Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone!!!

Okay, here goes nothin'! No, here goes something, my first endeavor into pattern making! As the picture shows, I have the tools needed to get me started: project board, cutting mat, ruler, good scissors, pencil, pencil sharpener, graph paper, roll of butcher paper, pins, measuring tape, and muslin! No partridge in a pear tree?! Maybe later. Anyway, just keep in mind that I am pretty much a self-taught seamstress (and I use that term loosely, a seamstress I am NOT). My mom taught me the basics of sewing, which she learned from her mom (Grandma Mac was a wonderful seamstress and crafter). So, with that said, this untrained seamstress wannabe is charting new territory. I can follow a store-bought pattern and have stumbled my way through written directions to projects, and I now have copied a few ideas by sight alone, but making my own pattern never crossed my mind. Until now, that is! I have found an idea that requires me to create a pattern so that I can mass produce the items that I would like to create within this new line of products once my final pattern draft is finished. Nope! I still am not ready to reveal what this new line of products will be! Stay tuned!!! Or should I say "stay following"?

February is Here!

Moving on along through this new year, aren't we? Well, this is the second month in a row that I am posting on my blog, baby steps! While I mentioned that I am committing to participating in craft shows this year, April is way too soon to have enough stock prepared for sale. So, I, my parents, and our friend Maggie have decided to share booth rental and we will be signing up as vendors for the "Great Texas Mosquito Festival" at the end of July. I cannot tell you how excited I am! We have had two "meeting of the minds" sessions. The first was to sit down and decide what each of us plans on making and what shows we want to participate in. The second, was so much fun, involved us roping off our 10'x10' booth and doing a mock set-up with what fixtures we have on hand. Maggie hit the mother load of deals a few years back, when an ACE hardware store near her went out of business. She has us pretty much taken care of with professional display fixtures. This made me say to myself "Hey, we look like we are professionals that have done this before". This has only spurred on my creative juices, I am constantly crafting when I get home from working my day job. Recently, a dear friend of mine from High School sent me a link with a fantastic idea. However, this idea is top-secret for now. I will tell you that it involves me stepping into foreign territory...pattern making! All for now!