EYMM Anniversary Blog Tour!!

 

Join EYMM and 24 fellow bloggers as we celebrate the first 24 months of our pattern shop with a huge sale and giveaway!  We will be featuring 8 different patterns for women and girls, as well as having a Manic Monday sale and a huge site-wide sale.  There is also a great giveaway at the bottom of this post. Don't wait because you don't see sales like this often from EYMM and it will be over before you know it!

HAPPY 2nd ANNIVERSARY, EYMM!!!

I could not have been more pleased to be chosen for this blog tour. I am a huge fan of EYMM (affiliate link) as well as a fan Kymy Johnson as a person I started sewing about 2 years ago. I am completely self taught and when I was brand spanking new, I found EYMM. Carlie's Dolman was one of the first patterns I tried and it was one of the patterns that gave me the confidence to continue learning to sew. I can remember asking Kymy silly things like "can I topstitch knits?" I am totally positive that I was annoying and Kymy was ALWAYS patient and kind with me and took the time to explain to me whatever random thing I needed clarification on. Of great assistance to me in my learning to sew journey were the EYMM tutorials!


Sooooooooooo.....what did I make? Let me SHOW you!

I made Carlie's Dolman! Super easy sew. It took me maybe 30 minutes from printing the pattern to hemming it. It looks fantastic with just about anything you pair it with and I'm thinking it will be a fantastic layering piece for this fall and winter. I wanted the shorts to be EYMM as well and I totally like to get every single bit of use I possibly can from every single pattern I own so I used just the shorts portion of the Calla Lily Skort, which,  btw, comes bundled with a mommy size too! But I digress lol. the only change I made, other than leaving off the skirting, was that I cut the shorts at the longest cut line and they came out the absolute perfect length for a stand alone pair of shorts.

I made a traditional Calla Lily Skort, too! Paired, of course, with Carlie's Dolman! I made some changes to the skort, since my daughter is VERY active and definitely a climber. I used the longest cut line on the shorts and the shortest cut line on the skirting. I didn't make any changes at all to the waist and it fits her very well and she LOVES it! She was swishing all around the house and yard in it and calling it her beauty queen skirt.

Like I said, I love EYMM (affiliate link) designs. They're edgy and right on top of trends and she offers sales pretty frequently. This is a talented designer I like and respect and that I am proud to support.

*NOTE* The links below won't show the tour posts until 11am PST on their day of the tour, BUT you are welcome to click through and check their blogs out at any time.

7/27 Connected by a Thread, Pattern Revolution, The Wholesome Mama

7/28 Climbing the Willow, Rebel & Malice, Hibbadoray

7/29 Pretty & Precious Clothing, Sprouting Jube Jube, Call Ajaire

7/30 Once Upon a Sewing Machine, Swoodson Says, Blessed X Five

7/31 Beri Bee Designs, Sewing the Seasons, Sew Outnumbered

8/1 Creative Counselor, Lulu & Celeste, Analog Bytes

8/2 Handcrafted by Red, Boutique Birdie, HattieLu Handmade

8/3 Capture, Craft & Cook, Welcome to Our Crazy World, Create 3.5

  Not only is there an AMAZING blog tour going on but 1 lucky winner that leaves a comment below between now and 8.3.15 will win a FREE EYMM pattern of their choice!!!!  Which one would you pick? Then hop on over to EYMM to check out the awesome SALE (affiliate link), and an even bigger celebration giveaway with over $1000 in prizes.  There will be 40 winners in all.

Mystery Challenge....Accepted

Hi! Welcome to the next stop on the May Mystery Challenge Blog Tour: People and Moments in Time. I got super lucky when Meriel Aho of Create 3.5 chose Amelia Earhart as my topic.

Amelia Earhart was an amazing woman in a time when women weren't encouraged to be strong or amazing. Let me set the scene:

 Amelia Earhart, took her first flying lesson on January 3, 1921. She worked as a social worker at Denison House, which was like a community center in Boston that enriched the lives of those who lived there with things like job training and counseling and meals.  Within six months, she managed to save enough money to buy her first plane. She bought a used  Kinner Airster, a two-seat biplane painted bright yellow that she named "The Canary" and used it to set her first women's record by rising to an altitude of 14,000 feet.

On June 27, 1928 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. No small feat considering the 3 women who tried before her had died in the attempt. Amelia was strong and she was determined and she stood for her beliefs. In 1931, Amelia married George Putnam, who would assist her in her endeavors. Intent on retaining her independence, she referred to the marriage as a "partnership" with "dual control."  My kinda chick for sure!

In 1932 Congress awarded her the Distinguished Flying Cross-the first ever given to a woman.

Earhart felt the flight proved that men and women were equal in "jobs requiring intelligence, coordination, speed, coolness, and willpower."

Damn straight!

Amelia set many records in her career, including setting altitude records and being the person to fly solo across the Pacific from Honolulu to Oakland, California, as well as being first to solo from Mexico City to Newark. Notice I say person. Amelia Earhart was a BADASS pilot!

Amelia was determined to become the first woman to fly around the world. Amelia Earhart’s daring round-the-world-flight was cut short when her Lockheed Electra disappeared over the Pacific Ocean on June 2, 1937. Earhart was declared legally dead on January 5, 1939. What happened to Amelia Earhart has been a mystery ever since.

According to Time Magazine, that mystery is close to being solved:

Previous prevailing wisdom had supposed that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific. But some evidence, including the 1991 discovery of a 1930s woman’s Oxford shoe of the type Earhart wore, and mysterious signals received by nearby boat traffic in the days after her disappearance, have lent support to the so-called “Gardner Island hypothesis.”

It's very possible that Amelia survived the crash. I hope she did. She was just exactly the kind of woman I hope to raise my little girl to be: strong, determined, fearless.

The real trick is using my craft, sewing, to pay homage to this amazing woman. I couldn't... so I made items evocative of the era.

I started with Mabel by Swoon Sewing Patterns. The pattern is free and available here. Very easy to sew. This was the second purse I ever made. If I can do it, anyone can, I promise.

Buuuuuuut I loved it so much, that I sent it to one of the most amazing ladies I have ever known in my life. She has all the qualities that I admire in Amelia Earhart and it only seemed fitting that she have this bag. It's not perfect, but neither was Amelia and neither am I. Perfection and beauty aren't always the same, are they?

I ended up making Odette by Bluegingerdoll. The designer is a very talented Aussie named Abby Horskins, you can find her blog here. The instructions are brief, which I like, and filled with line drawings. All the Bluegingerdoll patterns are retro styled and I totally recommend them. Muslin first, though, ok? I did and boy oh boy was that muslin UGLY! lol

Without further ado: 

I'd like to give a big shout out to my photographer, who is 7 years old. Thank you Gracie Pooperson for helping mommy blog!

If you'd like to see more of the May Mystery Challenge, check this out!

5/25│ The Berry Bunch - Frank Lloyd Wright │ Sew Not Perfect - Lucille Ball, I Love Lucy

5/26 │ Create 3.5 - George Sand

5/27│ Zoe and Ted - Suffragetes

5/28│ House of Estrela - Woodstock/Fall of the Berlin Wall  │ Pen Seb Rox - Piet Mondriaan

5/29│ Friends Stitched Together - Impressionist Movement │ Wining Wife - Judgement of Paris

5/30│ Super Stay at Home Mommy - Madame Tussaud │ Keep Calm and Carrion - Jackie Kennedy  │ Gloria June - Florence Nightingale

5/31│ Sofilantjes - Andy Warhol │ Busy Little Bee - Marie Antoinette │ Amanda Rose - March 9, 1959 Barbie

6/1│ Pienkel - Bianca Jagger │ Huisje Boompje Boefjes - Anne Frank

6/2│ Taking it Up a Notch - Queen Victoria │ Amazing Adventures with Bubba and Bug - 1964 New York World Fair │  Kelly's Sewing Creations - Steampunk Mary Queen of Scots

6/3│ Mae & K - Tesla │ Pretty Little Blog - Moon Landing │ Knot Sew Normal - Lutie Eugenia Sterns

6/4│ Sew Starly - Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II │ Hibbadoray - Amelia Earhart │ Sew Far North - Countess Markievicz (1868-1927)

6/5│ Made By Sara - John Dillinger/Roaring 20's │ Friends Stitched Together - Prohibition/Roaring 20's

6/6│ Country Bella - 1900's World's Fair/Art Nouveau │ Lulu and Celeste - Rosie the Riveter

6/7│Sew Domesticated - 1960's/Civil Rights Movement │ Rebel and Malice - French Revolution/Joan of Arch │ The Fabric Hoarder - Gypsies

TADA! The end!

Women's BundleUp Blog Tour

OMG OMG can you believe they picked me for the Women's BundleUP Blog Tour? hehe They surely did and boy oh boy do i have some awesomeness to show you!! I tried FOUR of the patterns in the bundle! Fluffy girls gotta represent, am I right?

This bundle has so much to offer for every shape. The first design that I tried was the Jocole Ladies A Line Shift Dress. It's fitted with darts at the bust and a zipper in the back. It flatters my body shape in the most joyous way imaginable. Since it's a Jocole pattern, it uses her standard 3/8" seam allowance, the pattern is beautifully drafted with long illustrated instructions that include both photos and line drawings as well as a quick guide for those who prefer brevity in the instructions or for impatient people like myself.

I feel very much like a lady when i wear this. Very Jackie O! I even made myself a little purse to go with it.

I also tried Filles à Maman Clemence Shorts and the EYMM Essentials, both a pretty bold move for a fluffy lady but I'm a fashion pioneer so I went for it. Allow me to just take a moment to GUSH about the EYMM Essentials. I made the cami with the extra support band. It's pretty AND I don't have to wear a bra! I did change the pattern a bit because of my size and...well....because I knew I'd be making this blog post lol. 

I made the skirt portion just a little gathered to try and hide my mid-section. I think it worked pretty well. I didn't expect to fall in love with this pattern but I did. It's great. There is, literally,  an option for every body....even mine.

These are my Clemence shorts. I chose to leave the scallop off because i felt that it would draw attention to my midsection. With that being said, my shorts fit really well and I cannot believe I made these snazzy shorts! I added lace at the hem. It was my first Filles à Maman pattern and I am terribly impressed. 

My Clemence shorts in all their glory

EYMM Essentials Cami

I love these pieces and I can't wait to wear them all summer long!










Last, but certainly not least, I made the Bluezette dress by Love Notions! I chose the wrong fabric and the wrong style for my body and somehow... IT STILL LOOKS AWESOME! Here, judge for yourself:

I am a huge Love Notions fan. The pattern was well written and super easy to follow with so many fantastic options. Next time, I'm going for the tulip skirt with the blousey bodice or no...the circle skirt with the fitted bodice. There's just so many different things you can do with this dress!

Every one of these patterns was fun to sew and make me feel beautiful when I wear them!  If you don't believe me, check out the rest of the blog tour:

Opening an Etsy Store

I tell you what, opening an etsy store is hard. There's 10,000,000 zillion billion things you have to do.....aaaand then there's no guarantee that anyone will like your stuff. I'm really worried about that. I am TERRIBLE at failure. lol

The first step was getting my sewing up to par. I've worked really hard for months. There isn't much I can't do. I'm going to be making a dress, the Jenny by Scientific Seamstress/Sisboom, this very week so that I can teach myself a new technique. I'm totally going out of my comfort zone on this dress in both technique and style. I'm kind of excited to make it.

Then I had to figure out who I wanted to sell to and for. You have to know who you're talking to. I'm choosing plus size ladies. We don't get many choices. Mostly I have casual wear now but I'm going to be dressing things up a bit in the very near future. Big girls should get to look pretty, too! I want to lol. I'm also going to feature items for little girls. Hmm. Kinda seems like a no brainer. I want to sell to people like me only with money to spend on hand crafted clothes. lol

I had to sew up samples. That was the fun part :)

Jocole Mix & Match

EYMM.com Piko Top

I arranged for photos. It's impossible for me to take a decent selfie. My friend Kim White took the photos. She doesn't have a business but she certainly has the talent.
These may be the two best photos of me ever taken. I'm pretty far from photogenic. Thank you, Kim. Please accept this gratuitous plug for the business you haven't started yet!

I started my Etsy shop. The "Grand Opening" will be sometime today. I did a lot of research on this. I read everything Etsy published and  I talked to the ladies in my Facebook sewing group, Sew & Tell. Those ladies are sharp and they know how to do business on Etsy. Etsy gave me the first 40 items free so I plan to use them. Today I will upload photos and add tags.

This is all pretty exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. Wish me luck.

It's done! We run an Etsy shop now!

Hibbadoray

New Beginnings and Some Back Story

Two weeks ago I quit my well paid job as a Network Engineer to pursue my dream of raising my tiny girl myself.  It's going to be quite a journey and this seems like a good way to chronicle it.

I...am nobody special. Six years ago I found myself pregnant and alone and unemployed. I had NO idea what to do with myself or my life, I just knew I was about to be responsible for this tiny little life and I better not jack it up! I went to college. I got my MCSE and I got a good job. I started off at the bottom. $30,000 per year for doing remote tech support. It was GREAT! Exciting and fun. I was good at it and customers liked me so I excelled.

Promotions and raises came. I bought a house when it came time to send my precious baby to school. And I worked. And worked. And worked. And I paid people to watch this precious girl for me while I worked. And I felt like my own life was screwing me over. I wanted to be with my daughter and not pay people to raise her on my behalf. No matter how much I did it wasn't ENOUGH because I was so busy making a life for little Bub that I wasn't enjoying what I was building.

I had money. I had a house. I had a solid future. I was miserable. The only time I was happy is when I was with my tiny girl or when I was sewing. So I quit. I gave it all up to telecommute for $10 an hour. I'll be opening an Etsy shop here right away to help support us.

So what's this blog about? Sewing. Raising little Bub. Living life. The pursuit of happiness and the American dream lol. The things that REALLY matter. idk for sure what they are just yet, but I'll keep you updated.

Wish me luck.