Sew sew sew!

Whew! What a busy, crazy and awesome couple of weeks it has been! For those of you regular followers, you probably noticed my lack of posts and projects last week.  Well, never fear, I am back and have definitely NOT been without projects for the last 2 weeks. Quite the contrary actually! As some of you may know, my Etsy shop has been featured on a fabulous blog, life, love and puppy prints. Carolyn, the blog author, has written up a very nice and informative review of one of my diaper bags and is also hosting a giveaway of, your choice of one of my diaper bags or a tote bag! In preparation for this feature, I have been putting my nose to the grind stone attempting to get all kinds of new product listings ready to roll out in conjunction with the review. It was rough going for a bit, and my house may have some resemblances to a fabric store explosion, but by the skin of my teeth, I got it done!

Project #1- Mesh tote bags

The mesh tote bags have been a fairly popular item for my shop and I was literally sold out of them up until yesterday! I have restocked and few and there are always more to come.

 

 

 Don't forget that these, as well as any other item in my shop, are available for custom orders. If there is a fabric that you like, or would like to come up with something unique, feel free to convo me on my Etsy shop and we will get started. I did a few more licensed prints on these this time around. There have been a lot more sports team fabrics coming out and these tote bags make an excellent sporting event carry-all. Also, with the main body being made of the pet screen mesh, they would make an Excellent beach bag! Summer is right around the corner!

 

 

Project #2- Made in the USA diaper bags

Several months ago, The Boyfriend suggested that I might try to find some fabric that was made in the USA to use for some of my diaper bags. At the time, I thought it was a great idea, but had no idea where I would find made in the USA fabric. Within a couple weeks of that conversation, JoAnn fabrics released a line of Made in the USA fabrics! Go figure!! Yesterday, I listed the first two bags made from fabric completely made in the USA!

 

 

I particularly like these fabrics. They have some really cute designs and they are a really nice quality! I can't wait to get started on some more!

 

 

Project #3-Small mesh tote bags

A few months back, I messed around a bit with my tote bag pattern to create a mini version of my standard tote bag for my nieces. They LOVE theirs and carry them all over the place, filled with their treasures. Their Mom has been known to borrow them as well and use it as a handy and durable purse.

 

 

Project #4-Photo shoot

A really great friend at work has been generously offering for her and her kids to help model my bags for me.  She was one of the very first owners of a Sew it Seams bag and has been super supportive of my shop from day one. I dragged The Boyfriend along (hello carpool lane) and we headed out to her home for a photo shoot of my finished bags. They were absolutely wonderful models! Don't you think? We had such a nice shoot! The Boyfriend is an excellent assistant as well and helped me with getting bags ready and helping to keep the kids distracted from the camera. I spent the evening editing photos Wednesday night and getting the listings up just in time. WHEW!

 

 

Project #5- Anniversary party

All of this would not have been as much of a time crunch, except that my sister and I have been working hard making decorations and such for our Grandparent's 55th Wedding anniversary party this Saturday. Thus, an exponentially larger project load. It will all be worth it Saturday though, as the decorations have turned out fabulously and I can't wait to show them off to you next week!

 

In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the new listings and please stop by the lovely Carolyn's blog. She writes so wonderfully of her grand adventures with her adorable family! Don't forget to enter the giveaway contest while you are there and be entered to win your choice of this diaper bag or tote bag from Sew it Seams by Janelle. Good luck and happy shopping!

 









The next big thing!

This past week, for me, was spent prepping for an exciting upcoming opportunity! My little Etsy shop is set to be the feature of a blog review! For those of you who have been around since my shop started, you know that I was featured in a review several months back on an absolutely adorable blog called Mom-a-logues. Since that review, I have been trying hard to expand my fabric options and work on bringing all of you some fantastic new products. In the meantime, Dawn, the fantastic author of Mom-a-logues, introduced me to a fellow blogger she knows who recently had a little boy. Dawn  told me she thought it would be an awesome opportunity for my shop to have a Mom with a baby review my diaper bags. I recently reached out to the wonderful author of life love and puppy prints to see if she had any interest in participating in a review of my diaper bags.  To my delight, she said yes! Which means we will also be doing a giveaway!! So check out the lovely Carolyn's blog and stay tuned later this month for our feature review and giveaway!

In preparation for the extra exposure of a blog review, I have been working hard to replenish my inventory and am very excited to be also officially rolling out the Mini tote bags! As I was sewing away this week, I got to thinking....why not go bigger? I tend to bring a lot of crafty things with me to work so I can have something to do with my downtime. (when you are waiting for phone calls to come in, there is a fair amount of down time and I don't like to just sit there) A few years back I bought an extra large canvas and cotton beach bag from a fellow Esty seller and the thing has held up amazingly! Beings that my mesh bags are good for such a variety of uses, I wondered how a large bag might work out. I decided to be my very own guinea pig.  I got out the tape measure and altered my pattern a bit and VOILA!

Of course, I couldn't resist making my new "work bag" in my Signature prints to match my Sew it Seams logo.

I was so pleased with how it turned out! I immediately started transferring my work things into my new bag. It soooooo much more organized now that I have all these pockets inside to put things in. Its much easier to find things when I know that certain things have an actual home!

I constructed this bag, like my other mesh bags with 6 pockets on the inside and 6 on the outside. SO much room! I packed it with all of the stuff from my old work back and I still have plenty of pockets left to fill with goodies.  I had my co-worker snap a picture of me modeling my new bag so you can see what a great size it is. (It was 3am, so please forgive the darkness....and the tiredness)

I think my new sewing adventure was a success, and I am going to be working on this size for the shop now as well. I think it will make a fantastic beach bag with plenty of room for towels for the whole family! It makes a wonderful addition to my mesh tote bag family.

I can't wait to debut all the new tote bag prints I have been working on. I am working hard to get all of them finished by the end of the month. For Christmas this past year, The Boyfriend's parents gave me a Singer industrial sewing machine.

The boyfriend's Mom told me it would be fantastic for sewing the mesh tote bags because it powers right through them. At the time I was in a nice groove with my bags and figured I would try out my new machine on the next batch of bags.  Trying a new sewing machine is kind of like driving someone else's car for the first time.  Its not that you don't know how it works, and not that you can't figure it out.  Its just new and different and takes a little while to adjust.  Well, after sewing with The Boyfriend's Mom last week (making aprons) my main sewing machine was away in its box to bring to and from her house, and I thought it would be the perfect time to get out the instruction manual and break in the new sewing machine. Boy, am I glad I did! It was so easy to get set up and worked like a charm.  It really did power right through the mesh tote bags and made it so simple. I was so excited to report back that my wonderful Christmas present was a success! It was such a thoughtful gift and I am so excited now that I know how to use it. Well, here's to trying new things and to many more adventures! Have a great week everyone!

Celebration!

Some of you might have noticed a lack of post from me last week. Well....I was on vacation to celebrate my birthday. It was the official end of my 20's this year and my 30th birthday literally came in with a bit of a jolt! For those of you who haven't been watching the news, Southern California was rocked with a pretty good sized earthquake followed by another day and a half of pretty sizable aftershocks.  Having lived in So-Cal my entire life, earthquakes don't really phase me too much, but The boyfriend and I were having my birthday dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in La Habra (the epicenter for the quakes) with my best friend and her husband when the first "fore shock" happened.  It felt like someone had run into the building or something but it was not super huge. It did, however, spark a conversation about earthquakes since neither my best friend, nor her husband are California natives.  But, we all survived relatively unscathed. Luckily, I had a fantastic week off prior to dinner as well to add to the fun!

It was a week chalked full of celebrations, starting Monday when I woke up to an email from Etsy informing me that a bag from my Etsy shop had been featured on Etsy!! So exciting! I watched excitedly the rest of the day ,while sewing, as more and more people checked out my shop and various listings.  I even got super excited ,towards the end of the day, when I saw that I had views from literally every continent! (please excuse the terrible snapshot of my computer screen)

That was a super awesome feeling, and even more-so by the fact that I also got  my very first international sale to my shop! It was quite the exciting week for the shop. I also got a handful of my new mini tote bags ready. Coming soon, enjoy the sneak peak! :)

Tuesday, we did an early birthday dinner celebration with my family at a restaurant called Stacked. Its pretty cool!  They serve all kinds of American food from Hamburgers to Mac and Cheese and you order it all yourself from Ipads at your table.  Basically they only have servers and bus boys at this place. You are your own "waiter". But you pick whatever item you want on the ipad and then you "stack" it with whatever you want. They have everything you can imagine in the way of toppings/sides. For example, you can order a burger and choose the bun type, and add everything from blue cheese to avocados and pastrami. The combinations are endless! For dessert, you get to "stack" many items including ice cream sandwiches where you pick you own top and bottom cookies of choice as well as your ice cream. YUM! I chose double chocolate chip cookies with mint chip ice cream for my dessert.

It was so much fun and we all had a great time! Even my Grandparents enjoyed their "high tech-do it yourself" dinner. :)

 

 

 

On Wednesday, The boyfriend took me to IKEA with his truck.  Since moving in my fabric storage hutch required getting rid of my dilapidated DVD shelf that used to live in its place, my DVDs have lived in disorganized stacks in my closet.  One by one, as I have watched some of them, they have meandered into even uglier stacks around my TV....

 

 

Talk about UGH! I finally had enough of the stacks everywhere and I have several other organization projects at a stand-still until the DVDs find a new home. So, it was off to IKEA for some new shelves.  We got the ones I wanted and brought  them back to my place just in time before the rain arrived.  By then, we were beat! So, they shelves lived on my living room floor for a few days....much to my cat's displeasure.

 

 

Thursday, I went over to The boyfriend's Mom's house for a "sewing lesson" on a new reversible apron pattern she had mastered.  She walked me through making myself a lovely reversible Star Wars apron.

 

After that, I headed out to watch my niece at her last soccer practice.  Usually I work when she has soccer, so I took advantage of being away from work to stop by.  Even her little sister got into it a bit on the sidelines. It was really fun to watch them!

And finally came Friday, the big day! I said farewell to my twenties without sadness and some excitement for what the future will bring.  30 doesn't feel different really, so far haha.  At his request, I met The boyfriend at his parents' house, where he surprised me with flowers from his great Aunt and some ammo for us to go clay shooting with.  A hobby we have really been enjoying lately.

 

 

Then, he further surprised me with my very own shotgun for our adventures! I was so surprised and excited and could not wait to go try out my new toy! After the presentation of my awesome gifts, we headed off to our lovely dinner. (and unknown to us, earthquakes...) It was certainly a memorable week of fun!

 

Due to the timing of my vacation, I ended up having a short week and then was quickly back to my regular days off.  On my first day off, I assembled my shelves and finally got my DVDs and books out of hiding in my closet.

 

 

There is still some cleaning ad rearranging to be done, but its getting closer to being done! :) On my next day off, I had lunch with The boyfriend and then ,a little later, we headed over to our good friends' house for a belated birthday dinner. It was delicious and we had a really nice visit!

 

And finally, on my last day off, The boyfriend and I headed out to the range to test out my birthday present!

 

 



What a blast!! (no pun intended) It was certainly a wonderful and special birthday and I am so blessed to have such fantastic family and friends who make me feel so special and loved, always! Here's to plenty more fun and adventures in my next 30 years!