness or funds to get started without my amazing husband Julian. We are celebrating 19 years together this year. I am dedicating this post to the most caring, wonderful and beautiful friend a girl could have. --I love you J, thank you for believing in me...

Annie, Julian, me and Beech

A Few Hard Knocks

A few weeks ago I was prepping for the Makers fair in San Mateo. I started several weeks prior to the opening date of the fair--cutting, ironing, pinning and then...time got away from me and I fell short on the sewing and finishing work. So...naturally I panicked! Instead of making less aprons that I could be very proud of, I decided that more aprons would be better and to cut some corners forsaking some of the quality. What is funny is "the cutting corners" goes against the grain of what I believe in, but somehow fear overcame me.

Anyway, I finished sewing most of the aprons, but I still had to sew the pockets and here in lies my downfall...i decided to skip the element that is my own little personal touch on my pockets--Normally, i stitch elastic piquot to the top and it gives the pockets a sweet rutching. However, this time I sewed the pockets, turned, pressed and packaged them up and off to Makers I went.

As they hung behind me on display at my booth--I realized how wrong...wrong wrong they looked. Sure they were childrens aprons, sure the fabrics were cute and they were all ready for market, but that special thing that makes them charming...to me...was missing. That softly gathered pocket looked more like a clumsy, out of place mistake. So, I vowed that after the fair that I would go home and take off each pocket and do them again...right.
                                          A pocket after panick....

And..that is what I have been doing. The bummer is having to take them out of their packages, take off all of the pockets and re-prep everything. But, some of the lessons we learn in life are the hardest(and believe me this was a tough one) The pockets are now all off and the piquot is one them and I am in the process of stitching them back on to the aprons. ---I learned a great deal from this experience. I now know... that I never want to be stuck trying to sell something I don't entirely believe. That at shows--less is more as long as the quality is there because there are no do-overs in this case. Last, I will always set my construction deadlines to be several days from any craft show because nothing good really ever comes from late night, last minute sewing. LAST, I believe that I am lucky enough to take these life lessons with me and learning to build a tiny cottage, craft business takes time, patience and some hard knocks--but they are worth it!

ahh that is better...!

"I like Your Toms"

 

About a month ago J and I were on a date. We had gone to starbucks and then a movie. While we were sitting in starbucks another customer came in to order a drink. She was a young girl. Just before she left, the girl behind the counter casually said, "I like your Toms" to the young girl. I overheard this conversation and I had no idea what it meant. Then today we were all walking around town in Murphys ca and there was a sign in the window at one of the local shoe shops and it said, 'how do you wear your Toms?" Ok...now I was intrigued...what was this Toms thing...?
So, in I went to investigate and I discovered something entirely cool. Toms is a shoe brand http://www.toms.com/our-movement that is more like a movement. If you purchase a pair of their shoes, they automatically match that purchase by giving a pair of shoes to a child. it is called "one for one". The philosophy is that many children in forign countries go without shoes on a daily basis and they are at risk for contracting soil diseases. --I was enchanted by the concept. I loved the idea that this company is so passionate about children and believes that their product can really make a difference. Anyway...now as I sport them about all summer..maybe someone will say to me...hey "I like your Toms"..and I will be part of the one for one movement...who knows?

You SEW Little MAN!

My little Beech has been learning to sew here and there over the past few months. I have had to be accepting of a lot. For instance--he picks the worst times to want to sew (like when I am in the middle of apron production for a show or client) OR at 8pm in the evening...when neither of us is in any shape to work. Well, over the weekend I was sewing some pool cover ups for one of my best friends little boys for their birthdays(Tyler...one of my personal heros and Declan...MR. TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL)

 Beech found some of the fabric left over and a small pillow in his room and he decided to hunker down and sew a pillow cover. ALAS...the stars were aligned and it was a good time on Sunday evening for both of us, so to work we went. We had a few bumps in the road where we had to sew a few pieces together to make the back of the cover, but he did not seem to mind. For the most part, he measured, cut out and sewed it. --Can I tell you how proud he was...

Then today he had a long clinic appointment with the news of more surgery in sight and he was a little bummed. We always do something nice after a clinic visit and he asked to go to Joannes Fabrics so he could buy more fabric to make another pillow. I was so tired(the clinic apts are tough on me) But this was his pick for a treat--so I said yes. And...his sister and I followed him around the store while...he mused over different fabrics--so funny! He settled on a fleece sponge bob fabric(personally I can not stand the novelty fabrics, but this was his choice).

Then tonight after Annie went to bed, he and I worked in my studio. Again, he measured and cut and together we pinned the edge. I HAVE to be cool with how he cuts and pins because it will take time for him to get it down...but already it is getting better.

 I drew our famouse "sharpy sewing line" which helps him so much when he sews at the machine. Then, off to the machine he went and he requested I "stand back and watch and just to tell him when to stop..." MAN...IT WAS TOUGH...but at his request, I managed to keep my big mouth shut and to sit quietly as he sewed his cover. I did teach him how to use the needed up/down to walk to the corner and pivot and he got that too!

notice the stool which he uses to stand at the cut table, ironing bored and for the presser foot..

Well, he made his second cover tonight mostly all by himself. I was so happy for him not because I love sewing, but because I can tell that Beech really loves sewing too. I remember being close to his age and falling madly in love with the little after noon craft classes and I see a similar connection for him. He does other stuff--soccer and kung fu...but I don't see him as excited about them as he seems to be about sewing. --It is really touching to see him so peaceful and happy!