New Machine

I had been going a long this week with steady work (I have about 2 weeks worth of work right now) and wouldn't you know it that my machine decides to start acting up. It is giving me all sorts of tension problems. After spending 4 hours last night trying to finish 1 thing and then practically taking my machine apart and driving myself to tears I got up today ready to tackle the problem. Unfortunately my machine had other ideas! I have been thinking for a while about purchasing a second embroidery machine since the volume of work I am doing has been steadily increasing since last October. I knew one day my machine would need to be serviced or repaired and when that day came I would need a back up machine. Well that day has come!!! My new machine is shipping to me today and the company I bought it from was nice enough to service my other machine for free! Servicing a machine runs about $90 just for a tune up (no repairs) so it seemed like a good deal to me. Plus the machine I purchased is refurbished so I got a great deal on it. I highly recommend sewingmachine.com in Atlanta, they have great customer service. I'm posting pictures of things I finished before "the break" and also pictures of what funky things my machine started doing...this is what embroidery should NOT look like!

New Products

I have been thinking this blog is a good way for me to test out my customers and see what interest there is in new products that I come across. I have been thinking about carrying these snack squares. They are great for preschoolers who want to take snacks to school like yogurt, cheese or anything else that needs to be kept cold. Just throw in a freezer pack and go. Email me if you want any of of these or you can comment here with any thoughts you have. I will be selling them for$20 (includes personalization).

A Few Odds and Ends

I am currently working on a few Birthday outfits and shirts as well as more Easter things.

I also made this Hokies football helmet T-shirt this week and did a sister shirt as well. I love how the sister shirt turned out with the megaphone and Go Hokies. The football helmet would work for a girl but it is a little masculine.

The tie shirt is fun and little boys love to look like their Dad. The tie can be done in any fabric.

I'm still working with a lot of corduroy but I can tell Spring is coming because I have started pulling out the seersucker.

I have the most adorable light lime green seersucker that would look precious with a classic pink monogram on it!

And finally, I have taken some pictures of Lucy in the tunic dress. It looks really comfortable and I wish I could wear this style!

Etsy.com

Etsy, where I have an online store, is great! You can find the coolest things on etsy like this personalized jewelry from Stuck in the Coop or these great vinyl decal monograms and sayings for your home from Decal Monograms. I had someone on etsy ask me about doing a trade. So I sent her a dress and she took pictures of her adorable child in my clothes. Here is the result. Lucky for me she used to be a photographer before she stayed home with her kids. Here is a link to this dress in my etsy store.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I've been working on a few things this week for customers and for my own children. I did this adorable surfboard t-shirt for a sorority sister's little boy, thanks Kim! I hope Tyler loves his shirt! I also did a shirt for another customer with a knight on it for a princess/knight themed birthday party she is having for her children.

A few posts back I did a burp cloth with a "C" patch on it and I mentioned it would look adorable on a shirt or dress. Well...I have found a super comfy adorable play dress that I love so I have put this patch on it. I love this so much I am going to be adding it to my etsy store. Please let me know what you think of this dress. It comes in sizes 6, 12, 18months, 2, 4, 6, and 8 years. It comes in the following colors: apple green, black, chocolate, fuchsia, lavender, lemon, light pink, red, sky blue and white. This dress also comes in a sleeveless style, perfect for summer. I also did this tote bag for a customer this week and think it came out cute..Whoot Whoot!

I also made this cupcake dress for a friend's daughter. I bet she will look adorable in it!

And last but not least, I have found a little time to try a new style for my daughter and niece. I have an A-line Dress, pillowcase dress and now the TUNIC dress. I am not sure if I will be selling this or not. I have a little perfecting to do to it but it sure is a cute style for an older child! There are a lot of possibilities for mixing and matching fabrics.

New Backpack Style

I have added a new backpack style that I LOVE!!!! This backpack is good for a toddler or a child in grade school. The straps can get really short so my 2 year-old neices can wear it comfortably or my daughter could take it to kindergarten. It has 2 zipper pockets in the front and plenty of space inside. I can do almost any of fonts on here. The pink and purple are my CAROLINE font and the navy blue one that is a few posts back (with the name Sam on it) is my XANDER font. These backpacks are $30 (personalization included) and come in plenty of colors (light pink, hot pink, red, navy, royal blue, purple, black and kelly green).

A Few New Things

I have only been able to get to a few things done this week since the kids were out of school for 3 days. Those are the hard parts of being a working stay-at-home mom. I did get an Easter shirt completed and a few new burp cloths.

I love the cupcake !!! The Frilly circle "C" applique that is on the first burp cloth would also look adorable on a t-shirt or a bath towel. I was finally able to finish my twin nieces lollipop dresses for their 2nd birthday party! Happy Birthday girls!