Thursday, December 27, 2012

Year End Review

Here we are at that cusp - getting ready to go from the old year to the new year - and all the crazy thoughts that seems to bring.

I thought I'd take a look at how 2012 has been for Sew Darn Simple.

I organized (and reorganized) my sewing space throughout the year.  Here we are and it's still a mess.

I wrote my first patterns and sold them both in my etsy shop and I also opened a Craftsy pattern shop.

I did two patterns in 2012 - the zipper wallet and the patchwork purse.  Hopefully I will do at least two in 2013 - although I'm not sure what they will be yet.

I spent a lot of time perfecting a zip around case for the kindle fire - and I did sell a few.  The issue I have with making cases for these items is that each one is a different size and every new one that comes out is different which means that the cases aren't always interchangeable.  So I'm not sure if I will continue down this path in 2013.  With a 'regular' job, I don't feel like I have time to commit to making a huge number of custom items.

Jennifer Paganelli from Sis Boom has become one of my great friends - she sent me a great bundle of fabrics from her Girls World Vibe line - I in turn made some items that I did a giveaway for.  I had the opportunity to meet her at the Country Living Fair in Columbus this fall - what a great weekend that was!

I did several craft shows this year - with varied success - we had such crazy weather this year - and that always plays into the show turnout.

As I reach the end of this year, I'm trying to determine where I want to take this business in 2013 - I have some craft show applications that I need to complete in January - so I need to get some new photos and potentially some new products in the works.

Stay tuned to see where 2013 takes us!

Happy Sewing,
Susan


Sunday, December 16, 2012

More Christmas Gifts

You may recall that back in November I made that really cute patchwork backpack for my great niece.  So for Christmas I'm making one for her little brother.

I made her a box pouch to match and included a brush, compact, lipstick (lip smackers, actually) and nail polish.  Her brother confiscated the pouch for some of his little lego pieces - or some such.


So here is his pouch.  I'm not sure what I'll put it in - something though.




And so I'm going to make his backpack from the same fabric - pretty good for a a little boy, isn't it?

And if Mimi will let me, I'm going to work on it today!

Happy Sewing!

Susan

Monday, December 3, 2012

End of Season Show

I did my last show for this year this past weekend.  This is the first time I've done a 'table space' event in a long time.  I started using the gridwall setup a few years ago, and so I had to do a little more prep work than normal for this show.

For one thing, I didn't have a table cloth that I liked for the table.  I personally hate when you get that bunch of fabric at the corners - it tends to get stepped on a lot.  So I bought an inexpensive table cloth and put in some fitted corners.


Second, I've said for a long time that I needed to make some sort of banner.  So I did that last week.  it's a little larger than I needed.  So maybe I'll make another one that's smaller - sometime.

Lastly, I had to decide what I was going to take to the show since I couldn't get everything that I normally do in a 10x10 tent space in a 6 ft table space....

I think it turned out pretty good.

Happy Sewing!

Susan