Once upon a time, I was a young girl. You know how some kids just really know what they want to be when they grow up? That was not me. In fact, that is STILL not me. I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, and even though I tell people I'm 23 years old, the fact remains that I'm somewhere in the middle of my 30's.
Life is turning out alright, however. I have an amazing power career, a family with 2.5 children, a well trained dog, house keepers, personal chef, and personal fitness trainer.
In my dreams, maybe.
Okay so my life is a little messy, and that's alright. Mr. BossMan is in the military, we have four kids, a (not really very well trained) dog, and a cat (who uses the toilet instead of a litter box). We are a homeschooling family (even before whatever 2020 is) who have lived in Southern Cali, Arizona, Japan, and now Northern Virginia.
Over the years of being an on-again-off-again stay at home mom with these just-this-side-of-feral children, I've piked up a few hobbies. They seem to get more and more expensive. I enjoy playing and writing music, photography, renovating a house....Oh yeah, and I sew.
My mother taught me how to sew when I was 11 years old. I hated it. I was allowed to stop when I showed proficiency with it. I sewed a little bit for my oldest daughter, but it seemed weird and nothing really fit her nicely. I designed and sewed Halloween costumes over the years, and that was my favorite thing. Over the years I got a little better with the costume design, execution, and photography.
I still never made regular clothing, however. A few years ago, I had an obsession with LLR clothing, because of their BUTTERY SOFT leggings and other clothing. My neighbor and good friend mentioned to me that I could buy that type of material and make my own clothes. It was a hard pass for me. That seemed like a lot of work for something I would probably never wear. My mind was changed when I saw something simple she made and wore and realized that I COULD BUY MATERIAL and make it myself! I know that's what she told me in the first place, but I'm so stubborn, guys. So I bought some material, grabbed a pattern ONLINE (which was also new and weird to me), and made myself something. It was amazing. I still have it. Then I made something for CC and we MATCHED.
It was great fun...and there were SO MANY patterns online, and now my boys could match....and then I got pregnant with baby #4. And we had to move back to America from Japan. Turns out....baby was a GIRL and then I stumbled into the world of SEWING FOR BABY GIRLS!!
It's been a bit of a journey to get here, but I currently test for two pattern companies, and one fabric shop. This means that before a pattern is released, I sew it up and see how it fits on the kid I signed up for. Sometimes I sew it more than once, as it gets adjusted before the release date. When the final fit/version comes out, I sew up my 'nice' fabric, and go get quality pictures for their shop. For the fabric shop, I get samples of the fabric before it's released for sale. This is called 'strike sewing'. I make whatever I can imagine, and get quality pictures, focusing more on the fabric...the size/scale/colors of the fabric. That way customers are able to get an idea of what the fabric will look like for their own projects.
I wanted to create this space so I can go into more detail, post more pictures of the things I make, and just to organize my thoughts a little. Thank you for joining me on this journey!
-Shelley
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