It's my birthday month!

Take care of me, I'm fragile.

I wish I could be one of those people who sends their newsletters out on the first day of each month. I try to get it out at least by the 15th, but sometimes time slips by. I’m really excited for this month, because I’ve been working on some cool stuff and getting stuff done…and my birthday.

Since last newsletter, I tested the Henrietta skirt pattern for the amazing Sadie of Spaghetti Western Sewing. The skirt is brilliant and it’s getting a lot of love (as it should) from the sewing community right now. Even my dude complimented my new skirts. I can see myself going from tending to my hens to going for giant plate of ravioli at the nice Italian restaurant. All the tester versions have been amazing and I’m excited to see all the other versions that come in! I used washed linen for my first version and a mid-weight fabric for my second one.

Speaking of hens, they are so big now! Loretta (Rhode Island Red) is the biggest one and she clucks like a full on chicken now instead of a chick. Behind her is Emmylou, (Golden Laced Wyandotte) the shy one. She is the last one to come see me for mealworms. Then there’s Dolly and Dottie (Easter Eggers). They’re smaller, but the most friendly of the group. I’m sure they’ll be laying in no time. I just hope they wait until I build their nesting boxes.

It’s been a full month since I opened the virtual doors of my store Cotton & Ochre and it’s been really fun and inspiring. I have a pretty clear vision of where I want to go with this. I want to make stuff that your future grandkids can find crammed in your sewing room, because you couldn’t throw it away it was that cool. I think I mentioned before my long-time desire to have a fabric and notion store. I wanna be like a cute little corner store that sells buttons and hand-dyed threads, sew-in labels, and pieces of hand-painted fabric. Chests of drawers everywhere. Like Violet Buckle who runs her own haberdashery on Call the Midwife. I’ll take what I can get for now until a tiny corner store falls in my lap.

I released my first sewing pattern for a froggy toy I have been working off and on for a couple years. The first version was blocky and lifeless. When I made it and stuffed it, it just wasn’t right. I took part of it apart to try and fix it, but it sat in a basket unfinished moving from spot to spot in my room. I never picked up that first version to fix it. In fact, it’s still in that basket in my room under a pile.

The day after Christmas last year I made two monster stuffies for my boys. We go Joann’s (I got a gift card for Christmas), they picked out the fur colors, and we headed home. Straight away I start drawing my shapes on the fabric. They come together in no time and they had monsters to cuddle with by that evening. I had a little hand-sewing for the faces and I already had safety eyes at home. These shapes are way better. I even made clothes(!!!) for these monsters.

Then July of this year. A little voice says:

“Hey remember that frog you were making?”
”I do.”
”Try making it again.”

So, I tried it again and I liked it way better and I’m really excited about it. I used the same kind of shapes I used for the monsters and I made the head like the frogs I usually draw. I fine tuned the pattern to get it just right and made a final frog. I spent the next month drawing illustrations, writing instructions, making silly stuff to fill extra pages, and finalize all the files. Making the instruction booklet has been the most fun part of this. I’m still working on getting it in my mind that I’m allowed to do this. I named it “Mama Frog” after my mama who’s probably my loudest supporter and frogs are her favorite. (Hey mama!)

So, I ordered the printed patterns yesterday afternoon and I made my first mess up. I was so excited, I sent a file to print that had a typo. I realized at like 10pm last night and emailed them right away. They print so fast, so I was sure it was too late. Thankfully, I got a reply this morning that I could switch the PDF no problem! Phew! I just have to order the booklets and we’ll be all set! I’m set to ship those out by the end of September.

I’m hoping since I got this froggy pattern done, I can focus on the monster pattern now and get those out soon too so people can make them for the coming holidays.

Lastly and quickly, here’s the progress on my birthday dress.

I rambled on way more than I thought. Hope you all have a lovely September. Drink a pumpkin cream cold foam with me or get a hot sub from your favorite local sandwich shop on my birthday which is the 28th.