polkadotbug

Pants! For Boys!

 

Well, I have finally branched out!  This is my very first creation made especially for boys.  Reversible pants in green and brown stripes and plaid.  Let me tell you that you definitely have to look a little harder when trying to find fabrics suitable for baby boys.  Or maybe it's just me because the girly things really catch my eye. The two fabrics match a little better than they do in the picture, the color is a little bit off.  I plan to get a few of these made for the Indie Market.  I felt terrible at the first show when people stood in front of the table with baby boys.  Maybe I'll feel a little better if I have at least one option! 

The pants are quite easy to construct.  This was only my second pair that I've made and it didn't take long at all.  Well, once I corrected my first mess up that is.  If I didn't catch my mistake when I did, I would have ended up with pants that had two different legs instead of pants that were reversible.

Clown pants?  Maybe that's next.

Here's the other side:

   

For Whom The Ceiling Falls

Ready for a shock?  I will make a brief television appearance!  Yes folks, me!!  Lindsay Schwarzwaelder, from Buffalo's channel 4 news was here to interview me about my blog and crafts on Friday.  Hi Lindsay!  The first week of May, they are doing a series on local blogs during the morning news.  I guess I will be part of craft day.  I still can't believe that I do anything newsworthy, but it is exciting anyway.  I was so nervous about it.  Again, polkadotbug just came to be and I am already being recognized (or at least noticed) for it.  Pretty cool.  Luckily, it will air at 6 A.M. so I don't have to worry about too many people watching!  Unless they are like me and have a baby that gets up at the crack of dawn.

I am so excited about my new endeavors and creations but am having a really hard time finding time to get anything accomplished.  I only work at my "real job" 3 days a week now and with just the small amount of sewing I have been doing, I have neglected everything else.  My poor house.  I can't even keep up with the laundry these days.  We have a list a mile long of projects that need to be done on our 150 year-old house. 

I have turned our dining room into my "work shop" and risk having half of the ceiling falling on my head.  The other half already fell last summer so I don't have to worry about that.  Soon I'll move out of the dining room (so we can replace the ceiling) and into our back room off of the kitchen.  Since moving in 2 1/2 years ago it has been a junk room.  Once I move in, it will probably still be a junk room!  Although, Andrew just got done sanding the floors and it looks great.  There's a ton of potential there.  I have a vision of a glorious, organized and cozy work room/studio.  We'll see how that goes.  Once I get it that way I'll have to move back out anyways because the room isn't insulated and Buffalo isn't warm for too long.

How boring life would be if there wasn't always a project to do!

(Yes, you've made it to the end and the photo has nothing to do with the post.  It's just a nice picture of Molly.  Andrew took it - he's the official photographer of the blog, and his too - but it's just food, no crafty stuff :) )

Pleased to Meet You

Hi...For those of you that have no idea who polkadotbug is, I figured I would talk about how this all started for a minute.  Believe it or not, I really just started all this crafting, creating and sewing a few months ago.  I have always been a do-it-yourself kind of person, but I never sewed clothes, accessories, or anything of the sort.  I actually never sewed much at all except the occasional curtain or hem.  A few months back I offered to make baby shower favors and saw the cutest little travel tissue covers.  I sewed a bunch of them for the shower and really enjoyed it. That led to looking at crafty little things online and discovered the wonderful world of Flickr and Etsy.  There was so much stuff that I loved and really wanted to try making myself.  This is how my bonnet came to be.  I ran across a pic of a cute bonnet and after just having a baby girl, I decided I wanted to make one.  I purchased a bonnet pattern from Amy Karol (aka Angry Chicken) and started my venture.  I made a few bonnets from the pattern and then started changing it up until I got the bonnet I loved.  Mind you, this is after having to buy a new sewing machine because my ancient Singer decided to crash right in the heat of my bonnet project.  Now, a few months down the road from that baby shower, my very first item sold on Etsy last night!  It was a bonnet, of course.  Unbelievable. 

The bonnets led to the desire to make some other things.  So I started making some dresses, bags, aprons, bibs, etc.  It took a lot of fabric and a lot of trial and error to come up with the reversible dress that worked.  I paired up with my friend Caren and together we had enough to get ourselves a table at the Buffalo Indie Market.  It is still kind of surreal to me that this all happened so quickly.  Up until a few months ago I was just a mom of two working part-time in a protein crystallography lab (just like everyone else).  How'd this happen?!? I'm just having so much fun and glad I found something that I really enjoy.  I am definitely not an expert sewer, designer, or anything similar to that and would never claim to be.  Hopefully I am doing a good job though and can help someone else who just started to get it right (or at least close).

One more thing - polkadotbug.  The name is actually derived from the nicknames of my lovely girls.  Molly, the 4 year old (going on 20) is nicknamed Bug.  We have called her that since she was an infant (Snugglebug, turned Strugglebug, turned plain ol' Bug).  When I was pregnant with my second, we asked Molly what we should name her.

"Polka dot."  She said, without even thinking about it.

We called her that until the day she was born (and a few days after because we were so used to it).  She is now 8 month old Abby.  Anyways, you get the drift.      

Who wants to make a reversible dress?

Well everyone, I have finished the reversible dress tutorial!  You can find it here.  I hope that I have made it clear and easy to follow.  I am certainly no pro at making dresses (who knows if my techniques are even right), but I have made quite a few of this kind and they turn out incredibly cute.  I would really appreciate feedback if the tutorial has been helpful to you, or even if it hasn't.  I am definitely willing to answer any questions you may have if you get stumped along the way.  I hope you don't get stumped though! 

I am now thinking of a new reversible dress that I would like to give a shot.  I will definitely share once I get a chance to try it.  I think I see a reversible pants tutorial in the future as well.  The possibilities are endless!  I seem to be gravitated towards this whole reversible thing.  Maybe it's because I don't have a serger and I like the look of the finished reversible clothing.  That and the fact that you get 2 choices out of one product!

Ok, get dress making and let me know how it goes!

Market day!

Call it a wrap!  Pink Elefant and I had an awesome day at the Indie Market today.  It was our very first experience at selling our creations and it was fabulous.  The morning started out with Caren and I very excited/anxious/nervous.  We dealt with the nerves with an awful lot of giggling.  We got set up without too many problems and then the customers started flowing.  Our table looked like a bomb went off in a fabric store.  Everyone else's tables were so organized and neat and we had stuff everywhere!  I think it was great though!  We certainly stood out.  I sold so much more than I ever thought I would and I even got a couple custom orders.  It was so much fun and we are already looking forward to next month.  Mary Stephens did an excellent job organizing the event and making it a success!   

Thank you SO MUCH to all of my family and friends who came out to see and support us!  Thank you Andrew for dealing with all of my fabric purchasing, late nights sewing, threads all over the floor, and overall psychosis!  Not to mention the setting up of web pages, creating order forms, blogs, picture taking...etc.  Don't I have the best husband?!?  I had such a great time and I think it was all worth it.   

Right now I need to go to sleep. 

Here We Go...

How exciting!  This is the beginning of my very own site/blog.  I figure I would start it off with the reversible dress because it seems to be a great topic of interest.    This is the newest, inside and out, made with some recently arrived Heather Bailey fabric.  Mmmmm...

My good friend (crazy friend) Caren and I started a blog together, gigglepigs.blogspot.com, that we have been having lots of fun with.  She's a bag-making machine.  We've been very inspiring to each other, I think, and there's nothing better than having someone to share this all with.  My first reversible dress made its debut at gigglepigs, and that one dress has turned into many others and they will be coming with me to our first fair!   I am very anxiously awaiting this Saturday for the Buffalo Indie Market.  There is so much excitement and so many nerves at the same time. I plan to keep my blog with Caren and use this one more for my creations and perhaps a few tutorials.  Soon I'll begin putting a tutorial together for the reversible dress I make, so please check back.  I would love to help all you other crafty folks out there make your own reversible dresses!  I think it's so great that everyone is getting into this!

My bonnets that began this new adventure for me are still my favorites.  Is there anything cuter than a baby girl in a fashionable, modern bonnet?!  I don't think so, especially because I have an adorable 8-month old baby girl who looks great in one!  I think I've found something that truly makes me happy. The incredibly beautiful fabric choices out there make this even more exciting and addictive!  Hopefully I will begin to stock my Etsy shop soon.  Then all we need is to convert our walk-up attic into a work shop for me so I can move my mess out of our dining room!