Well, this is the beginning of the last quarter of the year.  Has your business done what you expected it to do this year.  Have you been keeping an eye on your first of the year goals and projections for the business?  Have you had issues and challenges within your family / home office that have put you on edge?

We are all aware of the fact that life is not "a bowl of cherries" or a "bed of roses", but when it gets down to the nitty gritty of exactly HOW MUCH STRESS can we take and still run a business, it's time to take a step back and try to look at the whole picture.  With everything whirling around in your mind - family issues, business struggling and perhaps your own self esteem suffering, you're probably thinking that it is next to impossible to "work your way out of the hole".

Let's look at the family issues -- is it something that your partner or a friend or relative could help you sort out and work through?  Just talking to a mentor about a certain situation could lead to some answers that you might not be able to figure out while you're barely able to cope with day to day pressures.

Next, let's take a look at the business issues.  Sit down for a moment and try to determine what is the source of the problem.  Why has the business taken a turn for the worse?  Have you taken too many days off since school started to catch up on shopping since the kids aren't around during the day?  Have you not taken the time to promptly return phone calls that came in while you were out?  Have you let the stress build up so that it is almost impossible to think about those alterations that were due out last week, or the dress somebody needed by tomorrow and you haven't started it yet?

If the problem is fixable, which is usually the case, you need to figure out some kind of strategy to fix the problem.  How about getting hubby to watch the kids a couple of hours tonight so you can get those alterations done, or get started on that dress.  Once you figure out how you can get the problem resolved, it is amazing how much better you will feel, and can actually get back to work.

If the problem is not immediately fixable, such as business slow down because of the economy, it might be time to work on some additional marketing ideas for the business.  Develop more contacts through your child's school, local community events, etc and begin doing a little networking and, as always, have plenty of business cards ready to hand out.

Remember to always take one day at a time.  We always try to "plan and make projections" for the year; however you can't look at the end of the year, look at today and tomorrow and the next day.  Do one thing at a time, keep busy and always try to improve on what you're doing.  When you begin to feel the stress building - stop and take a deep breath, and tell yourself "I am ONE person - I'm doing all I can do, and I'm doing my very best - things WILL work out".

        

I've seen sooooo many really neat bags and fabric baskets that people have on ETSY for sale and have wondered just what type of pattern they use to make the bags.  Well I've found a tutorial on how to make one of the fabric baskets --- it is just fabulous, and I want to pass it along.  You may want to get some fabrics together and start making some for Christmas gifts.   We want to thank the great folks at OrangeFlowerPatterns.blogspot.com
for doing these fine tutorials.

Fabric Basket

        

Fun  shirts to wear with jeans or shorts are easy to make from men's T-shirts or undershirts.  These shirts come in a variety of colors and when trimmed, are inexpensive fashion-right tops.  You can purchase a package of three men's undershirts for much less than the price of one woman's top or blouse.  There are many ways you can decorate and trim these undershirts, and today I'll give you a couple of examples.

For a blouson style you will need an undershirt one or two sizes larger than you would normally buy, 3 yards of cording and one yard wide double fold bias tape.



Before beginning, open up the wide double fold bias tape and press it flat.  Pin the bias tape over the shoulder seams from the neck down the middle of the sleeves, turning the tape under 1/4" at each end.  Stitch each side of the bias tape and down the center (by pressing the double fold bias tape, there will still be the slight center mark that makes sewing down the center very easy).  Cut 4 cords the measurement of the tape casing plus 2".  Insert the cords in the casings and tack the cords at the neck edge.  Make a knot at the cord ends.  Pull the cording to form shirring at the shoulder and tie the cording in a bow.  Determine the length of the blouson, or leave the undershirt the length it is.  Make two machine button holes 1/2 inch on either side of the center front at the hemline.  For the casing, press up 1" and stitch.  Run cording through the bottom casing, knot the ends and tie the cord in a bow.  You can add additional decorations, appliques, etc to the front of the t-shirt as you desire.

To make a decorator  tank top from a man's t-shirt, use a t-shirt in the size you normally wear and one package of rick rack, in your choice of color.

Pin and stitch the rick rck around the neckline and armholes of the t-shirt, and you'll have a tank top that's ready to wear.

        

The pillows tossed around Bruce Howser's tiny, luxurious sewing workshop are meant to commemorate life's little moments. Stylishly.

An embroidered heirloom hankie meets a bejeweled brooch on up-to-the-minute pillow edged in funky trim. Neckties, baby dresses, needlepoint — even sentimental T-shirts — find their way into pillow form in Howser's store.

"Everyone has something like that tucked away somewhere," says Howser, who sews everything from drapes to shower curtains to bedspreads in the 500-square-foot shop, The Extra Touch, at 3645 Manhattan Ave. S in Tampa. "One client even brought in tea towels that had belonged to her mother who passed away. So we made pillows out of them. That way, they'll last a lifetime."

The space offers plenty of room for Howser's sewing machine, cutting table as well as artful displays of his handiwork among a chic collection of antique chairs, tables, benches, lamps — all for sale.

"I wanted it to feel like an extension of my living room," explains Howser, 42, who hung a glamorous chandelier and swirl of sheer white chiffon fabric from the ceiling to add interest to the workshop.

A black-and-white toile roll-up "stagecoach" shade takes the edge off a wall-size mirror that came with the space. Black toile chair seats and matching striped chair skirts complete the look.

Using his first sewing machine — a $400 Kenmore — Howser turns out custom window treatments, bedding, cushions and other one-of-a-kind items for the home. "It all has to do with needle size and tension," he says of his ability to work with heavy fabric.

He will even resize custom bedding and drapery sets for customers who are moving.

"Custom bedding and drapes can cost as much as $10,000, so it's worth it for people to take them with them to a new home," he says.

Howser's workshop is unusual because it caters to the public rather than just interior designers. A talented decorator himself, Howser also offers a "room enhancing" service, helping clients arrange furniture and accessories.

"A lot of people have great things that are just in the wrong place and they don't see it," says Howser, who jokingly calls himself "a decorator who does his own sewing work."

No project is too big or small. His custom pillows range from $40 to $80 for customers who bring in their own fabrics, trim and heirlooms they want incorporated into the pillow. He can work in just about anything from an antique linen handkerchief to a cameo to a baby's sun hat.

"Children's clothes are quickly outgrown and often end up in a box in the attic," he says.

Largely self taught, Howser, who grew up in Ithaca, N.Y., learned to sew draperies from his mother. He spent 10 years working in customer service (eventually working his way up to human resources director) for a company in Largo, all the while taking on sewing projects at night for friends.

"I really felt strongly that this (sewing and decorating) was my calling in life. It made me happy and came so easily. I felt God had given me a gift."

Howser left the corporate world to venture out on his own. He first sold his goods at Savannah's in Carrollwood, and then opened his own shop in South Tampa — operating out of shops first on Howard and MacDill Avenues. He eventually landed at his current location, a small shopping plaza along Manhattan anchored by McNatt's Cleaners.

Customers bring in their own fabrics for recycling into pillows or other objects. One woman brought a threadbare, antique quilt and Howser transformed it into beautiful pillows. He will also shop with clients who need help picking out fabric for drapes, shades or bedspreads.

Says Howser: "I'll do as much or as little as a client wants."

For more information on The Extra Touch, call 813-839-8407, or you can read more of Howser's story in The St. Petersburg Times.

        

The population of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania will double this Saturday, October 4th, as more than 2,000 people flock to an unusual and beautiful once-a-year sight. Quilts — hundreds of them — will blanket the streets. The handmade quilts will hang from windows and porches of picturesque Victorian homes and in store displays, flutter from lines strung along the curb and drape over vehicles, fences and bushes. All this beauty — and the influx of business from those who come to see it — is a thank-you from one local businesswoman, her gift to the town where her dream came true.

In May 2001, Jeannette Kitlan was a single mom of four teens working 12-hour swing shifts at Procter & Gamble. “It’s the only place a woman can go out here to earn a wage that can support a family,” she said. Every day, she donned her steel-toed shoes and safety glasses and did what she had to. But inside she held onto a lifelong dream.

As the daughter of a home-economics teacher in the Dallas School District, Kitlan learned her way around a sewing machine early in life. “I was always too tall,” she said, “and the only way to have clothes that fit was to sew them myself.”

After graduating from Tunkhannock Area High School in 1973, Kitlan took her love of sewing to Penn State, where she majored in clothing and textiles. Her senior independent-study project was opening a fabric store, something she was already dreaming of doing for real.

First, though, came work in women’s ready-to-wear in a North Carolina department store and a stint as a teacher, then 14 years as a full-time mother. The dream lingered even as her marriage ended and she found herself working in the factory to take care of her children. It stirred back to life with a hunt for some extra income.

“I was working at Procter & Gamble, and I saw an ad for a long-arm quilting machine,” Kitlan said. Some quilters who prefer assembling quilt tops to the actual quilting pay to have their quilts finished and quilted on the machines. “Since I worked swing shifts, I thought I could do the quilting on my days off to supplement my income,” Kitlan said. But with her mind already on quilting, another opportunity came her way when a Tunkhannock-area quilt shop went up for sale.

At first, Kitlan held back. She had a steady job with good wages and benefits, a tough combination to walk away from with a family to support. The decision came one night when Kitlan realized she was turning her back on her dream. “I knew if I didn’t do this, I would be heartbroken for the rest of my life,” she said.

Fully committed, Kitlan and her family started renovating a house on Route 6 into her store and began ordering inventory. Quilt-shop owners attend annual shows to see new fabric designs, and the shows take place in different cities each year. The 2001 show was in Atlantic City, a lucky break for Kitlan. “This year, it was in Portland, Oregon, and there’s no way I could have gone there,” she said. “But that year, it was in Atlantic City. On a lark, I drove down there. I went to the market for three days and attended classes on how to run a shop.”

While there, Kitlan saw the variety of fabrics available — so many kinds not seen in this area at that time. “I saw that our area was so malnourished in fabric choices, that there was so much more available.” It was then she established her mission statement: to nourish quilters’ hearts, hands and souls. She returned home, ready as she ever would be to start her dream store.

Kitlan left her job on June 1, 2001, and opened Endless Mountain Quiltworks on Sept. 1, 2001. Ten days later, the shop television that normally showed episodes of quilting shows instead displayed the terrible images of planes crashing into the World Trade Center. Images that terrified the entire world shook new business owner Kitlan to the core. “I just stood at the counter watching,” she said, knowing everything she owned was tied up in the store. “I was frightened. I kept thinking about the steady job I left,” she said.

“I’ve always been an overachiever,” Kitlan said, “I just always knew what I wanted, and I went after it.” But she knows she hasn’t done it on her own. All four of her children have worked in the shop in some capacity, along with her mother, Nancy Goeringer, and sisters Leslie Rhoades and Kathy Goeringer. She has a dedicated staff of one full-time employee and four part-timers who help keep the shop humming seven days a week. She even credits lessons learned from former employers, such as the customer call center that taught her to always exceed the customer’s expectations and to use a customer’s name —something she strives to do in her shop, to the amazement of many of them. Even lessons learned from making toilet paper come back to her when she is stocking her shelves. “Cleanliness was key in the factory, and we were constantly told, ‘No product touches the floor.’ Even now when I’m putting out bolts of fabric, I hear ‘No product touches the floor’ in my head,” Kitlan said with a laugh.

A year after her scary start, Kitlan was still in business. To say thank you to the town, she started Airing of the Quilts in October 2002. Modeled after a famous outdoor quilt show in Sisters, Ore., Kitlan said last year’s event brought in busloads of quilters from New York State. Based on the number of seats filled at some of last year’s events and the number of sales in her own store, she said, more than 2,000 people attended in 2007. Kitlan is thrilled all those people will come to Tunkhannock (population 1,911 as of 2000 census), not only to shop in her store but to eat and shop in other local businesses as well. “This is a gift I’m able to give back to the community for the way they have embraced us,” she said.

And the community has embraced Endless Mountain Quiltworks. The shop was moved to a new location in the Towne Plaza and has 4,500 people on its mailing list. The 3,000-square-foot store holds 4,500 bolts of fabric and was named one of the top 10 quilt shops in North America in 2007. But Kitlan said she can’t sit back and relax. “I still work 24/7. There’s always something to be done,” she said. “And this is a very niched business. There’s no bread, milk or eggs in here, and people don’t need anything I sell.”

She keeps that in mind as she strives to make sure every customer gets personal attention. “I draw customers from two hours in every direction, and if they are going to drive to get to me, I want to make sure it’s worth it,” Kitlan said. She helps them with fabric choices and always takes time to admire any projects customers bring in to show off.

What: Airing of the Quilts

When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, rain or shine

Where: Downtown Tunkhannock. Quilts will be displayed from businesses and homes along Tioga Street and surrounding streets. A restored trolley will be available for free transportation between event sites.

Related events: “Two Quirky Quilters” comedy show, Dietrich Theater, 11 a.m., admission $5; “A Lifetime of Quilts,” special exhibit of quilts made by Clara Kobeski, BVM Nativity Church, Tioga Avenue; quilt appraisals by Eugenia Barnes, $35; “Harvest of Quilts” quilt show by Quiltcrafters of NEPA, Tunkhannock Middle School, admission $5; quilt display and book signing, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with Sieglinde Schoen Smith and her prize-winning quilt “Mother Earth” at Endless Mountain Quiltworks, Towne Plaza, Tioga Street; three 90-minute train excursions from Riverside Park (The $20 fall foliage tours at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. will benefit Wyoming County United Way.)

For more information, visit airingofthequilts.com or call Endless Mountain Quiltworks at 570-836-7575.  Read more about Kitlan and the Airing of the Quilts event in The Northeast Pennsylvania Times Leader.

        

Sometimes when inspiration hits, it's like "WOW! two brain cells rubbed together this time"!  That's exactly how I felt when it suddenly dawned on me how many new customers I was getting after I started spreading the word about sewing nursing garments, which meant many new babies are now in my "client market".

I suddenly realized that ALL of these new customers needed baby things as well as the nursing garments!  Then when I stopped to really think about it, it occured to me that many of my regular customers would, from time to time, need baby gifts for baby showers, birthdays, Christmas, etc.  In addition, each of my customers knows others who are pregnant and needing baby gifts as well.

I started making a few notes about how I could capitalize on this new-found "baby" market!  Then I went to work making a portion of my customer waiting area into a small "baby world".  I made some baby/toddler/child items such as the portable diaper changing station, a unique baby bath towel, (got this pattern for free - can't beat that!),  a childs sleeping bag, a few crinkle toys, a set of bibs and a few other items and attached them to the wall and on top of a portable playhouse that I'd made as a little playhouse for the children who come in.  In addition to putting price tags on the items themselves (including the portable playhouse), I made a list of all the items with prices, and a heading of "Suggested gifts for babies / toddlers".

YIKES!!  Where had my brain been all these years!  My original plan was to make the item as somebody would inquire about my sample and place an order, but almost immediately somebody came in and went on and on about how unique the portable diaper changing statin was, and wanted to buy THAT one because she had a baby shower that night.  Even though she'd already gotten a gift, this was so unique that she just had to have it too.

My "original plan" got shot down quickly, so I put together a shelf beside the "baby world" corner and started making a few of each of the items that I had on display - put them in zip lock bags, put a little label on the bag with my logo and "custom made by" on the bag, and presto! I was in the baby gift business as well as sewing!

Whether you're in a sewing, alteration or craft business, these items could add some extra dollars for you, and would be readily available for the customers to look over and purchase as they come in for your main business.  

        

Today SVP Worldwide, owner of SINGER(R), HUSQVARNA VIKING(R), and PFAFF(R) sewing machine brands, announced it will increase prices on a global basis across the majority of its product portfolio and after sales products. Price increases will range between 5-10% on lower-priced products and between 3-5% on higher-priced products. Specifics will vary on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis.
 
"SVP Worldwide, like many global manufacturers, has been hit with significant cost increases ranging from energy to raw materials, packaging to transportation, and labor to currency exchange pressures," said Don Fletcher, CEO of SVP Worldwide. "These pressures have reached a point where internal cost and expense control initiatives can no longer offset these escalating costs."
 
Doing business in over 190 countries, the SINGER, HUSQVARNA VIKING and PFAFF mechanical, computerized, and embroidery machines and after sales products will experience a price increase.

"SVP Worldwide is proactively working with suppliers, monitoring the industry, and examining all expenditures to minimize costs for sewers around the world," said Brad Hunsaker, Global Vice President of Sales and Marketing for SVP Worldwide. "The entire SVP Worldwide family remains committed to deliver outstanding value and quality to its customers, dedicated partners and loyal sewers."

Price increases will be implemented effective January 1, 2009. SVP Worldwide, a global company headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda and doing business through its affiliated companies in over 190 countries, specializes in the design, manufacture and sale of high quality household sewing machines and related products under the SINGER, HUSQVARNA VIKING, and PFAFF brand names. For more information about the Company and the company's brands view the following websites: www.svpworldwide.com, www.singer.com, www.husqvarnaviking.com, and www.pfaff.com.

        

Do you have what it takes to be successful?  A quick quiz.

The great desire to be successful has always been a fact of life!  The word "success" means different things to different people.  For some, to be successful is to have your own business, so you don't have to answer to anyone but yourself.  To others, success is climbing to the top of the corporate ladder, while others visualize success as "being the best" - best at the sport they are involved in, being best at the job they work at, etc.

Answer the following questions TRUE or FALSE, then check your answers against the opinions that follow.  You may not recognize all of the names quoted, but you can be assured that all of the people, whether familiar to you or not, were extremely successful in their own way.

1.  Success requires mastery of the endeavor you set for yourself.
2.  Everyone should realize his or her limitations and try to go no farther.
3.  It is very important to try to please everybody.
4.  One should believe in himself or herself.
5.  Success is achieved by being single-minded in purpose.
6.  Most successful people tend to be unemotional.
7.  Act successful, even if you're not.
8.  An important element needed for success is to love what you do.
9.  The ability to handle the people with whom you work is a skill leading to success.
10.  Be sure you are right, then go ahead.

The answers listed below are the opinions of those people who are quoted.

1.  TRUE.  "The way to do is to be." (Lao Tzu)
2.  FALSE.  "We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough." (Helen Keller) 
3.  FALSE.  "I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is to try to please everybody."  (Herbert Bayard Swope)
4.  TRUE.  "Self trust is the first secret of success." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
5.  TRUE.  "I believe the true road to pre-eminent success in any line is to make yourself master of that line." (Andrew Carnegie)
6.  FALSE.  "He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much." (Mrs. A. J. Stanley)
7.  TRUE.  "Act as if it were impossible to fail." (Dorothea Brande)
8.  TRUE.  "The first thing to do is to fall in love with your work." (Sister Mary Lauretta)
9.  TRUE.  "The ability to handle men is the most valuable thing in the business world.  I will pay higher for that than for any other qualification." (John D. Rockefeller)
10.  TRUE.  "Be sure you are right; then go ahead."  (Davie Crockett)

        

This tutorial on how to make a patchwork ball is excellent!  I can see making a few of the balls using the nursery room theme for a new baby, or as a gift for a 6 month old or year old baby.  What a great idea!  This tutorial comes from the BurdaFashionBlog. 

How to make a patchwork ball

        

Whether you are a seamstress making clothing garments for customers, an alteration lady or a craft person, there is a regular need for some type of pattern paper.  In pattern making, it is mandatory that some type of pattern paper is used to make the patterns.

We sometimes tell people to check out their local newspaper office for "end rolls" of newsprint paper.  These end rolls sometimes have several yards left and they are very wide.  Grocery bags can also be used for making changes to patterns and for pattern making; however they would probably have to be cut apart and taped together for the bigger items.

The most practical type of pattern paper would be the type that could be re-used without tearing and can be pinned to fabric without tearing, etc.

There are two types of pattern paper that we recommend -- both of which are non-tearable, so could be used over and over again.

 
  Pattern Ease - Non-woven tracing material for altering, duplicating and designing patterns and crafts. Won't tear, can be used over and over. Make your basic patterns on Pattern Ease and you'll be able to use them for years. Can be machine sewn. 45" wide, 80% Polyester/20% Rayon, White.
3100-W is the item number.





 

Clear Red Dot Pattern Tracing Cloth - 100% nylon with 1" square grid to scale drawings for needlework and to trace, alter and design patterns. Takes all type of markers and pins. Can be machine sewn. Clear.






Both types of pattern are readily available online - The Pattern Ease is around $2.00 per yard, and the Clear Red Dot Pattern Tracing Cloth is around $1.50 per yard.

I use Pattern Ease for nearly every pattern I make, as well as for making craft patterns, and doing alterations on clothing items.  I have some patterns that were made over 15 years ago, and I can bring them out, press the pattern paper pieces, and they're ready for me to use again.