My own pattern for the perfect purse! It is larger than it looks, so it holds a lot, the outside pocket is perfect for a cell phone, or keys, and because of the angle, works great as a place to put your hand! Fitting perfectly under your arm, with the split flap, you always have access without exposing anything inside to anyone else! The best part is that it is 100% reversible!
It is now 2010, and that means that we are all experiencing technology overload. I cannot remember how long it has been since my family has not been interrupted by a phone, or video game or some other form of technology. At the end of last year, I finally got the courage and "gumption" to attempt an etsy store. I was so excited when I received my first sale!
After a few weeks, I found the chat rooms. Wow! There was some really good information there, and all of these creative people were so willing to help fellow etsiers. And the consensus was blog, blog, blog.
OKKKKKKKK. What exactly is a blog? I had heard this term so many times, and while I thought that I knew what it meant, I felt that I better be sure!
It seems it is just about anything you want to write down. It can be opinion, a critique on another etsier, a ramble, whatever. The problem is not writing, but in writing something that others would like to read lol.
So I had to decide If I was willing to put myself out there. I guess that I decided yes.
Now I just hope that it is worth it, and that if people don't like what i have to say at least they will find it interesting!
Early last year,I ended up in a battle with one of my neighbors. It was long and bitter. I tried to walk the high road, and I would like to think that I succeeded, at least most of the time. I did not start it, But I did finish it, and with dignity. During this time, another neighbor of mine was a true saint. She listened to me, and appeared at town meetings with me. She was a great support in a time of despair.
The neighbor thing was only the icing on the cake I called my life. Last year was by far the hardest of my life, and I am so grateful that it is over. When we were on the downside of the battle, I started thinking about something that I would like to do to thank her. She is an artist and loves hand made items.
So I wandered on the internet and started looking for ideas and ran across items made out of recycled burlap coffee bags......They were amazing. The texture with the graphics, I cannot even explain what they did for me. I needed to create some of these for myself. but where would i even start...
supplies'
of course
i could not even begin to make anything without supplies. So I turned to the internet yet again. where do you find these bags?
So I turned to ebay first......what a disappointment. I have not been on there in a while, and the whole site felt....well.....stale.
and expensive. While i could get the bags for like 1-2 dollars each, the shipping was like 10 per bag.ok so maybe i exaggerate. What I would need to do if find something locally......so I turned to an archaic device,the yellow pages. i contacted a few local coffee roasters and found a few that would supply me with the bags i required.
All i had to do was pick them up i went over onedaqy hoping for at least 5 or 6 bags, and left with almost 80. It felt like I had struck gold.On the way home I was so exicted, and I began to think about what else I needed
........next i needed a pattern...
after a few days of looking online for patterns for bags, i came to the conclusion, i could make a better pattern than those i was seeing. I began experimenting. I first tried making a circle and the then a long strip to attach it to. While the outcome was acceptable, it was really not what i was looking for. then i tried 5 equal squares. This worked, but again was not what i was looking for. A this point I figured, "who needs a pattern". I made one bag just winging it......I learned awful quickly why you need a pattern. lol I ended up with a tall thin tubular shaped container that wont stand up on its own because it is too top heavy, no matter what.
The last pattern I tried was my favorite, and it is what i stuck with. I use 4 arrow shaped pieces. They sew together nicely, give the shape I want, and don't take much time.
I put together a few, and then I brought a few down to her to pick what she liked. She loved them, but insisted on paying me for them! She did not get the point it was a thank you! I left there feeling very accomplished though. I have set out to do something, and had taken it further than I would have thought possible.
She also encouraged my to post some up on etsy. I was nervous, but after a few weeks of making excuses, I did. Almost immediately I received a request for a custom order! That was all I needed! I am so glad I listened to my neighbor!
Fast forward a few years. As I became a teenager I attempted to make my own clothes, which did not work out so well, but I was able to alter them. In my later teen years, I would buy a pattern, fabric,notions, etc. I would then set to cutting, and sewing the pattern. At the end, I would always do the same thing. I would look at it, see all of the mistakes, and throw it all in the garbage. What started out as an attempt to save money, cost me money.
Then I met my husband, and his mother. His mother was a wonder of sewing, knitting and crocheting. Her things were truly amazing. I made something for my daughter and was going to throw it away. My husband took it out of the trash and showed his mother.
She thought it was good! She raved about it, and gave me the confidence to continue. I stopped throwing things out, but would instead bring them to her, and if there were mistakes,she showed me how to correct them. She gave my ability to create wings.
In this I learned something. As a Girl Scout Leader, and in other functions, I have taken her example in my life and applied it to others. I look at what my girls have made, and tell them how wonderful it is. I look past the crooked lines, and see their vision, and how far they have gotten. I do not lie, I truly see. This is the gift my mother in law has given to me.
All it takes is one person to see the potential. Other than your mother. Mom HAS to think that. Someone else does not. I just wish she could see me now. I make my own patterns, something I NEVER would have thought I could do, and I love doing it. I know that I am good. I made my daughters wedding dress, by hand. Couture. And she was absolutely beautiful.
Thanks Ma.
All of my life I have loved making things. I would use fabric, paper, plastic, whatever I could get my hands on. I would spend hours thinking up what i wanted, how I would do it, and finally i would make it.
At last, when it was finished and unveiled, the rush would come. You know that rush, that sense of utter failure? No matter what, it never was right, and would end up almost immediately in the garbage. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I sucked.
When I was a little girl, my mother would make all of my clothes. I remember laying on the floor at her feet while she made me a jumper...with a matching purse of course! At a very young age(3) she began having me hand sew the purses myself. Happy times. Then at age 5 my two great aunts taught me how to crochet, the granny square!
Their creations were soo beautiful. I always wanted to make thing like themn. The funny thing is, that while I never thought things I made were good enough, I never stopped trying. This fact alone is strange. But I kept trying.
to be continued...
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