Easter 2013 Sewing!

Once upon a time, many years ago, I thought I would be the kind of mom that would make TONS of clothes for my kids, especially if I had a little girl!  Then reality kicks in, I ended up having two girls and very little time for sewing.  Alright, so that's not completely true.  Truth is I make very little time for sewing...  Yes, for my older daughter I have been able to make a few things, but some of the play-clothes, the costumes, I have never finished!  So I sat back and made a decision, I don't have to make tons of clothes for the kids but I do want to make special clothes for them!  I told my husband that from now on I at least want to make special outfits for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, if I can squeeze in some extra projects-all the better!  Then I started to panic because I made this decision three weeks before Easter and we just went on a trip to Arizona and had a trip planned to visit family in Northern California and between bills, the cost of the trips, and limited time I wasn't really sure I would be able to pull it off.  I dug through my patterns and fabric that I have been storing up.  I have been trying to find uses for my fabric stash for years!  Downside to working for a fabric store is buying up bolts of fabric thinking someday you will use them!  I had some pretty cute fabrics, and some adorable patterns, but I was trying to be realistic about time and materials so I picked this pattern from my collection:

I didn't have any cute pillowcases, but this pattern gives directions on how to make the outfits out of fabric-by-the-yard.  I happened to have a yard of some pretty pastel boarder print and half a yard of a coordinating plaid.  I checked the measurements and decided to make my older girl a top with shorts and my younger girl the dress.  I was a bad girl and I did not match up my plaids.  I was a little worried I would run out of fabric, and I needed enough left over to also make some bias binding.  I got up on a Saturday morning, got myself and the kids fed, then told my husband I would be sewing the rest of the day.  I was able to cut out all the pieces I needed, including the extra square for binding!  I always refer back to this tutorial for binding, it's the best one I've found so far!  I did alter the pattern just a little because after making my super cute binding I realized the directions want you to hide it by rolling it back and sewing it down!  I got the shorts completely done and the dress for my younger daughter only needs the ribbon ties.  The top for my older girl also needs ribbon for the straps and I have to do something to hem it.  Can't wait to take some pictures!

My November Sewing Challenge

I created a challenge for myself because I do not sew enough for my kids.  I don’t sew enough in general, well, to be honest I just don’t finish enough, but either way, I have two little girls and pretty soon they are going to be big enough to tell me they don’t want to wear clothes their mommy made them!  I figure I better take advantage now, while I still can.
Every year we plan multiple trips to Disneyland.  We generally have an annual trip in October and then go back every few months for shorter trips.  Now that we have kids, Christmastime at Disneyland is a big deal!  This year we are considering taking a week off before Thanksgiving, go a bunch of days to Disney and then head to my grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving.  It’s going to be quite the adventure, ten days total.  Right now I am in the process of making cloth diapers for my younger daughter.  She has bad skin reactions to most disposable diapers so the hubby finally let me go hog wild and buy the stuff I need to make up my own diapers.  My first goal is going to be making 18-24 diapers by November.  This will give me three days of diapers before I need to do laundry and a day for drying.  Second goal?  To have 12-18 cloth leak-proof training pants for the older girl.  We have been working towards potty training.  I think we are being held back by the diaper.  She’s too comfortable in diapers and disposable training pants.  By changing to leak-proof, she will feel the wetness and hopefully want to get out of it!  Alright, so far not too bad, right?  Today my ideas achieved Blue Sky record levels!  Every day I see these amazing mom’s posting pictures of outfits and dresses they have made for their kids.  Not only that but they are also making dresses and outfits for sale!  Want to see a few?  Check out Gorgeous Girls Boutique or My Kids Drawers both on Facebook.  Their designs have inspired me to want to create a vacation wardrobe for my own girls!  Yes, you heard me right, a vacation wardrobe!  You can see my ideas form on my Pinterest board called November Sewing Challenge.
So far I have come up with nine different themed outfits, all Disney inspired of course!  Princesses, fairies, Pixar and even villains will make their mark on my designs!  After hours of planning general ideas I will continue to “Pin” my ideas and inspiration until I am able to start purchasing fabrics and digging in to this challenge!
In the mean time, I do plan on getting some sewing and posts done regarding my adventures in cloth diaper sewing, training pants sewing and the usual bit of randomness I tend to do.

Don’t forget to check out GGB and MKD on Facebook!  Or scan through Stuff N Junk by Heidi on Facebook to see what else I have been up to!

FYI, I have no intention of copying styles of clothing created by the two ladies mentioned in this post.  I respect their art and their talent and while I may use embroidery designs purchased by common vendors, their designs inspire me to create my own items and in my opinion their original designs cannot be imitated.

This Isn't My First Rodeo...

Ever heard the saying "This isn't my first rodeo"?  That's kind of the way I am feeling today, and not in the best way either!
You see, it is less than four days until Halloween and I had planned to make my girls their costumes.  Notice I said "planned"?  Yeah, well, I bought the fabric to make my two-and-a-half-year-old a Rapunzel costume, and I bought my ten-month-old some of the fabric needed to make her a Pascal costume.  Yes, I am dressing my baby girl as a boy character and I'm totally okay with that!  Well, other than cutting out the pieces for Rapunzel's dress, I haven't done any other work on the costumes.  Not only that, I still have to get more supplies to make the costumes!
Well, this isn't my first time at this particular rodeo...  You see, many moons ago, I really wanted to make a witch costume for myself.  I had great fabric and a terrific pattern.  I really can't remember if I had gotten much of a start early in the month of that October, but I do know that the majority of the work was done the day before, even staying up til the wee hours of the morning to finish the costume before work!  I think I may have even taken the costume to work with me to get it finished!
I am definitely known throughout my family as a procrastinator.  I remember finishing some sewing on my wedding gown after the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding!  Even now, while I could be sewing, I am blogging!
So, since we all now know that when it comes to late-night and last-minute I am a sewing pro, let's see what I can really do!
Happy Halloween ya'll!

Dude, I'm a Slacker!!!

Okay, so just a quick update...  No, I did not fall off the face of the earth!!!  And I would love to tell you have been so busy working on projects...  But no, I'm just a slacker!  But have faith, dear followers!  I have plenty of crazy stored up in my noggin!  And I have TONS of projects I am trying to get going so I do plan to post more soon!

Just a quick glimpse...

We're going to have a Rapunzel named Sam...

And I'm going to alter the lizard to make Evie into Pascal!

I will also be creating (from scratch) a Captain America costume for my bestest Mushu of a nephew!!!

Wordless Wednesday 7/18/2012

A whole lot of sewing going on!

Wordless Wednesday 6/20/2012

I Haven't Been This Upset Since I Was 14...

When I was 14 (possibly 15) I tried to help out my dad with his business...  He's done HVAC and refrigeration since before I was born.  He is one of the best heating and air guys in our area, or so I'm told by our customers, and he is pretty much completely self-taught.  But with all that comes a bit of a know-it-all attitude.  His favorite thing to tell me when I'm getting overwhelmed with phone calls is "Tell them 'I have heat/air conditioning'."  Yeah, that wouldn't go over well.  I've been well trained in customer service.  I've been cussed at, threatened both on the phone and in person, and on a regular basis I am yelled at by angry customers.  At the same time I have also been complimented on my professionalism and kindness as well as being able to assist some customers with quick-fix options instead of waiting for the tech to come out for something simple.  I generally try to remain as composed as possible, explain our policies/procedures/whatever and I kindly let people know that while I am doing the best I can for them, I do understand if they need to contact someone else.  I simply can't schedule a technician 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we don't work like that.  We get a lot of referrals and repeat customers.  The customers that stick with us know that we treat them like our own family and do the best we can without ripping them off.

That first day of answering phones for my dad, about twenty years ago, was the only day I worked for him for a good 12 years...  That "lady" ripped me a new one...  I had never been yelled at like that, even by my own parents!  She was pissed and she wanted me to know it.  I don't even know what she was pissed about.  She called my dad every name in the book, of course, she didn't know that it was my dad, and I doubt she knew I was a teenager.  I kept it together through the entire thing.  I appologized and told her I would have him call her immediately.  Then I broke down.  I called my dad sobbing.  It was embarrassing.  And for years he wouldn't let me live it down!  Always joking about how one customer could make me cry.

After that I worked in fast food, a fabric shop and eventually a bridal shop.  I worked my way to management at each of these jobs.  About eight years ago the bridal shop I was working at was closing, the owner retiring, and I was not ready to take on owning a bridal shop.  My dad was going through a divorce and needed an office person, and there it was, my next adventure.

He teased me a bit about not crying if customers yelled at me.  I've done pretty good about that.  Until today, and she didn't even yell at me...

We went out to her property last Friday for a home warranty call, her heater needs a part (yes, the heater has to work in order for the air conditioner to work) and she was told we would contact her to schedule.  Over the weekend it was 100+ degrees here, so Monday morning I walked into a crazy amount of faxed work orders and phone messages, I was in my office until 5:30 in order to make sure everyone was called back.  This particular customer however was not called as we are waiting for the part to arrive.  We did get a fax from her home warranty asking for status but as we were completely overbooked, no one had a chance to call it in.  We got a call from the home warranty today and while Dad was on one line giving the report, the home owner called in and spoke to me about her job.  There seemed to be some miscommunication regarding her job.  It was her understanding that a technician would be out Monday or Tuesday to replace the part and she was missing out on a personal paid obligation.  I explained the part had not arrived, would not be arriving for another day or so and that once it arrived I would contact her to schedule the appointment.  She was very nice, don't get me wrong, and I completely understand her frustration.  To a certain extent...  I got another call a few hours later from the home warranty company questioning our report, saying that we should be able to pick up the part anywhere and schedule the job immidiately for this customer.  I was told that the customer was saying very bad things about the home warranty and our company and complaining about how we do things, not just to their warranty rep but also on a social media website.  I was also told that this customer was very "high up" in society and that she "knows people" and we should do everything within our means to make her happy.  Then I was told that she "complained" that she heard children crying in the background while speaking to me.  This is where I lost it.  This was when my mommy-cat sprang up with claws and fangs bared.  This was what made me upset to the point of wanting to crawl up and cry.  Not only had I just spent the last hour dealing with customers that are unhappy we can't be out for a week because we are so booked, now I have to hear about how this lady is extra-popular and doesn't like my kids!?!?

Here's the deal folks...  I am not a stay at home mom, I am a working mom that is lucky enough to get to keep my kids with me at work and sometimes they make noise.  Yes, I do try to keep them as quiet as possible when I am working.  I will leave the room if they are being a bit too distracting but I don't exactly let them scream their heads off all day long.  I shouldn't be penalized for not putting my kids in daycare!  Instead of calling my dad to vent I called my hubby.  I was upset, I needed to vent.  It did end up getting back to my dad and he was actually just as upset.  His words "No one can tell me I can't have my grandkids in my own office!"  Cute Dad.

I then used my uber-cyber-stalking skills to look up this woman.  Guess what?  If I found the right person, and I'm pretty sure I did, SHE'S OWNS HER OWN BUSINESS!!!  You would think that a woman that owned her own business would be a little more supportive towards a fellow working mom?  I've had customers that have heard my kids just talking and they say how wonderful it is that I get to have them near!  In fact, yesterday, speaking to a long-time customer who just turned 94 last week, he said to me that he thought it was wonderful that I was able to do both!  And most of the supportive comments I get are actually from men.  It's not really that my kids are so super loud, its that I take my time with my customers on the phone to make sure I get the details I need for our company to do our jobs the best we can.  My two-year-old knows every letter by site, can count to ten since she was 18 months and knows at least a dozen words by sight!  When I'm not answering phones and doing paperwork I am working with my toddler to not only keep her mind challenged but to also keep her entertained when mommy is working.  I also have a six-month-old that I am still nursing, all while trying to keep up with the flow of life.  I'm not saying it to get sympathy, I'm just saying, hey!  I'm getting it done!  Today as I worked through lunch answering phones while feeding the baby my two-year-old put her lunch to her face like it was a phone and "answered" as if she worked for the company, said the company name and everything!  She proceeded to tell the imaginary customer "yes, uh-huh, okay, bye-bye."  And then finished eating her phone.

My job may not be as glamorous as some, it may not keep me moving in super-socialite circles, but at the end of the day, I actually like what I do.

And just to add icing to my cupcake today, I just received a call from a happy customer!  I don't think we, as customers, understand how that makes a persons day.  In general we are so quick to call someone out when we need to complain, but rarely do we pick up the phone or send an email when someone simply does their job, let alone goes above and beyond.  Honestly, I almost didn't take that job today.  I just happened to have the tech going to that area and squished it in holding my breath hoping that nothing go wrong.  This customer called beaming that we had exceeded expectations with regards to communication and service.

So, I ask you, please pay it forward today.  Give someone credit, even if it's just for doing something they should be doing anyway.  For every complaint that you feel compelled to make, go out of your way to give someone else a pat on the back!

Thanks for letting me ramble.