My Sewing Blog

I haven't been working on much shop related stuff this last week. It's a bit blah really. Etsy is making some changes to their site, and their fees, and it seems to have been a very quiet week. I don't know if it's Etsy or if it's just me. Views in my shop have dropped. Like practically all week, they were next to nothing. Since I opened my shop people have been complaining on the Etsy forums about how their views and visits have dropped. People are saying their shops are much quieter than they usually are and they're making less sales. Maybe Etsy isn't the right place to sell on? I sold some sewing magazines and patterns I had (not on Etsy) and I was going to use the money to buy more fabric to make stuff for my shop, but now I'm not sure. I have no idea what I should work on. I was planning to get some more PUL for embroidered nappies, but I haven't actually sold any of the ones I've made so far, so maybe it's not a good idea. But then ag...

Things have been very busy here lately. E passed her driving test! We bought a new car (well, an old car, but new to us) and M started a job doing nightshift. The boys have all had man flu. I have done some sewing though. Mainly just finishing off the things I've started. I've had to remove all the Rocket Bottoms nappies from my shop because a customer who bought some contacted me to say that they were all leaking. Eek! I need to figure out what's wrong with them. It could be the design, or it could be the fabrics. Or maybe it's something I did wrong. I must have sewn around 200 nappies in my time, so I'd like to think I wouldn't have made some kind of stupid mistake. I'm sending one to someone else to check out and see if it leaks for her. I'm remaking the customer's order using the Opulent Monsters pattern, which is wider through the crotch so should work better with the inserts she has. Hopefully I'll be able to salvage the Rocket Bottoms napp...

This is the pattern that I've used to make the nappies I'm selling in my shop. It's a one size pattern, with a snap down rise. When I was making nappies for my own babies I don't think I ever made one with a snap down rise. I did use the Kayla's Cloth Kits one-size pattern a lot, but my baby was big enough when I made them that I never needed to use it on the smaller settings. This is really quite a trim fitting pattern, so think it might be quite difficult to stuff. I love the idea of having a different colour fabric on the wings though. It really jazzes the nappy up and if you cut the pattern without the wings you can get more cuts out of your fabric. The wings can be made from scraps. Prints with an accenting solid, or solids with a print on the wings look good too. The pattern has a welt pocket for putting the inserts in, and I absolutely hated making it! I felt like it looked kind of messy when it was finished too, so I changed the way I did that. I made m...

Well hello! It's been, um... seven years?? since I last posted here. It was fun for me to look back through old entries. Who is this darling baby I kept talking about?! I have a bunch of teenagers and a boy who will be 11 this year. I haven't been sewing much at all over the last seven years, just a bit here and there. I did finish that quilt in the last post though! I have mainly been focused on writing. I thought maybe I'd try to get some of my work published and make money that way. We moved house again in 2016. We actually own our own house now! Recently I got round to unpacking my sewing things and re-organising them. I found that I had a LOT of fabric. Much of it was nappy making supplies. I had always bought more than I needed with the intention of selling things, but when you never get a full nights sleep and can't even manage to get to the toilet alone, starting a business is pretty low on your list of priorities. I know some people manage it, but I'm n...