Giving up on Etsy

As you might have guessed, I have lost steam and excitement about selling on Etsy. In all honesty, I think my designs are too traditional and time-consuming to do well on this venue. I think I will be using this blog to document the crafty things I do from now on.

I am gearing up for Christmas. Traditionally I make many of the family gifts. So, I will not be able to post pictures of them until after they have been given. I have several relatively big projects planned. I am already worried about finishing on time.

Computer frustrations

I just spent and incredible amount of time trying to figure out Twitter. I have a FB page with my Etsy name which is linked to both my blog and my personal page/wall. I think what else I need is a Etsy Mini on both facebook and my blog. I'm wondering if having a separate 'page' on FB just for my Etsy stuff is too confusing. Is it confusing? Maybe it should just all go to my Etsy shop?

How to find out?

Is this why no one has been visiting my shop?

Tea and the green dress

Today Deborah and I had tea at the library. We heard Laura Schaefer read and talk about her new book The Teashop Girls. It was so great for Deborah to meet a real published author. And she is a local Madisonian. Both Deborah and I read the book beforehand. I think it was fun for her to read about girls in our own town with references to places we know about. She was such a friendly lady, I hope her books do well and she writes many more.


The green dress is almost done! Just buttons and buttonholes left to do, hopefully tonight won't be too crazy and I can get them done.

I added a lace ruffle around the circular flat lace.

The sleeves are smocked with the same colors as the neckline.  I added 1 1/2 inches to the sleeve length, folded that extra up and ran the bottem edge of the sleeve through the pleater. That way the edge of the sleeve looks finished. Then when I closed up the underarm seam with french seams I made sure the end of the first seam was securly tucked inside the second seam.

I hand stitched the four-inch deap hem. This way it can easily be let down as the child grows. Corduroy tends to leave a mark when you let out the hem. Sometimes I would tack on a matching ribbon or lace around the hem line on Deborah's dresses. I thought it looked more finished and less noticable that the hem had been let out.

Holiday Season!

I have decided it is time to get ready for the holiday season. Seems early but if I start now I should be able to get several dresses out soon. I already have three definite ideas. Nice warm, soft corduroy and flannel, with lace, of course. And I found the cutest fabric! A border print with Santa on it. Lots of ideas!

Pictures to come soon...

Polka-dot Bishop finished!

Wew! Here it is. It took longer than I thought it would but I like the way it turned out.

All these pictures can be seen in full view by clicking on them.

I'll start backwards...

Today I spent several hours perfecting my handmade buttonholes. Some may ask "Why?" Well, about six years ago I bought a very nice Bernina Sewing machine and one of the selling points of this particular one was the built in button hole feature with several options. I went to the instructional classes and have read the books but have never been completely satisfied with the machine buttonholes I was making. Today, I can say that the four buttonholes on the back of this dress are the best-looking buttonholes I have ever made on a garment. Unfortunately, I don't know how to take a good close-up picture of these beautiful buttonholes. But here is the back view.

The hem is scalloped. I always like the way these hems turn out. Seems worth the extra effort. It is hand stitched with a running stitch from the back. I used DMC floss the same pink used in the smocking around the neck and arms.

The inside seams are enclosed french seams, even the ones behind the smocking as noted in the previous blog post.

The smocking is done with pink, white, and purple DMC floss. I buried the knots of the smocking between the pleats. Otherwise they may scratch baby's sensitive skin.

The sleeves are smocked with the same colors as around the neck. Cluny lace was attached to the sleeve edge by hand at the same time I hand sewed the hem of the sleeve.

First item on Etsy

I just posted the pink daygown on Etsy. It took longer than I thought it would to set up the store and get the photos the correct size, etc. But I am now officially a seller on Etsy.

I have started the next dress. This one is a smocked bishop with short sleeves. I debated about long or short sleeves in my mind for some time but decided to go with the short sleeves. They look so sweet. And not everywhere is as cold as Wisconsin! That's the wonderful thing about the internet.

Here is a picture of the dress cut out.

It is pink polka-dots on white background. Very cute. I am planning to smock it in pink and have a hand sewn scalloped hem.

Who knew naming a business would be so hard?

Naming this sewing business turned out to be more difficult than one might expect. Since I have decided to sell through Etsy, I had to have the name approved through their web site.

First, I thought a lot about what I want to create. I want to make baby dresses that are constructed well and go the extra mile to be comfortable for the baby. Some things I learned from my own kids; like all cotton material and cotton thread, and enclosed seams that won't scratch or poke at baby's delicate, soft skin. I also love to smock and embroider roses on my baby clothes.

When I googled roses, I found that there is a rare lavender rose that has the meaning of enchantment or love at first sight. I liked the idea that people would fall in love with my baby dresses. Unfortunatly, every name I tried relating to 'lavender rose' was already taken on Etsy.

After stewing over it for several days, I had it boiled down to 'Enchanted Rose', 'Embroidered Rose', or 'Kinder Rose'. All of these were available at the time on Etsy. Enchanted Rose reminded me of Disney's Beauty and the Beast and I was afraid other people would have as much trouble as I do remembering how to spell embroidered. So Kinder Rose it is!