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.