It's my life

Creating with Fabric_Sew Many Ruffles

Some of you might not have heard of my latest creative pursuit, Sew Many Ruffles so I thought that I would share a little bit about it.  I love creating in many different ways.  I truly do not feel complete if I am not creating with my hands in some way.  For the last 18 years I have used paper as my main medium but I realized last year that fabric is also a fabulous medium to create with.  

I have always known how to sew but hadn't done much with my sewing machine except to sew on paper, since my kids were little.  The pictures that I took of them were so important to me and I loved preserving the memories through scrapbooking.  Scrapbooking then led me to stamping and card making, teaching classes and working with scrapbook companies like Bo Bunny, Nikki Sivils, SRM STickers, Petaloo, Epiphany Crafts, Lori Whitlock, Bella Blvd and many others.  

I have had so much fun with all my paper crafting adventures and still do.  But then some of my most favorite paper manufacturers started putting their designs on fabric and I was hooked.  You would probably be surprised at how many big names also have fabric lines.  Bella Blvd, Lori Whitlock, Basic Grey, Doodlebug, My Mind's Eye, and Carina Gardner (Carta Bella), just to name a few plus a whole bunch of designers that design paper collections for the bigger companies.

Bella Blvd's Too Cute To Spook fabric collection

So that brings me to my obsession with fabric and creating with it. After much thought, I decided to start creating handmade dresses for girls and  Sew Many Ruffles came to be.  I have an Etsy shop where I sell them and also have a Facebook Fan Page.  It's been an interesting journey so far and I have learned so much about sewing and running your own business.  It's not easy but it has been very rewarding.  I have found that there are an infinte amount of ideas of items to make using fabric and I always love trying to create something new.

So instead of creating two blogs to share the creative things that I do, I am just going to talk about both right here.  So some days, it will be posts about paper crafting, die cutting, or stamping and other days it will be about the clothes that I have been making for my Sew Many Ruffles shop.  I hope you will enjoy both!

• Sew Many Ruffles Etsy Shop
• Sew Many Ruffles Facebook Page   

 

The Miss Matilda Dress and Top Pattern by The Cottage Mama

I have another outfit to show you today.  I was so excited to be part of the pattern testing group on this fantastic new pattern by The Cottage Mama.  Here is my post on the other pattern that I tested, The Georgia Vintage Dress, and soon I will have the last one availabe for viewing.  As you can see, I sewed the top version of this pattern which is super cute on my adorable little model.  

I love the ruffle at the neck and the big bow makes it very girly.

The top normally does not have a ruffle on the bottom but I decided to change things a litte and add it.  I'm glad that I did because it just tied everything together.  Here is a picture of the pattern in the dress version.

 

You can get the pattern here at The Cottage Mama Etsy Shop or if you would like to get one made by me for your special little girl please message me here or at my Sew Many Ruffles Etsy shop.  Sew Many Ruffles is a custom handmade children's boutique specializing in trendy but timeless clothes for girls and boys.  I love custom orders so let's design a one of kind outfit for your child together.

 

 

Sewing Sunday - New Products in my Sew Many Ruffles Shop

You may or may not have heard that I have been turning my attention more and more to my sewing machine and have opened up an Etsy shop called Sew Many Ruffles. I really enjoy all of my paper projects but wanted to add a little something else to my crafting pursuits.

I really am not new to sewing at all, and have made many a baby quilt, bags, pillows, costumes and other things for around the house or for fun.  I think I probably made my first stuffed doll when I was under 7.  In the last couple of years though, my machine had seen a lot more paper than fabric and so I decided I wanted to change that.

So you are probably wondering, how do you get from playing around with a sewing machine for fun to opening an Etsy store selling handmade custom boutique dresses?  Well, I don't really know except that I seem to have the entrepreneurial spirit ingrained in me and when I love making things I just have to share them.  Since I can't really afford to just give them away, "Hey a girl's got to be able to buy new fabric!",  I decided that it would be best to try to sell them, and so Sew Many Ruffles came in to being.

I am still doing all of my other crafty pursuits, having lots of fun creating for Lori Whitlock and Petaloo and teaching Scrapbooking and Silhouette classes monthly, so you will see be able to come here for inspiration in those areas but now I'll also be sharing a little bit of my sewing projects as well.

Please help me spread the word about my Etsy shop, Sew Many Ruffles by liking me on Facebook.  I have a Facebook Fan Page here as well as a blog dedicated to Sew Many Ruffles here.  I'll also post specials and discounts here and on my Facebook Page so be sure to choose notifications when you are there "Liking" me.

Have a great day!